about her mother.
“How about your favorite family trip?”
Betsy started to say they’d never gone on any trips until she remembered that summer between fourth and fifth grade. “When I was ten we got in the car and drove to Devil’s Tower. It wasn’t much to see, but we sang songs and played games as we drove. Mom stopped at this old gas station, and we all had bottles of orange Nehi soda pop. Keenan and I thought she might buy a beer, but she didn’t.”
The memory was disturbing. Had her mother quit drinking that summer and she hadn’t noticed? Of course, even if she had, she hadn’t stayed sober.
“Sounds like a fun trip.” Ryan’s eyes glittered in the dim light. “Now the piece of clothing.”
“I’ll take off my sweater.”
“Good choice.”
Betsy took her time peeling the garment over her head in a slow strip tease. When Ryan’s smile faded Betsy knew he’d seen the silky long underwear.
“No wonder you weren’t cold when we were throwing snowballs,” he grumbled. “You’re dressed for twenty below.”
But she lost the next two rounds and found herself sitting before a fully clothed Ryan in only her bra and panties.
“I really like this game.” His gaze remained focused on her chest.
Beneath the heat of his gaze, her breasts began to strain against the lace fabric holding them in. “I’m feeling decidedly underdressed.”
“And I’d like to keep it that way.”
He lost the next round and took off his sweater, leaving him with a short-sleeved T-shirt.
Betsy knew she would win the upcoming round. While he’d been busy ogling her, she’d been memorizing the tune so she would know just when to hand it off to him.
He placed it in her hands and she counted the beats slowly in her head. She was ready to move it to his hand when he gasped.
“Is that a spider on the dresser?”
Betsy whirled, music box in her hands. She barely noticed that the tune had quit. Her gaze frantically searched the top of the dresser. “Where?”
“I was mistaken,” Ryan said with an expression that was way too innocent. “Must have had something in my eye.”
She realized suddenly what he’d done. “You—you cad. You did that deliberately.”
“Did what?”
“You knew I was about to give you the music box, and you deliberately distracted me.”
“Betsy, Betsy, you’re so suspicious.” But the flash of a dimple in his left cheek told the story. “Before you take something off, tell me how many lovers you’ve had.”
“What?”
“We both know that after you strip this time, there’s not going to be much talking going on.” He gentled his tone. “I want to be prepared.”
“Two,” Betsy mumbled. “Just two.”
“When?”
“One my first year in college.” She’d been so lonely then. “The other was back in Kansas City. He was another paralegal in the same firm.”
“It’s been a while.”
Betsy felt her face grow hot. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “It’s been a while for me, too.”
“But you and Kate...”
“Kate and I were never lovers.”
She thought of the blonde ski bunnies at the bar. “What about the girls, the blondes at Wally’s Place?”
“You think I slept with them?”
“You flirted with them.”
“You flirted with Tripp, but you didn’t sleep with him.”
“No,” she said. “That would have been wrong.”
He waited.
“Because,” she said, “I don’t care about him enough.”
“But you’ll sleep with me.”
“Yes.”
A warmth coursed through Ryan that had nothing to do with the fire burning in his belly. Betsy might say she wanted to date Tripp, but it was him that she liked, him that she trusted with her body and her heart. That’s when Ryan knew everything was going to be okay.
He would win her over, show her that his love was sincere. Starting now.
Ryan stared at her for a long moment. The second his eyes met hers, something inside Betsy seemed to lock into place and she couldn’t look away.
Then his lips curved upward in a smile that pierced her skin and traveled straight to her soul. She stood absolutely still as he reached out and touched her cheek, one finger trailing slowly along her skin until it reached the line of her jaw.
She stopped breathing when he leaned closer, brushing his lips across hers. The friction sent shivers and tingles spiraling through her body.
Betsy finally found her voice. She spoke his name, then paused, not sure what she wanted to say.
“Let me make love to you.”
His request, spoken in a husky voice, sent blood flowing like warm honey through her veins. He moved his arm so her hand slid down to his and he gently locked their fingers together.
Betsy’s heart fluttered. A thousand butterflies lodged in her throat. Her body quivered with anticipation. It had been a long time, but she felt sure that with Ryan it would be different. Better. Magical even.
She gazed into his eyes. Could he hear her heart pounding?
“Please,” she said, not sure what she was asking for but knowing she wanted it all. Ryan was a smart guy. She was confident he’d figure out a way to meet her unspoken desires.
Before she could blink, his clothes landed in a heap somewhere behind him. Like a game of follow the leader, Betsy took a deep breath and tossed what remained of hers on the floor next to his.
When she’d been a child, teachers had told Betsy it was impolite to stare. But she was no longer a child and she couldn’t help herself. Broad shoulders. Flat abdomen. Muscular legs. And—she swallowed past the sudden dryness in her throat—indisputable evidence of his desire for her.
Heat
