to speak because right at that moment there was only one part of his body that appeared to be functioning.
She touched her fingers to her lips and took a step back, a move that pushed her back against the fence. “What did you do that for?”
It was a struggle to focus. “What?”
“Kiss me. You kissed me!”
“Honey, you kissed me.”
“But you kissed me back.” She dragged her hand through her hair and then lifted it from the back of her neck, as if she was too hot.
He sympathized. If he was any hotter he’d combust.
“I’ve always considered kissing to be a pastime at its best when it’s a shared experience.”
“I wanted to get it out of the way.”
As far as he was concerned all they’d achieved was throwing lighter fuel on a burning fire, but he was willing to play along.
“I guess we did that.”
“Yes. So now we know.”
“Yes.” His eyes dropped to the soft curve of her mouth. “Now we know.”
She eyed him. “Just to be clear, if our relationship is a Monopoly board, we haven’t passed Go.”
“But at least we’re not in jail. That’s always a good thing.” Although if you could earn yourself jail time for bad thoughts, he would be heading for a long stint inside.
* * *
“WE BOUGHT YOU SOMETHING.” Paige placed four bags on her desk and Frankie roused herself from daydreams about Matt.
That kiss had been nothing like she’d expected. Nothing like anything she’d experienced before. She’d started it, but somehow the balance of power had shifted instantly. There was no doubt that Matt had been the one in charge. She was trying to work out how that could have happened but the whole thing was a dizzying blur. Never in a million years would she have thought kissing could have felt so—so—intense. She could still feel it. The firm pressure of his hands on her face, the skill of his mouth, the sheer heat of it. It had been a discovery, a lightning bolt—
Crap, she was starting to sound like Eva.
Giving herself a mental slap, she reached for the bags. “Those look expensive.”
“It’s a thank-you for all your hard work getting this company off the ground.”
“You worked hard, too.”
“I might have treated myself to the odd thing.” Paige grinned and Eva balanced on the edge of Frankie’s desk, her blue skater skirt riding up her thighs.
“Open them. We tried to compromise between what you feel comfortable in and what we think you’d look great in.”
“Is this a makeover?”
“It’s a thank-you.” Eva pushed the bags toward her. “I was feeling really crappy the other night and you helped me. I know you hate deciding what to wear, so I hope I’ve made it easy for you. There’s an outfit for traveling, which can be easily smartened up when you go to see your client. Then there’s something to wear to the wedding and something to wear on the beach.”
“I hadn’t decided what to wear to the wedding.” Frankie wrestled through tissue paper and extracted a feather-light length of slippery emerald green silk. “It’s a dress? I don’t—”
“It’s not a dress. It’s a jumpsuit and it’s going to look stunning on you. It might be windy and you don’t want to spend your whole time trying to stop the other guests seeing your underwear. And on that note I took the liberty of buying you a few more personal things.”
“You bought me lingerie?”
“If you have an accident and you’re taken into the emergency department I don’t want your mismatching underwear to distract them from saving you. And as I was the one who threw away that gray abomination you called a nightdress, I figured I owed you.”
Lingerie.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew why Eva had bought her lingerie, and it wasn’t because she wanted her to look good in the event of an encounter with the emergency services.
She wanted her to look good in the event of an encounter with Matt.
Although that might be a total car crash, too.
If anything, the kiss had made things more terrifying, not less, because now she had further to fall. The ultimate disappointment when they finally made it to bed would be crushing.
She tucked the silk jumpsuit back into the bag and peered into the others. “You two have spent a fortune.”
“Doing something scary is always easier if you’re looking good. I also bought you a new sweater.”
“Are we bankrupt?”
“No, we’re doing well.” Paige handed her a small bag. “I know you hate lipstick, but this is so neutral it