“Now the way I see it,” he said, “we could go about this nice and slow.”
“Slower than this?” She sounded thoroughly horrified by the suggestion.
Kevin grinned. “Afraid you’ll change your mind if I give you too much time?”
“I’m afraid I’ll be too old to remember what’s happening,’ she said dryly.
The teasing startled him, challenged him. “Oh, you’ll remember,” he vowed. “I guarantee that.”
“Big talk, mister, but I sure don’t see much action. A couple of paltry little kisses hardly amounts to a seduction. I’ve about given up.”
“Paltry little kisses!” Kevin protested, rising to the bait.
“Hardly memorable at all,” she insisted.
Even though he recognized that it was exactly what she’d intended, his ego kicked in with a vengeance. “I guess slow isn’t the way to go then,” he said, reaching for her.
His mouth settled against hers. He could have been satisfied with that much alone…for a time. The brush of silk against his lips was erotic enough, but he remembered the possibility of more. He recalled the taste of her and simply had to prove that memory served him correctly. That, too, could have been enough to last…for a bit.
But then she slipped her hands into his hair and molded her body to his, and then the sweet, summery scent of her surrounded him and nothing they could possibly do in the front seat of a car was even remotely close to enough. Years ago he could have managed…something, but that wasn’t what he wanted with Gracie. He wanted to savor every second. He wanted to explore and excite and inflame.
And he sure as heck didn’t want to do it in public.
“Time out,” he murmured, his breath catching as if he’d sprinted a dozen laps around a ballfield, instead of pacing himself.
Her reluctance to move away was plain. So was her confusion.
“We’re taking this inside,” he explained. “I don’t want the entire town to know by sunset that you and I were caught making love in the front seat of a car.”
“And you don’t suppose they’ll know we went inside in the nick of time.”
He sighed. “Let ’em use their imaginations all they want. At least there won’t be witnesses.”
She shot him an impish look. “I’ll race you,” she said, already scrambling out the other side.
Kevin stared after her for a second, then burst out laughing. Amazing, he thought as he followed. The woman was absolutely amazing.
Gracie had never been more afraid in her life than she was on that short race for the house. She knew that Kevin had doubts about her, about them. She knew that he was as commitment-shy as any man she’d ever seen, thanks mostly to the slew of family commitments he already had. Even the few yards from car to house could give him long enough to think things through, to change his mind.
He was, above all, an honorable man. She knew that as surely as she knew that the sun rose in the east every morning. Would he conclude that sleeping with her under such circumstances defied his moral code?
She waited at the back door, her heart in her throat. When he didn’t bolt after her, she was sure that his first words would be a polite and hastily concocted excuse for leaving. Then she saw the look in his eyes, the flaring of heat. His desire hadn’t waned at all. The only question was whether his head would win out over his heart.
He came through the back door and shoved it closed with an emphatic crash. All the while, his gaze was locked with hers. Gracie swallowed hard and waited, stomach knotted, pulse skittering wildly.
“I’m not starting over in the kitchen,” he warned quietly.
That was just dandy with her, as long as they didn’t waste too much time getting to…wherever. She nodded.
Honor warred with yearning. She could see that much in his eyes.
“Last chance,” he said.
Fearing he was the one who’d take the out, if she let him, she took a step closer and touched a hand to his cheek. His skin was burning hot, as fiery as the glint in his eyes. Her caress, light as it was, was apparently message enough. This time he nodded, his satisfaction and relief apparent.
And then he scooped her into his arms and aimed straight for the stairs, unerringly finding her bedroom and kicking that door shut behind him, as if he feared that the gossips might be lurking outside that, too.
It didn’t seem to bother him a bit that she probably had paint on the tip of her nose and splattered on her clothes. Nor did he seem too worried about the tangle her hair was likely in. In fact, he was gazing at her as if she were Cinderella all dressed up in a dazzling gown for the ball. Suddenly that was what she wanted to be. She wanted to come to him after she’d been polished and buffed and scented with something wickedly provocative.
“I think I should take a shower,” she murmured, touching her hair and trying effectively to rake her fingers through it.
His eyes lit up. “Could be interesting,” Kevin said. “I could join you.”
“I don’t think so. The whole purpose is to clean up so you’ll see me at my best.”
He chuckled. “Too late, darlin’. Actually, I kind of like this look. It’s…”
“Messy?”
“Approachable. Until today I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you when you weren’t at your best.”
“You seem to have forgotten the first cooking debacle.”
His eyes lit with amusement. “Ah, yes, that was a close second.”
Gracie stared at him, horrified. “I look worse than that? I really am going to take a shower.”
“Not without me.”
“Think of it this way,” she coaxed. “I’ll come out all soft and silky and smelling like something other than sawdust and sweat.”
He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her neck. His tongue touched a spot behind her ear and sent a jolt straight through her.
“No trace of sawdust there,” he assessed thoughtfully. “Maybe
