Some imp inside her who’d been sleeping for a while urged her to ask, “Including you?”
He must have taken her question as the flirtation she’d meant it to be because he shifted their hands onto his chest and pulled her even closer. His thighs brushed hers as the music played. “I think I made it obvious that I’d like to do that, but we both know there are consequences.”
“To private beaches, not to dancing.”
“There, we think alike.” He bent his head slightly. As she leaned her face closer to his, his jaw grazed her cheek.
Often Jase had a sexy beard stubble from not shaving that day. But tonight he was clean shaven, smelled spicy and musky and was looking at her as if he wanted to swallow her up. As they moved to the rhythm of the music, Sara forgot where she was and remembered only whom she was with. Their bodies leaned into each other naturally as if it were the best place to be. When Jase’s hand played with stray curls at her neck, she trembled.
“You remind me of Cinderella tonight.”
“I will have to leave before midnight. I don’t want to keep Kaitlyn too late, or have Amy miss me too much.”
“She’ll be asleep.”
“Yes, but if she wakes up and I’m not there— I don’t want her to ever think I abandoned her.”
He nodded as if he understood that. Maybe he did understand even better than she did. His foot brushed against hers. “Don’t lose one of those shoes on the way out.”
“You like the heels?” she teased.
“Oh, I like the heels,” he assured her. “You have great legs and they make that obviously clear.”
Jase’s compliment sounded genuine and sincere.
“Marissa loaned me the shoes,” she said, then admitted, “I do feel a little like Cinderella tonight.”
When she tipped her face up to his, Jase was glancing over the guests gathered on the patio. He wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her down the step into one of the gardens. There was an arbor there with climbing roses, shadows and all the sweet scents of summer mingling into a lovely night. It provided privacy and she found she was glad for it. Everything about tonight felt a little dreamlike, including being here with Jase like this. Was he experiencing the same feelings?
He seemed to answer her unspoken question when he said, “I’m glad you came tonight.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“I thought you might back out at the last minute.”
“Marissa wouldn’t let me.”
“Good for Marissa.” His voice was husky as he again fingered one of the curls dangling along her cheek.
A little nervous, she murmured, “You have responsibilities here tonight.”
“Not at the moment,” he assured her. He hesitated a moment, then confessed, “Ever since we kissed, I’ve been imagining kissing you again.”
He knew she was skittish about getting involved with a man again and he wasn’t pushing. But he was leading her into new territory that both scared and excited her. Talking about their kiss made the idea of doing it again even more tempting.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. I know neither of us wants to get hurt. I particularly understand that neither of us will find trusting someone easy or simple.”
“But?” she asked shakily.
His thumb slowly traced her lower lip. “But...there’s a bond between us and an attraction that for me began two years ago. The question is—Do I want to fight it? Do you?”
Everything he was saying was so true. And yet tonight, with these Cinderella-type feelings bubbling up inside her, she didn’t want to fight them.
So she simply said, “I’d like you to kiss me again.”
As he circled her with his arms and brought her close, she reached up around his neck. Jase’s kiss had the ability to make her forget who she was as well as where she was. Music from the patio wafted around them as his lips sensually moved over hers, as his kiss intoxicated her more than any of the Raintree wines. When his tongue coaxed her lips apart, she remembered his taste and the masculine possessiveness that characterized the way he kissed. Conrad’s kisses had satisfied them both, but Jase’s kisses promised so much more...filled her with a sense of joy...heated her through and through.
As Jase groaned, angled his mouth, took the kiss deeper, she realized he felt the same way.
A kiss was not just a kiss. Not ever. Not when there was this much passion and desire behind it. Not when there was this much hunger left to be satisfied.
Sara found herself seeking Jase’s heat, not just in the kiss, but elsewhere. She lowered her hands from his neck, reached inside his open tux jacket, exploring the leanness of his waist and then the breadth of his back.