Suddenly Sexy(19)

Sam shuffled back to his side of the car. She thought she heard him sigh but she must have been mistaken. Sam Hennessy wasn’t a sigher. Although there were definitely waves of chilly confusion coming from his direction.

He revved up the Porsche and drove down Mount Dandenong, his face lost in the shadows. They drove in silence back to Maddie's place, giving them both time to think about what had happened. As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she had enjoyed the kiss, she just wished the atmosphere wasn't so tense between them now because of it. The silence practically throbbed.

"Maddie," Sam said when he parked the Porsche outside her place. He rubbed his jaw and looked everywhere except at her. "I'm sorry if I did something I shouldn't have up there. I just couldn't help myself. Forgive me?"

How could she not? His crooked smile revealed one sexy dimple and his long lashes framed eyes that, now they were looking directly at her, made her knees quake.

"Nothing to forgive," she said breezily. "It was just as much my fault."

"Sure was." His voice was husky, low. "Can I come inside?"

Uh-oh. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why? Afraid I'll kiss you again?"

Not half as afraid as she was of sleeping with him.

She got out of the car and he followed. He took her hand and led her to the porch steps. He sat on the second one and drew her down on the top, her feet on the step beside him. He leaned back on his elbow and stretched out his long legs. Insects serenaded them from the depths of the evening darkness. Maddie breathed in the fragrant summer air, relaxing for the first time since the kiss. No, since before then. Since he’d strolled back into her life as if he’d never been gone.

"Beautiful night," Sam said quietly. "I miss Melbourne's nights. Sydney's just aren't the same. Sounds silly I suppose, but the stars seem brighter down here. It's nice to come home and just sit outside like this on a warm night and watch them."

"You still consider Melbourne home, even after all these years?"

"Yeah. I did a hell of a lot of growing up here."

"You did a hell of a lot of all sorts of things, but is that a reason to come back? Especially when everything's changed so much?"

He fingered the cuff of her jeans. "Some things changed." His knuckles grazed her ankle and Maddie caught her breath. "Others not so much, but I see them differently now. Maybe that's why I'm back." He glanced up at her and his eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "To discover the things I missed the first time round."

Oh boy. So much for loosening up. Everything inside her suddenly coiled up like a tight spring.

"Relax," he said, laughing softly.

"I’m relaxed." About as relaxed as a mouse that had just spotted a cat prowling outside its mouse hole.

Sam’s hand rubbed slowly up and down her calf beneath her jeans in what she supposed were meant to be soothing strokes. She felt anything but soothed. Her pulse rate spiked and blood pounded between her ears like a waterfall. Sam Hennessy was coming onto her. First the kiss, now the leg thing. Yep, definitely coming onto her. She didn’t need to have a science degree to read the signs.

Thank God she’d shaved her legs.

"Maddie," he said, massaging her calf muscle.

"Hmmm?" He was good. He definitely knew how to lull a girl into a false sense of security. She was aware she had to be on her toes right now but damned if she couldn’t think straight. Not with Sam Hennessy feeling up her leg.

Boy, she was in way over her head. None of the guys she’d dated in the past had made her feel this good. None had taken the time to gently caress her calf like this. They all seemed to want to start at her chest.

"Are you going to invite me inside?"

Oh. So he did want something more. She should have guessed. He was male after all. "It’s nice out here," she said.

"Yeah, but these steps are getting hard."

"Your car seats are soft." She cringed as soon as she said it. It sounded like she wanted him to leave and she definitely didn’t want that. He might have only one thing on his mind, and it might have been put there thanks to Pheramour but it felt sooo good. To hell with it. The opportunity to kiss Sam Hennessy wouldn’t come around every lifetime so she might as well make the most of it in this one. "But so is my couch. Let’s go."

She led the way inside and pointed at the couch. He made a show of testing the cushions. "Yep, they’re softer than the steps." He sat and stretched his legs out under the coffee table, looking like he belonged exactly there, on her couch, in her lounge room. All he needed was the TV remote.