Her gaze dropped to his hands, already sporting the beginnings of a golden tan. She knew the strength of those hands. For years, it seemed, she had longed to feel them caressing her, had dreamed of them waking her senses. Instead, it had been Paul Flint’s rougher touch that had awakened her sexuality.
“Well, now,” Jordan began with a touch of drama in his voice as he responded to Dani’s insistent demand. He glanced into Kelly’s eyes and a smile curved the corners of his mouth. “Did you know that your mother once locked me in the attic?”
“I did not,” Kelly retorted indignantly, recalling the incident vividly, but with a decidedly different spin.
“Did, too,” he accused.
“The door stuck. That wasn’t my fault.”
“You were the one who slammed it so hard it rattled the hinges.”
“Because you were tormenting me.”
Jordan had the same innocent expression on his face now that he’d had then when he’d explained to her parents why he was hidden away in their attic after suppertime. He’d told only part of the story, just enough to worry her, just enough to get her and not himself into trouble. Kelly scowled at him. “You were a brat then and you’re a brat now.”
Dani’s fascinated gaze clung to Jordan. “What happened then? Did Mommy get punished?”
“She did, indeed,” Jordan said with an expression of smug satisfaction on his face. “She was grounded for a whole week and she had to clean the attic. She hated that the most because it was all dusty and covered in cobwebs.”
“You mean, there were spiders?” Dani asked. At his nod, she said, “Ugh! That’s disgusting.” She glanced worriedly at Kelly. “You wouldn’t make me clean the attic, would you?”
“Depends on whether you’re ever bad,” Kelly declared, purposely injecting an ominous note into her voice.
“I’m never bad,” Dani protested. “Well, hardly ever and I never, ever, locked anyone in the attic.”
“Then we won’t have a problem, will we? Now then, I think that’s enough reminiscing for one night. I think it’s time we were getting home.”
As they were driving back to the ranch, Kelly sensed Jordan’s gaze on her. He’d been in an odd mood ever since they’d left the restaurant, a little withdrawn, maybe a little nostalgic.
“Do you remember what I was tormenting you about that day in the attic?” he inquired eventually in a lazy drawl.
Kelly glanced into the back seat and saw that Dani had fallen asleep. “I remember,” she admitted. Even now the memory had her scowling. “You wanted to practice kissing.”
“I wanted to be sure I got it right. I didn’t want to kiss my first date and get it wrong. It would have been humiliating.”
“And kissing me wrong wouldn’t have bothered you?” she inquired just as irritably now as she had then.
“Nope. I knew you’d forgive me. I was trusting you with my fragile ego.”
“Do you have any idea how infuriating it was to a teenage girl to be considered target practice for some boy? What you were telling me was that I was not good enough for the real thing.”
His expression sobered. “I never meant for you to see it that way.”
Unexpected tears gathered in her eyes. “Then why would you be doing the same thing to me now?” she asked quietly.
He looked over at her, shock written all over his face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Aren’t you asking to practice marriage on me, just the way you did with kissing back then?”
“Of course not!”
“Sounds that way to me.”
“Marrying you won’t be practice, Kelly. It’ll be for keeps.”
He said it so emphatically that she almost believed him. Still, there was no getting around the point that he had never once, not in all the years she’d known him, said he loved her. Even Paul Flint had given her that much. Maybe the words hadn’t meant much in the end, but at least they’d started off with a promise of undying love. If that hadn’t been enough to sustain a marriage, how could she possibly trust a commitment that started with anything less?
After he’d dropped Kelly and Dani off, Jordan drove home, pondering the evening. He wasn’t exactly sure where he’d gone wrong. He’d thought the entire day was going really well. He’d actually enjoyed being with Dani, answering her endless questions, awestruck by her inquisitiveness. He’d loved teasing bright patches of indignant color into Kelly’s too pale cheeks. He’d thought the taunting and the memories had stirred exactly the right kind of amorous thoughts.
But there had been no mistaking the sudden souring of the mood on the drive home. He had no idea how to combat this absurd notion Kelly had gotten that he viewed a marriage between them as practice. That wasn’t it at all. When he made a commitment, he kept it. Businessmen he dealt with trusted him on the basis of a handshake. Why couldn’t a woman he’d known all his life trust him on the basis of a sacred vow?
He was still mulling over what had happened when he glanced into his rearview mirror and noted a pair of headlights bearing down on his car. Whoever it was was driving erratically and far too fast given the nighttime conditions on the winding country road. Jordan clung to the wheel a little more tightly.
There was a sharp curve coming up just ahead and even though he knew the road like the back of his hand, he felt his palms turn sweaty. That curve was no place to be with a crazy driver on his tail. Opting not to take a chance, he pulled off onto the shoulder of the road to let the car pass. As it whizzed by, he realized with a sense of dismay that the bright red pickup was Cody’s.
“What the hell?” he muttered, pulling out behind his brother and speeding up a little.
The truck took the curve on two wheels, causing Jordan’s breath to lodge in his throat. A sense of impending tragedy made his stomach
