Excerpt of Risk It by Jennifer Chance

“I really must be going.” Dani turned, offering a smile. She had a clear run at the door, and she gestured to the painting. “I hope you enjoy it.”

“Let me get you a receipt.”

“That’s not—”

“I insist.” Rand turned to his desk, swiveling the notepad around and tearing free a loose sheet. He jotted down a quick note of thanks, signed and dated it. Dani had followed him to the desk.

“Truly, it isn’t necessary, Mr. Winston,” she said as he handed it to her. She opened her purse, and he heard the telltale buzz of her silenced phone. She didn’t even look at it, but the effect it had on her was instantaneous, her artfully easy manner now going tight as a drum.

“Necessary,” he mused, and something in his voice made her glance up sharply. The shiver of control it took for her not to step back from him was obvious, but Rand wasn’t about to let her get away a second time. “And do you always do only what is necessary?”

“Saves time, she said again. But her eyes were on his lips, and he felt the attraction between them like a living thing. He lifted a hand, and while her body didn’t flinch, her eyes did.

Another surge of emotion blazed through him, this one hotter, less controlled. He didn’t understand that flinch of hers, the reflex she could not quite quell. But he knew the reaction wasn’t about him, and he wanted her to only think of him in this moment—to have the same intensity of emotion, the same nerves, the same trepidation, even a little fear. He didn’t mind her fearing him. He expected it. But the nature of that fear was what intrigued him.

“Ah, fuck it,” Dani said, startling him again. She stepped into his body, reaching up to draw his head toward hers. “I don’t have all goddamned night.”

She kissed him, hard, and the spears of desire touched together at their tips, igniting Rand with need. Still, he didn’t move forward, just let Dani pull him closer in, sensing that the deepening of the kiss was something she hadn’t planned for. His hands went naturally to her waist, and felt large against the curve of her hips, anchoring her almost possessively. She pulled away—or tried to, her body leaning back even as he kept her still and tight. Her smile was satisfied against his lips, and understanding lit through him. She’d won, he realized. By controlling the kiss between them, by taking the initiative and coming to him, instead of waiting for him to come to her, she had won.

“Was that what you wanted, Miss Michaels?” he asked, and he deliberately kept the teasing challenge in his voice.

She drew in a sharp breath, but didn’t take the bait. “Everything I could have hoped for,” she said, leaning back with a smug grin.

“He lifted his brows. “Did I just experience sexual harassment?”

Dani’s smile flashed a little more broadly now. “I do apologize, sir. I was just so swept away.”

“Hmm.” He eyed her. “You didn’t seem terribly swept away. I must be losing my touch. Perhaps I should try again.”