the article I read in the paper, anyone who eats one of these falls madly in love within seven days. Ms. Luci has this whole cult following because of it. And that party is really a giant wedding for everyone who’s fallen in love that year.”
He blinked at her, clearly very irritated. “Are you telling me that I just took two hours out of my busy schedule to get love-voodoo cookies for my mother?”
“Who do you think will be the lucky man?” Taylor asked, toying with him.
“But she’s…she’s…” He made a manly grumble. “Never mind.”
“Oh! That’s right. She got you the cookie! I remember now: the day of the crash, she said, ‘tell Bennett to eat the cookie.’ ” Taylor smirked. Rubbing this in was so much fun. His mother thought he was a giant relationship loser.
It was exactly what her family and friends thought about her. No they’d never come out and said it, but the subject of her not having a boyfriend worked its way into almost every conversation.
“Oh, you think you’re funny, Ms. Reed?” Taylor suddenly felt the soft chewy cookie smashing into her face. Not so hard that it hurt, but it wasn’t so pleasant either. She gasped and pushed Bennett’s hand away. He was laughing, trying to get the cookie into her mouth. “Well, here’s your cookie!” She squealed and bits of cookie flew everywhere.
“No. I don’t need anyone,” she said in a deep mocking tone, laughing her words. “I’m Mr. Wade. Get that thing away, you horrible woman!” Her voice cracked doing her best Bennett Wade impression. “Must I write you a check?”
“I won’t sleep with you, Mr. Wade,” he said, in falsetto, still trying to maneuver a chunk of cookie into her mouth. “But I like staring at your pants!”
Her eyes went wide, and she gasped. “Oh! You did not just say that.”
Grinning, he nodded. “Oh yes. Indeed, I went there,” he said in his normal voice. “Whatever will you do, Ms. Reed?”
She palmed a chunk of cookie that had landed near her hand and pounced. “This!”
He caught her arm and pushed it aside. Suddenly she realized her body was stretched halfway over his, their mouths only inches apart.
His smile melted away, and his gaze flashed from her eyes to her lips. Conflict ripped through her at lightning speed. Her gazed flittered to his lips and back to his hypnotic pale blue eyes.
Then it happened. Before her brain could scream at her to jump away or say how sorry she was for laying her body over his, he closed the gap and kissed her.
CHAPTER 7
Taylor had no idea if a man like Bennett Wade often did impulsive things. But she knew this kiss and the way he possessively gripped her upper arms to keep her from moving away fell into that category. Maybe he’d regret it later. Maybe he wouldn’t. But the fact was he’d done it, and now it couldn’t be undone. The other fact was that no man had ever kissed Taylor like this before. Not once.
Leave it to Bennett Wade and those full, sensual lips to deliver a kiss so soft yet so demanding that she couldn’t breathe for three whole seconds. He didn’t kiss her with his tongue or move his hands. He simply held his mouth to hers, allowing her to feel the heat of his lips penetrating her delicate skin. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Maybe it was Bennett who wanted to savor the warmth of her lips.
Didn’t matter.
He’d not dipped her, touched her, or made any move other than to press his beautiful mouth to hers, and it undid her.
Com. Plete. Ly.
Every nerve ending in her body, especially the recently neglected lady parts, lit up like Fourth of July sparklers in serious need of waving. Her thighs clenched together, her skin exploded with little tingles, and her breasts began aching for his touch.
How long they stayed like that, intimately sampling the texture and heat of each other’s lips, exchanging the breath from their bodies, she didn’t know, but she instantly knew it was the sort of kiss a woman would remember for the rest of her life.
“Sir?” The driver coughed softly. “Sorry to interrupt, but are we heading back to the airport now?”
Bennett slowly pulled away, his piercing gaze fixed on hers for several long moments as she slid off him, completely in shock. That had been one hell of a kiss.
“Yu-yu,” he cleared his throat, and twisted his body to face forward again,