Momentary Marriage(31)

“Okay,” she said slowly, getting off when the car stopped on her floor.

Jared followed her to her door, waiting while she unlocked it. Kelsey couldn’t help but remember standing here together two nights ago when she’d wanted so badly for him to kiss her and he hadn’t.

Then there was the…sizzle, the out-and-out sheer breathless blazing passion when they had kissed in her office and when he’d brushed his lips against hers earlier after giving her the ring.

Jeez. Just thinking about kissing him made her want to fan herself.

She pushed her door open and turned back to face him.

Jared stood there, his dark eyes serious and intense. At that moment, he looked nothing like the playful man who’d joked with her in the car only moments before. He looked…dangerous.

“Well…,” she started to say.

He stepped toward her, capturing her between the wall behind her and the wall of his chest. His mouth dropped on to hers in an instant.

Heat flared up in her like the flame of a torch, scorching as their lips met. Crushed against him, the full length of his body pressed against hers, Kelsey opened her mouth and surrendered.

Nothing casual happened when he touched her. Every touch, every sensation was new and unforgettable. She’d been kissed by a lot of men. Never had she wanted to merge before, cling so close that not even air came between them.

He kissed her slowly and thoroughly, the stroke of his lips building raging fires within her. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, didn’t care.

They stood in the hall of her apartment building, but all she knew was him. His powerful body, the press of his thighs against hers, the ache of emptiness in her. The urge to rub herself against him like a hungry cat.

She had no awareness of time, only knowing the swamping, massive, roaring desire he evoked in her.

Jared lifted his head, breaking the contact of their mouths, but staying pressed intimately against her.

As dazed as she’d been that morning when his touch had unexpectedly sent her up in flames, Kelsey looked up at him.

His eyes were even darker than usual, black as night. He looked fierce and hungry. “Now you don’t need to be kissed goodnight.”

“Okay,” she said vacantly, tremors rippling through her. God, he felt so wonderful, his body hard against hers.

Jared straightened, leaving her leaning against the wall next to her open door. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, as if to calm himself down.

“This weekend, Saturday,” he said, his voice rough. “If you don’t have other plans, maybe we could go visit my family in Long Island. We can talk about the wedding on the drive.”

“Saturday?” she said blankly. “Okay.”

“I’ll call you.” A glimmer of a smile crept on to his face. “I’m leaving now, so I don’t get towed.”

“Okay.” Kelsey still leaned against the wall, reaction to their kiss leaving her boneless.

His smile broadened. Jared reached out, his hands on each of her shoulders. He tugged her gently away from the wall and steered her into her apartment, reaching for the door knob to close the door. “Have a nice time tonight.”

He shut her door. She stood in the brief entry hall, staring at the portal as she slowly returned to normal, her heart rate eventually settling down.

Yeah, have a good time. Sure. Fat chance. There was no way that Ray Sanchez could measure up to that kiss, Latin background or not.

This was possibly Jared’s intention, she concluded, collapsing into a chair. He’d had a flash of possessiveness when she’d mentioned going out tonight with another guy. Had he kissed the socks off her to keep her lips from straying?

She grinned, an unwilling admiration dawning for his inventiveness. Most men would have blustered and tried to lay down the law. It seemed crazy to her that a man could feel possessive about a woman he didn’t love.

Jared puzzled her. If sex was his biggest motivation to marry her, she’d have thought he’d press her for a little prenuptial preview. What was his reason for holding off? He might still make a move, but she wasn’t sure. That, of course, was the reality with Jared. She could rarely predict just what he’d do. The man intrigued her.

He was hotter than a boatload of firecrackers, but he had an iron control.

She, on the other hand, went up in flames every time he touched her, which wasn’t her usual response to a near-acquaintance’s kiss. If Jared had relied on her to put a stop to that kiss, he’d have definitely been towed by now and her date might have gotten the shock of his life when he came by to pick her up.

She wanted to believe she wouldn’t have made love to the man in the hallway, but she hadn’t actually come up for air anytime Jared had kissed her.