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His tongue sank voluptuously into the warm, liquid hollow of her mouth and moved with a meter that matched the throbbing of their synchronized heartbeats. Her own tongue responded, meeting his with equal fervor.
He unclasped the front fastener of her bra and the full glory of her breasts was his to admire. She pulled the long shirttail out of his waistband and slid her hands under it to caress the hard, smooth muscles of his back. Dainty fingers climbed the column of ribs to tangle in the net of hair that matted his chest.
“God, Leigh, I’ve got to love you.” His hands were at her shoulders, urging her down onto the carpet. But he was met with a rigid resistance as hard as marble.
Bugles blaring disaster sounded in her brain. Alarm bells went off in a cacophonous series. To Leigh, sex was commitment. Once she had loved him, she’d never be able to let him go. And she couldn’t have him in her life, not unless she could have him completely.
“No, Chad,” she said with a haunted glaze over her eyes. “No.”
“Why, Leigh?” He raked a frustrated hand through his hair. “Why? It’s crazy to say no when both of us want it this badly.”
His arrogance infuriated her and dispelled the residual fog of sensuality in which she had been wandering. Everything was suddenly clear. She had said no, so that made her crazy.
“I am crazy,” she shouted, “but only for letting you through that door tonight after knowing how you deceived me.”
“I wasn’t deceiving you when I kissed you.”
“Weren’t you? Wasn’t that all a part of preying on the shattered emotions of a lonely widow, making her susceptible, preparing her for the time you’d have to tell her about your dangerous career? To think that I let you kiss me… almost begged you to make love to me, when all the while you were lying to me. It’s disgusting.”
His jaw went hard with rage. “Now who’s deceiving whom? You’re deceiving yourself! You weren’t ‘disgusted’ when we snuggled so nicely on your couch. You loved every minute of that tussle. And you weren’t ‘disgusted’ a few minutes ago, either. If you’d let things happen as they’re supposed to and hadn’t gone looking for stumbling blocks”
“Mountains,” she corrected acidly.
He stared at Raggedy Andy for a moment, muttering soft curses under his breath. His eyes swept back to hers. He gnawed on the inside of his cheek, then sighed, and said, “I should have told you what I did for a living from the start. I apologize for keeping it from you. I didn’t tell you because we hadn’t had time to know each other yet.”
“You knew me well enough to hide it from me,” she said heatedly.
“Because you weren’t ready to accept it!”
“I’ll never be.”
“It’s worth taking a chance.”
“I took a chance once before. It didn’t pay off. My husband was shot by a kid freaked out on drugs. I don’t want to take any more chances.”
“Think of how we are together. Think about our kisses, what it’s like each time we touch, and then tell me it’s not worth taking a few chances.”
“No!”
“Coward!”
“Precisely! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I don’t want to have to be brave every time you leave me. I had that kind of life once before. Never again. It’s better that we stop this before it gets started. Please leave, Chad. I can’t see you again.”
They were both stunned into silence by the words she couldn’t believe she’d actually spoken.
When the telephone rang, Leigh rushed from the room, grateful for an excuse to leave Chad’s fierce eyes.
“Hello.”
“Is this Leigh?”
“Yes.”
“This is Amelia Dillon, Chad’s mother. Is he there?”
“Yes, he is, Mrs. Dillon.” Did he announce to the whole world when he was going to be at her house? “Just a moment and I’ll get him.”
“No, no,” the woman rushed to say. “Actually I wanted to talk to you. Chad called when he got back from Mexico this afternoon and told me he was spending the evening at your house.” Leigh gripped the receiver, piqued that he could take her so for granted. “I wanted to invite you—and Sarah, of course—out here for Sunday dinner. We’ll put up the Christmas tree that evening. Won’t you please come? Chad has told us so much about you and we’re dying to meet Sarah. Imagine that hulking son of mine delivering a baby in the back of that horrid truck!”
