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“Having fun?” he asked Amber, when he and Catie returned to the table.
“Oh, yeah. Harper’s a barrel of laughs.” Amber giggled. “But don’t you think we should be going, Chad? I do have to work tomorrow.”
“Okay. Sure, we can go.” He held out his hand to Amber, trying to come up with a way to get out of taking her home with him. They left the bar and he walked her to her car.
“Honey,” he said, “I’m going to have to take a rain check on that hand massage. I just remembered I have an early day tomorrow. Promised my brothers I’d help them with a few projects. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Oh.” Amber’s face fell.
Chad felt like a heel. She was nice enough girl, but he was no longer interested. What the hell was the matter with him? Pretty face and a hot body, and all he could think about was getting into Catie Bay’s pants. He was hell-bound for sure. Maybe a night in Amber’s bed was exactly what he needed.
“You know, maybe it’d be okay after all,” Chad said. “If you took your own car. I…” Okay, this was awkward. “I have to get up real early, so you wouldn’t be able to spend the night.”
“I think I get what you’re saying,” Amber said. “I’ll take that rain check. I have an early day tomorrow too. And don’t worry about Harper’s party tomorrow night. I can find my own way.”
“Now come on, honey, don’t be like that. This is just a little bump in the road. I can take you to the Bay shindig.”
“Well…”
“I don’t mind at all. I’ll pick you up at the salon at six like we planned, okay?”
Amber smiled. She sure was pretty. So why wasn’t his libido on fire? Didn’t make any sense at all.
“Okay. I’d like that. See you tomorrow, then.”
Chad closed the car door for her and watched as she drove off. He walked back toward the entrance to the bar, and out came a whiff of roses and raspberries. Catie.
“Hey,” he said. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed some air.” She laughed, a little shakily. “Shouldn’t have had that second margarita.”
“When’s the last time you ate? Or slept?”
“I slept and ate on the plane.”
“You’re all jet-lagged, sugar. You’d best get home and get to bed. No more ’ritas for you until you’ve had a decent night’s sleep and a decent meal.”
“Now you sound just like Harper,” Catie said. “I happen to be twenty-one, for your information. I’m certainly capable of taking care of myself.”
“Twenty-one.” Chad chuckled. Twenty-one had been so long ago. “You’re just a baby. Let’s get you back inside, and Harper can take you home.”
“I am not a baby, Chad McCray.” She stomped her foot adamantly, barely missing Chad’s boot-clad toe. “I haven’t be
en a baby for a very long time. You just never took notice.”
“Well, you haven’t exactly been around for me to take notice,” Chad said. Why was he engaging in this infantile conversation? What the heck did he care? “Come with me, sugar.”
“I will not.”
“Oh, yes, you will.” He grabbed her arm, shocked at the tingles he felt when he touched her.
She jerked her arm away. “I’m not a baby, you stupid cowboy, and I’ll prove it.”
She clamped her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers. Her lips claimed his in a forceful open-mouthed kiss. Lime again, and raspberries. Sweet, soft lips. Chad couldn’t help himself. His tongue met hers and tangled, devouring the hidden treasures of her mouth.
He nibbled at her lips, her tongue, and then moved to her cheek, raining tender kisses along her jawline, up to her ear.
“God, you taste good, sugar,” he whispered.
