He grabbed her arms with both hands and held on tight. At the same time his tongue pushed into her mouth, plunging and exploring with enough heat to set Texas on fire. She was instantly lost in erotic sensations as she strained to get closer, kiss deeper. To feel everything.
His mouth was hungry, giving and taking. She met him stroke for stroke. Every part of her body yelled for attention. Her breasts ached, her legs trembled and that place between her thighs clenched tightly.
Nick pulled back and stood. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Izzy drew in a slow breath and smiled. Oh, yeah. That was good. There was no mercy kissing going on in this world. Nick wanted her as much as she wanted him. Maybe more.
She rose to her feet and felt like a cat in the sun. All languid and content. If she knew how to purr, she would have.
“Just checking,” she said. The confidence she’d been missing since the explosion all rushed back. “You’re good- looking, right? My sisters said you were hot, but they might have been saying that to be nice. Because of what you’re doing for me.”
“What?” He sounded both confused and outraged. “Your sisters?”
“I’m asking because I generally date good-looking guys. I know it’s shallow of me, but it’s a standard. Part of my charm, I guess.”
“We’re not dating.”
She held in a laugh. There it was. The clench-teeth voice she was growing to adore. If only she could see the look on his face. She would bet his eyes glowed with annoyed fire and that he had tightened his fists in frustration. It was good to be her.
“I know.” She reached up and patted his cheek. “I mean, we’re already living together. But we’re involved and I do have my reputation to think of. Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask Aaron. He’ll tell me the truth. Hmm, now that I think about it, Aaron’s always going on about how yummy you are, so never mind. I have my answer.”
“We are
She tilted her head. “Silly man. You can’t kiss me like that and think there aren’t going to be consequences.”
He muttered something she couldn’t hear.
“Vowing never to kiss me again?” she asked with a smile. “We both know that’s not going to happen.” She moved closer, until they were touching everywhere and she could feel his arousal. “Want to test the theory?”
She expected him to cut and run. Instead he ran his fingers down the side of her face, then rubbed his thumb across her mouth.
“This is a mistake,” he said in a low voice that made her shiver. “All of it. I don’t get involved. Ever.”
Her mouth went dry. She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “Are you challenging me? I love a good challenge.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her with a hungry passion that made her ache with longing. He claimed her with his mouth, even as his hands moved up and down her back.
She wanted to get closer to him, to crawl inside him. She wanted them both naked. She wanted to touch every inch of him, and have him touch her in return. She wanted breathless cries of surrender. She wanted him filling her, taking her, making her scream.
He pulled back. “I can’t do this.”
She stared at him, wishing she could see his face as more than blurry features she couldn’t make clear. “Why?”
“Because I can’t be what you need.”
“Cryptic guy statements never do it for me. Let’s talk about something else. Like how much you want me.”
“Wanting you isn’t the problem,” he said and abruptly left.
He was good at leaving, she thought. Too good. Which meant he did it a lot. Fine by her-she wasn’t looking for anything permanent. She wanted Nick and she would get him. In her bed…or his.
She laughed as she headed for the barn. For the first time since the explosion, she felt fully like herself again. Izzy was back and Nick had better watch out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GARTH PARKED HIS CAR and reached for the grande latte from Starbucks. Extra foam, two sugars, just the way Kathy liked it. He tried to get over to Titanville every few days, but didn’t always make it. Sometimes he got busy, sometimes he couldn’t face Kathy’s happy smile and trusting expression.
He told himself she was fine. That she didn’t remember much about what she’d been like before. He told himself that she loved the pet store and that he should be relieved he was able to take care of her. Sometimes he nearly believed it. Most of the time he didn’t.
He’d bought the pet store for her about twelve years ago. He had a manager in place and plenty of employees. Kathy didn’t have any specific responsibilities. She mostly took care of the animals and decided which ones got adopted by whom. He’d heard she had a gift for matching the right person with the right pet. Not that he gave a damn. As long as she enjoyed her day, the rest of the world could go to hell.
He walked into the brightly lit store and nodded at the teenager behind the counter.
“Hi, Mr. Duncan,” she said.
“Morning, Luanne. How are things?”
Code for “How is Kathy today?”
“Good. She’s good.”
He tried to remember when his mother had changed to “Kathy.” Because that was how he thought of her now. He had for years. She didn’t mind. To her, their relationship was in the past tense, as if it were a story someone had told her. She used to have a son. He didn’t know what he was to her now or how she thought of him. She was always happy to see him, but she was happy to see everyone. It wasn’t personal.
He heard voices in the back of the store and walked toward them. He would guess that Kathy was interviewing someone to discover if they were worthy of a bird or a kitten. But when he stepped around a large display of cat litter, he saw a tall woman in a familiar uniform. She looked up at him, raised an eyebrow, then returned her attention to Kathy.
“You have a visitor,” Dana Birch, Titanville deputy, said.
Kathy turned toward him. Her whole face lit up as she smiled broadly. “You came to see me.”
She always sounded surprised, as if each visit were a treat.
“Hi, Kathy,” he said as he approached. He kissed her cheek, then handed her the coffee. “Just how you like it.”
Kathy took the container in both hands and sighed. “He always brings me coffee. Isn’t Garth nice?”
Dana eyed him with all the affection one would give a colony of ants at a picnic. “He’s just swell.” She nodded. “Garth.”
“Dana.”
She tapped the name tag on her dark blue shirt. “Deputy Birch.”
“But we’re so close now.”
He didn’t like that she was here. The need to protect his own made him want to lash out. He held back because this wasn’t the time.
While he and Dana had never been officially introduced, he knew who she was. She was more than one of the deputies in town, she was close friends with the Titan sisters. She knew all about his plan to take down the family and was determined to stop him. Objectively he knew that her perseverance and loyalty were a testament to her good character. But if she got in his way, he would crush her just like he planned to crush Jed Titan and his daughters.
“Dana is my friend,” Kathy said between sips of her latte.
“Yes, I am,” Dana said. “But now that Garth’s here, you’ll want to talk to him, so I’m going to go. I’ll see you in
