see.”
“You’ll hypnotize me?”
He nodded. “I’ll do what I can, if you still want me to.”
She smiled and he saw relief in her eyes. “You’re stillJimmy, even if you call yourself Jim. I know I’m safe with you.”
He didn’t respond to that because she was busy ordering dinner, but in his mind he felt a real sense of panic growing. He wasn’t geek Jimmy anymore, too afraid to go for what he wanted. Which meant she wasn’t even remotely safe with him if she descended into sex kitten mode again.
On the other hand, he was finally getting a real shot at Nicky Taylor, one where she knew exactly who he was and wanted to spend more time with him. Sure it was twisted up with hypnotism and fantasies, but he wasn’t one to question luck—good, bad or twisted. Besides, he had a few questions burning in his head, things that only an open, responsive Nicky would answer.
Which meant he was going to do it. He was going to hypnotize her, and once she was under, he was going to find out exactly what a man had to do to get Nicky in his life forever. That was the new plan. Everything would be fine just as long as he kept his libido under control.
7
N ICKY FELT A TREMOR of anxiety skate down her spine as she stepped into Jimmy—er, Jim’s home. She remembered waiting for him on his porch. She remembered stripping off her blouse and the way he pushed her inside. Right over there was where she flattened herself against the stair and grabbed hold of the railing. And where he…
She swallowed and forcibly turned away from the marks her shoes had made on his wall. But the only other place to look was at Jim, and he was watching her with a kind of predatory gleam that was so unlike the Jimmy in her memory.
He didn’t speak, just arched a brow at her. It was a rather dashing look, really, filled with magical mystery and daring. Add to that her memory of his lean, sculpted body and her insides went liquid. Good lord, it was already starting! She was already wet from just stepping into his home.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” she murmured.
He shrugged, though there was a tightness in themovement. “It’s completely up to you, Nicky. It always has been.”
She nodded and looked at the door. She’d driven her own car here so that she could leave whenever she wanted, but she didn’t move. Her legs actually trembled at the idea of leaving. She wanted to be here. She wanted to be with him. And that was crazy.
“I have to find out what’s going on. I just need to understand.”
He nodded slowly. “I swear I’ll try to help however I can. You won’t be under any compulsion to tell me your secret fantasies. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“Like climb your wall and experience a screaming orgasm on your tongue?” She’d meant to make a joke of last night, to bring the pink elephant out into the open and laugh at it. But the moment she said the words, she nearly bit off her tongue. The memories were too close to the surface, too real to make light of them. And bringing them up like that just made her want to run back to her car…or climb up the stairway railing again. “Um, sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just starting to panic, you know. I don’t know what I want and I don’t understand—”
“Take a breath, Nicky. You’re safe with me, remember?”
She did. She took a deep breath and then another. But the hunger still simmered just beneath her skin. She needed…something. “I’m staying,” she said firmly. “I know you won’t hurt me.”
He nodded as if that’s what he expected her to say. “If nothing else, we’ll get some more data on exactly what’s going on.”
She blinked, then felt her expression soften intoa smile. “That sounded just like high school Jimmy Ray.”
He grimaced as if that weren’t a compliment. “I’m not Jimmy anymore, Nicky. I’m a grown man—”
“Hey!” she said, holding up her hand. “I liked Jimmy. I was young
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