Authors: Carly Phillips
“I wanted her to promise me a dance
tonight,” Dylan said with that sexy look back in his gaze.
Obviously he hadn’t heard anything about her
and John being a couple. She winced and jumped to explain his
comment to John. “Actually, Dylan came by for a flu shot.”
She didn’t want John to get the wrong idea.
Or was it the right one?
Holly wondered, her traitorous
heart beating hard in her chest because Dylan was near. Obviously
the old feelings weren’t gone. Not even the anger or sense of
betrayal, which still lay in her heart like lead, could dilute the
spike of desire he caused.
“The good doctor didn’t mind giving me one,
either.” Dylan grinned and rubbed the affected spot just below his
hip. He laughed until his gaze fell to Holly’s hand, still enclosed
in John’s grasp.
His eyes opened wide, and an uncomfortable
silence fell until finally Dylan spoke. “This is the woman you’ve
been seeing? The one you’ve been trying to get to settle down?” His
voice sounded hoarse to Holly’s ears as he cocked his head to one
side, understanding dawning.
Instinct had her pulling her hand back from
John’s.
“And you’re the reason she’s been avoiding
commitment. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before,” John
said, sounding certain of his conclusion.
“Excuse me.” Holly interrupted the two men.
“But could you both stop speaking about me like I’m not here?” She
turned to John first. “Dylan has nothing to do with my feelings
about commitment,” she assured him. But her queasy stomach and
sweaty palms made her wonder if her words were a lie.
“I know you want to believe that, but I’m
ready to move forward with you or without you.” John turned to
Dylan. “How long are you in town for?”
Dylan looked as stunned as she felt as he
replied, “Through Christmas, but—”
“That’s decided, then.”
“What is?” Holly asked, nothing around her
making sense.
John stood up straight and pulled his coat
check ticket from his pocket. “Spend the next few days with Dylan
or alone with your own thoughts—I don’t care which. But deal with
the past and decide what you want for your future.”
Holly blinked. “Can someone please tell me
when I lost control of my life?”
“Oh, about the time this guy took off for
Hollywood.” John reached out and squeezed her hand tight. “I care
about you, and I want what makes you happy. But I want to be happy
too, so let’s both agree to use these few days wisely, okay?”
She had thought she would walk in here
tonight, take one look at John, who was ready to give her a future,
take one look at Dylan, who’d caused her nothing but pain, and be
ready to ride off into the sunset with John. Well, her thinking had
been naive in the extreme, because Dylan wreaked a kind of havoc on
her body and soul that she couldn’t explain or understand. He
promised nothing, and yet she couldn’t give herself completely to
any other man.
She had to take this time with him now.
Knowing John had understood that even before she had, she nodded.
“Okay.”
To her shock, John turned and shook Dylan’s
hand, then kissed Holly on the cheek, not on the lips. Not, she
noticed, like a man staking his claim or giving her something to
remember him by as she weighed her options. But, then, she and John
had always been about companionship and caring, not all-consuming
love and desire. Wasn’t that what made him the perfect choice for
her future?
Dylan’s return was temporary, and he
certainly wasn’t offering forever. They barely knew each other
anymore. Yet she felt like she still did know him. So even if the
likelihood was that he’d leave for L.A. and her heart would be
broken once more, she needed closure. Once again something John had
understood before she had.
“Well, well, that certainly was
interesting.” Dylan watched John’s retreating back. “I had no idea
you two were involved.”
His voice brought Holly back to the present.
To the man who’d caused more upheaval in her life than anyone she’d
ever known. “How would you know anything about me? It’s not like
you kept in touch over the past decade.”
“True.” He inclined his head. “And I’m sorry
for that. I’m sorry for a lot of things we’ve yet to hash out. But
I’m back now and plan to make up for lost time.” His eyes glittered
with determined fire.
The same fire she’d bet kept him stoked and
primed as he’d quickly climbed through the ranks in Hollywood.
Holly shivered. “What makes you think I want the same thing?”
He shook his head and let out a low, chiding
sound, but his lips were turned upward in a grin. “Don’t make me
kiss you senseless in front of this crowd just to prove a point.”
He leaned in closer, his roughened cheek against hers, making her
skin tingle. “Because when I kiss you again, and you can be sure I
will, we’re going to be alone, where I can take my time and go oh
so slow and deep.” His husky voice rumbled over the last two
words.
Her breath caught in her throat, and her own
vivid imagination took over. She envisioned his lips covering hers,
his tongue thrusting inside her open mouth while his body made love
to hers just as he’d described.
A low moan escaped her throat, but thank
goodness the music was loud and their audience, though rapt,
couldn’t possibly capture the subtle undercurrents running between
them.
“Don’t you have a beautiful girlfriend
waiting for you in LA.?” she asked, wondering why he was bothering
with seductive come-ons with
her
.
“Nope.” His serious blue-eyed gaze met
hers.
“The papers said—”
“The first thing you’re going to need to
learn is that you should never ever believe anything you read in
the papers, respectable publication or otherwise. Always confirm
the story with me first, or better yet, trust your gut.”
“You talk like you’re going to be around
long enough for it to matter. It doesn’t. I’m sorry I even brought
up the subject.”
“No you aren’t, and neither am I. I want you
to know everything about me now, just like I intend to learn
everything about you. But first, I want that dance you promised
me.”
“I never—”
His finger halted her moving lips, the touch
both firm and gentle. “Are you going to deny us something we both
want?”
She sighed, then placed her hand in his and
let him wind their way to the dance floor. His hand came to rest at
her waist, intimately pulling her against him until their lower
bodies swayed in unison to the sultry beat of the music.
She shut her eyes and gave herself over to
feeling, suddenly understanding why John had never been enough. Why
no man had ever come close. No one could ever live up to the memory
of her first love, and now he was back, wreaking havoc with her
life again.
Though she was older and wiser this time,
the thought gave her no sense of comfort because she was no more in
control of her emotions and desires than she was over the
inevitable outcome of this brief reunion.
* * *
The snow had started falling sometime during
the party. White flakes drifted down and stuck to the ground and,
combined with the weather forecast over the next few days, brought
with them the certainty of a white Christmas. It’d been years since
Dylan had enjoyed snow and even longer since the promise of
tomorrow looked so damn good.
He waited as Holly pulled her wool coat
tight around her and cinched the belt at her waist. Dancing with
her, holding her in his arms again, had convinced him this return
home had been exactly what he needed. And if the byplay between
Holly and John was any indication, Dylan was exactly what she
needed too. He hated like hell that his old friend John would be a
casualty, but obviously things between him and Holly hadn’t been
all that good before Dylan returned to the picture.
Dylan knew Holly was wary and had good
reason to mistrust both him and his motives, but he’d made progress
already. He had but one crucial week to cement her trust.
“Ready?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“Where do you live now?”
She pulled on a pair of black gloves. “I
took over the apartment above the office that Dad used to rent out
to students.”
“Smart move. So you walked here?”
“Yes.” She inclined her head. “What about
you? Are you staying with your mother?”
“Would she let me live if I didn’t?” He
chuckled. “She’s so happy to have me back home that she’s already
cooked me breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
They started down the street.
“Careful or she’ll spoil you. Do you cook
for yourself back home?”
He took the fact that she was asking
questions about his life as a positive sign. “If it can be
defrosted in a microwave and zapped, I can cook it,” he said
proudly.
She laughed, and the sound carried on the
wind, churning in his gut. “That sounds pretty close to my life
lately. But I hired a partner who’s supposed to start working after
the first of the year, and I really hope it’ll take some of the
burden off me!”
“Assuming the old folks take to her?” Dylan
asked knowingly.
“It’s a him,” Holly said. “Lance Tollgate. I
think the patients will like him,” she said, her voice warming.
“He’s young and friendly, and he’s got kids, so he can relate to
the grandparents and parents. It should be a good fit.”
“Your father would be really proud of
you.”
“Yeah, he was.” Her voice cracked with
emotion. “Sorry. It just hasn’t been that long.”
Dylan swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I wasn’t
here.” He reached for her hand and held on tight.
“I got through it. There was a lot you
weren’t here for,” she reminded him.
He knew they’d have to discuss and deal with
his abrupt departure if he had any hope of her believing he
wouldn’t abandon her again. But he wanted her to get to know him
again first.
They approached the office, and she led him
around back to the private entrance. He followed her up the few
steps to the front door and paused.
“Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee
or a drink?” she asked while fishing for her keys.
He did, but he had other plans. “Thanks
anyway, but I need to get up early.”
She shrugged, a “suit yourself” gesture, but
he saw the hurt and lack of understanding in her gaze.
He reached out and cupped her cheek, his
thumb caressing the soft skin in broad strokes. “Do you have plans
tomorrow?”
“I’m off. I’m forwarding patients to a
covering doctor in the next town. If I don’t get some time to
myself, I won’t be good for anyone.” She spoke quickly, obviously
in a rush to get inside and away from him.
“How about I pick you up early and we head
into Boston for some holiday shopping?” he asked.
She turned to face him. The glow from the
outside light illuminated her blond hair and exquisitely made-up
features. He hadn’t thought about it before, but not only had she
shown up at the party, she’d gone all out for it too.
Pleasure took hold inside him. “You’re
beautiful, you know. Not in the young-girl way I remembered, but in
a womanly way I appreciate so much more.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What kind of game
are you playing, Dylan? You can’t come in for a drink because you
have plans; then you offer to pick me up early tomorrow. What’s
going on with you?” Thoroughly annoyed, she perched her hands on
her hips while her lips puckered into a pretty pout.
He shook his head. “Sorry about the mixed
signals. I want nothing more than to come in, but we both know
where that’ll lead, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want
to take it slow.”
“Slow?” Her lips mouthed the word. “Ten
years isn’t slow enough? You’d rather just torture me, is that
it?”
“I want you to go to sleep and dream of
nothing but me?” He let his fingers trace the outline of her
glossed lips. “So when I pick you up tomorrow, you’re ready to
focus solely and completely on getting to know me again, and me
getting to know you.”
“You want to discover what makes me tick
now?” she asked, a sparkle and teasing glint in her eyes.
“In a word, yes.”
Unexpectedly, her tongue darted out and
licked the pad of his thumb, being deliberately seductive. He felt
the sensation straight through to his already hard groin.
Before he could think it through, he slipped
his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her towards him,
capturing her mouth with his. Her lips softened but didn’t part.
Obviously she intended to make him work for what he wanted, and
that was okay with him.
He slid his lips back and forth over hers,
floored by the gratification he found in tasting her at last. The
longer they kissed, the more he realized that his memories had
grown fuzzy and reality was so much better and definitely hotter.
He braced her face in his hands, tilted her head and continued to
tease and taste, just as he’d promised, kissing her slowly, intent
on branding her and making sure that if she slept, her dreams would
be of him.
His tongue glided over the seam of her lips,
and he was rewarded with a low moan from the back of her throat as
she opened her mouth and let him inside. He savored the absolute
sweetness and desire flooding him. His groin pushed hard against
his jeans, the urge to possess her with his body strong.
Before he could go back on his word and join
her inside, he stepped back, reminding himself that he wanted to
win her trust for the long haul. Not just for one night in bed.
She met his gaze with heavy-lidded eyes, her
mouth reddened from his kiss. “You’ve perfected your technique,”
she murmured.
He grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment,
babe, and you should know, your technique’s gotten pretty good too.
Still, I don’t think technique has anything to do with it.”
“No? Then what explains two people who don’t
learn from their mistakes?”