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“Isn’t it?”
Mel shook her head. “Why would it be? You’re gorgeous, smart, single, hardworking, kind. What’s been tough for us to swallow is that men haven’t been swarming the place trying to steal you away from us for years now.”
Kara made a face, knowing full well why. She’d been clumsy, self-conscious, shy, hiding inside a shell where she felt safe from the world.
“Jimmy probably thinks I’ve lost it.”
Mel smiled. “He wanted to come in after you. I asked him to let me do it. Told him we had a lot of catching up to do anyway.”
Kara nodded. “He’ll come in before long if I don’t come out. Probably thinks he did something wrong.”
“You think?” Mel looked toward the door. “So what’s the deal with him anyway?”
“I wish I knew.” Kara turned and leaned back against the sink, facing her sister full-on. “He shows up back in town and starts paying attention to me.”
“Normal behavior.”
“He seems to be getting awfully serious awfully fast.”
“And that’s a problem because...?”
Kara thought about that for a long moment and couldn’t come up with an answer. Then the door opened again and the man himself stood there. “My turn yet?” he asked.
Kara drew a breath, squared her shoulders, faced him and nodded. Mel sent her a questioning look, but she said, “It’s okay, Mel. Give us a minute.”
“All right.”
Mel left the room, patting Jimmy’s shoulder on the way out as if to offer encouragement. Kara pushed off the sink and walked to where he stood. She expected him to talk to her, to ask her what he’d said wrong, to question whether she was all right. But he didn’t do any of those things. Instead he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him and kissed her as if he’d been starving for her.
Everything inside her turned molten. Her nervousness, her questions, everything just burned away at his touch, his taste. Nothing remained but sensation, desire, a wanting and yearning she had never felt before. Knots tied themselves in her stomach while butterflies rioted in her chest. She was breathless and overwhelmed. He held her tighter than he ever had.
When he lifted his head away, her legs were shaking so hard she didn’t think they would hold her. His arms around her loosened and she whispered, “Don’t let go, Jimmy. If you do, I might fall.”
She glimpsed a relieved smile just before he folded her into his arms again. He held her gently, as if she was cherished and fragile. “I’ll never let you go if you don’t want me to.”
“Really? And we’ll just live out our lives in a ladies’ room?”
He laughed softly. It rumbled in his chest, beneath her head. “I’ve been dying to kiss you all day. Sorry I let it get the best of me.” His hand stroked her hair. “You okay?”
“Okay? I wouldn’t exactly describe it as okay, no. I’m... “ She lifted her head, met his eyes, then lowered hers quickly.
“Turned on?” he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. She felt the blood rush into her cheeks. Jim caught her face in his hands and tipped it up so he could meet her eyes. “Don’t be embarrassed, Kara. I need to hear that you want me as badly as I want you.”
Her self-consciousness was quickly replaced by amazement “I... I do,” she admitted. “But it’s new to me, Jimmy. I’m not... I mean, I’ve never... “
He blinked three times and then his face changed. He didn’t release her, but she sensed him pulling back in some other way. “Kara?” When his prompting didn’t result in a reply, he went on. “Kara, you have... you’ve been with other men, right? That’s not what you meant just now.”
She forced herself to look him in the eye. “I’m a virgin, Jimmy.”
He stared at her, shaking his head slowly.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I mean, I do.” She paused, then said, “You’re disappointed.” He was probably used to experienced women. She’d probably be terrible in bed, nowhere near able to satisfy a man like him.
“Disappointed?” He seemed to shake out of his state of wonder and he folded her into his arms once more. “No, Kara. Feeling a little guilty, wondering why your family hasn’t run me out of town on a rail for the impure thoughts I’ve been having about you. Hell, if they knew, they probably would.”
“Don’t feel guilty. I’ve been having the same thoughts.”
“Oh, I seriously doubt that.” There was heat in his eyes as they skimmed her head to toe. “Mine are pretty detailed.”
