head about how he felt about Patsy. Like all the Adams men, he might be a little slow at recognizing love when it was staring him in the face, but once he did, he couldn’t see a whole lot of reasons for delaying the inevitable. Patsy, however, might not be quite so anxious to plunge into another marriage.
He was still reminding himself of that when he rang her doorbell promptly at seven, a huge bouquet of daffodils and bluebonnets in his hand. When she opened the door, she took his breath away.
She was wearing a pale yellow sundress that bared just enough of her shoulders and cleavage to make his mouth go dry. Her hair fell in waves to her shoulders, and moist color on her lips had turned her shy smile sexy. He swallowed hard.
“You look beautiful,” he finally managed to say.
“So do you,” she said, then blushed furiously. “I meant the flowers. They’re lovely.”
He shoved them into her hands, then cursed the fact that he suddenly felt like an awkward adolescent on his very first blind date ever, instead of an experienced man having dinner with an attractive woman he’d known for months.
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” she said, turning and leading the way through the dining room.
“Steaks,” he said even before they reached the kitchen.
She glanced over her shoulder. “How did you know?”
He winced at the slip of the tongue. He absolutely refused to tell her that half the town probably knew. “I can smell the charcoal,” he improvised. “Want me to throw them on the grill?”
“Would you mind? I’ll finish up the salad.”
Justin almost chuckled at her eagerness to get him out onto the patio and out of her way. It was clear she was every bit as nervous as he was. He found that as endearing as everything else about her.
He had the steaks on a plate and was about to come back inside just as she came through the screen door. They were standing toe to toe, gazes locked.
“I was just coming to check...”
“The steaks are done. I was just coming back in to...”
She covered her face and turned away. “Oh, God, I can’t do this.”
Justin stared at her, appalled. “Can’t do what?”
“Nothing.”
He brushed past her and set the platter of meat on the kitchen table, then turned to draw her into his arms.
“What’s going on here?” he asked.
“I wanted everything to be perfect.”
He was still confused. “It is perfect.”
“No, it’s not,” she mumbled with a sniff. “I’ve ruined it.”
“How? We haven’t even sat down at the table yet.”
“I don’t mean the dinner.”
Now he was more confused than ever. “What then?”
She gazed up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Justin, would you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
“Kiss me, please.”
He stared at her for no more than a heartbeat, before murmuring, “Now, darlin’, that would be my pleasure.”
He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers, tasting the salty dampness of tears on her skin. It was the first tentative hint of a kiss, no more, but it might as well have been the most passionate one he had ever shared. Heat and yearning and desire slammed through him. He wound his fingers through her silky hair and stilled her head beneath his as he continued to explore the exquisite texture and taste of her mouth.
She moaned softly and opened her mouth to his tongue. Her body molded itself to his, every curve fitting snugly against the hard planes of his body. The intimate contact sent images streaking through his mind of the two of them tangled together in his bed.
“We have to stop,” he said on a ragged breath, pulling away.
“Why?”
“Because this is happening too fast. It’s all wrong.”
“It’s not wrong,” she insisted. “Not if we both want it.”
Holding her at arm’s length, gazing into her eyes, he admitted to himself for the first time without reservations that he had fallen deeply in love with this fragile yet brave woman. Whether she loved him, though, was another matter. What he saw in her eyes was nothing more than gratitude, mixed in perhaps with a whole lot of lust.
“Is this what tonight was about?” he asked gently. “Did you ask me over so you could seduce me?”
“You want me,” she said. “I know you do.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“What else is there?”
He smiled ruefully. “If you have to ask that, then we really are on the wrong wavelength.”
“I want you to make love to me, Justin.”
He heard the urgency in her voice, but it