a wild, crazy dance. A dance of kisses. A dance of stolen laughter. A dance of silliness at first, yet transformed by the rhythm of silk and shadows into something darker, richer. Sexier.
He murmured something, into her hair, onto her throat, a whisper that tickled her skin, tingled her senses. She lifted her arms to loop around his neck, wanting to look at him, to understand what was going on.
He looked back, but his eyes were too dark, too mesmerizing. His palms skidded down her sides, taking in ribs, waist, hips, shaping her, learning her. Then he bent down for another sweep of a kiss, this one involving teeth and tongues and pressure.
She curved closer, spine bowed, so her breasts and belly could rub against him. She hadn’t felt this ignition charge since…since he’d first kissed her. But that was controllable. This wasn’t. The divorce had brought on an epic stretch of sexual deprivation. But desire so fierce, so luscious, that she couldn’t catch her breath?
He made her feel it. The desire to risk all. The brand of need that tangled every nerve in the body. Abandonment. That’s what she wanted. Just once in her life. To abandon all reason, all good sense, and just give into the power of this man, this moment, this incredibly powerful wildness.
A dog suddenly barked. Not his hound. Not her Darling. A neighbor’s dog…reminding her-and apparently Mike- that they were in the middle of a neighborhood. His head shot up. She lifted hers at the same time.
This wasn’t a Shangri-la with fireflies.
It wasn’t a fantasy.
It was real life. With both their kids behind screened doors mere yards away.
“Good grief,” she murmured, aware that her shorts seemed to be unbuttoned, her tee dragging off her shoulder. That his tee had been pushed up. Possibly even by her…since no one else appeared to be glued to him.
“Hell,” he responded. Then, “You want to hear I’m sorry?”
“No, of course not. It just…happened. I don’t believe you planned this. And I sure as heavens didn’t.”
He nodded, relief in his face as he stepped back.
“Good thing we understand each other. Nice to have a friend where you don’t have to sweat guilt or regrets or explanations all the time.”
“You said it,” she said. Somehow her voice came out oddly hollow. “Thank heavens we’re just friends.”
Thankfully, sanity returned with daylight…and more sanity shored up after days passed without seeing her neighbor. The mosquito bites faded. The mark on her throat slowly disappeared. The raw feeling in her heart… Well, she banished it. As she was sure Mike had.
They’d been a pinch away from making love. Out side. In the grass. With the fireflies and mosquitoes. In public.
Well.
That certainly wouldn’t happen again.
“When’s Daddy coming?” Molly asked-for the fifth time in the past five minutes.
Thom had been due a half hour ago. “Any minute now.”
“He said we were going to do something special. He said it was a surprise.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Daddy said he’s going to buy me a bunch of stuff.”
“Did he?” Amanda lifted the brush. They’d already done Molly’s hair. Twice. But Molly wanted it “perfect.”
“Daddy said we’ll have so much fun that I can stay overnight next time.”
“I’m sure he believes that’s true, lovebug.” And it would happen when hell froze over, but Amanda didn’t say that to Miss Priss. The outfit for the day, after long deliberation, was a panda-bear tee in purple and pink, pink capris, sandals with panda-shaped bows and, of course, sunglasses with the same motif. Molly, naturally, had coordinated it all.
Amanda contributed a bag with bug spray, sunscreen and a variety of healthy snacks to hand to her ex. The jerk wouldn’t think of any of that. He’d be too busy buying off his daughter.
Just a half hour before, the mail had arrived-and she’d gotten the letter from Friend of the Court, expressing Thom’s request for full joint custody. She knew why he wanted it. So he could cut her child support.
“Can I go outside, Mom?”
“Sure. We’ll wait outside.”
Thom was just pulling in. The car was brand-new, a gleaming black hybrid. The devil stepped out, looking handsome as sin-white smile, cool shades, the same elegant posture and walk that had drawn her attention to begin with.
It was embarrassing to remember how naive she’d been back then.
Molly yelled, “Daddy!” And he swung her up and around in his arms as if hoping the whole world was watching-with a camera-so he could prove how much his daughter adored him.
Which Molly certainly did. She chattered ten for a dozen as she crawled into the backseat, automatically strapping herself into the child’s seat. He glanced up, said, “Amanda” as if he’d just noticed her.
“You’ll have her back by seven?” Amanda said.
“I’m sure you’ll call me if I’m five minutes late.”
His tone was snotty. She let it go.
Still, seeing him invariably provoked some icky memories. Discovering all Thom’s cheating had been a blow-but the worse blow had been his explanations. He actually believed that he was entitled. That casual sex with others “didn’t take anything away” from her. He believed they had a terrific life, including a great sex life, so what he did in his spare time would never have mattered, if she just hadn’t found out.
Oh, yeah. He’d also mentioned that becoming a mother had made her less physically attractive, less attentive, less adventurous and fun.
He must have thought she needed that extra kick in the teeth.
Now she thought…maybe she had. Because that fight had given her the momentum to kick him out.
She waved goodbye to Molly until the black car turned the corner, then whipped around. She had tons to do today. Drapes. Closet organizing. Rug issues. All the kinds of new-home projects that were boring for Molly, and Amanda could accomplish twice as fast if she were alone.
She’d just reached for the front doorknob when a car pulled into Mike’s driveway. Two people emerged from the steel-gray Volvo. The woman, stepping from the passenger side, was a stunner. Salon blond. Tall and sleek, doing the safari linen and khaki style thing. A toned figure that made any normal woman want to slap her.
Mike’s ex, Amanda assumed.
But the car’s driver was the shocker. The man climbing from the driver’s seat was sneezing into a handkerchief. He was a little guy with a sweet face and a comb-over. He wore an immaculate white polo, with creased shorts that unfortunately revealed bony, ropy legs. Possibly he weighed in at one hundred and fifty pounds, after a stuffed dinner. Possibly.
She wasn’t
The hound and cat looked excited to see the visitors. Teddy was hanging on tightly to Mike’s hand.
The driver of the car took one look at the animals, and dove back in the car, sneezing several times in succession. Mike, who had a disreputable look to start with, looked even less shaved, less brushed, less kempt than usual. More sexy. But he definitely had made a point of looking just-woken-up and didn’t-give-a-royal-fig.
The blonde crossed the walk, bent down, took Teddy’s hand. The squirt was holding back tears, but he talked to his mother and was eventually coaxed into the backseat of the Volvo.
“I’ll have a cell phone on all day,” Mike told her.
“He’ll be fine with me.” To Teddy, in a sugary voice, she said, “We’re going to have a great day, honey, I promise. And George is really looking forward to our day together.”
When the Volvo backed out of the driveway, Mike was still standing there, flanked by the hound and the cat. He spotted her when he turned.
Amanda had a flashback of fireflies and a wild, erotic mating dance…but she tamped that memory down. “
“You mean, the guy?”
“Yeah.”
