Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,66

it was the right thing to do. I had to find myself, and I needed to do that completely on my own."

There was an honesty in his answer that resonated deep within her. She felt like this was the Jake she'd fallen in love with, the one she could talk to for hours on end about anything. They'd had an emotional bond that had been just as powerful as the physical attraction. And it was all coming back to her now. That probably wasn't a good thing, but it felt good—at least for the moment.

"It sounds like you did that," she said. "You figured out who you were and what you wanted."

"Yes, but I'm still a work in progress."

"Aren't we all?"

As they shared a smile, she felt butterflies in her stomach, and a deep desire to reconnect with this man who had taken her heart so many years ago. She'd never really gotten it back, not all of it anyway. But as the air between them charged with tension, with expectation, she also felt uncertainty.

"I can't remember who has the ball," she whispered.

His gaze darkened. "Whoever wants it. Do you want it, Hannah?"

That was a trick question. "I don't want to want it," she confessed. "I'd rather not feel anything. I'd rather there be icicles between us."

"Too much heat for that. You've always gone after what you want."

"So have you, Jake. Why aren't you doing that now?"

"I don't want to risk pushing you too hard too fast."

"Risk what?"

"Us."

She drew in a breath at the one simple and yet so complicated word. "There's no us."

"There wasn't for a long time, but that could change. I want it to change."

She ran a hand through her hair, conflict running through her mind. "I don't know what to do. Three days ago, I couldn't stand you. Now I want to make out with you."

A grin curved his sexy mouth. "Then let's stop talking and do that."

"It's not smart."

"Blame it on the mistletoe." He put his hand behind her neck and gently pulled her forward.

"There's no mistletoe."

"In my mind, it's right over our heads. There's nothing to do but kiss…" He leaned in, and her stomach clenched with desire.

It seemed to take forever for his mouth to find hers, but then it was an instant explosion of heat. Jake had always been a good kisser. Even when they were young and fumbling through their first sexual experience, the way he kissed had set her body on fire. It was no different now. Actually, it was different; it was better.

Jake's kiss went from exploring and sensual to hard and demanding, and she liked feeling his impatient need for her. She opened her mouth, taking him in, their tongues tangling in a desperate need to get closer.

She ran her hands up under his sweater, loving the feel of those hard muscles against her fingers. She wanted to see him. She wanted to touch and taste him in every possible way. She wanted to go back to where they'd once been. She wanted to feel that impossibly close connection.

But all those needs made her feel like she was on a runaway train, with an inevitable crash coming up around the next bend.

A voice inside her head screamed caution. This was Jake, a man who could turn her on like no other. But this was also Jake, the man who had shattered her heart.

How could she trust him not to do it again?

She finally found the strength to push him away, to slide down the couch and put space between them, to catch her breath and try to think. But it wasn't easy with the blood rushing through her veins and an aching desire in her body.

Jake gazed back at her with glittering lights of gold in his brown eyes, his breath coming hard and fast. But he didn't say anything, and she couldn't find any words.

The silence stretched out between them like a taut wire. She had to break it. "You should go home, Jake."

"I pushed too hard."

"No, you didn't." She couldn't put it on him. He had a lot of blame to carry in their story, but this time was on her. "I wanted you to kiss me. I still do."

"Then why did we stop?"

"Because it's too fast. I still want you, but I don't know what comes after the wanting, and that scares me."

"Then we'll slow it down."

"I don't know what it is, Jake. I don't know what you want from me, and more importantly, I