As Hot As It Gets Read Online Free Page A

would she have to go to get him into bed tonight? Her stomach fluttered at the thought of having to humiliate herself again, but what was truly more humiliating? Being so distracted by sexual fantasies that she wrecked her car, or taking charge of the situation and doing what a girl had to do to get her way?
    Claire would choose getting her way any day, even if a little begging was involved. “Are you really going to leave me in agony like this?”
    â€œWhat agony?”
    â€œI want you, Mason.” She slid one dress strap, then the other, down over her shoulders, until her breasts were revealed. “Please don’t make me beg.”
    If she wasn’t mistaken, Claire would have sworn she could see the color rising on his neck.
    â€œUs sleeping together would be a bad idea,” he said without much feeling.
    â€œOr maybe it would be the smartest thing you’ve done in a long time.” She took a half step closer, and her breasts were nearly pressed against his chest.
    She slid her hand up his arm and behind his neck. “Just kiss me, and then if you still think our sleeping together is a bad idea, you can walk away and I’ll never bother you again.”
    His gaze was locked on her mouth, and she knew she had him. “You’re a wicked woman.”
    â€œWicked can be lots of fun,” she whispered, right before their lips collided.
    Mason felt the satin texture of Claire’s lips, and then her tongue, against his, and he knew he was lost. It had been bad enough that he’d allowed himself to come to her room—damned crazy that he was kissing her.
    He slipped his hands around her narrow waist and pulled her against him. He wanted to inhale her, devour her. All her wild, high-strung energy was bound up in that one kiss, and Mason felt himself growing weak in the knees for the first time he could remember. An ache to have her spread from his groin to his fingertips, until he felt as if he were literally throbbing.
    She felt better than he’d imagined, and as she clung to him and explored with her tongue, he realized just how much imagining he’d been doing. Claire had been the object of quite a few fantasies since he’d met her, and while he’d always written it off as no big deal, it was.
    He wanted her as much as he’d ever wanted any woman—maybe more than he’d ever wanted anyone else, which proved that he had no common sense when it came to romance and no business engaging in serious relationships.
    But serious wasn’t what Claire wanted. She’d asked for one night only, and that, he could handle, right?
    Her hands slid under his shirt, across the bare flesh of his back, and the skin-on-skin contact put hissenses on high alert. He hadn’t felt so aroused since…since he couldn’t remember when. Too bad she made him absolutely crazy every time they tried to get to know each other.
    Crazy.
    That’s exactly what he was if he let this go on for another second. He’d come to Claire’s room because he’d been so full of nervous energy he hadn’t known what else to do. And he’d truly felt bad about slamming the door in her face. He’d hoped—and still did—that he could send her on her way with no hard feelings. Maybe offer her a free week’s stay at the Fantasy Ranch, which would put plenty of distance between himself and Claire.
    Distance was desperately needed right now.
    Mason summoned all his willpower and broke away from the kiss, then grasped Claire by the shoulders and put her at arm’s length. He gently slid each of her dress straps back onto her shoulders, covering her delicious breasts as he did so.
    She fired him a glare that could have leveled buildings. “I only came here tonight to prove to myself that you’re a lousy lover.”
    Now there was the Claire he remembered.
    â€œWhy would you need to prove that?”
    Her glare turned calculating.