research, would fetch tidy little sums with the right buyers.
“Can’t a man pop in and say hello to a paramour?” His dark gaze flashed with amusement.
“We aren’t lovers,” I huffed.
“We would have been if not interrupted.”
He was so cocky. So sure of himself. I wanted to knock him down a peg. Or three. “I was drunk.”
“Implying that you wouldn’t have kissed me if sober.” His lips quirked. “I assure you, Ms. Rousseaux, I am even more delightful when all your senses can be fully engaged.”
“Says you. I don’t plan on finding out.” I managed a sassy retort, the perfect comeback that was at war with my racing pulse. There was something kind of heady about having a man like Kane flirting with me.
Obviously, he was after something. Why else would he bother? But the woman in me, the one dumped and sorely abused by her husband of over twenty years, needed the ego boost.
Kane set the figurine back down on the shelf. “If only I had time for your challenge. Alas, my business will be taking me out of town for a while.”
“Where?”
“Home.”
“You don’t live here?”
“Sorry, I should have said, the place where I grew up. I need to attend some business.”
“Going to be gone awhile?”
“Perhaps. Are you going to miss me?” He flashed me a smile.
“Why would I miss you? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“Is that a complaint?”
“More an observation that you’re not actually a part of my life.”
“Which is probably a good thing for you. You don’t want to be involved with me.” An ominous reply.
I snorted. “Is this supposed to be reverse psychology? I reject you so you’re trying the bad-boy, forbidden-fruit angle?”
His expression appeared even more amused. “Do you think me bad?”
“I think you’re up to no good.”
“Which is why you want me.”
“Do not.” A hot retort that was also such a lie.
“If I only had the time to prove you wrong.”
What did that mean? Was he going to kiss me again?
Would I stop him?
I needed him to go before I found out. “Don’t let me keep you. Have a good trip.”
“Is that all you wish to say?” he asked, stepping closer to me. “Not going to offer a more intimate goodbye?”
“I don’t hug thugs.”
His lips quirked. “And here I thought women were attracted to rogues.”
Oh, we were. Damn him. I stared up at him, the cologne he wore tickling my nose with its subtle musky scent. He loomed over me and stared right back. It was hotter than I’d have expected.
His gaze flicked to my mouth… Oh the temptation. It wouldn’t take much to kiss him.
Kiss a man I didn’t know. A man I didn’t like.
What the heck?
2
I frowned and stepped back.
Kane’s expression registered surprise then nothing, as if he’d dropped a mask and all the warm fuzzies left with it.
Weird how one second he could make me want to drop my panties and the next I could say, “I think you should leave now.”
“For now. But I will see you soon.” Why did he make it sound so ominous?
The bells jingled as he left, and I crossed the shop quickly to lock the door in case he tried to come back. As I reached for the bolt, he turned and smiled at me through the window.
My nipples tightened, and something squeezed down below. What was going on with me? Some women had pre-menopause hot flashes. I had a case of the lusting. Pressing my lips—and thighs—tight, I locked the door and yanked down the shade.
The pulse between my legs went for a few more beats before subsiding.
That man. How he confused me, but even more, my body’s reaction baffled.
I didn’t trust or like Kane. If ever a guy oozed a “stay away, I’m bad news” vibe it was him. Yet he also made me wet.
These days he wasn’t the only one to get my motor running. I eyeballed men like I would a hunk of steak, looking for something juicy I could sink my teeth into. It was disconcerting, especially because it kept happening. Even worse, I didn’t just crave one man; I craved many. I didn’t know how it happened, but since the divorce, I’d become a horny teenager.
Something happened to me when my husband asked for a divorce. I went from having no sex life to wanting one. Now every guy I met went through some mental checklist.
Single? Employed? Not too old? Not too young?
I judged all the guys I ran into. Had a few that I wouldn’t have minded getting