Negotiation Tactics by Lori Ryan [romance/suspense] Page B

and she was glad to have the time to herself. She didn’t regret last night, but she did hope it didn’t destroy the friendship they had. She wanted Chad in her life.
    Jennie’s mind flashed back to the sight of Chad standing above her, heat burning in his eyes, need evident in every sculpted muscle of his body. She remembered the feel of Chad’s mouth and hands on her body. Then Chad brought her body to places she had never dreamed of going. And, she couldn’t fight him. She couldn’t fight the draw of him.
    She’d been in ecstasy last night when he took her from one orgasm to the next with ease. The feel of his hard, strong body over her, inside her, taking her over… It was primal and raw and even the memory was enough to make her ache with need again.
    But her body was now warring with her heart and her mind and the memories of her husband. Jennie was still in love with a man she could never hold again, never make love to again. There wasn’t room in her heart for Chad. She’d had her one night with Chad. She needed to put him out of her mind now.
    In a near daze, Jennie pulled on her clothes and went out the sliding glass doors to the small patio off the bedroom. She sat in one of the chairs and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on her knees.
    As she sat, she let the memories of another trip to the beach wash over her. She and Kyle had been young when they married, so a trip to a tropical getaway like this hadn’t been possible. But their families had rented them a little house in Hilton Head for the week. The road trip down had been one of the happiest times Jennie could remember.
    At the time, she’d thought they had so much ahead of them. A whole lifetime. A whole lifetime. That turned out to be not very long at all.
    They were so carefree then. Before the doctors and the hospitals and the fear. Before the knowledge that Kyle wasn’t going to make it. That there’d be no miracle for him – for them.
    She never told any of her friends how hard she and Kyle had tried to get pregnant after the diagnosis. She worried that people would think she was sick and twisted for wanting to have her dying husband’s baby. But, she didn’t care. She’d wanted to have his baby so badly. But they hadn’t been lucky enough. Most likely, the chemo had either made him sterile or lowered his sperm count so much that pregnancy would have been all but impossible.
    Jennie looked out onto the beach and remembered the sand castle she and Kyle had built on their honeymoon. They’d built bedrooms in their castle. One for them and three others, one for each of the children they’d hoped to have someday. They were so young and hopeful then. So completely naive and clueless about what lay in store for them.
    ***
    Chad stopped when he spotted Jennie on the patio. She hadn’t seen him yet so he watched her quietly. He knew instantly that he’d made a big mistake. A selfish, heartless mistake that Jennie was now paying for. She may have said she wanted that to happen last night, but he could see the anguish and sadness that surrounded her right now. She looked small and alone.
    Chad cursed and knew he had to make sure she knew he would never push for them to be together as lovers again. He wouldn’t put her through that even once more. He slowly walked toward her chair. As he approached the villa, the phone rang and he saw Jennie slip inside to answer it. He picked up his pace and jogged the last yards.
    Jennie looked up when she saw him come in.
    “Hey, Jack,” she said into the phone. “Chad just came in. Let me put you on speaker.”
    “Morning Jack,” Chad said as he grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the couch opposite Jennie.
    “Hey, guys. Kelly says hi and she’s not showing any signs of going into labor yet, so enjoy your last few days,” Jack said.
    Jennie looked up and smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. He needed to find a way to forget the most amazing night of his life, but he hoped