“There are women out there, Mr. Tyler, who have cancelled dates at the last minute, or has that never happened to you?”
“Women who respond to personal ads don’t cancel dates. And I told you to call me Adam.”
Kate stiffened. Did she hear him correctly? “Are you calling me desperate because I answered your ad?” She folded her arms across her chest. “Are you calling
all
women desperate who respond to personal ads?”
He let out an exasperated breath. “That’s not what I meant.” He clenched and unclenched his jaw, flicking a sharp glance at his watch. “How did you get here?”
She pursed her lips. “I took a cab.”
“That settles it. I’m taking you home.”
“That’s not necessary. I’ll take a cab.”
“I said I’m taking you home. My sister would never forgive me if you turned up on the eleven o’clock news.”
Frustration, indignation, and attraction welled up in her breast. “Don’t you think that’s a rather archaic comment? Dana never mentioned her brother was a chauvinist.”
“She never mentioned you were a little spitfire, either.”
Oh God, her evening was a disaster and she couldn’t wait to get home. “Now I know why I didn’t recognize you as Dana’s brother,” she began hotly. “She’s warm and friendly and you’re…you’re just a conceited, arrogant bully.” She cringed inwardly. Oh my God, did she just resort to name calling?
He ran a dark gaze over her face. “And you have got to be the most exasperating female I have ever met. And you talk too much,” he added in a curiously husky tone.
Kate tensed. His attitude towards her had shifted slightly. It was barely perceptible, but she felt it.
“Hardly. Women voice their feelings and thoughts while men internalize their thinking process and only voice the end result.”
Something suspiciously like amusement flickered at the back of his eyes. “You don’t say?” He regarded her with a curious mixture of interest and caution.
“Look, I think I…tonight wasn’t…I’d better go,” she ended weakly.
He stared at her flushed face. “What did he do to you?” He asked quietly.
“Who?”
“The guy who obviously did a number on you.”
She froze. “I don’t know what you mean. There is no guy who did a number on me,” she said as calmly as she could. “I just want to go home. In a cab.”
“You’re running away from me again.”
“I was never
with
you in the first place,” she replied tautly. “Surely your ego can accept the fact a woman who’s had a disappointing evening would want to put an end to it as soon as possible? Or haven’t you ever been privy to this situation? Is rejection something so alien to you that you couldn’t see it if it was staring you in the face?” His mouth thinned as a look of purpose entered his eyes. Kate panicked. “Now see here, Mr. Tyler—
oof
!”
The rest of her words disappeared under his crushing mouth. She froze as his mouth moved over hers in one fast and furious kiss.
Unable to move, she felt his hands slip around her waist as he drew her closer. She inhaled his scent, an intoxicating mixture of clean and woodsy aftershave, and something else male that triggered an ancient response in her. She grasped his arms and tried to push herself away, but he held fast, pushing away all her resistance, weakening her shield until she melted against him with a small whimper.
His body felt strong against hers. Sheer pleasure coursed through her veins and she found herself kissing him back with a passion that startled her.
Everything in her mind disappeared. The only thing she was aware of was the man kissing her with rising urgency. She melted in his arms. She heard a low, deep groan in his throat and Kate slid her hands up to his muscular shoulders and clasped them around his neck.
Adam groaned again, louder this time, and gripped her tight around her slim waist, gently pushing her away from him. Kate opened her eyes and tried focusing on his face. His breathing was labored and a curious muscle throbbed along his jaw. Their smoldering gazes locked. Something in his black eyes flashed and flickered.
Kate saw desire, and something else. Something she couldn’t define. Had it been surprise? Kate wasn’t certain because she was having a hard time bringing herself under control.
“Now that I have your attention,” he began thickly, “are you coming with me or do I carry you to my car?” His gaze slipped to her full pink lips. “Unless you preferred I kissed you again,” he added, his eyes glittering like two black jewels. Kate shivered under their intensity. “A prospect I find very appealing, my little spitfire, so be warned to phrase your response very carefully.”
Kate would have been lying to herself if she didn’t admit she got pleasure from his kiss. She drew herself up to her full height. “It just proves to me how arrogant you really are, thinking you could silence a woman with a mere kiss.” Kate tried to ignore the dark and dangerous look that crept back into his eyes. An attack of nerves overwhelmed her. Was he going to kiss her again, she thought, half scared, half excited. “Really, Mr. Ty…Tyler, this isn’t…er…I don’t know what to say,” she ended weakly.
“You don’t know what to say? Funny how all evidence points to the contrary tonight,” he remarked dryly.
She thought of her fans and wondered what they would think of her if she couldn’t put a sophisticated and final end to this evening. Then again, they didn’t know the real Kate, did they? No one did. The world saw her as a strong, confident, accomplished woman, but at heart, she was the opposite. She wasn’t tough as nails. She was soft and vulnerable, believed in romance, and had a hard time trusting men since the one man she’d ever wanted to marry shattered her dreams.
“This research isn’t about your book,” her sister had said vehemently that afternoon. “It’s about you. You’re trying to prove something to yourself.”
Barbara was right and it irked Kate that her younger sister could see right through her sometimes.
Thoughts of her sister helped her come to a resolution. She’d ask Adam to drive her to Barbara’s apartment. She didn’t live too far from here, in a six apartment brownstone, and her mailbox was conveniently marked with ‘occupant’. Her sister was hardly ever home and if by any remote chance Adam ever came calling on Kate, he’d find no one.
Not that he’d come calling on her, Kate thought wryly. His kiss had been nothing more than a ruse to shut her up. He hadn’t kissed her because he wanted to. He kissed her to stop her runaway mouth.
“Well?” he asked.
He seemed wary, and Kate couldn’t blame him. She’d hardly evoked a woman of poise, grace and elegance tonight. She gave him Barbara’s address and they made their way to his car in silence. He held the passenger door open for her, his hand resting gently on the small of her back as she slipped into the gray leather seats.
She stared at the Jaguar’s ultra-modern dashboard and wondered about his success as a car salesman. Apparently he was doing very well for himself.
The car dipped under his weight and she could think of nothing more than his presence beside her. She looked straight ahead as he started the engine, but she felt conscious of his every move, his every breath. She could still feel his lips on hers, his hands spanning her waist, his…dammit, it was all Barbara’s fault, she thought irritably as she gripped her purse tightly on her lap. All that talk about seduction had seeped into her subconscious. Coupled with a devastatingly handsome man, and she was one giant walking hormone.
The car swerved sharply to the left, jolting her off her seat, and she gasped as she grabbed the closest thing to steady herself, Adam’s thigh. He sucked in a harsh breath. Kate froze. She had been perilously close to grabbing something no “nice girl” had any business grabbing.
Mortified, she withdrew and stared out her window.
“Sorry about that,” he said, his deep voice gruff and somewhat strained. “I had to swerve otherwise that car was going to hit your side.”
Kate could only mumble something incoherent, her face tingling with embarrassment as they pulled alongside Barbara’s brownstone. She fumbled in her purse to find the extra set of keys her sister had given her.
Her daily journal took up most of the room so she placed it on the dashboard. She continued her search, unaware that Adam had already gotten out of the car and come around to her side. He opened her door and she hurried to find the keys. Where were they? They couldn’t just have disappeared.
“Is there a problem?” he asked politely.
She tossed him a brief, apologetic smile. “No. I know they’re in here.” She dug deeper and pulled out the massive key chain, all of Barbara’s twenty keys of various shapes and sizes, rings, and colorful trinkets. Kate smiled up at Adam, but his gaze was fixed on her hand, his expression amused.
“That’s an awful lot of keys you have there,” he said. His gaze narrowed and his mouth twitched. “Are those…are those body parts?”
Damn! Kate had forgotten what her sister’s fiancé, Ben, had given Barbara when she first broke into modeling. All along the key chain, little silver figures of legs, arms, heads, and
breasts,
peppered the loops. Kate wanted to die. She scrambled out of the car and drew the key chain inconspicuously at her side.
“My…my sister’s a model and she collects these. She…she thought it would be funny if I had them too,” she explained weakly.
“An interesting collection.” His eyes grew warm. “I can’t believe there are two of you.”
“Three, actually. Barbara and Gail.”
“Are they anything like you?” he asked, clearly interested.
Kate laughed. “Hardly. They’re gorgeous,” she replied as they made their way to Barbara’s door.
She turned around and saw him staring at her curiously. “Well, here we are. Thank you for the lift, Adam.”
“I was wondering when you were going to call me by my first name.” He regarded her carefully. “You’re a curious woman, Kate, all bristles and thorns one minute, shy and fragile the next. It’s as though I’m with two women and I don’t know who to expect.”
Her heart lurched. “Th…thank you for driving me home.”
“My pleasure,” he replied smoothly. “I can’t say it was
not
an interesting evening.”
Kate couldn’t help noticing the shrewd intelligence behind his eyes. She gave him her hand. “Goodbye, then. Give my best to your sister.”
His hand felt warm and solid. For one brief moment they remained still, their hands and gazes locked. Kate felt an odd sense of familiarity with him. She cleared her throat and broke their connection. Without saying another word, she turned around, unlocked the front door, and went into Barbara’s lobby.
She pressed her finger on the buzzer for the second time.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me. I’m coming up.”
Barbara buzzed her in and Kate dashed for the stairs, running up three flights. Her sister was standing at the door when Kate reached her apartment.
“What are you doing here?” Barbara asked. She looked like she was getting ready for bed.
“Of all the dumb, stupid, reckless…” Kate began as she swept passed a startled Barbara.
“What happened?”
Kate sank onto the couch and groaned. “My date was a disaster.” She brought her hands up to her face. It was hot.
Barbara sat down beside Kate. “Slow down. Tell me what happened.”
Kate felt drained and leaned her head back. “Get me a drink first,” she croaked as she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
“What do you want?”
“Anything strong.” She placed her glasses on the coffee table and buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe it. Where am I going to find another Adam? He was the perfect male specimen.”
“Here, drink first, talk later,” Barbara said as she returned, shoving a drink in her sister’s hands.
Kate took a generous swig and started to choke and cough as it burned her throat. “What is it?”
“Ouzo
.
I got it on vacation. Now tell me what happened.”
“Get me another one first. I can still feel my fingers and toes.”
Barbara sighed and returned a few moments later. “This is a double. And slow down this time. This stuff is potent.”
Kate braced herself and finished half of it. Warmth spread down to her toes. The ouzo tasted like black licorice. It didn’t help that she hadn’t eaten, but right now getting a little tipsy was not a bad idea.
“My plan was frawless,” she began. “I mean flawless. It was genius, really. Mm, this ouzo is great. Where can I get some?” She loved black licorice.
“Greece. Now tell me what happened, and I’m not getting up again.”
“I can’t buy it here?”
Barbara made a face. “Of course you can. Now shut up about the ouzo and tell me everything.”
“Well, first keep in mind I was out as the nice girl tonight and I was supposed to display the nice girl’s traits.” She paused and drew in a shaky breath. “Well, confidence was the first trait I was going to show by giving him direct eye contact, being positive, and offering statements with firm conviction. Well, I certainly accomplished the last one when I told him he was an arrogant, conceited bully.” Barbara bit her lip, obviously trying not to laugh. Kate was not amused. “Do you want to hear the rest or not?” Barbara nodded.“Next, I wanted to display independence. I showed him that all right when I ran off before the date even started by handing the maitre d’ a note to give to him. And don’t you dare make a face.” Kate took a deep breath. “Then there was thoughtfulness. Instead of thanking him for jumping to my rescue in the cocktail lounge where I waited for my table.”
“What do you mean, jump to your rescue?” Barbara interrupted.
“A man approached me before I met Adam and he tried to pick me up. Anyway, he got a little offensive, he was drunk, and Adam threw him out of the bar.”
“What?”
“And then I publicly berated Adam for interfering when I should have been thanking him. Insightful I didn’t even touch. Intelligence I went right over. Actually, he called me impertinent.” Kate glared at her sister. “Do you want to hear this or not?”
Barbara wiped her tears and spoke between giggles. “I can’t help it. You were going on and on about how you had everything under control and...I’m sorry, sis. Please continue.”