Solid Soul

He nodded. “To be honest with you, I don’t want it, either, Kylie. So tell me how we can stop it.”

She shrugged. It wasn’t as if she had any answers. She was definitely lurking in uncharted territory. The only thing she knew was that around him she had the tendency to feel things she’d never felt before. No man had ever made her breathless, excited and hot. When it came to the opposite sex, she felt just as inexperienced as her daughter. Oh, sure, she’d engaged in sex before, and at the time she’d thought it was pretty good, once she’d gotten beyond the pain. But Sam had been just as young and inexperienced as she had been, and she figured what she’d always thought of as satisfaction was nothing more than an appeasement of her curiosity and the elation of finally reaching womanhood at the hands of someone she thought she loved.

But she wanted more than that for Tiffany. More than teenage lust eroding what could be a wonderful experience with the man she married. That was the reason she was sitting here, a little past one, with the sexiest man alive. It wasn’t about them. It was about their children. They needed to realize that and get back on track.

“I think the first thing we should do is to remember the reason we’re here in the first place. You have a business to run and so do I, but our kids take top priority. Nothing else. My wants and needs have always come second to my daughter’s and things will continue to be that way, Chance.”

She paused briefly before she continued. “It’s going to take the two of us working together to keep things from going crazy between Tiffany and Marcus. Shifting our concentration from them to us will not only make us lose focus, but will have us making some of the same mistakes they’d be making.”

“So, you’re suggesting that we pretend we don’t have urges and that we aren’t attracted to each other? You think it will be that easy?” he asked.

The frustration in his tone matched her own feelings. “No, it won’t be easy, Chance. To be quite honest with you, it will probably be the hardest thing I’ve had to do in fifteen years.”

She thought about the men in her past who had shown interest in her and how she’d sent them away without a moment’s hesitation. There had been that new guy at work who tried hitting on her several times; then there was that guy who worked at the post office who had enjoyed flirting with her. Not to mention that handsome man at the grocery store who gave her that “I want to get to know you” smile. But none of them had piqued her interest like Chance had. None of them had offered any temptation. Chance was too incredibly sexy for his own good. Even worse, he was a pretty nice guy.

“We have to keep our heads,” she said. “Or the kids will take advantage without us realizing it.” Kylie hoped—prayed—that he wouldn’t give her any hassles. They needed to be in accord. They needed to be a team with one focus.

He leaned over the table, closer to her. “I know you’re right but…”

She lifted an arched brow. “But what?”

“At this very moment, the only thing I want is to kiss you.”

His blatant honesty, as well as the heat of his gaze, burned her. She could actually feel the flame. His softly uttered words only intensified the throbbing between her legs, and made fiery sensations rip through her stomach. It wouldn’t take much for her to lean in to him and mesh her lips with his, satisfy at least one craving they evidently both had. And without any control, her body began doing just that, leaning closer…

They jumped apart at the sound of a car backfiring. Kylie’s eyes widened and her cheeks tinted with embarrassment. They were sitting in the middle of Burger King thinking of sharing a kiss, for heaven’s sake!

“Are you ready to go?” Chance asked.

Kylie drew in a deep breath. Yes, she was ready. The sooner she got back to the shop the better. There, she could regain her sensibilities, take back control of her mind. No doubt Chance had more experience dealing with this sort of thing than she did. Regardless, she knew she couldn’t depend on him to keep things in perspective. An affair with Chance was the last thing she wanted. No matter what, she had to remember that.

“Thanks for lunch, Chance,” Kylie said to him as he backed out of Burger King’s parking lot.

“You’re welcome. I enjoyed it.”

For the next few minutes they shared pleasant conversation in which he told her about his parents retiring to Florida and about his three brothers and three female cousins. It wasn’t hard to tell that the Steele family was close.

“So how is your flower business?”

She appreciated him asking. It was a good idea to stick to general conversation. “So far business is good. Before moving here I did my research, made sure adding another florist wasn’t overcrowding the market.”

“You have a good location since it’s an area ripe for development.”

“Yes, and I owe it all to Lena. She put her real estate skills to work and gave me a call one day. It was just what I was looking for, exactly what I needed. I grow a lot of my own plants in the greenhouse out back. Those I don’t grow I get from a pretty good supplier.”

She paused briefly as he glanced over at her. He hadn’t put back on his jacket or tie, which made her wonder if he planned to go back to the office or just chill the rest of the day. She scolded herself when she realized what Chance did was really none of her business.

“If you don’t mind, I need to make a stop. It won’t take but a couple of minutes. I promise to get you back to your shop before two.”

“All right.”

She blinked seconds later when he pulled up to a car wash. She thought his SUV looked pretty clean. It was definitely in better condition than her car.

“I have those pesky bugs on my fender,” Chance said, as he eased his truck into the bay.

The automatic equipment began moving around the truck, blasting water over it and hiding them from the outside world in a cocoon-like waterfall. The insides of the truck suddenly got dark, intimate, warm.

She didn’t want to but she couldn’t help but glance over at Chance. Seeing the seductive look in his eyes, she knew this was no coincidence. Coming here had been deliberate on his part.

“This is the first time I’ve done this. I’ve never brought a woman with me to get my truck washed,” he said in a husky voice. “But I want to kiss you, Kylie.”

Kylie swallowed at the passion she heard in his voice. She hated admitting it but she wanted to kiss him as well. But still…

“Chance, I thought we decided that—”

“Please.” His tone vibrated with a need that touched her when she knew it shouldn’t. “Ten minutes is all I ask.”

Kylie blinked. Ten minutes? A car wash took that long? As if reading the question in her eyes, he said, “I’m getting a heavy-duty wash.”

“Oh.” Still, she’d never been kissed for ten minutes.

“Come here, Kylie. Please.”

The knot in her throat thickened. She knew he wanted her to slide over to him, and heaven help her but she wanted it, too. Without stopping to question the wisdom of her actions, she unsnapped her seat belt and scooted toward him. When she got close enough he pushed back the seat and pulled her into his lap. His arms automatically closed around her shoulders as he held her in a warm embrace.

“Thank you,” he said huskily, before sweeping his tongue across her lips and taking her mouth, hungrily, thoroughly. The first touch of his mouth on hers had her automatically parting her lips. And now with the insertion of his tongue, he brought out a responsive need in her so deep, she began to intimately stroke his tongue with hers.