His erection brushed against the small of her back, making her yearn and melt for him.
“No cookies.” He brushed her hair to the side and kissed her neck.
Oh, those lips of his…
She sighed, even though she tried not to. He ran his hands slowly along the twin outward curves of her hips. Her body went molten. What was it about those hands of his, about those lips, about the feel of his body touching hers?
Chemistry.
Oh, yeah. Chemistry. So good. So right…
“Tanner,” she said on a breathy, drawn-out sigh, bringing her hand up, clasping the back of his head, pulling him closer when she should have been pushing him away. His hair was so silky, so thick. She speared her fingers into it. “Tanner…”
“Mmm…” He stuck out his tongue and licked the side of her neck. Then he nibbled where he’d licked.
She couldn’t stop herself. She wiggled back against him and he groaned, pressing himself more tightly into her, letting her feel what he wanted to give her.
Oh, she was losing it. Losing it again…She groaned in arousal and frustration.
It was the third time Crystal had set herself the task of telling him, and the third time was supposed to be the charm, wasn’t it? She’d sworn she would tell him this time, no matter what. And yet, here she was, her hands in his hair, her body arching, her neck stretched to the side for him, inviting him to kiss her there some more.
He trailed nipping kisses upward and then licked her earlobe.
“Oh, God,” she whispered.
He made a low, masculine sound of arousal and agreement. “The feel of you,” he said rough and low. “The scent of you. You drive me crazy, you know that?”
“Oh, Tanner. I know. I’m so sorry.”
He made a low sound that might have been a laugh—or a groan. “Sorry, huh?”
“It’s the same for me.”
And then those amazing hands of his were on her shoulders. He turned her until she faced him. Her body instantly curved close to him. She lifted her mouth to his, helpless at that moment to do anything else.
He still smelled faintly of smoke from the ruined lasagna. But he also smelled…delicious. So tempting in a way she could never quite define. He smelled so very masculine. It was a clean scent. A scent that drew her, that made her yearn, made her forget all over again that he was all wrong for her.
She couldn’t get enough of him; at the same time as she felt shamed deep within herself. After all, she’d sworn, she’d vowed, that tonight was going to be different from all the other nights.
Yet here she was, willingly wrapped in his arms. What a total fool she’d been to imagine it could go otherwise.
And then he kissed her. His mouth covered hers, and the last wispy remnants of the real world, of her obligation to tell him he would be a dad, floated away. There was nothing but the feel of him, the taste of him, the strength in those hard arms around her, the softness of that beautiful mouth as he kissed her.
It was long and deep and wet and wonderful, that kiss. Like all his kisses, starting from the first one, on a night in early March outside the dance studio where his niece, DeDe, had just finished a recital. They’d gone to his place that night.
Afterward, they’d talked about how the night had been just something that had to happen, something they needed to do, to get their yen for each other out of their systems.
Something they would never do again…
He raised his head—but only to slant it the other way and kiss her some more. She could never get enough of those kisses of his. It was probably pointless to even try.
But then he lifted his head a second time. And when he didn’t immediately begin kissing her again, she let her eyelids drift open.
“Tanner?”
He was looking down at her, his eyes so dark—black as a night without stars. “When I touch you, I only want to touch you some more.” His arms encircled her and his magical fingers traced erotic patterns at the base of her spine. “It’s always like this. From that first day we met—the day Candy died, remember?”
Candy was his niece’s dog. She’d been a sweet old mutt. “Yeah. I remember. I felt so sad about the dog. And DeDe was inconsolable. And then you came in…I wanted to jump you right there. I felt terrible about that. I mean, DeDe had just lost a pet she loved. And all I could think of was getting my hands on you. All over you.”
His chuckle was low and much too sexy. “I was suspicious of you, showing up out of nowhere the way you did.”
“I know.”
“I also couldn’t wait to touch you, to do all kinds of shocking things to you.”
“It was the same for me.” She ran her palm down the muscular shape of his arm. Below the sleeve of his black knit shirt, his skin was warm as living silk. She sighed at the feel of him.
His dark brows had drawn together. “But there’s something on your mind tonight, isn’t there?”
Her throat locked up. She gulped to clear it.
“Isn’t there?” he asked again. “I mean, beyond your ass of an ex-boss who I’m not allowed to beat to a bloody pulp.”
Her heart, which a minute ago had slowed to the deep, insistent rhythm his kisses inspired, was now thudding hard and hurtfully under her ribs. She had a sick, sinking feeling low in her belly. She was going to do it. Now.
She had to do it. Now.
“What is it? Just tell me.” His voice was so soft.
And right then, before she could allow herself to back away from it again, she opened her mouth and pushed the words out.
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
Chapter Three
A baby…
Tanner gazed down into Crystal’s wide eyes. She had the face of an angel, he’d always thought. Never more so than now. Her cheeks had flushed pink and a few strands of her long, curly hair had gotten loose from the golden mass and coiled over her left eye. He lifted his hand to tuck them behind her ear.
She caught his wrist, her grip fierce. “It’s yours,” she said, hitching her delicate chin high. “It’s yours and I’m keeping it.”
He waited until she let go, and then he continued the action, catching the soft strands, guiding them back into place. “Okay.”
Her honey-brown eyes flashed at him. “Okay? That’s all? Just…okay?”
“Crystal…” He wanted to comfort her somehow, or at least to reassure her that he would be there, that she
