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compassion on his face, Nikki stretched up with the intention of giving Pete a reassuring kiss on the cheek. But at the last moment, he turned his head and her kiss landed on the side of his mouth.
    Before she could pull away, he whispered against her mouth, “Did you mean to do this?” His lips found hers square on and lingered as he kissed her lightly. Softly.
    She jerked back. “Actually, no.” Unable to meet his eyes, she considered slapping him but it was too late. “I meant to kiss your cheek to reassure you there’s no hard feelings.” When Pete cleared his throat, she detected a suppressed chuckle. “And you shouldn’t have made it more.” She turned to go.
    He took a step in front to block her and held up his hands in surrender. “I actually thought you were trying to kiss me. And then I just wanted to reassure you too, but you seemed to force the issue, like you wanted to kiss me . So I let you.” He was making fun of her.
    “I did not!” She flashed him a look. “That is not true and you know it. Come on, Elvis.” The little dog trotted around now as if he’d never rolled under Pete’s truck.
    “I apologize,” Pete said. “But now that we’re kissing buddies,” he continued, “I’m wondering if you’re going to stay here at the lake for another few days?”
    What? “We are not any kind of buddies. I don’t even know who...I don’t know you.” True, she’d participated in the kiss but for only the tiniest of moments. And he knew. Her face felt hot as she scooped her dog up and turned to the neighbor. “And, I’m not available for anymore of that kissing, if that’s what you mean.”
    This time he didn’t hold back a chuckle. “Sounds like you’re sticking around then. Maybe we can have coffee tomorrow or the next day. You could get to know me.”
    “No, we definitely can’t and furthermore, you have a lot of nerve after hitting my dog and then trying to kiss me to suggest such a thing.” Nikki shot him a look and left him standing at the side of his truck as she stomped into the house and set the alarm that would alert her to creepy neighbors skulking around.
    ****
    Night had descended on Louisa Lake when Nikki pulled a lounge chair to the beach and plunked down. Elvis had fallen asleep on his kitchen bed, exhausted from his ordeal. Touching her lips where Pete’s had been, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now I really hope he isn’t writing a book about me.
    Stupid. She’d only leaned in to give him a cheek kiss to say thanks. But what was a cheek kiss anyhow? Was she some silly maiden, honoring a suitor with a brush of her lips? Pete Bayer was a good-looking man who smelled like a Caribbean vacation, but she wasn’t free to go around kissing him. She didn’t know anything about him. If that memory didn’t get squelched, she’d have to leave the lake just to get the kiss out of her mind.
    Bats circled overhead, hunting for flying insects. A loon called to its mate and she waited for the answer. Loons mated for life. Such an honorable act. That had been her intention. And now she was divorced from one man, pregnant by another man, kissing another, with no firm plans beyond the next few months.
    The baby would be born in April. Her heart twinged at the thought of the fetus’s fragility and she mentally shook away the statistics of miscarrying at her age. Regardless of what happened, she’d never regret leaving the spotlight of the music business. Her retirement hadn’t been all about the pregnancy but knowing she’d conceived was the impetus.
    The sexual encounter eight weeks earlier had been so brief in the grand scheme of her life. A minuscule portion of time, now etched in her mind forever because of what it produced. Nothing would ever soften the memory and she wished the moment itself had been beautiful for the child’s sake and hers.
    Goldy had been booked at the Dolphin Amphitheatre in Miami for two shows. When she heard that a certain sexy movie