Shattered by the CEO / The Boss's Demand: Shattered by the CEO / The Boss's Demand. Jennifer Lewis

followed him, admiring the wide, droplet-spattered V of his torso and watching as he grabbed another towel from the bathroom rail and briskly scrubbed the moisture from his hair and skin. The muscles of his back and arms flexed with his movements and her body responded by generating heat in her belly and her skin. “But you didn’t have to lie, Rand.”

      He met her gaze in the mirror. “I don’t lie.”

      “I meant about Everett saying I was the best PA he’d had.”

      “That was the truth. My father thought you could do no wrong.”

      “Really?” That meant a lot because she had tried very hard not to disappoint him after he’d taken a chance on pulling her from reservations.

      She smiled and Rand turned to scowl at her. He scowled a lot these days. She didn’t remember him doing so in the past…except for that last morning.

      She cleared her throat. “Well…anyway, thanks for telling me and for your other compliments. And thank you for last night.”

      He shrugged one shoulder. “It was nothing.”

      “It wasn’t nothing to me.” She closed the distance between them and rose on tiptoe to brush a quick thank-you kiss on his cheek. But something went amiss the minute her palm encountered the steamy, damp flesh of his naked chest.

      Rand sucked in a sharp breath. His hand gripped her waist, and he turned his head. Their lips met. Brushed. Clung. Separated.

      Surprised by the sensual impact of what she’d intended as a friendly peck, Tara eased back and tried to catch her breath. His heart pounded heavily beneath her hand, racing almost as fast as hers. The gold flecks in his hazel eyes glittered and his pupils expanded with desire. An answering need swelled within her.

      Moisture flooded her mouth. She gulped it down and gave in to temptation to reach up for the stray suds. She stroked them down his neck and across his collarbone, not stopping until her hands rested side by side on his chest.

      She licked her lips. “I didn’t come in here for this.”

      But that didn’t mean she didn’t want it. Want him.

      Live your life without regrets.

      Sliding her hands to his shoulders, she rose again and covered his mouth with hers. Rand didn’t pull away, nor did he do anything to aid her. He stood as still as a statue. But so much warmer. Hotter.

      Her pulse stuttered like the woodpecker that sometimes woke her by pecking on the gutter outside her bedroom. She sipped from Rand’s mouth and then traced his lips with her tongue.