What's Life Without the Sprinkles - By Misty Simon Page 0,54

his blood and would have set him back on his ass if he hadn’t grabbed onto her hips with both hands, sinking his fingers into the flesh there and feeling the rasp of her dress against the calluses on his palms.

She drew him in, and he forgot who precisely he was kissing in the meeting of their lips, the wild feel of her in his arms. For a second she was just a woman, not a mother, not his best friend, not the girl he’d stood by all those years ago when she was pregnant. A woman who was making him forget every thought in his head. But then it all came back to him in an excruciating instant, and his fingers pushed instead of pulled, trying to get away instead of holding fast.

Her lips were swollen and her skin flushed. Moisture glistened on the crest of her upper lip, and it was all he could do not to rub his finger just there to see how truly soft she was.

But, between one ragged breath and the next, his gut churned. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t let her be anything more than his best friend. A friend he wouldn’t lose to his lust. Or hers.

He walked out the door before he could change his mind.

****

“Argh!” Claudia was grateful for the empty apartment when she crashed through the door and slammed her purse onto the front entryway table. “Could that have been any better or gone any worse?” She’d stayed at May’s long enough to find out that Justin’s grandfather wanted to give him a vintage collection of baseball cards and a ball he’d caught during some long-ago World Series game. She’d left without another word from anyone, avoiding the grasp of Peter’s hand as he’d tried to head her off at the door. She’d had no patience left and little enough time to breathe before she feared she’d cry over Nate’s abrupt rejection.

Feeling a particular violence welling up inside her, she kicked the side table, then hobbled around on her injured toes.

All she’d wanted was a little nookie. All she’d wanted was to continue to feel the absolute thrill that shot up her spine when Nate’s fingers had dug into her hips, pulling her closer to him, as if he wanted to pull her inside him.

But then everything had changed.

He’d shoved her away like she had the plague or something. And had taken off as if she was going to drag him to the ground and make him gnaw his own arm off to get away from her. Was she that repulsive? Was it so out of the realm of possibility that she might have some needs as a woman? Something that had nothing to do with being a mother or a friend? Something that was all female and all sexual? All she’d wanted was a little icing, and she’d got nothing, not even a piece of stale cake.

Throwing herself on the couch, she wondered what she’d done wrong. Then again, maybe he hadn’t wanted her at all. Maybe he really did only think of her as an asexual person who was his best friend and nothing more.

But the sizzle of that kiss was hard to miss. At least until he had pushed her away. Damn.

A knock sounded on the door, startling her out of the doldrums. Justin had gone home from the luncheon with his grandma and grandpa and was due back any time, according to the big clock in the kitchen.

She composed her features with a great deal of effort. The very last thing she wanted to do was explain her mood to her son. Or her mother, for that matter. Her mother who had nagged her about dating Nate for years but then had seemed to get the hint, only to start setting her up with completely boring guys.

Reasonably sure she had things under control, she took care opening the door, not wanting to yank it off its hinges.

Claudia didn’t even let Nate draw a breath when she opened the door. She swooped in on him, capturing his mouth with hers. She planted one on him like she’d never planted before. He wasn’t going to get away from her this time. His interest, or lack of it, be damned.

He kicked the door shut behind him and twirled her around to press her back against the wood. Snaking his arms around her waist, he held on tight, pressing her curves up against his chest and stomach, melding