never been up here at night?”
She shook her head. “I mean it’s my first time on the Ferris wheel. I’ve never been to the Pier before.”
“I thought you said you grew up in Chicago.”
“My mom wasn’t into things like this.” They hit the outer apex of the curve and she grasped his arm. “This is fantastic.”
Gratification swelled his chest. “No wonder you seem like a little kid.”
She tilted her head to give him an unabashed grin. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He liked that about her. In fact, so far, he liked everything about her.
As they swung toward the top, he impulsively leaned in for a kiss. Her lips were warm and moist against his. She tasted like cotton candy, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking the kiss deeper and deeper.
By the time he pulled back, they’d crested the top. Her eyes were shinning in the ride’s bright lights, and her rosy cheeks had a new glow.
“I used to come here with my friends sometimes,” he told her. “When I was a teenager.”
It was a rare occurrence, since his childhood years hadn’t held much in the way of amusement. His mother had been the runaway daughter of Irish immigrants. With only a tenth grade education, she’d worked as a housekeeper for Dalton Colborn for nearly twenty years before succumbing to a bout of pneumonia.
Determined to hold Kalissa even closer, he settled his free hand at her waist, finding a warm strip of skin at her stomach.
“Were you a wild teenager?” she asked.
“Occasionally,” he admitted. “We used to street race, and we partied pretty hard. We once stole ethanol from the high school science lab. Made a killer punch that got about thirty kids blasted.”
“Who’s we?”
“My friend Ashton and I.”
“I can picture that.”
It occurred to Riley that if he wanted to impress her, he should probably change the subject from his teenage transgressions. “What about you? What were you like as a kid?”
She smoothed her hair in the wind and gave him an innocent smile. “I was good as gold.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I studied hard trying to get a scholarship, and I had a part time job from the time I was fourteen. I wanted to go to college, and I knew my mother could never afford it.”
“So, you were the consummate good girl?”
“I was.”
He moved in to playfully nuzzle her neck. “That’s sexy. It makes me want to corrupt you.”
She tapped him in the chest. “There’s something wrong with you.” But she was laughing as she said it.
“There’s a whole lot wrong with me.”
“Do tell.”
“I don’t think so.”
The ground rushed up, and the car glided to a stop, giving him an easy way out of the conversation.
He exited first, then took her hand, keeping hold of it as they walked away.
“It’s almost time for the fireworks,” he said.
“I can’t wait.”
“The best view is at the far end of the pier.”
“Let’s go.” She picked up the pace, leaning up against his arm.
He liked the feel of her against him.
The crowds had grown thinner as the evening wore on, with fewer kids darting from side to side on the walkway. They passed under strings of decorative, white lights and along yachts moored in the lake. Her hand felt good in his, but he gave in to the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulders again. She slipped hers across his back, and their thighs brushed together while they walked.
He didn’t want the night to end. He wanted to take her home with him, make love to her, sure, but also hold her sleeping in his arms, talk to her over breakfast, maybe plan their Saturday together.
The vision prompted a wave of guilt. She was open and fresh and genuine, while he was a fraud, hiding the most basic of information from her.
Determined to get them on a better footing, he found a clear spot in the crowd. Then he urged her toward the rail, turning her there so they were face to face.
“What now?” Her smile was in place, but she was searching his expression with obvious confusion.
“It’s Ellis,” he said, ignoring his own hesitation. “My last name is Ellis.”
Her smile faded, and she peered at him intently. “Are you in the witness protection program?”
“No.” Where had that come from?
“I thought maybe you’d testified against a crime boss or something.”
“I’m not a criminal.”
“You said you were a thief.”
“Ethanol. From an institution. Probably about ten bucks worth of the stuff.”
Her smile came back, and her voice went sexy and low. “Riley Ellis.”
Something shifted inside him.
She repeated his name.
He kissed her. It was fleeting at first, but then deeper and longer. He loved kissing her. But they were in public, so he forced himself to stop.
He rested his hands on the rails, arms around her, slowing his breathing down. “I promised you fireworks.”
Her eyes were wide and clear, her lips dark red. “You meant in the sky, right? Not the ones going off inside my brain right now.”
His hands twitched. “You have absolutely no sense of self-preservation.”
“And you have no sense of humor.”
“You are not a good girl.”
“I said I was once a good girl.” She planted a quick kiss on his mouth and then ducked under his arm.
He immediately caught her and wrapped his arm around her as they walked. “Okay, now you’re taking all the fun out of the chase.”
“There they go,” she called out as the first red and yellow starbursts banged through the air and lit up the sky.
They quickened their pace, laughing as they went. Riley found them
