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Look at him, she thought, look at that smug, self-assured expression! He was all the things she’d ever thought and more, and he could kiss her from now until next week and it wouldn’t mean a thing.
For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she'd ever thought it would..
‘I’m all yours,’ she said pleasantly, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. ‘Let’s just get it over with, OK?’
His fingers moved lightly over her cheek.
‘ Stop that,’ she said sharply, as his fingers caressed her cheek. ‘You said a kiss.’
‘I’m entitled to preliminaries.’
‘This is—this is ridiculous.’
‘It’s a scientific experiment. Just relax and trust me.’
‘Trust you? Trust you? That’s what you always say...’
Oh God. What was he doing? She closed her eyes as her drew her against him.
His body was hard. Hard, and wonderful.
No, she thought, no...
A tremor ran through her as he kissed her throat.
‘Cade, stop. You said...’ Her voice broke as his nipped lightly at her ear lobe. ‘You said one kiss...’
‘I’ve got a confession to make,’ he whispered. ‘You’re not the only one who’s been holding back during our love scenes.’
‘I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t been…’ Her breath caught. “Cade. Cade…’
‘If I’d really been making love to you, you couldn’t hold back,’ he murmured. ‘All the techniques in the world wouldn’t be enough to save you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she whispered desperately.
‘ Do you always babble about laundry when a man is kissing you, Padgett?’
Panic fluttered in her throat. ‘That’s nonsense!’
‘You were lying in my arms this afternoon and suddenly you whispered something about pillowcases.’ He chuckled softly. ‘You should have known better, Padgett. Wasn’t it laundry that got you in trouble the first time?’
A blush spread across her cheeks, but she forced her eyes to meet his. ‘I am not going to legitimize this conversation by answering that.’
‘Did you need laundry lists to keep from feeling what I was doing to you? That we weren’t alone? To tell the truth, I was having trouble remembering that, myself.’
‘Cade, please, this is foolish.’
‘But you were right, you know. Hell, I didn’t want the world watching us make love.’ She made a whimpering sound deep in her throat as his hand slipped under her sweater and she felt the rough warmth of his fingers against her back. ‘And here we are. No lights, no cameras...’
‘Cade,’ she whispered. ‘Cade...’
‘Look at me,’ he said in a low voice.
She lifted her eyes to his, saw the play of emotions in their indigo depths, and knew she was lost.
‘There’s just us,’ he murmured thickly. ‘Just Cade and Shannon and nobody else... ’ Her eyes closed as he bent to her and gathered her close. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he whispered, ‘you know it feels right, love.’
Love, he had called her, love, but there was no love between them. Love was something that grew slowly and lasted forever, not this quicksilver excitement that everyone had capitalized on.
