Eric quietly and covertly scaled the stone wall to Jill’s backyard, knowing there was no other cure for the surge of lust that had gripped him during and after the kiss he’d shared with Jill. And nothing, absolutely nothing, had taken the edge off the raw sexual energy riding him hard ever since.

He’d spent an hour working out at the gym, and had even met his sports enthusiast brother, Adrian, for a fierce game of racquetball. He’d managed to beat Adrian’s ass, just barely, and even that victory hadn’t eased the tension thrumming through his veins. Probably because his sibling had accurately guessed that it was a woman who had him all tied up in knots, and Adrian hadn’t hesitated to rib him unmercifully about his inability to score with this particular female.

As a last resort, Eric had tried a more conventional method of taming his arousal with a cool shower, all to no avail. Or relief. He was still hard with wanting her, he thought in disgust.

He had to have her. It was that possessive, all-consuming thought that had driven Eric to more extreme measures. While pacing across his living room floor to help shake off his agitation, he’d come to the conclusion that the only way to bypass Jill’s issue of mixing a working relationship with pleasure was to cater to her fears, and that meant keeping the two totally and completely separate. Business would remain at the office, and pleasure and fun would come after hours, in a private, intimate setting he planned to establish this evening. No one would ever find out that they were seeing each other outside of the office, so there wouldn’t be any conflict of interest for Jill to worry about. Or any threat to her standing with Massey and Associates.

All he had to do was convince her to agree to the private affair he had in mind.

Now, after climbing over the stone wall surrounding the front of the Victorian house in which Jill lived in on the far end of a quiet residential street, he moved stealthy through her backyard and kept close to the lush foliage clinging to the one-story structure. Dressed in a pitch black t-shirt and jeans, and staying well hidden in the shadows of a few long limbed trees, he waited patiently for the right opportunity to put his plan into motion. To set the stage for a beguiling seduction beyond anything she’d ever imagined, and one she wouldn’t be able to refuse. At least not easily, if the combustible kiss they’d shared in the elevator was any indication.

He caught sight of Jill through a window leading into what appeared to be the kitchen. Adrenaline and anticipation rushed through him, and he continued to watch her as she poured herself a glass of wine, then disappeared down an adjoining hallway.

Keeping to the outter recesses of the yard, he followed her through the length of the house with nothing but moonlight leading his way, until she finally entered a large bedroom with a king-sized, four poster bed dominating the room. The French doors leading to a tiled patio were wide open, giving him an obstructed view of every move she made.

A brass lamp on the dresser gave off a soft illumination, and he watched as she strolled into the bathroom, set her glass of wine on the rim of the tub and turned on the faucet. She added a generous amount of liquid soap to the churning water before returning to the bedroom, where she stripped off her t-shirt, heedless of anyone’s presence.

Eric’s mouth went dry when her lacy bra followed, baring her gorgeous breasts to his gaze, which looked full and firm in contrast to her slim waist. The tips were crowned with raspberry hued nipples, and it didn’t take much to imagine them trembling against his stroking fingers, so sensitive beneath the soft scrape of his teeth, and hard and taut as he suckled her into his hot, hungry mouth.

He bit back a low groan at the lustful thoughts tumbling through his head. His groin throbbed, and he pressed a hand to his aching shaft, doing his best to rearrange and accommodate the erection straining uncomfortably against the fly of his jeans.

Her shorts came off next, sliding down her long, slender legs, leaving her clad in a pair of silky bikini panties that looked insubstantial enough to rip off of her in the throes of passion. The thin fabric didn’t quite conceal the shadowy cleft between her thighs, and the sight of her standing there half-naked and completely uninhibited was enough to bring him to his knees. He could only hope that he’d be fortunate to find himself in such an erotic position with her, to be able to press her thighs wide apart with his hands, inhale her warm female scent, and taste her desire with his lips, and the soft lick of his tongue.

He had to have her . . .

He scrubbed a hand through his thick hair, every nerve in his body strung tight as he waited for her to remove that last scrap of material. Much to his surprise and disappointment, she left her panties on while she dumped her clothes into the hamper, retrieved a pair of underwear and a nightgown from an armoire, then returned to the bathroom and the billow of steam curling from the tub. Setting her change of clothes on the vanity, she switched on a radio to a soft jazz station, turned off the water, and in one smooth motion shimmied out of her panties.

Sweet Jesus. Eric exhaled hard as he was graced with a quick glimpse of the smooth slope of her back and the more enticing curve of her buttocks, before she stepped into the steaming water and sat in the tub, immersing herself up to her neck in frothy bubbles.

He remained outside for another five minutes, just to make sure he had himself under control, and giving Jill time to lose herself in the relaxation of her bath.

Then silently, he made his way up to the house and came to a stop just outside the open double doors. Like the phantom lover he hoped to become, he kept himself blended in with the night shadows . . . and waited for the fantasy to unfold.