Two minutes ago, he was thinking about work. Now, every thought in his brain revolved around the color of her panties. He guessed they were some shade of blue, mostly because he liked her in blue, but she’d pack a punch in any color. She folded her hands in front of her and glanced up, her gaze bouncing around the office before settling back on him. “I have a proposition for you.” A job. She needed a damn job. It was no secret Gavin had made the end of their marriage as nasty as its duration. Justin had watched it all play out in the news headlines from the safety of his corner office. She asked for money to start over and Gavin responded by producing a draconian prenup that reeked of lawyer misconduct. She filed for divorce citing Gavin’s adultery as her grounds. Gavin turned around and accused her of sleeping with half of his business associates. He played the wounded victim and cast Lauren in the role of whore. The very public pounding on her integrity only stopped after Justin stepped in and threatened behind-the-scenes to testify on her behalf. Lauren didn’t know the details. Didn’t need to, but Justin made sure his former friend backed off and walked away, after writing Lauren a check. But, protecting her didn’t mean Justin could tolerate the thought of seeing her around his office every day. He’d have to keep his dick on ice to survive that. He’d tried to save her twice already. He was done. This time, he’d preserve his sanity and leave her alone. “Look, Lauren, I’m not hiring. It wouldn’t work out anyway, but I can give you a few dollars to get you through.” Her hand shot up and waved him off. “This isn’t about money.” In Justin’s experience, almost everything was about money. Sex, marriage, work—it all boiled down to cash, knowing when to spend it and how much to put on the table. He had taken a fledgling company and turned it into a thriving multimillion-dollar business by manufacturing the desalination plant used on aircraft carriers. He’d found the military’s need and filled it by turning saltwater into drinking water. And now he was pushing to take that product into the domestic market, a plan that put him at odds with Gavin, his former corporate attorney. Different business interests and different views on Lauren had ended the men’s friendship, and Justin didn’t grieve for the loss at all. “Tell me what you want,” Justin said. She stopped drawing doodles with her finger and stared him down. “You.” Did she… “Excuse me?” “For three nights.” Without knowing the details, a voice screamed “yes” in his head. But he wasn’t dumb enough to rush in without more information, so he let silence fill the room for a few seconds. When she started fidgeting, he spoke up again. “For what exactly?” Her eyes scrunched up at the corners as she shot him that men-are-idiots look she did so well. “What do you think I’m talking about?” No way in hell was he going to put the sexy scene running through his head into actual words. Her naked, with her mouth on him. Yeah, he’d keep all of that quiet until he knew they were talking the same talk. “Let’s be clear. Just say it.” “Sex.” “Sex.” “With me.” Her angry tone suggested she didn’t sound all that excited about her proposal. “It’s not a big deal. We’ve been together before.” As if he needed that reminder. “That was different. Gavin invited me—” Her mouth flattened. “Don’t say his name.” Now Justin got it. This was revenge sex. Gavin had dragged another man into their marriage bed—Justin knew he was the only one to get that invite—and forced Lauren into playing games she couldn’t handle and didn’t want to learn. Now she wanted to get Gavin back for the humiliation. This amounted to one last battle in a bloodbath of a divorce. Justin wanted her. Like, rip-his-shirt-off-and-get-her-on-his-desk wanted her, but he had a few rules of his own. One was not to get involved in another couple’s game of search-and-destroy. He’d learned that lesson from Gavin and Lauren. No way was he taking a second trip down that road to nowhere. “Why?” Not the question he’d meant to ask, but Justin figured it worked as well as anything else he might have said. “I’m officially divorced.” Best damn news he’d ever heard. “Congratulations?” “Definitely.” She smiled for the first time. “As of yesterday, I am no longer Mrs. Gavin Fennimore. Not that I’ve used the name since we separated anyway.” Suddenly Lauren wasn’t the only one who hated the other man’s name. “What does that have to do with us?” Justin asked. “You know.” “Enlighten me.” She didn’t back down. Her gaze met his and would not let go. “Gavin took away my choice about what I did with my body, when and with whom.” Guilt splashed over Justin. All thoughts of sex and memories of her bare body died, replaced with the need to squirm. To apologize and come clean. “Lauren, if I had known you didn’t agree…” He stopped then. He had to. To go any further would be to lie to her. He didn’t want to do that. Not when he had inflicted so many other scars. Not when she stood there, beaten yet so proud, eyes filled with pain, and propositioned him. He knew it took a lot for her to walk into his office. Gavin had stolen her sense of security and picked at her will and self-esteem until there was little left to rebuild. “I get that you’re trying to prove something.” Justin understood that sentiment all too well. “Don’t make this into something it isn’t. We’re talking about sex. I need a partner I can trust.” That answered one question. She still didn’t know the truth about those three nights last year. “And you came up with my name?” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m not looking for a commitment or a promise of any kind. This is about the act and bodies, heat and chemistry, not romance or feelings.” “I get it.” “I just want a few days of sex without worrying about my safety or—” Ten more seconds of her sterile explanation and he’d never get a hard-on again. “When do we start?” She stuttered a bit then took a deep breath and started over. “Do you have any other plans for the next few evenings? If not, we may as well go tonight.” “You don’t exactly give a guy a lot of time to prepare, do you? Lucky for you, I don’t have any performance issues.” “Yeah, lucky.” He decided to ignore her lack of enthusiasm. “I can grab some wine and food and then come to your place.” “No need. This isn’t a date.” She dropped a hotel key on his desk. “Room twelve-eighteen. Just bring yourself and be ready.” Her detachment to the act was starting to piss him off. Sex without commitment he understood. Sex without excitement, now, that didn’t do much for him at all. “Should I watch porn before I get there to get me in the mood?” She didn’t even smile at his joke. “If that’s what you need to get off.” “I was kidding.” “I’ll see you at eight.” Then she turned around and took her sweet ass right across his office and out the door. He picked up the key and traced his thumb over the photo impression of the hotel on the front. These three nights would be better than the last three they’d spent together. Lauren would be his alone. And he vowed to give her only pleasure this time.