“Angry? At being kissed by a gorgeous sexy woman? A kiss that made me feel like you’d tossed me into an oven and hit Broil? Hell, no. But surely it was obvious that anger was not my reaction at all.” He cupped her face in his hands and stroked his thumbs over her smooth cheeks. “Consider me more than willing to give you all the reassurance you need.”

Whoa, hold on there, dude, his inner voice yelled. What are you saying? Have you forgotten why Mallory isn’t right for you?

No, he hadn’t forgotten. He’d just…reassessed. Just because she was a “forever” sort of gal didn’t mean she had to be his forever gal. Just because she was the kind of woman who could wreak havoc with a guy’s travel plans, didn’t mean he’d let her mess up his plans-again. If she wanted an ego-stroking fling, hell, who better for the job than Bachelor Number One?

Besides, it wasn’t as if anything could come of this. He’d just be the rebound guy. Everybody knew Rebound Guy never ended up being permanent. Which, given the fact that he was leaving for Europe the day after tomorrow, made their timing perfect-a first for them.

“Hmm. Reassuring me…” she repeated. “I might just take you up on that offer.”

“Might? I guess I’ll just have to see what it’ll take to change that ‘might’ into a definite.” Another wash of color stole over her cheeks and he brushed his thumbs over that enticing blush. “Here’s something that should help reassure you. Our lunch today? An exercise in torture. You have no idea the enormous amount of self-control it required not to touch you. Kiss you.”

“You did touch me. You did kiss me.”

“Not the way I wanted to.”

The ghost of a smile flirted with the corners of her mouth. “I have to admit, I came here with the hope that you’d possibly be willing to give my wilted self-esteem a boost.”

“Sweetheart, there is no possibly about how very willing I am.” Shadows still lingered in her big brown eyes-shadows he wanted erased. His gaze dipped to her mouth and he barely squelched a groan of pure want. The need to kiss her was unbearable. Yet he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than kiss her. But for now…

Just one more kiss, he promised himself. Just to reassure her of how incredibly desirable she is.

His hands slipped from her face to draw her slowly into his arms. His heart pounded as if he’d run around the entire island of Manhattan. Lowering his head, he brushed his lips softly against hers. And instantly realized his mistake. Just one kiss would not be possible.

He feathered his lips over hers again, a whisper of reacquaintance that only begged for more. She responded by parting her lips and gliding the tip of her tongue over his bottom lip. And in a flash of fire he knew that one hundred kisses wouldn’t be enough.

With a groan, he pulled her closer, tighter against him and slipped his tongue into the silky heat of her mouth. In a heartbeat he was lost, all sense of time and place overwhelmed by the need to touch. And taste. Her delicious feminine scent invaded his head and his rapidly vanishing control slipped another notch. One of his hands smoothed up her back to tangle in her soft hair, while the other hand skimmed lower to cup the luscious curve of her buttocks. And suddenly the years faded away and he was flooded with that same wild, reckless feeling she’d once inspired in him. When they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Couldn’t get enough of each other.

Her arms tightened around his neck and she shifted against him. His erection jerked, and if his eyes had been opened, he knew they’d have glazed over. As it was, she had bells ringing in his head.

Breaking off their kiss, she gasped, “Phone.”

Phone? A loud ringing permeated the haze of arousal surrounding him.

“Do you need to answer it?” she asked, nipping little kisses against his jaw.

He wanted to say no, but damn it, it might be Nick. “Yeah, I should,” he said, reluctantly releasing her. He was so hard he couldn’t walk without wincing. When he made it to the desk, he shot the phone a baleful glare at the interruption and snatched up the receiver.

“Picture This,” he said, his voice coming out in a husky rasp.

“Adam, is that you?” asked Nick through the phone.

“It’s me. What’s up?” He looked down at the bulge behind his fly and hoped Nick wouldn’t ask him the same question.

“You sound funny. You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Except for the strangulation occurring in the front of my jeans. “How ’bout you?”

“Good. Listen, my neighbor just called asking if there was any free studio time next week, and since the schedule’s on my desk there, I thought I’d take a chance and see if you were still around. Can you check it for me?”

“Sure.” Adam opened the appointment book and flipped the pages. After rattling off the trio of openings, Nick picked one and asked that Adam write in his neighbor Audrey Shay’s name. “Taken care of,” Adam said, closing the book.

“Thanks, dude. See you tomorrow afternooon.”

“Bye.” Adam hung up the phone, then tunneled his hands through his hair. His gaze shifted to Mallory, who stood exactly where he’d left her in front of the sofa. His heart thumped at the arousal that still lurked in her eyes, and the way her mouth looked plump and delicious and well kissed.

The sound of muffled laughter reached him, and his gaze shifted toward the door. Two couples walked by, each arm in arm. Probably going to the movie theater two blocks down. Their presence reminded him that a lot of people walked by the glass storefront. A private spot this definitely was not. And privacy was definitely going to be necessary.

Walking back to Mallory, he lightly clasped her hands. “You okay?”

“Yes.” A wry grin curved her lips. “Just suffering from a bad case of kissus interruptus.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Me, too. Still, we were most likely literally saved by the bell. If that kiss had continued…” He raised their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “Well, given our goldfish-bowl location, better that the kiss was interrupted by the phone than having what would have happened next interrupted by an arresting officer.”

He released her hands then drew her closer. When their bodies touched from chest to knee, when the hard ridge of his erection pressed between them, he said, “Still harboring any doubts that you’re incredibly sexy?”

“I’m definitely feeling less troll-like.”

“Good-but still in need of further reassurance-I hope.”

“A girl can never get too much reassurance.”

“I can’t understand how you could ever see yourself as anything other than beautiful and desirable.”

Her blush deepened. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You want me to punch what’s his-name?”

Her lips twitched. “Would you?”

“Gladly.”

“What if I told you he was six foot five and weighed two-forty?”

“I’d say that would make things more difficult, but at the end of the day, I’d make damn sure he looked worse and hurt worse than me.”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, he isn’t worth the time or effort.”

“All right. But the offer stands.” Leaning forward, he touched his lips to the soft bit of fragrant skin just below her ear. “You, on the other hand,” he whispered against her neck, “are very much worth my time and effort. As I recall, I promised to treat you to another bacon cheeseburger if things didn’t work out with what’s-his-name. Since two of those artery-cloggers in one day would probably land us in the hospital, could I interest you in dinner somewhere a little nicer than the diner?”

“Actually, I came here to invite you to dinner. As I recall you like seafood and I make a mean pasta with shrimp.”

“You’re offering to cook for me?”

“I am. Interested?”

“Absolutely.” He straightened and looked into her eyes. Just to make sure there was no misunderstanding of his intentions, he laid his cards on the table. “But in a hell of a lot more than just pasta. Interested?”

Her eyes darkened and she didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”

That single word sizzled a bolt of wild lust through him. “When did you have in mind?”

“Why not tonight? Or do you have other plans?”

He smiled. “It seems I do-with a beautiful woman and a bowl of pasta and shrimp.”

A layer of the shadows lurking in her eyes vanished and she smiled. “Great.” Her gaze cut to the stack of papers on the desk where he’d been working when she’d arrived. “Do you have things you still need to finish up here?”

“A few. Shouldn’t take me much more than an hour.”

“Actually that’s perfect since I need to stop at the supermarket.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s six-thirty now. Why don’t we say around eight o’clock, and if you can get there earlier, fine.”

“Sounds great. I’ll bring the wine.” He released her, reluctantly, but consoled himself with the fact that they had the entire night ahead of them.

She slipped a card from her purse and handed it to him. “Here’s my address. It’s only about six miles from here.” She gave him directions, then added, “My cell and home numbers are listed on the card. Call if you get lost.”

“Not to worry, Mallory. Believe me, I’ll find you.”

6

Saturday, 8:00 p.m.

WHEN MALLORY HEARD A CAR pull into the driveway, her heart beat so hard she could feel the pulsing in her stomach. Hear it in her ears. Good grief, she was reacting like a teenager going on her first date.

She blinked. Actually, this was exactly the way she’d felt as a teenager when she’d gone on her first date with Adam. They’d gone to the movies. The latest James Bond flick. And hadn’t watched a minute of the film. The instant the lights went down, the mother of all make-out sessions had started. To this day she blushed any time that particular film was mentioned.