by Kim Law
But the makeup was a tool. It was a device meant to deceive.
“Why would you give up on yourself?” he asked quietly.
Panic flared in her eyes, and he had the sudden thought that he was looking in a mirror.
Only it was years ago.
He’d put it all on the line once himself. It hadn’t ended well. But he remembered wanting more than what he had now.
More than work.
And then he realized what he’d done over the years. He’d given up on himself. Only, his work was his mode of deception. He hadn’t hidden his desire for a career, but for a life. He was the opposite of Holly. Yet they were the same.
He thought about the fifty-plus years his parents had been together. They’d had something special. His dad had worked hard, yes. Always. But he’d made sure to be around for the important parts. They’d lived life instead of just rushing through it.
They’d been a family.
And now Zack couldn’t help but wonder if he might have that someday too. If he even wanted it.
Or if it wasn’t worth the risk.
He did know he wanted his brothers in his life. More than the superficial, give-me-a-call-once-a-year relationship he’d come here with the intention of seeking. They were his family, actually. Looked like he already had one.
And it would be surprisingly comforting to know he could count on them.
Work was important, sure. But for the first time, he saw the need for more.
He’d messed up two months ago. He’d shoved his brothers aside before taking the risk of letting them do the same to him. But the three of them were on a good path now. He wanted to build on that.
He needed to build on it. But did he want anything else?
He looked at Holly. She radiated fear standing there before him. It touched him.
She touched him.
Because he cared for her.
And if he squinted just a little, he could see growing something with her. Possibly. But he didn’t know if he should even consider it.
She lived here. She wouldn’t want to leave.
He wouldn’t ask her to.
He pulled in a deep breath, letting it fill his lungs, though it did nothing to untangle the unease swirling inside him. No matter how much he might grow to care for Holly, that one small thing would be their downfall. She was small town. He was not.
But he was different than he had been two weeks ago. And he cared enough to help.
He reached for her hand. “You have an amazing talent,” he began, letting sincerity show through his words. “Don’t settle for less. If Chicago doesn’t want you, there are other options. We can make this work.”
Her eyes narrowed. “We?”
“I want to help.” He wanted to right the world for her.
She watched him, seeming nervous and possibly scared. “How?” she asked.
Here was where he had to prove himself.
He had weeks of unused vacation remaining. And truth be told, there wasn’t a case so important that he needed to return immediately. Nothing he couldn’t handle from here if an issue came up.
He had brothers he was just beginning to get to know.
Nieces he had yet to meet.
And then there was Holly.
He rubbed his hands together. Work could wait. He could give his life two more weeks.
“I have a friend in Atlanta,” he said now. “Let me take you to her. She’d love your work.”
“No.” Holly shook her head. “I tried that. I told you.”
“So try again,” he urged. He knew how scary it was to put your neck on the line. Sometimes the answer was no. Those times could change a person. He wasn’t ready to let her give up on herself, though. “Come with me to Atlanta this weekend. We’ll spend the night at my mom’s and I’ll take you to the gallery Monday morning.”
“You’ll be back at work Monday morning.”
“I’m staying longer.” It felt good to say it. It felt right.
It lifted a ton of pressure from his chest.
“I have more vacation time,” he added. “The job can wait.” When shock stared back at him, he gave a little shrug. Yeah, he couldn’t believe he’d said that either. “I’ll take that room you mentioned for the next couple weeks. I’ll even bring my mom up, how’s that? She’ll love the town.” He groaned as he realized the problem with that plan. “Only, I’ll need to find her a room too.”
“She can have mine,” Holly stated. She nodded. “We’ve rented it before. Not often, but it can happen without too much trouble. I’ll stay out here.”
She glanced at the bed in the room. So did he.
Then he was thinking about her in that bed. And him in that bed with her.
And her kissing another man as he’d watched her do the night before.
His back teeth ground together. He had not liked that at all. And she planned to go out with the guy again tomorrow night.
“Come with me to Atlanta,” he urged again.
“I don’t want to meet your friend.”
And he didn’t want to leave her there all weekend to go out with Keith. Or whoever else happened along. “Then just come with me to pick up Mom. She likes you. She’d love to talk to you on the drive up.”
That got her attention. He could tell by the light that showed up in her eyes.
“Come on,” he begged. He reached for her hand and gave her the pleading look that he saved for special occasions. Like when he’d been younger and had wanted to get his way with his mother.
Holly let out a strangled laugh, and finally gave him a nod. She left her hand in his. “Okay, fine. I’ll come. But only because I like your mother.”
Fair enough. He wasn’t above using whatever means he could get.
Then his eyes landed on the bed again, and he knew he was going to beg her for one more thing before they got out of there tonight. He couldn’t help it.
He had to know.
“Holly.” Her name came out in a low whisper. Was he really going to do this? It could change things.
His breaths grew heavier. He was still looking at the bed, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her head turn so that she was looking at the same. The energy in the room popped.
“What?” she asked cautiously.
He returned his gaze to hers and took her in. Her hair had come loose in the car during their drive, and she’d swept it back, twisting it high on her head. Tendrils trailed down around the sides of her face, while some stuck up, an unruly mess from the back.
Her eyes were wide. Her skin clear and a little flushed. As if her blood might be heated just the tiniest amount. Like his.
The fingertips of her free hand were shoved deep into the front pocket of her jeans.
She was going for casual, but he wasn’t buying it. He let the pad of his thumb glide over the back of her hand, and like a caged animal, he wanted to roar when the move lit goose bumps up her arm. She was as aware of him as he was of her.
He could not walk out of there tonight without knowing what it was like to have his mouth on hers.
And if it was how he imagined . . . he would be in trouble.
He forced himself to look only into her eyes. He wanted her.
Like a dying man with only one last meal to choose, he wanted that meal to be Holly.
“Will you let me kiss you?” he asked.
Holly held her breath at Zack’s words. Her heart pounded in her chest.
He was asking to kiss her.
Asking?
Not taking.
Not demanding.
He had to know she wouldn’t say no if he merely leaned in.
Yet instead of closing the distance and taking what they both kept ignoring, he was insisting she admit that she craved his touch as much as he did.
Sh
e looked at his mouth. She did crave it. But what if she didn’t want to stop with a kiss?
What if they didn’t stop with a kiss?
“Tell me why you want to,” she said instead. Where those words had come from, she had no idea. Her lips had already parted in anticipation, and her breath had long since left her lungs.
His brows lifted at the question.
Was he thinking she would just be this week’s girl?
His eyes grew to near black as he stood in front of her. He still wore his jeans and black pullover. And he still looked like an erotic dream, only now standing upright. Especially with his hair mussed from the car ride, and his five-o’clock shadow scrubbing at his jaw.
She wanted to slide her palm over that jaw.
“Because I need to know,” he stated simply.
She didn’t have to ask. She got it.
She needed to know too.
Zack Winston was vanilla bean ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles, all melting down over a thick, warm, chewy chocolate chip brownie.
And that was her favorite dessert.
The one she always had to try. Just to see if it could top her imagination.
She licked her lips. “One kiss?”
His nod came slow. “One kiss.”
“But not because you’re thinking it could be more?”
That little muscle spasm in his jaw went to work again. He shook his head. “I don’t do more. Not the kind you’re thinking of.”
The kind that came from dating and ended with a ring.
That was what she’d been thinking of. But she knew better. Zack may give her “more,” but it would be temporary and last for about one night.
The whole idea seemed a bit masochistic to her. What if it turned out really good?
“And then what?” Her words were spoken with intent. She was asking if he intended to take her to bed. She watched him contemplate the question. He glanced at the bed again, but only for a second, before returning his gaze to hers.
“Then I’ll take you home.”
She stared at him. He meant it. He really was just asking for a kiss.
That almost sounded safe.
Like it would keep her from doing something stupid such as stripping herself naked, then waking in the morning knowing she was heading over a cliff she couldn’t come back from.
Because she didn’t give herself easily to a man. Her feelings ran too deep.
Making love had to mean something.
But kissing . . .
She pulled her lip between her teeth and stared at his mouth. It was a wide slash in his broad face, and it looked hard and unyielding. And hot.
Kissing she could do.
She nodded and her voice came out as a whisper. “One kiss,” she said. “And then we know.”
But what they would do with the knowledge was what went left unsaid.
Zack took a step forward, putting him within inches, and she held her breath. Then he lifted his hand to her hair. His fingers fiddled with the clip at the back of her head until a pop broke the quiet. The plastic had snapped in two.
He cringed, and her hair tumbled around her neck.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered.
“No problem.” Just do it! “They were cheap anyway. I got them at—”
One large hand slipped into her hair, and her words stopped. Her face tilted up.
A breath slipped from her in a rush.
The smell of man permeated her nose, his scent exploding inside her, seeming to fill her from head to toe, and suddenly, all she could think about was the fact that she wanted so much more than a kiss from this man.
She wanted more than sex.
His face dipped and a moan sounded in the back of her throat.
Then his lips touched hers.
Neither of them moved. It was simply his lips on hers. Electricity zipped all the way to her toes.
Her nipples went hard, her breathing ragged, and Zack seemed as stiff as a board. She had the thought that he was giving her the chance to escape. As if she might change her mind.
Then his fingers slid along her jawline and dang if another tiny moan didn’t slip out.
He angled his head and added pressure. Just a bit. It made a rushing sound ring through her ears. She nudged her chin forward.
Her lips clung to his as if desperate for more, and then she did something she would have sworn ten days ago she would never do to Zack Winston. She boldly ran her tongue across his bottom lip.
This time the moan came from him.
Then his tongue mimicked hers.
A shiver raced down the back of her neck.
“Zack,” she whispered his name. Her body was so tight it was vibrating.
He pulled back. His dark gaze met hers. She saw so much desire there that her legs threatened to sit this one out.
“Do it,” she whispered. She gripped her fingers into the front of his shirt as if that could keep her from falling. “Now.”
He gave a nod and his mouth once again moved toward hers.
And then it landed.
This time, there was nothing timid about his moves. He didn’t go slow, and he didn’t give her a chance to run. He cupped the back of her head in both hands, and he slanted over her.
And he showed her how a man was supposed to kiss a woman.
His tongue parted her lips, stroking a heated path inside as he moved with purpose and just the right amount of pressure. She hung on for the ride. Her hands gripped at his biceps, the muscles under her fingers tight and hard. It made her yearn to lean into him and see what other parts might be tight and hard.
What she should not do, however, was climb him as if he were the very mountain peak at the top of her bucket list. Not for just one kiss.
But then he nibbled on her bottom lip, sucking it between his teeth, and her breasts declared the game unfair. They wanted in on the action. And they wanted in now.
A man should know better than to forget a woman’s breasts.
She couldn’t help herself. Call her easy—and maybe for Zack she would be—but she pushed forward until her chest crushed against his.
He stilled.
She groaned.
And then her better senses kicked into place.
She retreated, dropping her hands from his arms and breaking the kiss. Three steps backward and she bumped into the wall. She landed against a mirror and thumped her head against it. She stood there staring up at the ceiling, her breaths coming in gasps, trying desperately to figure out what to do next.
She’d darn near lost her mind with one single touch. A touch that hadn’t even involved hands and had two layers of clothes between them.
What would it be like if they actually shed their clothes?
Her head moved back and forth as her vision blurred. No. No shedding of the clothes. She could not do that with Zack. She . . .
“I . . .” She closed her eyes. She didn’t know what she wanted to say.
She pulled in a deep breath and blew it back out. One more, and she finally began to get herself back under control. Then she lowered her gaze and looked across the room to Zack.
He remained where he’d been. He seemed as shell-shocked as she, simply staring at her, his chest rising and falling, as if he, too, was at a loss for words.
With a shaky hand, she pushed her hair back from her face. The strands didn’t stay put, slipping down to whisper against the slope of her neck. Damn, but that had been some kiss.
“I guess now we know,” she finally got out. She knew that she was screwed.
No other kiss in her life had ever come close to that.
Zack nodded. “Now we know.”
Holly swallowed.
“And now you have something to think about tomorrow night,” he murmure
d.
When she looked at him in confusion, he flipped off the light switch and moved to the door. He held his hand out for her as if they’d done nothing more than step inside the room and take a look around.
Grasping his hand, she left alongside him. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Something to think about when?”
“At the end of your date.”
Oh, crap. Keith. She had a second date with Keith tomorrow night.
And she certainly hadn’t been thinking about his kisses while she’d been mouth to mouth with Zack.
Because the two would never come close to comparing.
Which meant . . . she groaned out loud. She’d just destroyed any potential with Keith. What would be the point of going out now? She didn’t see him magically able to light that kind of flame.
Not after tonight.
Zack looked down at her as they moved through the room. The corners of his mouth rose in a resigned smile, and he gave her a little shrug. Yep. It had lived up to what both of them had expected.
Ridiculously hot.
And yeah, she was screwed. Dating other men had just gotten a hell of a lot harder.
They left the cabin and the warm night air touched her face. She was so hot and bothered that she considered running down to the river and dousing her head. Or maybe her whole body.
Snow White and the Huntsman chose that moment to appear, honking as if in agreement with the other thought running rampant in her head.
Yeah. She nodded at them as if they understood.
She was an idiot.
Zack pulled the car up to the front door of the B&B so Holly could get out.
She looked over at him as she reached for the handle. “You aren’t coming in?”
“I need to run into town.”
He needed to get the hell away from the woman by his side.
What had he been thinking kissing her like that? What had he been thinking kissing her at all?
Yeah . . . now they knew. Hell. He knew he would need a cold shower every night for the foreseeable future just to keep from knocking her door down and begging her to let him in.
Probably he should find a new place to stay. Maybe another town. Somewhere he wouldn’t be tempted by that mouth and the glazed, soft look in her eyes. And those breasts!