thing she did want to do was go for that walk he’d suggested. Just to put to rest any animosity between them. Although she definitely wasn’t sensing any from his side right now.
So she gave his hand a quick squeeze. “The park sounds good.”
Twenty minutes later they were looking over the pond as a couple of runners glided past on silent feet. “I remember when I was a teenager,” Tessa said, “Mom told me to stay out of the park at night. Things sure have changed over the years.”
“My folks were the same way. In fact, I doubt my mother would come here after dark even now unless she had a police escort, and even then it’s iffy.” He gave a low chuckle. “I probably won’t admit I came here, even now.” Clay probably wouldn’t admit it to anyone, actually. Especially his mom, who’d been stunned by the abrupt end of their relationship, although Clay had broken it to her in a completely different way, telling her that the decision had been mutual. There’d been no reason to poison his folks’ attitude toward her, and at the time he’d had no idea that his parents’ scholarship had had anything to do with how Tessa saw him.
Evidently it had.
He was doubly glad he’d handled it the way he had with them. They’d be hurt. Devastated, actually, if they thought they’d had anything to do with her dumping him.
He wished she’d said something. Anything. Maybe they could have worked it out.
No, they couldn’t have. If not because of Tessa, because of him. He’d failed at two relationships. There was no reason to think he’d be successful at a third. He had Molly to think about should things get messy.
And they always got messy. Especially when there was lust pumping through his veins that was as strong as it had ever been.
A police officer came walking by, pausing to glance their way as if mentally assessing the situation. Clay nodded at him and the cop returned the gesture, continuing on his way.
“That’s why things are so much better,” she murmured. “And it’s been cleaned up. It’s beautiful here.”
It was, with the soft glow of the park lights gleaming off the water… and off Tessa’s hair.
Hell, part of the reason he’d suggested coming to the park had been to give himself a chance to think about what he was doing. Kissing her… or anything else was sheer madness.
Yes, it was. The madness of a single summer night.
The words whispered through his skull, a terrible litany that demanded to be heard. Demanded an answer.
Kiss her.
The urge he’d had at the restaurant was back. Stronger than ever.
As if sensing his thoughts, Tessa turned her face toward him, and her eyes widened. Damn. She always had been able to read him.
And since she could…
He moved a step closer, waiting to see if she’d back away from him. She didn’t. So his fingers went to her face, tracing across her right cheekbone, her skin warm and soft, just as it always used to be. He couldn’t remember feeling anything softer. Not even Lizza, who always had some kind of cream or ointment smeared over her skin.
Tessa’s felt… real. That was the only way he could think to describe it. Flesh and bone, and the softest, silkiest skin known to man.
“Hey.” Why he’d said that particular word, he had no idea, except it had always been a kind of signal between them. And it had almost always been followed by a meeting of their lips.
Right on cue, hers curved up at the edges. “Hey, yourself.”
That was all it took. His hand went to her nape and drew her closer. It wouldn’t be the first time people in the park had seen couples kissing—or more.
And as much as he wanted to just plaster his mouth over hers and grab at everything she’d let him take, he didn’t. Instead, he barely touched her. Just a gentle press and release. When her hands went to his shoulders, he repeated the move, his fingers sliding into the hair at the base of her skull as their lips met again. Parted.
As if protesting his teasing, her teeth nipped his bottom lip, sharp enough to sting.
Okay, honey, don’t say I didn’t try to resist…
This time, when his mouth met hers, all hesitation was gone, and he let her feel the frustration and desire he’d been fighting for the past week. Out it came, spilling over him in a torrent, making him crush her to him as he continued to deepen the kiss.
A quick wolf whistle by another passing jogger almost made him smile. Almost.
Still holding her, he edged her back a little way until they were behind a stand of landscaping that was just tall enough to give them a modicum of privacy. If the cop came back, he’d probably scowl at them and send them on their way.
Clay was willing to risk it. And more. He crowded her against a tree as his mouth again took possession of hers. Tessa made a small sound at the back of her throat, the hands that had been on his shoulders winding around his neck instead as if she needed to burrow closer. Her breasts flattened against his chest. He ached to reach up and cup them—to see if the weight in his palms was as perfect as it always had been. But he didn’t think Tessa wanted to risk a night in jail.
Although there’d been a time when neither of them would have cared. And they hadn’t—Tessa coaxing him into the lush greenery of the park and making a few of his deepest fantasies come true.
Just the memory made his flesh leap.
It had been so long.
And when her mouth pulled away from his, he muttered a curse beneath his breath, only to have her laugh and kiss her way up his jaw. “The problem with the park being safer is there are also more people.”
“I don’t remember that being a problem before.”
Her fingers floated down his chest, sliding over his nipples. He sucked in a quick breath.
She’d always been a daredevil at heart—not a hint of shrinking violet in her. Maybe it was the heated Brazilian blood flowing in her veins.
“Tess, I don’t think you want to do this.”
“Don’t I?”
Her hands slid around to the back of his waist and ducked beneath the band of his slacks. She pulled him just a little bit closer, until there was no doubt that she could feel what she did to him. Because it was right there, pulsing against her, wanting nothing more than to shove her clothes aside and take care of business right then and there.
Not a good idea. Not only because of the venue but because if he was going to have her, he damn well wanted it to last more than a few seconds. He wanted to see every last inch of her, feel every secret dip and swell and run his tongue along all those soft curves.
He pulled back, gritting his teeth at the whimper of protest that tempted him to give in and start all over again.
“No,” he
