felt a laugh struggle to break free. Mr. Anderson had prized his old Pontiac so highly that every high-school boy tried to steal it for a backcountry joyride. Riley had been one of the few to succeed.
In a strange way she wanted to reassure him that as far as she was concerned he’d proven everyone wrong and she was proud of him. He’d become a nationally respected historical restorationist and had been featured on several PBS shows on historic preservation. The houses he restored were featured in magazines. “But you did something with your life. Something real special.”
“Yes, I did.”
“And you made some very important contributions to preserving this town’s history.” Not that she cared about Wayloo’s history, but some of the houses were just too pretty to let rot.
“You didn’t come here to talk about town history.”
“No,” she said in a breathless tone. “You’re right, I didn’t.”
His deep velvety voice was doing strange things to her. Things she shouldn’t let herself admit. After all, she had been talking to him almost every day for the last few years. Of course, they rarely had conversations outside of the diner. Maybe her grandmother was right. Just the mere mention of the word sex made a woman think strange things and want to throw caution to the wind.
“You came to talk about sex.” His eyebrows jiggled. “With me.”
She wanted to cover her flushed cheeks. She wanted to splash the cool tea all over her face. Focus, she admonished herself. Focus on what you came for, Nell. “Um, yes.”
“Why do you want to know about sex?”
She’d spent her entire life looking at life from the outside. She wasn’t going to be the same little mouse in New York she was in Wayloo. She’d be like those women she saw on television and read about in books. In charge of her life, sophisticated and free. “I want to fit in. When I live in the city.”
“What else do you want to know?”
His question surprised her. She’d already told him what she wanted.
He moved closer. “Do you want to learn how it feels to touch a man?”
She was tired of reading romances, of reading about women who knew so much more than she did. “Yes.”
Riley took another step toward her. “About how it is to kiss a man?”
She could almost feel his body heat. “Yes.” Every nerve ached. Despite the air-conditioning her body temperature rose and one side of her brain wondered why and the other side told her to go along with it.
He took another step closer. “And about how to please a man?”
Nell clasped her hands behind her back lest they stray toward him. “Yes.”
“Do you know what’s going to happen between us?”
She’d watched her share of episodes of Sex and the City. She’d read plenty of books. She wasn’t totally uneducated. In theory she knew what went on between men and woman. The practical part she understood, she just lacked the experience. “I know the basics.” Don’t I sound all worldly and wise?
He hooked his finger in between two buttons of her uniform at the gap that sometimes showed between her breasts. “Book-learnin’is only going to take a girl so far. We’re going to have to sleep together.”
She glanced down at his finger. At this moment the polyester was choking her entire body. “I think I can do that.” Maybe not. She felt as though she should run away and never come back.
He moved her backward until she felt the edge of the counter pushing against her hips. “Just wanted you to know how it’s going to be.”
“You’ll do it?” A thousand different emotions pushed through her until her breath seemed to stall inside and she grew light-headed.
“Yeah,” he replied, “I’ll do it.”
The way he emphasized the word it curled her toes. Nell let out a long breath. The last thing on her list completed. “Well, thank you, Riley.” She slipped sideways and turned to leave. Not that leave was the right word, escape was closer in meaning.
Riley grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “We haven’t hashed out the details yet.”
Nell bit her lip. “Details?”
Something strange appeared in his eyes that sent a spiral of fire down to her belly so strong she bit her bottom lip. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Her body was so hot she wanted to pour the whole pitcher of cold tea over her head.
Riley pushed her tight against the counter, and she was powerless to stop him, even if she’d really wanted to.
He lowered his head, his mouth touching hers with featherlike gentleness. “Everything important is in the details.”
Nell’s mouth opened under the insistent pressure of his lips. Time stopped. She felt Riley’s hands move up her arms. Heat spiraled outward. Though she understood the biology of love, she didn’t understand the pounding wave of anticipation radiating through her.
His tongue slipped between her lips to caress her tongue. Nell’s eyes fluttered closed. The bottom of her stomach dropped out of her world. His body molded to hers. His broad chest flattened her breasts. Nell grabbed the fabric of his shirt in her fists. She stood on tiptoes and opened her mouth wider. Her first real kiss. The kind of kiss an adult man gave an adult woman. Nothing could have been more perfect.
His long, callused fingers climbed up her shoulders and locked behind her neck. The tips of his thumbs caressed her chin. Heat, desire, need overwhelmed her. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She didn’t want the moment to end. Her nipples tightened in her too-restrictive bra. She wanted to free her breasts, to touch his bare skin. She knew this was bad, but everything felt so right. Her grandmother had lied. His touch was sheer heaven.
Then Riley lifted his head.
Nell couldn’t breathe as she stared into his dark eyes and saw her own startled-doe look reflected back at her. He looked at her as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world.
His mouth tilted into a wicked smile. “I believe we’ve worked out the first detail.”
Nell wanted to touch the spot he’d kissed to capture the hot memory in her hand and keep it forever. “What’s that?”
“To see whether we have chemistry.”
She couldn’t relax, couldn’t make the heat inside her leave. “Do we?”
He grinned. “Oh yeah.”
Good, she thought. Now there was only one question left for her to ask. “When do we get started?”
Chapter 3
Riley picked at his lonely plate of spaghetti. After Nell had dropped her bombshell, he was surprised he’d still ended up alone tonight. Well, maybe that was a good thing. Tomorrow evening would be soon enough to start
