“And while I want to be a mom, I don’t want to be a single parent. I don’t want to do it on my own. I want a husband and kids and you’d said that you wanted a wife and kids, and we have the same goals. Or I thought we did when I arrived.”
“We do,” he answered firmly, signaling for the bill.
Outside the restaurant, she buttoned her coat and was about to put her hands in her coat pockets when Joe reached for her right hand and pulled her close to his side. The heat of his hand immediately warmed her, sending tiny sparks of heat and sensation through her.
She glanced down at their hands and then up at his profile. “That’s brave of you,” she murmured.
His fingers tightened and then eased. “What do you mean?”
“Just that I was beginning to wonder if you were afraid of me.”
Joe’s laugh rumbled low and rough. “You’re little. You barely reach my shoulder. Definitely not afraid of you.”
That husky note in his voice, coupled with the warmth of his hand, made her feel things, new things. It also made her strangely daring. “Just afraid of touching me then?” she teased.
He stopped walking and turned to face her, her hand still firmly linked with his. “I was being respectful.”
“Glad we’re past that. I was beginning to think you might be…” Her shoulders twisted.
“You don’t think I like women?”
“No. I was thinking maybe you weren’t interested in me.”
“Because I’m being respectful?”
“I get it if you’re not attracted to me—”
“Not the case.”
“Chemistry’s a tricky thing. It’s either there, or it’s not.”
He barked out a laugh, but he didn’t sound amused. He drew her closer to his big body. “Chemistry, or lack of it, isn’t the issue there.”
“Then what is the issue?”
“You want to have this talk on Church Street?”
“No one’s looking. No one’s paying us the least bit of attention.”
“They would if I kissed you.”
Her pulse leaped in her veins and for a second she felt tingly from head to toe. “At least I’d have a first kiss.”
He gave her a considering look. “Are you complaining?”
“Just worried. And letting you know I’m worried. I can’t see marrying someone that’s not at all physically attracted to me.”
“Oh, I’m attracted. That’s not an issue. I’ve just been holding back, being chivalrous. It wouldn’t do to bring you out here and immediately jump your bones. Can’t see that inspiring much trust.”
She liked the energy crackling through him, and how it made her come alive. He was impressively warm and real and energy surged through her, little zings of sensation and pleasure. “But what if once you kiss me, you don’t like kissing me?”
“Then I’ll teach you how I like to kiss.”
“Can kissing be taught?”
“Everything can be taught.”
There was something sexy and dangerous in his tone, and another hot ripple of sensation washed through her. Things were beginning to get interesting. She liked it. Maybe too much. “You’ve had experience, then? You’re not a virgin.”
Heat flared in his eyes. “Not a virgin, sorry. You?”
The warmth between them practically crackled and burned. Her body felt hot, her skin felt sensitive, her pulse was thumping. She’d been waiting for this, waiting for something to make her want to be here… want to be with him. “Not a virgin, either. Hope that isn’t an issue for you.”
“I’m glad you’re not a virgin. I’ve no need to be someone’s first.” His gaze locked with hers, and held. “I’m more interested in being your last. When we marry, there’s not going to be anyone else for me, and I’m not going to be okay with you having anyone else—”
“I wouldn’t. I’m not a cheater. I’d never do that to you.”
“Not even if you were lonely and unhappy on the ranch?”
“I’d tell you I was lonely. I’d tell you I was unhappy. And I’d hope we could figure out our difficulties together.” She looked up into his face, looking intently into his pale blue eyes. “But that’s a long way away since we haven’t even made it to first base.”
“Is that what you need? If that’s the case, let’s not leave you wanting.” Joe pulled her all the way against him, his arm dropping low around her waist to hold her securely to his chest. His head dipped, and his mouth brushed her cheekbone and then lower near the corner of her lips. “Can’t have you wanting for anything.” And then his mouth covered hers, and the kiss was hard, and demanding, and more than a little possessive. He kissed her as if she was his, and only his, and he, and only he, knew how to kiss her.
Shockingly, he knew how to kiss her. With heat, and desire, and more than a little expertise. She shuddered as his lips moved over hers, parting hers, to taste and tease the inside of her mouth. She shuddered again as his hand wound through her long hair, sliding through the strands until she felt his palm at the base of her neck. The press of his fingers against her nape made the air catch in her throat and for a moment she forgot to breathe. His touch was a maddening pleasure and she couldn’t stifle her breathless sighs.
By the time he lifted his head, she was a mass of quivering nerves. She stared up at him unable to think of a single coherent thing to say.
“Feel better?” he asked, his eyes dark like denim, his deep voice pitched even lower, the sound a sexy, husky rasp that scraped her sense and made her knees go weak.
“Depends on your definition of better,” she answered, voice equally husky. It had been an amazing kiss. Dazzling, dizzying. She still craved more. “I certainly feel different.”
“Different how?”
“Different as in wow, cowboy, you do that so well.”
His blue gaze locked with hers, his expression so warm, so intimate she felt as if she’d go up in flames any second.
“Why are you still single?” he asked.
The question made her eyes sting and her chest ache. The breeze caught at her long hair, making it swirl around her face. She tucked a strand back, behind her ear. “Spent too long with the wrong one.”
“He must have been blind and stupid.”
Her lower lip quivered as he drew a reluctant smile from her. “Or maybe I was the stupid one, loving someone who didn’t love me back.”
He reached out to catch a long tendril of her hair, peeling it off her eyelashes and smoothing it back. “Is that why you answered my ad? Your heart took a beating and you gave up on love?”
“Something like that.”
“I feel like there’s more to the story than you’re telling me.”
“Maybe,” she admitted.
“You want to tell me?”
She glanced around, her gaze sweeping the deserted block, before she looked back at him. “Standing here on Church Street? No, thank you.”
He smiled crookedly, aware she’d just handed him his own words. “There’s nobody here.”
“Maybe not, but this is a story that requires tequila. Lots of it.”