Her mouth was saying things her body didn’t agree with but it seemed appropriate when she wanted to create a distance he was trying to close. Her imagination wasn’t helping with fantasies of finding out just what would happen if she crawled into Connor Black’s lap and kissed him.
He was watching her face and unfortunately there was nowhere to hide. ‘Today I was thinking about our first kiss.’ His voice dropped and she leaned forward to hear. ‘You were soft, like a kitten.’
She bounced back into an upright position, blushing like a schoolgirl, and it was her turn to hope nobody had heard or could see the pink in her cheeks. ‘And you missed my mouth the first time.’
He smiled lazily. ‘I’m better at it now.’
That made her smile and instantly the rapport was back. ‘You weren’t so bad even then, once I got over the shock.’
Thankfully the meal arrived and it should have been easier but her eyes strayed to his strong white teeth as he put the fork to his lips, that tilt to his wicked mouth and his strong throat.
She tried to work out what was pushing her buttons. He was unmistakably the full package when you put his undivided attention and the close proximity of their bodies together. Plus the memories of their slow awakening as they’d grown to adulthood together all those years ago.
Would things have been different if they’d made love before their wedding day? The room was getting hot again.
Connor watched the play of emotions cross her face. Every now and then he caught glimpses of the young girl from so many years ago. A vulnerability he thought she’d lost that made him want to protect her, but he stamped that down. No way. She didn’t want him to, and had never wanted him to. That was why she’d left him, remember?
But that wasn’t all he saw. He saw the pulse beat at her throat, the subtle lushness of a woman’s body that stirred him like no other woman’s had. He could still feel the silk of her skin when he’d squeezed her hand that had burnt right through his defences so that he’d had to let go. There was no doubt he was playing with fire but hopefully neither of them would get burnt.
He sat back and let the tension ease. They still had eighteen hours to go and he wasn’t rushing into anything.
Selected cheeses, the plum duff with crème Anglaise and brandy butter, a sun-kissed dessert wine to be sipped and between them awareness swirled like the gold in the glasses as they smiled over firsts together.
First hand-holding—how nervous she’d been. First kiss—how nervous he’d been.
First fight and whose fault it was—not able to agree on that one.
Old memories. Good memories that had been overlaid by guilt and shame and a lack of communication that now they could only shake their heads at.
Both of them warmed to the shared moments that, despite the years, seemed like yesterday now they’d been allowed to escape.
He glanced away to where a tiny Christmas tree spun in a corner with fibreoptic branches lighting the heads of the people sitting nearby in subtle colours.
He tilted his head towards it. ‘Do you remember?’
She glanced across and he saw the smile in her eyes as she nodded. ‘It was the year before you went away to school. My father had thrown out the old tinsel tree we had and I was heartbroken we weren’t having a tree. So you bought me a tiny little tree like that, with decorations and fibreoptic lights that came on when I plugged it in. I kept it in my room and it made me smile at night.’
‘I was so excited when I saw it but your father hated it.’ He smiled and shook his head. ‘And he hated me.’
She shrugged. ‘He hated everyone. It was a lovely thing to do. If it hadn’t been for you Christmas would have been the same as any other day in the year.’
He thought about it. ‘You made my Christmas special just by being there.’
Kelsie couldn’t believe how light she felt. As if she’d found a dear friend she’d thought she’d lost. And that was what it was. Impulsively she reached across the table and took his hand. ‘I’m so pleased we’ve had tonight.’
He brought his other hand over the top and held her hand on his. ‘So am I.’
Then he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, and suddenly she didn’t want to be in this car any more.
He must have seen that. ‘There’s not a lot of places to go but would you like to walk?’
CHAPTER SIX
AWAY FROM PEOPLE? Should she?
Not that they’d do anything they couldn’t in front of witnesses. Witnesses. She shied away from the word, like a wedding that hadn’t happened, thank goodness she hadn’t said that out loud—but, yes. She’d like to go somewhere quieter. More private.