so long?—drove Jim almost out of his head; yet still he took his time, keeping his kisses slow, gentle and arousing. He tasted the silky skin of her jaw down to her throat. So soft and sweet…she tasted like rich, creamy ice cream.
He’d always had an unquenchable greed when it came to ice cream.
Did her mouth taste the same? He had to know—and she was turning her face, seeking his mouth in blind want. With a groan, he lifted her up against him—so small and sweet, this Danni; how could he ever have compared her to a Sherman tank?—and let it happen.
Bam.
He’d known for years he had the hots for Danni—what guy wouldn’t, given her delicate loveliness, the challenge of her defences and battleground intellect?—but he’d dismissed it as an inconvenient desire that would never stack up against his love for Laila. But man, with that first touch on his shoulder, meant only in comfort, Danni had knocked him for six in a way Laila never had.
Was it possible that, blinded by what he’d thought was real love for Laila, he’d been ignoring something incredible he could have had with Danni? All these years, thinking something was wrong with him, that only lightweight girls returned his desire, while the kind of woman he really wanted—intelligent, sensitive, focussed and strong, never wanted him…
Now his desire was being fulfilled by a woman who not only had all those qualities in spades, but was returning kiss for kiss. Her delicate roundness was lying flush against him, her throat made eager sounds…and he felt as if he were flying. The simple act of kissing—and he’d done a lot of it in the past three years, among other things—had never felt so amazing, so intense.
Why that suddenly brought everything back to him, he didn’t know. One moment he felt as if he were captain of Starship Danielle, the next he was putting her down, staggering back and staring at her as if—as if—
Damned if he knew what. Damned if he knew anything at this point.
Within a moment, he regretted his panic-inspired reaction, because Danni had gone from soft, flushed and starry-eyed to having more defences than a hedgehog. Her mouth, dark in the night but he knew was rosy and flushed from his kiss, opened to say something stinging—and he couldn’t think of a thing to say to stop her this time.
“Don’t tell me—‘it’s not you, it’s me,’” she said, her tone flippant. Her hands were on her hips, her chin up, ready to do battle.
The trouble was he’d dumped himself on earth from the stratosphere too fast; he couldn’t think beyond what had made him panic in the first place. “I don’t know who I am.” He half turned from her. “My father isn’t my father, either. Nobody is who I thought they were—and I’m not anything I thought I was. I have to know the truth.”
The sarcasm wiped from her face. When she spoke, the warm, half-laughing ruefulness reached inside his soul, into the pain and softening it. “That’s just typical of you, Haskell, you know that? You can put me in the wrong so fast my head spins.”
Ridiculously relieved that he’d somehow said the right thing with her for once, he grinned. “Well, you just made my head spin, so we’re even.”
In the moonlight, he could see her blush.
“I still want you, Danni.” He could hear the huskiness in his voice. “But I’ve got no idea where even I’m going from here, so I can’t say where we would go.”
“I know where you’re going. To your parents’ house,” she said, taking his hand. Her face was very gentle now. “From there—” she shrugged “—I never expected promises. We indulged ourselves for a few minutes, and it was pretty nice. But you have things you have to sort out, and I’m along for the ride while I work out my future. So let’s get back to…no, let’s become friends, Jim Haskell.” With a lifted chin and a smile of promised camaraderie, she shook the hand she held.
Not for long, though. Jim released her hand so fast she stumbled back over one of the tree roots, staring at him in shock.
No way!
He could see the danger signs plastered, posted and splashed all over whatever this was with Danni. After that life-changing kiss, she was saying she hadn’t wanted anything from him beyond the moment.
Liar. Liar!
Danni Morrison was not about to become another woman in the life of Jim Haskell, Woman’s Best Friend!
Without warning, everything that had happened to him tonight—or maybe all his life—took its toll. Nothing would ever be the same again—and happy-go-lucky, roll-with-the-punches Jim Haskell disappeared. Pure, unadulterated fury flooded through him, all of it currently aimed at the woman trying not to land on her butt between tree roots and powdery red earth.
She’d never called him a friend before—he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her get away with that kind of cowardice now. He’d become Danni’s friend when the equator froze over. The woman was always geared for battle—he’d see how she handled it when someone took up the gauntlet.
Without warning he grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s hit the road,” he snarled.
“Jim, what are you doing?” she cried as he all but dragged her into the restaurant and snatched up her bag.
“You coming?” he challenged her when, clearly embarrassed by everyone’s laughter and knowing grins, she began to pull back, trying to get him to release her hand. “Are you keeping your word, or will you keep lying to me like you just did? Are you going to turn coward and bail because someone finally called your bluff after all these years?”
That was all he needed to say. Her chin lifted, her nostrils flared and she looked at him as if she hated his guts, but she said, “Don’t bother turning the tables on me with my own sarcasm, Haskell. I’ve done years more psychology than you’ll ever know.”
“Good, then you can psychoanalyse me on the road, can’t you?”
“Or ditch you on it!”
“Yeah, go for it.” With deliberate patronage, he patted her on the head. “You handle the verbal attacks. Let’s see you get physical again.” He grinned down at her. “I dare you.”
The entire table of their mutual friends burst into stunned laughter. Laila was blinking, laughing with the others, but clearly flabbergasted. Her best friend—everyone’s best friend, sweet and patient, giving Jimmy Haskell had shown his darker side for the first time, not backing down an inch, and none of them knew why.
Damned if he knew why, either. Who would have guessed Danni of all people had the power to bring out the tiger in him? Jim himself hadn’t dreamed of it until a few minutes ago. But he’d had enough of losing to the women he really wanted.
He didn’t question why he really wanted Danni—he only knew he did. And he would not take her offer of friendship lying down. This time he’d fight, right to the finish.
She wanted him, damn it—and he’d force her to come out of wherever she was hiding, make her come to him, to touch him. He’d make her purr for him again….
It seemed he’d knocked out this particular little champ, at least for the moment. Danni’s delectable mouth remained closed, but sparks of fury told Jim the bell for the next round was about to ring—as
