New and…Improved? & Andrew in Excess

coaxed. “Give me just one more night and I swear, I’ll ruin you for all other men.”

Because she knew he was just kidding, she shot him a sultry smile. “But then I’ll ruin you for all other women, too, and then what would you do?”

He laughed and they bent over their work once again. “I had a great time with you the other night,” he said after a moment. “I just wanted you to know that.”

His pretty blue eyes were genuine, and for once he wasn’t crowding into her space, flirting. “I had fun, too,” she said.

“Before or after you danced with Kent?”

She opened her mouth, but had to close it again.

“It was hard to miss those sparks flying between the two of you. Real hard.”

She busied her hands. Dennis stilled them by setting his bigger one over hers. “You’re looking pretty amazing, Bec. If good old Kent keeps getting hives over the thought of a relationship, let me know. I betcha I could get it right.”

He probably could. And maybe a few days ago she might have let him try. But suddenly her heart wasn’t in any sort of casual relationship adventure. No, she wanted more.

She wanted it all.

THIS IS STUPID. Kent told himself over and over again as he showered, dressed and drove to pick up Becca. A date. With a woman he not only worked with, but one who was his friend. It was trouble with a capital T, no matter how he looked at it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

But then her door opened and Becca was standing there, smiling at him, such an absolute vision she took his breath. She wore a long floral dress, with a row of tiny, delicate buttons down the front that begged a man to go after them one at a time. The lace bodice scooped low enough to show off rich, warm looking curves and the skirt flared gently over her slim hips.

He thought he might never get used to seeing her, really seeing her. But it wasn’t the outfit that stunned him, or even her glorious body.

It was her eyes, and the way they sparkled with excitement, fear, nerves…everything he was feeling. Warning signals went off in his head, blaring, honking, tooting. Beware. Attachment alert!

You’re falling, your parachute has failed and there’s no back-up equipment.

Vacate the premises immediately.

No. No, he was fine. All he had to do was remind them both, right this second, that this was just fun. No future. No commitment. Just fun.

Yeah, that’s all he had to do. He took the last step, until he stood in the doorway with her, gripping the jamb with either hand, a mere inch separating their bodies.

Say it.

Oh, man. Her eyes were huge and full of mysteries, and he had this strange, burning desire to know each of them.

And just when he needed it the most, the panicking little voice inside his head went silent.

When her breath caught at their closeness, his blood surged with heat, but it was the tenderness and affection that floored him.

It felt right to run his hands up her arms, over her shoulders, to her throat, until he cupped that now serious face in his palms.

And it felt even more right to smile down at her and gently, lightly, glide his mouth over hers. Again.

Then again.

When he pulled back, her eyelids fluttered open and she drew a deep, unsteady breath. “What was that for?” she whispered.

He hadn’t an earthly clue. He couldn’t even remember the thought process he’d used to go from reminding her they were just friends to kissing her. His mind was mush, complete mush.

There should be some sort of back-up process for when this happened. After all, he couldn’t be the only man on earth to lose all the blood in his brain over one little embrace. “It was our goodnight kiss,” he improvised.

“We haven’t gone out yet.”

“Oh yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We’d better hurry then.”

“Well,” was all she said. She gripped her hands together and smiled shyly, but there was a good amount of mischief in that smile as well. “So you were only planning on giving me one goodnight kiss?”

His pulse leaped. “I didn’t want to seem too forward.”

“Not at all,’ she whispered, her lips parting as he slid his fingers in her hair to better angle her head for another kiss. “And if you wanted to give me another one, too…you know, while you’re at it, I wouldn’t mind.”

They were laughing when their mouths connected again, and Kent had time to think that he’d never felt like laughing and kissing at the same time before, that it was the most lovely, joyful feeling in the world, but then he couldn’t think at all because the touch of her, the taste of her, closed off his brain to everything but sensation.

Immediately their sizzling connection spiraled out of control. There were other sensations; the sounds of the street behind him, the wind rippling the pines, the soft music playing from inside her condo, but it all faded away. Everything was gone except for this woman in his arms.

She felt it too, he could hear it in her sigh of shock, surprise, need. It was the last that made him groan and pull her closer, deepening the kiss because he had to have more, just a little more.

She gave it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed tight and opened to him. More sensations burst in his head, white-hot passion and an unquenchable desire.

He turned and pressed her against the door, holding her body captive, only it wasn’t necessary, she was willing and able and making small, needy little murmurs in her throat as she tried to get even closer to him.

This had never happened, came his vague thought. Never. In another two seconds, they were going to be clawing at their clothes, dropping each other to the floor to ravish, and…

“Holy smoke.”

At the sound of Summer’s voice, Becca jerked and moved back, but it took Kent longer to blink himself into awareness and remove his arms from around her.

She stood behind them, in Becca’s condo, her mouth open, her eyes wide. “Wow. Just wow.” She was tall, willowy and stunning. Her long blond hair was perfectly groomed, not a one out of place. She wore a snug, short black dress, thigh-high boots and looked so glossy and finished, Kent could easily imagine her walking down any model runway in the world.

By contrast, he was standing there with his shirt untucked and half-unbuttoned-when had that happened? He supposed he should consider himself lucky his pants were fastened over an uncomfortably hard erection.

Her very red lips smiled as if she could read his mind.

“I thought you were gone already,” Becca said shakily, running a hand through her hair. Her lips were wet and swollen. Her lipstick was long gone, he’d chewed it off and could still taste the strawberry flavor.

“Nope,” Summer said, grinning.

Becca let out a long breath and looked down at herself as if checking to make sure she was all together. “We were just…”

“Yes, I can see that.” Summer laughed when Becca blushed. “I was getting hot just watching the two of you go at it.” She eyed them both. “You ought to think about taking it inside next time. Like to a bedroom.”

“My sister thinks she’s amusing,” Becca said, throwing Summer a warning look.

Summer ignored it and turned to Kent. “What do you think of Becca’s new look?”

Becca shifted uncomfortably. “Summer-”

“I think she looks nice.”

“Nice.” Summer nodded. “Well, there’s a word, huh? Quite the description. Every little thing about her is completely different. Her hair, her makeup, her clothes, everything.”

“Not everything is different,” he said, turning to look into Becca’s carefully made up face, sans lipstick. She seemed a bit wan suddenly. Stressed. “You still have the same insides, don’t you?” he