Yesterday's Bride by Susan Tracy

as much dignity as she could muster, she straightened her spine and conceded.
    "All right, for now. But I'll give you a check when we get home."
    "Home?" Jason gave her a curious look, then shrugged. "As you like."
    After Jason dropped them off at the cottage, Leigh and Jody spent what was left of the afternoon coloring in the new book Leigh had bought. She judged a quiet activity to be a good idea since Jody had had an unusually full day.
    They had an early light supper, and before Leigh bathed Jody and dressed her in pajamas, she changed into her own robe. Then they curled up together on the living room sofa while Leigh read the little girl's favorite story, "Sleeping Beauty." She had just ended with "And they lived happily ever after," when she saw Jason, standing just inside the doorway. So engrossed had she been in reading that she hadn't heard him come in, nor had Jody.
    He put his attaché case down and walked over to the child, whose eyes were heavy with sleep.
    "Bedtime for you, little one," he said gently, picking her up.
    "Want Auntie Leigh, too," Jody murmured, so Leigh went along. She was now a permanent member in Jody's bedtime ritual.
    The good-nights completed, Leigh followed Jason from the bedroom, clutching at the folds of her amber silk robe.
    "I, er, thought you said you'd be late tonight," she said distractedly, wondering how long it would be before Jody was sound asleep enough for her to go back for her clothes.
    "I did expect to be, but I got away early." He dropped down on the sofa.
    "Have you had dinner? I could go and fix you something." Ill at ease, Leigh realized she was babbling, her voice sounding unnatural to her own ears.
    "I'll get something later."
    His eyes had not left her face, and Leigh felt the awareness flare between them with the suddenness of a brush fire. Nervously she licked her lips.
    "Well, in that case, I'll just go and…"
    "Leigh," his voice slid across the room to her, soft and silky. "Come here."
    He didn't move, didn't lift a finger, just sat and looked at her. Leigh was mesmerized, gazing back at him, and time seemed to slow, to stand still until nothing existed in that moment but the spell that held them.
    Leigh had known this was coming. She hadn't known when or where, but she was sure, all the same. She had seen it in his eyes today in the dressing room at the boutique, the small flame of desire that burned deep in the brown depths of his eyes. Jason Randall wanted her, and what Jason Randall wanted, he took. And the way her pulse was leaping, Leigh wasn't sure she could deny him.
    Without resistance she moved across the room toward him and let him pull her down beside him on the sofa.
    When his firm lips met hers, all conscious thought fled and her reflexes took over. Very lightly his lips touched hers, then moved to the corner of her trembling mouth, teasing until her nerves were screaming. He kissed her eyelids, her flushed cheeks, the tender hollow at the base of her throat. Leigh put her hand to his chest, feeling the heavy thud of his heartbeats. Slowly she slid her hands up to encircle his neck and to tangle in his crisp black hair. Her touch seemed to enflame him. With a groan he gathered her closer, sensuously molding her body to his.
    "Leigh, Leigh," he murmured into the fragrance of her silky tresses. "I've been waiting for this all day."
    His kisses deepened as his tongue teased her lips apart and he tasted the sweetness of her mouth. She responded with everything in her being, holding nothing back, giving kiss for kiss, caress for caress. She was floating in another dimension, caught in a fierce desire she had never known. She wanted him to hold her forever, to press her closer, to touch her, to love her.
    As if in tune with her pulsing feelings, Jason leaned back a fraction and looked into her cloudy gray eyes.
    "Come to my room, little wife," he whispered, his voice husky with desire.
    The words froze the bemused Leigh. She actually felt ice starting to