Her Sexiest Mistake

'Well, if questions annoy you, brace yourself, because I have one more.' He took a step toward her, and, damn it, she took an automatic one back, nearly tripping over her one good heel, coming up against his desk.

'Have you asked yourself why you're really here?' he wondered. 'In my office? Growling at me, with steam coming out your pretty ears, while your even prettier eyes are saying something else entirely?'

'What? You're crazy.'

'Admit it,' he said very softly, taking the last step, bringing them toe-to-toe. His hand came up, and he glided the backs of his fingers along her jaw. 'You came here this morning, twice, and you know what I think? I think you can't keep your eyes-'

He broke off with a raised brow when she lifted her hands and fisted them in his shirt. To shove him away, she told herself, but she didn't.

'-or your hands, off me,' he finished.

Her fingers sank into the material of his shirt, feeling the heat, the strength of him beneath. 'I want to-'

'Yeah…?'

'Kick your ass.'

He let out a soft laugh. 'Bring it on, Apple.'

She felt herself stiffen. 'Oh, I'll bring it on, I'll-'

'What?'

She tipped her head up to his, saw the heat and intent in his eyes a beat before he murmured 'Shh' and lowered his face, taking her mouth with his and beginning a slow simmer inside her.

The kiss started *out sweet, soft, but cranked to intense quickly, a hot, deep, wet connection that reminded her that their bodies knew each other, craved each other like air, and that being this close was inviting the inexplicable maelstrom that occurred every time she let him put his hands on her. She stopped thinking then, just let herself feel, starting with the pure sensation of his solid, hard-muscled body against hers and ending with the heat of his mouth as he deepened the kiss.

He put his hands on her now, in her hair, holding her face, then with a groan glided them down her body, touching everything he could as he trapped her between the hard desk and his tough body. He stroked her breasts, then slid his hands beneath her clothes to warm her flesh with his hands, and the simmer burst into flames.

When he finally pulled back, she was grateful to have the desk behind her holding her up, because he'd just decimated her, burst right through her every single defense with one simple kiss.

Simple? Ha! She'd never been kissed so thoroughly, so deliberately, so absolutely fully.

He staggered back a step himself, looking surprised and just as shaky. 'There,' he said in a voice low and ragged and satisfyingly hoarse. 'You're finally speechless. I like you that way.'

She stared at him, let out a sound of disgust, and pushed past him to the door. 'You're an ass.'

'And bad in bed,' he reminded her. 'Don't forget that part.'

She slammed the door behind her, a gaffe that surely announced in a scream how he affected her, but she couldn't seem to help it. No more, she told herself. No more. She was Mia Appleby, ad exec, queen of her world, and no one made her crazy. She kept her cool at all times.

She stalked past the front door, which was now filling up with teenagers in various states of summer dress and insolence, though she didn't see a single goth teen. A small part of her wondered how the hell the Southern, small- town Hope was going to fit in here with all these sophisticated big-city kids.

When she stepped out into the sunlight, her heart was still pounding, her nipples hard, her thighs quivering, and she stopped worrying about Hope entirely.

Because her car was gone.

***

After that steamy kiss, and then Mia's furious escape, Kevin let his wobbly knees collapse, and he slid weakly into his chair.

'Mr. McKnight?' Sara, the college student who supervised the kids for the morning hours at the center, stood in his doorway. 'You okay?'

'Yes, of course.'

'You didn't answer my knock-'

'Sorry.' Sex on the brain. 'What can I do for you?'

'You've got to get to the high school, right?'

Ah, shit. 'Yeah.' He stood up again, locked his knees in place, and hoped he didn't have Sucker-Kissed written all over his face. 'Thanks.'

She smiled at him, then vanished.

Kevin did his best to shake off the sensual languor sapping his strength and headed toward the door. What had he told himself?

No more, Mia, that's what.

And what had he done the second she'd touched him?

He'd been all over her.

But telling himself no more and actually following through were two different things. She was a puzzle, and he liked puzzles. She presented herself as a sophisticated, elegant businesswoman without an inch of softness or weakness, but he'd seen flashes of both now. Oh, yeah, she was a mystery, one he'd enjoy unwrapping if he didn't suspect it came packed with deadly explosives.

As he left out the back way of the teen center, cutting across the football field toward the high school, he wondered if she'd come knocking tonight.

But all fanciful wondering ceased abruptly when he caught sight of his classroom, one window open, the screen flapping in the breeze, and an Audi in the middle of the field.

***

Mia stood on the sidewalk staring at the spot where her car had been. Then she whipped out her cell phone to call Tess.

'Did you get a good eyebrow pencil?' her assistant asked sweetly in lieu of a greeting. 'Or did you just plan on losing your other one today?'

'Ha ha.'

'Good, you're going to need a sense of humor today. Layoffs are imminent.'

'Damn it. Who?'

'Don't know.' Tess sounded a little stressed. 'But I can bet you it's at my level, not yours.'

'Shit.'

'It's okay. I'm too good to be fired.'

'Well, that's the truth. I'd die without you there. Speaking of there, and getting there… I have a little car issue.'

'No. No, no, no. You have the Anderson people due here in… Ohmigod, twenty minutes. Mia-'

'I'll be there, but if I'm a few minutes late, ply them with coffee and donuts.' She snapped the cell phone shut. She was going to kill Hope.

Turning in a slow circle of frustration, she stopped halfway, staring in shock at the football field between the school and the teen center.

There was a car in the middle of it. Some idiot had parked on the grass and-

She shielded her eyes from the sun so she could see more than just the outline of the car and felt a fresh onslaught of temper.

Her car.