Why Not Tonight?

Adam laughed. “Right.” He paused, then said, “Actually, she wasn’t just any woman. I know her. She used to live not five miles from here, and only a few blocks from my family.”

“Hell, I lived only a few blocks from your family.” He looked at the picture again. “Face isn’t ringing any bells. What’s her name?”

“Mallory Altman.”

Nick shook his head. “Not familiar, but you always had more girls than I could keep track of.”

“You and I had already graduated from high school when Mallory and her mom moved here from Chicago. I used to mow her lawn during the summer.”

“Man, you scored more chicks with that landscaping job. Helluva lot more than I did working in the photo lab.”

“Yeah, but that’s where you eventually found Annie and ended up with the real prize.”

“That I did.” He nodded toward the photos of Mallory. “So, anything ever happen between you two?”

He hesitated. He’d never told Nick about his love affair with Mallory. Nick had spent that summer traveling as part of a photography course. By the time he’d returned, Adam’s relationship with Mallory was over and he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Even now he still felt reluctant to tell Nick about his past intimate relationship with Mallory. “We were good friends.”

Clearly Nick deduced everything he needed to know in Adam’s hesitation because he nodded knowingly. “Gotcha. So why’d you break up? Was she lousy in bed?”

God. No. She’d been…perfect. “The timing just wasn’t right.”

“How’s the timing now?”

“She had these taken for her boyfriend.”

“Bummer, dude.”

“Nah. She’s the past. I’m looking forward to the future. Besides, I’d categorize her as a ‘long-term’ sort of woman-and right now, my ‘long-term’ is three, maybe four hours.”

Nick turned toward the front picture window and cleared his throat. “Speak of the devil…here comes your lingerie-wearing friend now.”

Adam looked toward the glass door and his heart performed a crazy somersault at the sight of Mallory striding across the street. Dressed in a bright pink sleeveless top and a full ivory skirt dotted with splashes of matching pink that flirted just above her knees, and cream high heels, she looked lovely, cool, feminine, and…really, really tempting. Like an ice-cream cone on a hot day from which you wanted to take a nice long lick.

He’d just finished sliding her proofs back into the envelope when she entered the studio.

“Hi, Adam,” she said with a smile. “I got your message about the proofs.”

“Hi, Mallory.” After uttering those two words, his powers of speech seemed to go into a holding pattern and he found himself staring at her, uncharacteristically tongue-tied. She’d pulled back her dark glossy hair into a loose, attractive knot, which left her neck bare. Her big brown eyes were surrounded by thick dark lashes, and the same smattering of gilt freckles he recalled paraded across her nose.

Unfortunately thoughts of freckles had him picturing the trio of dots he knew formed a triangle beneath her left breast. And the single tiny spot that graced the curve of her right buttock. Gorgeous, enticing spots he’d explored with his fingers and lips, tasted with his tongue.

Shoving the distracting images aside, he concentrated on her mouth. Oh, yeah, like that’s less distracting, his inner voice snickered. Her lips were just as he recalled, too-full and moist and currently highlighted with some sort of luscious-looking pink gloss. He knew exactly how those delectable lips felt and tasted: soft, plump, smooth and delicious. Knew exactly how her tongue felt rubbing against his-

Nick’s loud, pointed throat clearing jerked him from his reverie. After he’d introduced her to Nick, Mallory said to him, “Congratulations on your new baby.”

“Thanks. Hey, want to see her picture?”

“Love to.” She grinned. “As a photographer, I bet you just happen to have one or two.”

“More like one or two thousand,” Adam said with a laugh as Nick reached for his wallet.

“Oh, she’s adorable,” Mallory said, looking at the image of Caroline.

“Nick’s going to be sweeping guys off the front porch,” Adam teased.

Nick shot him “the look.” “Since she can’t date until she’s thirty, I have some time to purchase my broom.”

“Spoken like a true father of a daughter,” Mallory said, chuckling. “I think all dads swear the same thing.”

“And how does it work out?” Nick asked.

“You probably don’t want to know.”

They all laughed, then Adam handed her the manila envelope containing her proofs. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. How’d they turn out?”

Incredible. Too incredible. I haven’t been able to erase them-or you-from my mind. “I think they’re great, if I may say so myself, but it’s what you think that matters.” He glanced at the clock. “Do you have time for that cup of coffee? Or maybe even lunch?”

She hesitated for several seconds then nodded. “I have about an hour before I have to meet my next client.”

Adam refused to acknowledge the relief and anticipation that surged through him at her acceptance of his invitation. “Great.” He turned to Nick. “Think you can stay awake for an hour?”

“Yeah. Maybe. Probably. Hell, I don’t know. As long as I don’t sit down or close my eyes there’s a chance.” He lifted his colossal cup and waggled it. “Bring me another of these and a sandwich, okay?”

“You bet.”

Nick smiled. “I’ll be in the darkroom. I happen to have a few more rolls of film of Caroline to develop.”

“Only a few?” Adam teased. He looked at Mallory and shook his head. “That child is only a week old and already she’s had more photographs taken of her than the president.”

“Wait till you have a kid,” Nick said. “We’ll see how many pictures you take.” He yawned. “And how much sleep you get.”

With a wave, Nick headed toward the darkroom and Adam escorted Mallory across the room. Holding the door for her, her shoulder lightly brushed against his chest as she crossed the threshold and he sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. Then he inwardly frowned. How the hell could such a nothing touch affect him so strongly?

Because it’s Mallory, his inner voice informed him, and he realized it was true. It had always been that way with her and clearly some things never changed.

He caught an elusive whiff of a deliciously feminine, floral fragrance, which sizzled a bolt of heat through him that had nothing to do with the ninety-degree weather.

He gritted his teeth. Damn, if a mere brush and a whiff affected him like this, what the hell would happen if she really touched him? If he really touched her?

Based on their past relationship, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Fireworks. Spontaneous combustion.

But thanks to his traveling bachelor plans and her relationship, that wasn’t in the cards. Which was for the best since Mallory didn’t even come close to fitting into his traveling-the-world, woman-in-every-port bachelor plans.

Still, in spite of his best efforts not to think them, he couldn’t stop the words that echoed through his mind:

Talk about lousy timing…

3

Saturday, 1:00 p.m.

THE INSTANT MALLORY EXITED Picture This, a blast of hot air engulfed her and she suppressed a grimace. Thanks to her accidental brushing against Adam’s chest, she needed more heat like she needed a hole in her head. But at least she could blame the unwanted all-over body flush she’d experienced on the weather.

“Nothing like a heat wave in New York in July,” she remarked, her tone miraculously casual considering how… un-casual she felt. “It’s supposed to hit one hundred today. And tomorrow.”