New and…Improved? & Andrew in Excess

closer to her. “Open it.”

Momentary reprieve arrived in the form of Umberto carrying two generous servings of gnocchi. When he left, muttering over the two barely touched salads he’d cleared away, Andrew pressed the box into Kat’s hand. “Just take a look at it.”

With a decided lack of enthusiasm, she cracked the box open and stared at the ring, speechless, which seemed a novel state for Kat from what he’d observed thus far. Finally she pulled it out. The fiery iridescence of the opal flanked by twin sapphires came to life in the light. “It’s beautiful. Simply beautiful.”

“I’m glad you approve. You didn’t seem like the diamond type.”

“I’m not. I’m just surprised…” Her voice trailed off, as if loath to finish the thought.

“What? That I realized it?”

“Well, actually, yes.” Wariness gleamed in her eyes.

He took the ring from her. “May I?”

“Okay.” She presented her hand with reluctance. “But I need to ask you a question.”

Andrew slid the ring onto her finger, noting the small callus that marred her palm. He frowned at the hint of desperation tinging her voice. “What’s the question?”

“Do you read the Wall Street Journal?”

Andrew recalled a long-ago trip to the fair. He’d been about ten and had gone through the fun house. Mirrors and tilting floors had left him slightly off-kilter, disoriented and thoroughly delighted. Much the same as having a conversation with the entrancing Kat. He stared at her for a moment and then did the only thing he could. He threw back his head and laughed.

Bemusement replaced amusement. Where the hell had that question come from, besides left field? “Of course.”

She nodded her approval and speared a bite of her gnocchi. “You really should try this. It’s outstanding. Early-morning delivery?”

“Actually, I’m on-line.” She appeared positively gleeful at that news. “Why? Are you a fan?”

“Nope, I think it’s dreadfully boring.”

Andrew shook his head slightly to clear it. Obviously he was missing something. “Then what’s this all about?”

“Consider it a reality check. One more thing. Would you mind eating at least part of a garlic roll?”

Katrina Anastasia Hamilton Devereaux soon-to-be-Winthrop was a hell of a conversationalist. Talking with her was rather like chasing a roller coaster. “Would you mind explaining?”

“I’ve had quite a few of them and, they’re rather strong.” That was an understatement. They were safe even if they found themselves in the midst of a vampire coven. “And I thought it would be a good idea if we kissed before we went home-to test and make sure one of us isn’t repulsed by the other when it comes down to it. And with all the garlic rolls I’ve had I just thought it’d be a good idea if we started out on an equal footing. You know if you haven’t eaten one, you could be really put off by…” The tip of her tongue wet the fullness of her lower lip in nervousness, and he felt an instantaneous tightening in his groin.

Andrew plucked a roll from the basket.

He didn’t like garlic.

He ate the entire thing.

KAT AND ANDREW LEFT Mama Leone’s behind and stepped into the soft glow of a streetlight.

“I’d recommend carrying out our test in the privacy of a car, preferably mine. I believe it offers more room,” Andrew suggested.

Kat would have argued in favor of Carlotta if she’d detected even a hint of criticism, but she recognized that Trudy was much roomier. “Where are you parked?”

“This way.” Andrew guided her with a light touch to the small of her back. She stepped over the uneven pavement and realized her future hinged on this one kiss.

Her Wall Street Journal reality check earlier had served its purpose. Andrew had shown such insight in presenting her with the simple yet exquisite opal-and-sapphire ring instead of the cold elegance of diamonds, it unnerved her. She absolutely did not want emotional attachments or compatibility with this man. Ye gods, she’d almost crowed with relief at the news he was an on-line subscriber. She was safe. And one step closer to getting her baby.

Now she just needed to verify they were physically compatible.

They stopped next to the gray sedan and Andrew opened the passenger door for her. Kat slid onto the cool smoothness of the leather seat. She knew she enjoyed looking at him-especially the rear view-and his touch elicited a tingling awareness, but she had to know how they would both respond to the intimacy of a kiss. Better to know now than after they’d married.

Andrew slipped into the driver’s seat, breaking her contemplation of their compatibility. He casually tossed his suit coat into the back seat before he turned a CD player on and the low, plaintive wail of a saxophone wove itself around them.

“I figured you for a Beethoven or Mozart kind of man.” Surely it was the intimacy of the music and confines of the car that lent her voice that husky quality, not anticipation.

Andrew reached across the distance separating them. “No Beethoven. No Mozart.” He traced the line of her brow, his touch featherlight but sure. She shivered from his heat against her cool skin. “Does that repulse you?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Good.”

Kat tucked one leg beneath her and shifted closer, trailing her fingers over the hard line of his jaw, savoring the slight rasp of his beard against her. She felt the pulse beneath her fingertips race. Was it hers or his? Perhaps both. She wasn’t sure. “How’s that?”

“Fine, just fine.”

He stroked the sensitive softness behind her ears, easing his hands into her hair, drawing her closer. Kat quivered as a slow, languorous heat stole through her. Darkness shadowed his face, but the rapid rise and fall of his chest beneath her hand told its own story.

She loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt, her fingers shaking as she came into contact with the heated satin of his chest. Andrew sucked in a harsh breath and she heaved a sigh, finally remembering to breathe. As a prelude to a kiss, this was a doozy.

Impatient, Kat hooked her finger above the knot of his dangling tie and tugged him to within a fraction of her mouth. His ragged breath mingled with her own. “Are you ready for this? What do you think?” she said, her voice raspy.

His hand wandered to caress the nape of her neck. She arched ever so slightly, grazing the tips of her breasts against the hard planes of his shirt-covered chest.

“I think you talk entirely too much,” he muttered against her lips before claiming them with his own.

There was nothing tentative about his kiss and Kat responded with equal forthrightness. She lost herself in a whirling kaleidoscope of sensation. The taste of red wine and garlic mingled with passion. The rumpled silk of his hair as she ran her fingers through it. His branding touch that stroked up her calf to her thigh.

Somehow, during the course of the kiss, Kat wound up in Andrew’s lap, wedged between the hard wall of his chest and the unyielding steering wheel. Her arms draped around his neck and his hand kneaded her buttock at the edge of her panties. Without removing his mouth from hers, he murmured, “Does it feel like I’m repulsed?”

Snuggled in his lap, she had ample evidence to the contrary. “No. I’d say definitely not repulsed.”

Kat was nibbling at his lower lip when a sharp rap on the passenger window startled them both into looking up. She sat in stunned confusion as a flash blinded her. Footsteps pounded away.

Andrew abruptly shifted her back onto her side of the car and raked a hand through his hair. Without uttering a word, he radiated tension.

“What the heck was that?” Kat asked, although she had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer.

“That, Ms. Devereaux, is an overzealous photographer for the local paper. You and I will make tomorrow morning’s news. Leave your phone off the hook and, since both our families read the paper, I suggest we find a