Blind Date Disasters & Eat Your Heart Out

chin, removing the dust. “It doesn’t look so good on you.”

4

CAMI IGNORED HIM .

Tanner expected no less. But as she reached for the door, she hesitated.

“Cancel,” he whispered in her ear.

“Back off,” she said to the wood. “You’re making my knees weak.”

“Really?” In a sick sort of male way, hearing that pleased Tanner greatly.

Clearly, it didn’t please her. “I promised to go,” she said.

Tanner’s mouth was only inches away from her nape. His chest nearly brushed her back. He caught the scent of her shampoo and the scent of her as a woman. Soft, sweet. Sexy.

Incredibly, his mouth watered with the need to nibble at her, and the urge to put his hands out and hold the front door closed became incredibly strong. He took a deep breath and let the air out slowly.

In response, she shivered.

Stunned by the unexpected sexual tension shimmering between them, he stared at the back of her head. He’d been out of the world for an entire year, caring for his dad. Still, he’d managed to have casual dates here and there. Not once had he felt this need to grab a woman and hold on, and he didn’t think he liked it.

“I have to go,” she whispered, just a little shakily, assuring him he wasn’t alone in this insanity.

“Just say you’ve come down with date-itis,” he said. “That you break out in hives at restaurants, that you drool when you eat.”

Her shoulders went back. “I never drool.”

He watched the strap of her sundress slide down her arm, and before he could stop himself, he straightened it, his fingers skimming over all that creamy skin.

She shivered again, and he nearly moaned. “Say you made a mistake, you already have a date for tonight, and first come, first served.”

She looked at him, her eyes dark, so very dark. “But I don’t have another date.”

He could drown in those eyes, if she wasn’t such a pain in the ass. “I could take you out,” he heard himself say.

“What?”

He was crazy. That was the only explanation for what his mouth had just said without his brain’s approval. “Well, I was here first,” he told her. “You don’t mean it. You don’t even like me that much.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Really? What do you like about me?”

“I…” He liked the way she looked wet out of the shower without a towel, but he doubted that was the correct answer that would win him the prize he wasn’t even sure he wanted.

“That’s what I thought.” Again she reached for the door.

“Wait.”

“I can’t. I can’t go out with you, even if you liked me, which you don’t. We’re too different.”

“How?”

“You listen to obnoxiously loud music, for one.”

“And you listen to music that makes my teeth hurt. I don’t hold it against you.”

“Okay, fine. You want a better reason? You’re a morning person.”

She said this as if he was a convicted criminal, which made him laugh. “I could teach you to like the mornings,” he promised in a voice both teasing and seductive.

Her eyes darkened even more. “Don’t talk in that voice.”

“What voice?”

“The one that makes my knees weak.”

“I thought me standing too close made your knees weak.”

“Be quiet.” She pulled open the door.

Her date smiled, showing teeth that did appear to be his own, Tanner noticed. And he definitely had hair. It was just a bad twist of karma that he looked like the Pillsbury dough boy.

Cami’s furtive glance over her shoulder at Tanner seemed to dare him to point that fact out, but he smiled innocently.

No need to point out the obvious.

Cami introduced the men, and while they sized each other up, she excused herself to go get her purse.

Tanner followed her into the kitchen because it pleased him to have the run of the place while Ted had to stand politely at the door where Cami left him.

“Don’t say a word,” she warned him, grabbing the strap of her purse, which promptly snapped, spilling everything to the floor.

One lipstick, a brush and a set of keys rolled out.

Oh, and a condom.

Tanner picked it up and wondered at the strange tightening of his stomach. “Thought you knew how to say no at the end of a date,” he said casually.

She snatched it out of his hand and shoved it into her purse. “These days a woman needs to be prepared.”

The thought of her having sex tonight, with that sloppy guy at her front door-hell, with any guy-made him want to lock her in her bathroom. But that didn’t make any sense at all. He didn’t care who she went out with. Didn’t care who she slept with. He only cared that she had a honey of a place he wanted to work on. “Prepared?”

“Yes, prepared. You might have heard of safe sex.”

“Prepared would be more than one condom, Cami.”

“That’s a man for you.”

He narrowed his gaze. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing, except for my sister was right. To men, having condoms in your wallet is a form of…bragging. To a woman, it’s smart.”

“It’s smart for me, too. But one condom…now, that just seems a little pessimistic.”

She snorted.

“Don’t you like multiple orgasms?” He had no idea why he asked her that, but her reaction duly sidetracked him.

Her jaw dropped. A blush worked its way over her face. She didn’t meet his gaze.

“Or didn’t your sister ever mention those?” he wondered.

“That’s quite personal,” she managed to say.

“Don’t you think?”

“I think you’re dodging the question. Sex is just a form of communication. You should be able to talk about it.”

“Not everyone is as blunt as you.”

“Nope. Nor as honest.”

“Fine, you want honest?” She licked her lower lip. Then spoke in a whisper. “I’ve never had multiple orgasms.”

Now he was the shocked one. She was beautiful. Really, earth-stoppingly beautiful. How was it she’d never-

“I’m not a virgin,” she said quickly. “I just-”

“Cami?” This came from the foyer. Clearly Ted had gotten antsy, probably wondering if she was escaping out the back door.

For a moment, she looked as if she might. “Look, I have no idea why I’m telling you all this,” she whispered to Tanner. “Just…just good night. Lock up when you go.”