Excerpt from Power of Love
Sweet DreamsCara Compton woke from a deep sleep, bolting upright in her bed, her eyes wide in the dark room.
Holy smokes.
She ran her hands over her face and realized she was damp with sweat. And no wonder. Given that vivid, purely sexual dream...
Appalled at herself, needing to dissipate the effects of the dream, she threw back the sheet and sat up to turn on a lamp. The June weather had turned stifling hot, and no air stirred in her room. Trying to obliterate the tingling in her stomach and on her skin, she strode to the window to open it wider. It slid up easily, letting in a warm, restless breeze, and...
Her heart froze in her throat.
Across the way, in the same apartment complex but in the building adjacent to hers, the object of her hotter-than-hot dream stood at his own window. A soft light limned his body.
Jamison Lawton. Bare-chested. His hair mussed. Knowing he looked right at her, Cara lifted a limp hand to wave.
He braced his arms on the window frame above his head and stood there. Seconds ticked by.
She felt his intense scrutiny.
Ha. Silently mocking herself, she shook her head. Jamison couldn’t see her clearly enough for scrutiny, Cara assured herself. Not in the dark hours of the night. Not across such a distance. He could only see her outline, as she could see his. And being friends, he knew where she lived, so he knew which window was hers.
Suddenly he moved away and seconds later, her phone rang. The sound was so jarring in the silence of the night that she jumped and then dove on the bed to answer it.
“Hello?”
“You couldn’t sleep either?”
His voice sounded deep and rich, and oh so sexy. Why had she never before thought of him in terms of sexy?
Because she’d been too busy carving her niche in the business world. Getting ahead. Forging her independence.
“No, I couldn’t.” She hadn’t had time for men, not even an outstanding man like Jamison. “It’s... hot.”
“Too hot to sleep,” he agreed.
“Yeah.”
“Wanna take a swim?”
Take a... Cara looked around her room as if seeking the perfect reply. Nothing came to her. How could that be?
She’d made her mark by knowing what to say and how to say it. She had one of the most successful advertising businesses in the area. She’d started from ground zero and built things her way, on her schedule.
And now her brain was totally blank.
“Cara?”
“It’s late...”
“But neither of us is sleeping anyway. I figured you were awake because of your anniversary.”
“My anniversary?”
“Five years since you started the Sweet Dreams advertising company, right? Tomorrow is the day.”
“You remember that?”
A stretch of silence left her uneasy, until he said with a smile in his voice, “You’d be amazed what I remember, Cara.”
What did that mean? She licked her dry lips. “You’re good, Jamison. I had it marked on my calendar to help remind me.” She sat comfortably in the bed, stretched out her legs and crossed her ankles. Not that she’d really needed a reminder. She had so many things she’d sworn to accomplish in that timeframe.
“You’ve reached all your business goals and then some. You should be very proud of yourself.”
“Thanks.” So why did she feel so hollow tonight? Probably because she’d never thought of personal goals, and yet suddenly they were in the forefront of her brain.
With Jamison.
“Dreams woke me up,” he continued. “And then I couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Her heart started tripping again. “Dreams?”
“X-rated stuff.” His voice lowered and went gruff. “Sweaty stuff.”