a lot naive and very prim,” she said.
Patrick chuckled. “That was my first impression. It’s been changing quickly.”
“I probably shouldn’t ask about your current impression.”
“Probably not,” he agreed.
He looked into her eyes and instantly the laughter died on his lips. From the moment they’d met, Patrick had had the feeling that he was no longer in control, that something bigger had taken over. He’d blamed it on the circumstances of their meeting, on his brothers, on anything other than the attraction that was so obviously simmering now.
“So, what are we going to do about all of this, Alice Newberry?” he asked.
“Nothing, if we’re smart.”
Patrick grinned at that. “Then isn’t it wonderful that no one’s ever accused me of doing the smart thing? How about you?”
“I always do the smart thing.”
Somehow he doubted that. He had the sense that she’d only recently made a resolution to do the right thing, but that she wasn’t quite living up to it yet. He rubbed his thumb across her lips, saw the flash of excitement stir in her eyes once more. “Then I suppose one of us will have to change,” he said.
Her mouth curved into a faint hint of a smile. “I suppose so.”
He glanced sideways and gave her a lazy once-over. “You any good at change?”
“Not much.”
“Neither am I.” He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together. “How about this for now? There’s nothing too dangerous about holding hands, is there?”
“Nothing at all,” she agreed, leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes against the sun’s glare, and quite possibly against his probing looks.
Patrick felt himself drifting off, oddly comforted by the feel of her soft, delicate hand in his much larger, rough one. What was it about a woman’s touch that had the power to soothe when nothing else worked, he wondered.
The highly emotional meeting with his brothers faded from his mind. The complications ahead didn’t seem to matter. All that mattered at this instant was the warmth of the sun on his face, the gentle rocking of the boat and the woman beside him. Life didn’t get much better than this…unless, of course, a little hot, steamy sex was added in.
He fought a grin and resisted the desire to sneak a glance at Alice. Best not to go there. That one stolen kiss of his had unleashed unexpected passion in her. While he’d never been averse to uncomplicated, energetic sex, he had a feeling slipping into bed with Alice was going to be anything but uncomplicated. Besides, he’d hate to prove his brothers right about his level of involvement with Alice only a few brief hours after heatedly denying that he had any feelings for the woman.
Yes, indeed, he thought, his eyes clamped tightly shut, definitely best not to go there.
Alice could feel Patrick’s gaze on her, but she absolutely, flatly refused to open her eyes. She was still simmering with embarrassment over her too-eager response to his kiss. What must he think of her? She’d all but crawled into his lap the instant he’d locked lips with her. She’d turned what might have been meant as an innocent, exploratory kiss into something wild and dangerous. She’d been so startled by her uncharacteristic reaction, it was a wonder she hadn’t jumped overboard just to cool herself off.
Finally, when she felt his grip on her hand ease, she slipped her hand out of his and sighed. Risking a glance, she saw that he’d fallen asleep. His impressive chest was rising and falling with each steady breath he took. His long, dark eyelashes rested against his deeply tanned skin like smudges of coal. His lips—his magnificent, sweetly provocative lips—were curved into a half smile, as if he were dreaming something wonderful. She could have looked at him all day…and all night. The thought made her shiver with a sense of anticipation.
It would happen, too. She could feel it. The attraction wasn’t one-sided. What she’d told Patrick was true. It had been so long since she’d felt anything like it.
When she’d first left home, she’d been so overwhelmed with work and difficult college classes that she’d had little time for romance. In her senior year, with the end of school in sight, she’d finally allowed herself the freedom to date and promptly fallen for the first man who’d asked her out.
Greg had turned out to be more interested in sharing her apartment than her life. She’d caught him at home, in their bed, with another classmate. An hour later everything