dark, but the last light from the sun touched the pool and garden. She didn't trust the way he was smiling right now, but she found she liked it. There was probably nothing more tedious than a man a woman could trust unconditionally. 'And yours?'
'Relaxing.' He had an urge, odd and unexpected, to slide into the pool with her. The water would be cool and soft; so would her skin. Maybe he was punchy, Nathan thought, after a hot day on the water.
As she continued to float, Jackie studied him. He did look relaxed-for him. She'd already discovered he was one of those people who carried around tension like a responsibility. She smiled, forgiving him as abruptly as she'd become angry.
'Want an omelet?'
'What?' Distracted, he pulled himself back. She was wearing two thin strips as an excuse for a bathing suit. The water, and perhaps a trick of the light, made them glimmer against her skin. A great deal of skin.
'Are you hungry? I could fix you an omelet.'
'No. No, thanks.'' He took a sip of his drink to ease a suddenly dry throat, then sat the glass down to stuff his hands in his pockets. 'It's cooling off.' If that was the best he could do, he thought with a scowl, he'd best put the lid on small talk again.
'You're telling me.' After sleeking her hair back, Jackie pulled herself out of the pool. She was skinny, Nathan told himself. There was no reason such a skinny, even lanky woman should move so athletically. In the fading sunlight, drops of water scattered over her skin like some primitive decoration.
'I forgot a towel.' She shrugged, then shook herself. Nathan swallowed and looked elsewhere. It wasn't wise to look when he'd begun to imagine how easy it would be to slip those two tiny swatches of material off her and slide back into the water with her.
'I should go in,' he managed after a moment. 'I've got reading to catch up on.'
'Me too. I'm reading tons of Westerns. Ever try Zane Grey or Louis L'Amour?' She was walking toward him as she spoke, and he found himself fascinated by the way the water clung to and darkened her hair and lashes. 'Great stuff. I'll take this in for you.'
'That's all right.'
For the second time they reached at the same instant. For the second time their fingers touched and tangled. Nathan felt hers tense on the glass. So she felt it, too. That jolt… that connection, as he'd come to think of it. It wasn't his imagination. Wanting to avoid it, Nathan loosened his grip and stepped back. For the same reason, Jackie mirrored his move. The glass tipped, teetering on the edge of the table. They made the grab simultaneously, caught it, then stood holding the glass between them.
It should have been funny, she thought, but she managed only a quick, nervous laugh. In his eyes she saw exactly what she felt. Desire, hot and dangerous and edgy.
'Looks like we need a choreographer.'
'I've got it.' His voice was stiff as they waged a brief tug-of-war.
After relinquishing the glass to him, Jackie let out a slow, careful breath. She made the decision quickly, as she believed all the best decisions were made. 'It might be better if we just got it over with.'
'Got what over with?'
'The kiss. It's simple, really. I wonder what it would be like, you wonder what it would be like.' Though her voice was casual, she moistened her lips. 'Don't you think we'd be more comfortable if we stopped wondering?'
He set the glass down again as he studied her. It wasn't a romantic proposal, it was a logical one. That appealed to him. 'That's a very pragmatic way of looking at it.'
'I can be, occasionally.' She shivered a little in the cooling air. 'Look, odds are it won't be nearly as important after. Imagination magnifies things. At least mine does.' The smile came again, quick and stunning, with the flash of a dimple at the corner of her mouth. 'You're not my type. No offense. And I doubt I'm yours.'
'No, you're not,' he answered, stung a bit.
She took this statement with an agreeable nod. 'So, we get the kiss out of the way and get back to normal. Deal?'
He didn't know if she'd done it on purpose-in fact, he was all but certain she hadn't-but she'd managed a direct hit to his male pride. She was so casual, so damn friendly about it. So sure that kissing him would leave her unaffected. Kissing him would be like brushing a pesky fly aside. Get it over with and get back to normal. He'd see about that.
She should have been warned by the look in his eyes-what she still thought of as his Jake look. Perhaps she had been, but it was knowledge gained too late.
With one hand he cupped her neck so that his fingers tangled in her dripping hair. The touch itself was a surprise-quietly intimate. There was a quick and sudden instinct to back away, but she ignored it. Jackie was used to approaching things head-on. So she stepped forward, tilting her head up. She expected something pleasant, warm, even ordinary. It wasn't the first time in her life she'd gotten more than she'd bargained for.
Rockets. They were her first image as his lips closed over hers. Rockets, with that flash of color and that fast, deadly boom. It had always been the boom she'd liked the best. Her little murmur wasn't of protest but of surprise and of pleasure. Accepting the pleasure, she leaned into him and absorbed it.
She could smell the water on him, not the clear, chlorinated water of the pool, but the darker, more exciting water that ran out to sea. The air was cooling rapidly as night fell, but the chill was gone. Her skin warmed as she moved against him and felt the soft brush of his shirt, and then of his hands.
And she
Unlike Jackie, Nathan had stopped thinking almost instantly-or thought he had. She tasted… exotic. There had been no warning of that in her pretty, piquant looks and wiry body, no indication of milk and honey heated with spice. She tasted of the desert, of something a dying man might drink greedily in the oasis of his mind.
He hadn't meant to hold her, not closely. He hadn't meant to let his hands roam over her, not freely. Somehow he'd lost control over them. With each touch and stroke over her damp skin, he lost a bit more.
Her back was long and lean and slick. He trailed his fingers over it and felt her tremble. The need jolted again until his mouth was hard on hers, more demanding than he'd ever intended. He pillaged. She accepted. When her sigh whispered against his tongue, his heartbeat doubled.
She pressed against him, her mouth open and willing, her body soft but not submissive. Her generosity was all-consuming. As was his temptation.
She'd never forget this, Jackie thought, not one detail. The heavy, heated scent of flowers, the soft hum of insects, the lapping of water close by. She'd never forget this first kiss, begun at dusk and carried into the night.
Her hands were in his hair, a smile just forming on her lips, as they drew apart. Unashamed of her reaction to him, she let out a long, contented sigh.
'I love surprises,' she murmured.
He didn't. Nathan reminded himself of that and pulled back before he could stroke a hand through her hair. It amazed him and infuriated him to see that it wasn't steady. He wanted, unbearably, what he had no intention of taking.
'Now that we've satisfied our curiosity, we shouldn't have any more problems.'
He expected anger. Indeed, that came first, a flash in her eyes. They were exceptionally expressive, he thought, and felt a pang when he read hurt in them. Then that, like the anger, disappeared, to be replaced by amusement.
'Don't bet the farm on it, Nathan.' She patted his cheek-though she would have preferred to use her fist-and strolled into the house.
She was going to give him problems, all right, she thought as the screen door shut behind her. And it would be her pleasure.
Chapter Four
