"Speaking of us," she began, and he held out his cuffs to cut her off at the pass.

"Could you help me over here?"

Reflexively she returned to his side and while she was busy putting his cuff links back on, he started spinning.

"You're an incredible lover, Julie," he began and she nearly dropped the Outlaw logo pin she was working on to the floor.

"Please, Ty, let's just pretend this never happened."

"Tell me the truth," he coaxed, hoping he was playing this right. "Do you really want to do that?" She opened her mouth, almost spoke, then licked her lips. Watching the tip of her tongue move across the sexy curve of her upper lip made him rock hard all over again.

"I'm not going to lie," she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "What we just did was great. Really, really great. But we both know we shouldn't do it again. Never, ever again." Yet something in her voice, in the way her fingers brushed against his wrists as she straightened the edges of his sleeves, made him wonder if she secretly wanted him to talk her into continuing where they'd just left off.

"Okay, now I'll tell you the truth as I see it."

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide.

"There's fire between us. You and me, we're good together." She shook her head, pulled away from him, and he reached for her hand. Held her close.

"There's no point in denying it. We have chemistry. And whether we like it or not, I don't think it's going to do either of us any good to try and ignore the sparks between us."

Julie took a deep breath, her eyes trained on their hands. "I just don't see how this could work." He had to convince her once and for all to throw caution to the wind and have a damn good time with him.

"Look at it this way: We've got almost two weeks together, all day every day. I'm already in your house; you're my date for every event. I think we're both strong enough to enjoy what we want without it screwing ourselves up permanently, don't you?"

He knew she couldn't admit that she wouldn't be able to handle a sex-only relationship with him.

"Maybe," she conceded.

He smiled in anticipation of pleasure to come.

"On one condition," she said.

He nodded, knowing what she was going to say. "No strings attached. That's a given." Something in her eyes gave him pause, made him wonder if he should have kept his big mouth shut. Especially since he wasn't even sure he meant what he'd just said.

"Of course there won't be any strings attached," she finally said, waving away his words as if they didn't matter one bit. "But I was going to say that I can only do this if you agree to keep our after-hours relationship completely secret."

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

Shit. Why did he care if she didn't want anyone to know they were doing each other? It wasn't like they were dating; they were just going to be having sex. Lots and lots of mind-blowing sex. Why did he care if all these years later, she was still ashamed of who he was? If she thought he was just a new-money piece of flash who just happened to know how to rock her world?

After all, they were both going to take what they wanted and then go their separate ways.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he agreed.

Together, silently, they left the balcony, walked back through the sex chamber, and headed back downstairs to the party.

Great, Ty thought. He'd gotten what he wanted.

So why wasn't he happier?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

By the time the party wound down, Julie was a basket case.

If she'd thought one taste of perfect love-making would see her through the rest of her days, she was dead wrong. It wouldn't even see her through the evening. She'd been watching the clock all night, desperate to be alone with Ty again. In her house, in her bed, for as long as she pleased. But what really upset her was the way "No strings attached. That's a given," kept playing over and over in her head like a skipping CD.

"I'm done being a show dog," Ty told her at last, and they went to find their host.

"Had a great time tonight," he said to Gordon. "Thanks for the invite."

"I'm so glad you could be here tonight, Ty. And thank you for bringing your very lovely companion." Gordon might as well have called her skanky, the way lovely sounded coming out of his mouth. Her mind flashed back to his sex room and she barely contained her revulsion.

"I had a wonderful time as well," she said, shaking his dry, bony palm.

"I know you did," he said.

What a weird response.

Ty extricated her hand from Gordon's grasp by leading her toward the front door.

"Most days, I love my job," he said for her ears only.

She nodded, knowing exactly what he was getting at. "Me too." As Ty alerted his driver via cell phone that they were ready to leave, she looked back up at the house. The tower's balcony, mostly hidden by oak trees, would forever be a wonderful memory. They slid into the limo and she said, "You were fantastic tonight." One corner of his mouth quirked up and his eyes gleamed wickedly. "Glad you thought so."

"I was talking about how you interacted with the guests."

"Sure you were."

She laughed, glad she could finally let herself enjoy being with him. Not only was Ty sexy, but he was fun. And surprisingly quick.

She lowered her voice so his driver, Jose, couldn't hear them. "You know how fantastic you were up on the roof."

"Tell me more," he said and she looked pointedly at the front seat. He pressed a button on the armrest and the glass divider between the front and back seats slid closed. The faint buzz of the talk radio station Jose was listening to disappeared.

"Trust me, he can't hear us."

She shifted as far away from Ty as her seat belt allowed. "I can't ... do anything. Not while he's still here."

Ty relaxed back into his leather seat and she marveled at how nothing seemed to faze him. Here she was burning up with desire, wondering how she was possibly going to make it through the entire drive home without climbing on Ty's lap and riding him like a cowgirl, and he looked completely relaxed.

"He can't read lips," Ty said.

Her brain was a step behind her hormones. "I don't get it." Then she blushed. "Oh!" He grinned again, the lazy look of a cat who has already gotten the cream. And wouldn't mind the cherry on top for dessert.

"I'm happy to get us started," he offered and she tried to focus on something other than his perfect mouth, his big, strong hands, the telltale bulge in his pants.