Forever As One by Jackie Ivie Read Free Book Online Page A

was setting up. That meant not wasting the time he’d
just given her. Or…maybe he’d planned this interruption, to exactly
this result - leaving her to stew over possible moves, before he
blind-sided her or something.
    What was his plan? Her clear move was to take
his bishop. Anyone would. It would be an easy slaughter. But that
kind of move didn’t resemble her opponent at all. Dane didn’t
appear to be one who did suicide moves. Not if it didn’t pay back
somewhere. He looked more like the marauding type. Conquering.
Taking. Holding. Caressing. Kissing. Molding his nakedness about
her on satin sheets…
    Get hold of yourself Vangie!
    She wasn’t going to figure out what that man
planned if she couldn’t keep her mind on the business at hand, and
that meant staying away from contemplation of the physical effect
of being near him, breathing the same air, sharing the same space,
tingling with awareness of everything he did and said.
    “You see?”
    She said it aloud and stepped away from the
table.
    “This is why I detest chess. One move can
take hours to figure out. Hours. And it’s really going to take an
eternity if he doesn’t come back soon.
Men
.”
    She turned away. Pondering potential moves
was a sure recipe for a headache. Surveying the room sounded more
promising and interesting. And it was. Dane had an eye for interior
decorating. There were a couple of settees gracing one far wall.
They looked as overstuffed as the chair. She was tired of sitting.
Vangie arched her back in a stretch. The plane ride had been
cramped and her seatmate hadn’t shut up, and then she’d had to deal
with the reality of Dane Morgan. No wonder she was
out-of-sorts.
    He did something to her. She wasn’t a
romantic, but that man excited everything in her body, starting the
instant she’d locked eyes with him. He sent off solid sexual appeal
with every prolonged moment in his company. Just being on the other
side of the table heightened everything to the point she was ready
to go completely against type, rip her suit off, and jump him.
She’d never contemplated a one night stand - never even considered
it. And yet…with Dane Morgan…
    Heck, it wasn’t just being considered, it was
a downright fight to suppress the urge. She’d never been wanton.
Loose. Passionate. Lustful. Never experienced anything approaching
them, but every prolonged moment with Dane…she wasn’t just
imagining, she was fully fantasizing. And now that he’d gone,
leaving her to stew and ponder and evaluate - what was she supposed
to do with these elevated hormones?
    Ugh.
    She was tired, and yet energized
simultaneously. It was probably the result of lack of sufficient
sustenance. Rest. It had nothing to do with Dane Morgan. It
couldn’t. Yet, everything felt weak and wrung out. As if she’d been
through an emotional experience of some kind. But that was
ridiculous. She’d moved a couple of chess pieces, bandied some
words, played with double entendre. Yet, still the release from the
tension of his presence was physically palpable. Chilling.
Deflating.
    There was nothing else for it. She could
stand here weaving in place while she attempted to ignore her
reactions to him…or she could occupy herself. He might have a
magazine or at the very least a comic book hidden away, and he
really shouldn’t leave her alone this long if he didn’t want her
snooping.
    Vangie slid a hand along one of the cabinets
against a wall. It looked like it contained wine bottles. Ancient
wine bottles. Odd. Dane Morgan didn’t look like a wine connoisseur.
He looked exactly like a spoiled, rich, extremely pretty, party
boy. A chick magnet. The type that turned heads.
    As for his banter?
    Oh…please
.
    How did he expect her to give him a decent
game of chess? The view was hampering her thought processes, and
then his words added to the sensory experience. She couldn’t
concentrate. She could barely answer him logically. As if he’d
really be interested in her.