Old Enough To Know Better

“I remember wrestling with my buddy’s kid sister years ago in their swimming pool. I got too rough and she ended up needing stitches. I felt like a jerk.”

She had to work very hard not to react. “You shouldn’t have. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.”

“Yeah, but I should have been more careful. She was just a kid—only about seven or eight. I can’t even remember her name, but I can still see that little face, with an ice pack crammed against her mouth.”

“I’m sure she recovered.” Although she missed you dreadfully and carried you in her heart for years.

“Oh, I’m sure she did, too. I checked with my buddy after a couple of months, to make sure. But then he went into the service and we lost track of each other. I haven’t tried to find him since I got back. I should. Maybe that’s why we’re having this conversation, to remind me to look up my old buddy Jim and see if he’s back in town.”

And Kasey couldn’t stop him from doing that, either. One evening with Jim could be enough to blow her cover. She might as well enjoy this date with Sam, because there was a good chance she’d never have another one.

BY THE END OF THE MEAL, Sam hadn’t made much progress in getting to know Kasey. And he wanted to get to know her, because physically she was driving him crazy. In the old days he would have given in to that physical urge and figured that he’d get around to the friendship part later. Now that seemed backward to him. He wanted to establish a relationship first.

Kasey wasn’t helping. Being a mystery woman seemed to appeal to her, and that attitude had one-night stand written all over it. Maybe that’s what she had in mind. After all, she’d made the first move and she’d insisted on paying for dinner. He’d tried to get the check, but she’d outmaneuvered him.

So maybe he was designated as her boy-toy for the night. He wasn’t about to fall in with that plan. Of course he wasn’t. Not even if he did find himself staring at her mouth and longing to stare at her cleavage.

He wanted to touch her…all over. As they left the restaurant, he settled for holding her hand. Even that simple contact aroused him. He should be offended at the idea that she might want him just for sex and nothing more. Instead he was challenged by it.

Unfortunately, the next part of the evening wouldn’t allow much conversation between them. He had about three blocks before they’d be drawn into the noisy world of the Cactus Club. After that, they’d have to read lips.

“Do your folks live in Phoenix?” he asked, trying yet again.

“Uh, no. Gilbert.”

“That area sure is growing. Is that where you went to school?”

“Not exactly. Whoops, the light’s about to change. We’ll have to hurry to make it.” She tugged at his hand.

He resisted. “Maybe I don’t care.”

“Oh.” She gave him a wary glance. “All right. We can wait until the light changes.”

He decided the time had come for some gentle persuasion. Taking her other hand, he pulled her closer. “Kasey, why are you hiding from me?”

She laughed. “Hiding? Why would you say that?”

“Because every time I try to learn something about you, you find a way to avoid answering.” He released his grip on her hands and cupped her shoulders. What silky skin she had. “I want to get to know you.” He wondered if he was imagining the quick look of panic in her eyes.

Then it was gone, and she smiled. “In what way?”

In every way. “You know—the kinds of things you liked to do as a kid, the type of music you like, whether you have a favorite team or hate sports altogether.”

“I like baseball, and my favorite team is the Diamondbacks.”

“Me, too.” But out of all the things he’d asked, she’d picked the least personal one to answer. Most everyone in Phoenix liked the home team. Nevertheless, although he really knew nothing more than he had before, he found himself caressing her shoulders and wanting to kiss her. Theoretically, he shouldn’t get involved in a kiss with a woman who held her cards so close to her chest.

But what a chest it was, and he longed to know how it felt locked against his. “Okay, that’s a start.” He drew her closer. “How about music?”

“I like everything.”

“Everything?” He couldn’t take his gaze from her mouth. So tempting. “Even rap?”

“Some rap is okay.”

He loved the way her lips rounded as she said the o in okay. “Can you sing?” It was a goofy question, but he was so focused on her mouth it seemed semilogical.

“Not very well.” She looked up at him. “Can you?”

“Not very well.” Then temptation overtook him. Forgetting why he didn’t want to do this yet, he leaned down and kissed her.

And what a mistake that was, because she kissed him back. She might not want to tell him anything about herself, but she was perfectly willing to kiss him as if the end of the world had arrived. Her lips parted, her tongue became involved, and when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, she settled against him with a soft moan of delight.

As kisses went, this one topped the charts. He tasted hunger as strong as his own, which filled his mind with all sorts of ideas he wasn’t supposed to be having. In fact, much more of this kiss and they were liable to get themselves arrested. He pulled back with difficulty and looked into her eyes to double-check that he hadn’t misread her level of involvement. Yep—eyes glazed, chest heaving, body quivering. Just like his.

“I…had a feeling about this,” he said.

“N-not me.”

“Boy, I did. Sometimes there’s just…something between two people.” Now there was a profound statement. Sheesh. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, as if trying to restore the circulation, which was ridiculous. Judging from her reaction, her circulation was currently excellent. Speaking for himself, he could feel the blood whipping through his veins and arteries at warp speed.

“Something explosive.” She still sounded out of breath.

“Right. But I believe in getting to know each other first.”

She cleared her throat. “Okay.”

“Unfortunately, going to my little brother’s event won’t give us much chance for that. The noise level will be horrific. And I can’t leave too early or he’ll think I didn’t like it.”

“Then we need to go and stay as long as necessary.”

“I’m afraid so. But after that…” He didn’t dare put what he was thinking into words. He hoped she was thinking exactly the same thing.

“After that, we’ll…we’ll see what happens.”

So she wanted to hedge a little. He didn’t buy her act. He’d been there during the fireworks and he knew she was flammable. “I think we both can guess what will happen, given half a chance.”

“I thought you wanted to get to know me first.”

“I do.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “And I will.”

4

SOMEHOW KASEY CROSSED the street without getting run over. That probably had something to do with Sam’s tight grip on her hand and his take-charge attitude. Thank goodness he was watching out for them, because she was too dazed by that kiss to notice traffic signals.

So when had kissing become such a big deal? She’d kissed guys before and been able to analyze the process in clinical detail, even during the act itself. She’d evaluated kissing techniques and rated them for firmness, taste and the all-important slipperiness factor. Then she’d taken into account the groping, or lack of groping, and whether that added to the experience or detracted.

Then along came Sam with a kiss that destroyed every analytical brain cell she possessed. Instead of being a mildly amusing mouth exercise, this kiss had thrown her into the center of a tornado where she’d clung helplessly to Sam as winds of lust tugged at her from every angle. Whatever he was offering, she wanted to be first in line.