clothing and wrap his body around hers.
“I could ask you the same question.” He reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm. “Why’d you kiss me back? I hadn’t expected it. That you did was the entire reason I sat down beside you.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed and her mouth fell open, a ragged, whisper-soft exhalation escaping her lips. A moment later, her eyes opened, filled with a desire so tangible, it lit a fire in his belly that spread like a raging inferno through his system.
“I couldn’t help myself.” Her voice was low, soft, vulnerable, like she admitted something she wasn’t sure she ought to be telling him, either. “You’re a very good kisser.”
Her words settled into his core, and everything inside of him tightened and ached. He shouldn’t get involved while he was here. The last thing he wanted was another broken heart on his conscience when he left town in a month. He’d done it one too many times. He’d been a lot of things over the years, some of them rotten to the core, but having to break someone’s heart wasn’t something he was fond of. Two years ago, when yet another relationship ended badly, he decided he couldn’t do it anymore. The flings that once kept him sane had lost their appeal.
Yet, here he found himself. Cat’s effect on him confounded him.
“What if I said I wanted to kiss you again?” Unable to help himself, he swept his thumb along her lower lip, the need to touch her, to feel its suppleness again, too strong to deny.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she drew in a quiet, shuddering breath that seemed to vibrate through her entire body. Her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace. The moonlight caressed her face, highlighted her flushed cheeks, her heavy eyelids.
A breath later, she opened her eyes. For a moment, something hot and tangible filled the space between them. She seemed every bit as leveled by this as he felt. As if they’d been swept away by something more powerful than the ocean tides and were helpless to stop it.
Breaking eye contact, she rose to her feet and strolled in the direction of the dock a few yards away.
His desire throbbed in his ears. His body ached with need and strained painfully against his zipper. He could do little more than stare after her, watching the sultry sway of her hips.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m hot. I want to dip my feet in the water.” When she shot a coy smile over her shoulder, an enticing “come get me” look, a sound that was half laugh, half groan escaped him.
With a shake of his head, he shed his boots and socks, then took off at a jog to catch up with her.
Chapter Three
At the end of the dock, Cat watched the full moon’s reflection on the surface of the water. A soft, warm breeze blew her skirt against her legs and sent the moon’s image rippling. She filled her lungs with the scent of salty air, then exhaled slowly.
The dock beneath her shifted and rocked. The closer Michael’s quiet footsteps drew, the more she trembled with anticipation, excitement. She had no idea what she was doing, had never done anything near this bold in her entire life. She’d spent all her time hidden in the shadows, too afraid to prove the town right — she really was her mother’s daughter.
It felt good. Damn good. Her heart hammered. An exhilarating feeling of freedom filled her chest, not unlike the sensation she had riding on his bike. Like she stood on the edge of a precipice.
When the rocking and footsteps ceased, Michael’s presence filled her back. He stood so close, the heat of his body and the scent of him — of soap and leather — invaded her nostrils every time she inhaled, along with the vague scent of saltwater in the air. Yet he didn’t touch her. The gesture spoke volumes, echoed the need pounding in her belly. He was giving her space to object, to move away. Not that she could or wanted to.
“Say the word, and I’ll take you home.” His voice was a low rumble behind her, vibrating
John B. Garvey, Mary Lou Widmer