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“You wanted him to kiss your mouth,” Jake said slowly. “You actually wanted that—that—” he drew a harsh breath “—that man to kiss your mouth?”
“You have to understand,” Emily said, the words a breathless rush, but how could she make him understand when she still didn’t? She’d told herself she’d wanted Thad to kiss her because he was handsome, and sexy; because he was only the second man who’d asked her out in years...
But the truth was far more complicated. It had to do with wanting, with hoping, that Jake’s kisses hadn’t turned her inside out because they’d been from Jake. That her response to him had been no different than it would be to any man, that it wasn’t just his particular kisses that could make her feel as if time were standing still.
“Well?”
Emily looked up into Jake’s face. He was waiting for her answer but she knew better than to tell him the things she’d been thinking. She might have been nalve about French menus and good-night kisses, but she knew better than to tell a man like Jake that his kisses robbed her of coherent thought and all but liquefied her bones.
“After the restaurant thing ...I just—I felt like a ninny. I wanted to be cool and sophisticated. So, when I realized he was aiming for my cheek, I turned my head at the last second and-and he ended up kissing my mouth, instead.” She swallowed hard. “And—and...”
“And?”
“And...” Her voice fell to a whisper. “Nothing.”
“Nothing,” Jake said. He knew he sounded like an idiot trapped in an echo chamber but what was a man supposed to say to a woman when she told him what it was like to kiss another man? “What do you mean, nothing?”
“No bells. No lights. No flutter in my... No flutter,” she said, her face flaming. “It was pretty much like kissing a friend. I just didn’t feel anything.”
Jake wanted to shout hosannas. “Really,” he said calmly.
“Really. And Thad knew it. He had to. I pulled back and I stuck out my hand and thanked him for supper and...” She gave a long, deep sigh. “And, that was it. There I was, kissing a man women dream about, and I bungled it.”
“You didn’t bungle it when I kissed you,” Jake said softly.
“I know. And I don’t understand it.” Her eyes sought his. “A kiss is just a kiss, after all.”
Jake smiled a little. “That’s what an old song says, yeah.”
Gently, he framed her face with his hands. His gaze fell to her lips, then rose again. “But it’s not true.”
“No?”
“No.” His voice was calm. That, in itself, was remarkable because her embarrassed whispers were turning him on as much as if she were touching him. “Every man has a different technique.”
“You think?”
“I know. Show me how you kissed him,” Jake said, in a voice he barely recognized as his own.
“How I kissed Thad?” A warning bell sounded softly in Emily’s ears. Don’t, she told herself, oh, don’t do this. But Jake’s thumbs were moving over her skin; his eyes were blazing into hers. “Well...” Her heart began to race. “I told you. He bent down to kiss my cheek.”
“Like this?” Jake said, tilting his face towards hers.
“Exactly. But at the last second, I sort of turned my head...”
“Turn it,” he said, and his voice grew even deeper. “The way you did last night. Fine. Now, do the rest.”
“Kiss you?”
“Yes. Kiss...”
She did. She tilted her face to his, brought her lips to his in a kiss so innocent, so gentle, that he felt his heart turn over.
“And Jennett didn’t intensify the kiss?” he said, or thought he said. The blood was pounding in his ears; he was having trouble hearing anything but its heavy beat.
“He tried,” Emily whispered.
“How? Did he put his arms around you, like this?”
Jake slipped his arms around her and drew her to him. Emily bit back a moan.
“No. I didn’t give him the chance.”
“Well, just in case he does, the next time, let’s work on this a little, okay? Look up at me. That’s it. Now, tilt your head, just a bit...” God. Oh, God, what was he doing? Why didn’t he let go of her? Why didn’t he write her a check for six months’ salary, for a year’s salary, give her a glowing letter of commendation and send her packing? “Now, part your lips, Em. Excellent. Stay like that. That’s fine. Fine.”
He bent his head and lightly, very lightly, feathered his mouth over hers. It was barely a kiss; it was a whisper of a kiss but the feel of her lips, the sweetness of them, instantly drove all the blood from his head straight into his groin.
