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there's a kerosene lantern here. What are my parents doing with their evenings?” She snickered. Another pat across the table and she found a long lighter. “You wouldn't happen to know how to light one of these things, would you? I don't think Dad would appreciate it if I blew up his newly renovated gazebo."
    Somehow in the dark, Wade managed to light the lantern. In the gentle glow, his face was shadowed with worry. “Now on to that apology."
    Kylie couldn't help it. The more uncomfortable she became the more she joked. “Think nothing of it. It's the most excitement I've had in years. Mr. Bernard will make sure everyone within a twenty-mile radius knows that I was the unadvertised special today. Everyone loves a tale about an easy girl."
    "But you're not,” he said and took her hand again. Whether it was the blinds warding off the chill, the meager heat from the lantern, or just being this damn close to Wade, Kylie felt overheated. “You never have been. I'm so damn sorry I came back and then just ... did that! Like I could stake my claim again. I've always had a hard time keeping my hands off you, Miss Kylie, and I guess some things never change."
    It still rattled Kylie when he called her that. Just hearing it again made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. She tried to pull her hand free, not sure she could handle his sincerity and his touch at the same time. One or the other maybe, but not both. This time, though, Wade held tight.
    "It was wrong. Don't misunderstand,” he said before a self-deprecating laugh, “it's exactly what I wanted to do at the time. That and so much more. But I shouldn't have."
    "More?” Kylie wheezed. Her heart was beating painfully hard and she felt her willing sex pick up the tempo.
    A warmth seeped between her thighs and she knew if she were to press her hands to her slacks, she would be wet. Her breasts ached with an overwhelming need to feel his hand settle on them and her nipples were brutally hard. She was a mess.
    "More. Always more. With you? Nothing was ever enough. Seeing you just brings that all up again. It was like being eighteen, nineteen, twenty again. Madly in love and wanting nothing to do but run my hands all over you. Followed by my mouth.” Wade leaned in so their faces were only an inch apart. “Followed by other things. A certain painfully hard thing that would probably not last a second if you were to wrap that delicate hand around it."
    Kylie felt her chest shudder with the effort to pull in air. She could barely hear him over the hiss of rushing blood in her ears. The hair at the nape of her neck rose, triggering a tingling along her scalp. The only thing that she could focus on was his beautiful face so close to hers. His full lips just waiting to be kissed. Despite her anger, she was losing the battle. She wanted to kiss him. To touch him. And if she was honest, she knew she wanted so much more. She wanted to feel his length sliding into her soft humidity. Wanted to come while watching his face as he did the same. Kylie swallowed hard to ward off the mental images and her dry throat clicked.
    "More?” she repeated stupidly.
    Wade's lips were nearly touching hers but he held firm, keeping a tiny sliver of air between them. “May I? I don't want to come on like a caveman this time."
    "Caveman?” Jesus H. Christ! Have you become a mockingbird? Instead of risking another stupid comment Kylie simply nodded.
    Then his lips were on hers. Gentle at first. A feather-light stroke of his lips across hers. Without thinking she parted her lips inviting him to take her more deeply. Wade obliged, sweeping his tongue across hers. His hands cradled her face and he stroked her jaw with his fingers. He slid his hands along the curve of her neck, his long fingers working lazy circles at her nape as his mouth pressed harder and his tongue stroked deeper.
    Her nipples hardened even further, turning the most subtle shift of her silk blouse into an amazing sensual