After The Christmas Party…

CHAPTER TWO

WHAT A PLEASANT enigma, Riley thought of the woman he held loosely in his arms. She really did dance like an angel. But she was crazy if she thought she danced better than she kissed.

No one danced better than this woman’s lips had felt against his. A meeting of their lips that hadn’t been an angelic kiss but one that lit hot fires all along his nerve endings. He still burned. of course, that might be because her curvy little body swayed next to his and every cell in him had an apparent surge of testosterone.

What other excuse could there be for that brief brushing of his mouth against hers to have set him on fire the way it had?

If he didn’t quit thinking about how much he’d wanted to deepen that kiss, about how he wanted to take her somewhere private and kiss her again and again and on places other than her juicy mouth, she was going to know exactly what he was thinking. He was intuitive enough to recognize she wasn’t the kind of girl who went for one-night stands.

And he wasn’t the kind of man who sweet-talked a woman into doing something she’d regret.

Exactly what he did want wasn’t entirely clear, but he sure wanted something.

Her.

He brushed his cheek across the top of her head, the light touch sending shockwaves of awareness through him. Yes, he wanted to know her in every sense. He’d always been the kind of person who’d known what he wanted and had gone after whatever that might be. He wanted Trinity with an intensity that made his head spin.

“How long have you been a nurse?”

Tilting her head back, she blinked her big brown eyes at him. Most of the women he knew would have had make-up accenting their large almond shape, would have made the most of the naturally thick lashes rimming her lids to lure some unsuspecting man into her snare. Not Trinity. As best he could tell, Trinity had nothing on Her face except the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and a little mascara coating those already long lashes. Her hair was clipped back with loose springs, framing her heart-shaped face. She looked as if she could be sweet sixteen.

“Trinity?”

Her beautiful face had become pinched, as if she were troubled by his question. “Long enough that I know about men like you.”

Her instant defensiveness confused him. “Men like me?”

“You shouldn’t get ideas about me.” Her face flushed a pretty shade of pink, but she held his gaze. “I’m just here to dance, nothing more.”

Riley liked the spunk shining on her upward-tilted face and had to fight the urge to kiss her mouth again. “You shouldn’t get ideas about me,” he warned. “I’m simply making conversation with the beautiful woman I’m dancing with. Nothing more.”

Her gaze narrowed. He grinned. After a moment she sighed in resignation. “Fine. You win.” A sly smile slid onto her mouth. “This round.”

He looked forward to future rounds. “And?”

“I’ve been a nurse for four years,” she admitted, as if giving away some top secret. That would likely make her around twenty-six.

“Where did you nurse prior to coming to work for Pensacola?”

She tensed in his arms and stopped moving. “You don’t have to play Twenty Questions or even make conversation at all. For the record, I’m a girl who appreciates silence in a man.”

Riley chuckled. Oh, yeah, he liked this woman. “Shut up and dance, eh?”

She nodded.

“Problem is, I want to know more about you.” Lots more. “Where did you nurse prior to coming to Pensacola?”

She sighed. “How about I save us a lot of time and send you a copy of my résumé?”

He stared at her stubborn expression.

“Oh, all right,” she relented, and pushed his chest, motioning for him to start dancing again. “I went to school at University of Tennessee in Memphis and went straight to work at one of the hospitals there. I worked in the cardiac unit until I took the job here in Pensacola.”

“Now, was that really so painful?”

“Excruciating.” But a smile played on her lips. He really liked her smile. And the sparkle of gold in her brown eyes.

“Now, be quiet and dance.”

He laughed at her order. Talking with her was like a breath of fresh air. Stimulating. Fun.

“I have a friend who went to medical school in Memphis. He says it’s a great place. What brought you to Pensacola? Family?”

With a look of what he hoped was feigned annoyance that he hadn’t taken her order of silence seriously, she shook her head.

“Friends?” he persisted, despite her glare.

“Nope,” she answered after a moment’s hesitation.

The music picked up tempo. When she went to pull back he tightened his hold. “Boyfriend?”

“Ha. Exact opposite.”

No hesitation there. He frowned. “You have someone in Memphis?”

“Not any more.”

There was enough sadness—or was it regret?—in her voice that he felt a little guilty at just how much relief flowed through him at her denial.

“I’m glad there’s not someone waiting for you in Memphis. Or anywhere else, for that matter.” Because he hadn’t liked the thought that she might belong to someone else. “Very glad.”

For the first time since they’d started dancing she mis-stepped and caught his toe. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” he assured her, thinking that as petite as she was she could stand on his toes and not hurt him. She was like a pixie. A curvy pixie. He couldn’t recall ever having the urges that rushed through him when he looked at Trinity. There was something about her. Something intriguing that had him hooked. Was it just that she wasn’t the type of yes-girl he was used to? “Recent break-up?”

She gave an ironic laugh and shook her head. “Forever ago. If you insist on talking, let’s talk about something else. Anything else.”

As much as he’d like to know more so he could understand what made her tick, Riley didn’t push. Instead, he loosened his hold and caught her unawares by spinning her out and back to him. “Fine, we’ll save the talking for later and dance now,” he told her as he caught her.

Looking more than a little relieved, she smiled, then caught him unawares by dipping backwards in his arms and laughed as if she’d been set free. “Deal.”

Trinity felt light-headed. Giddy almost. Despite her boisterous claim about her dancing skills, she stepped on Riley’s toes more than once. He didn’t seem to mind, just kept smiling at her and making silly little comments that made her laugh.

For once she relaxed enough to just enjoy the music, to let loose and move to the beat even if she looked ridiculous. Something about the way Riley looked at her, the way every bit of his attention was focused solely on her, boosted her confidence and let free her love of music.

Riley. He smelled so good. Spicy. Musky. Heavenly.

Her gaze dropped to his lips.

Somewhere in her brain she registered that something was wrong with her thought processes, that she wasn’t thinking clearly. Still, she licked her lips, wondering if the flavor of him lingered there from his impromptu kiss. She wanted to taste him again.

“You’re killing me, princess.”

“Princess?” Had anyone ever called her princess?

And had she really just giggled?

A kiss under the mistletoe and a few fancy steps to one of their coworker’s karaoke singing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” and she’d morphed into someone she didn’t even recognize. Who knew that pretending to be the life of the party could be so much fun?

“Well, you have me royally torn up so, yeah, princess.” He grinned, his gaze going to her just-moistened lips. “Don’t tease me, Trinity.”

He’d said her name. She liked him saying her name. Her cloudy mind registered that she hadn’t officially introduced herself. “I’m Trinity, by the way.” Which seemed a really dumb thing to say as he’d called her by her name repeatedly. She grimaced at her lapse and wondered what was wrong with her brain.

He smiled indulgently at her. “Trinity Warren. I know.”

“How?”

“I asked about you before I came over.”

She blinked, wondering if she’d misheard. “You did? Why?”

His hand pressed against her lower back. “I wanted to know more. I’ve never dated a woman who works at the hospital. Too messy.”

“Dated a woman who works…” Was he saying he wanted to date her? Or just letting her know that he didn’t date women at the hospital so she wouldn’t take any of tonight the wrong way?

“Messy?” she prompted, then added, “Not that I’d date you.”

He grinned at her comment. “I am going to prove you wrong but, yes, messy. If things don’t work out, there’s a mess to deal with when the two people involved work at the same place.”

“Ha. Tell me something I don’t know.” She was an expert on that particular mess. Chase had worked as the IT manager for the hospital where she’d worked in Memphis. She knew all about dealing with messes. Especially when he’d made their break-up so public.

“You’ll have to explain that comment,” Riley commented close to her ear.

“Not likely.” Because she had no intention of ever telling anyone in Pensacola of her humiliation. She’d come to forget things, not to rehash them.

His hold at her waist tightened a fraction. “You’re a really private person, aren’t you?”

None of her personal business had been private in Memphis. Chase had dumped her for another woman in front of the whole Christmas party. He’d been drunk and had…She grimaced, not letting the memories take hold. “Generally, I prefer to blend in than be center stage. If that means I’m a really private person, you’re right.”

He pulled back enough to stare into her face. “Funny, because when I look at you I can’t picture you anywhere but center stage.”

His kind words sounded so sincere that her knees threatened to buckle. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and…actually, her arms were around his neck. She leaned closer, breathed in his musky scent.

He pulled back, stared into her eyes. “You’re a leading lady, Trinity. You could never blend into the background.”

Heat infused her face and she started to point out that earlier tonight she’d blended in quite well until he’d made an entrance into her life. Now lots of people were looking at her and trying to figure out why he was dancing with her. Didn’t they know? Tonight she was the life of the party. Tomorrow she’d go back to the real world.

“You’re smooth with the lines, Casanova.”

His hand moved across her lower back, holding her close. “No Casanova and no lines. Honest. I’m just telling you the truth. You’re a beautiful woman.”

“I think you’re a player.”

“You think wrong.”

The woman’s comment about her being tonight’s lucky pick ran through her mind. “You’re telling me you’re as pure as snow?” She gave him a skeptical look. “I’m not buying it.”

“Not sure how pure snow is these days but no one would label me as pure anyway other than my mother, who thinks I hung the moon, of course.” He winked.

Trinity rolled her eyes. “Okay, snowflake.”

Her nickname obviously caught him off guard and he stared at her a moment then shook his head, laughter shining in his eyes. “I enjoy spending time with the opposite sex and I’m no saint, but you can call me ‘Snowflake’ if you want to. But for the record, I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“No red-blooded man ever does.”

“Suspicious little thing, aren’t you?” He grinned. “Fortunately, I’m an open book and you don’t have a quiz in the morning. So how about for the rest of the night you don’t analyze this and just enjoy yourself?”

“With you?”

He tightened his hold at her waist. “That was the idea. I’d be very disappointed if you left me to enjoy yourself with someone else.”

Despite her uncertainty, the giddy feeling was still inside her so she just shrugged as if she couldn’t care less one way or the other. “So long as you don’t suggest we sing karaoke.”

That naughty look twinkled as brightly as the colored lights adorning the Christmas tree in the corner of the ballroom. “Too bad, because my number is coming up two songs from now and I plan on you joining me.”

“You plan wrong.”

He reached into his dress pants pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “Due to the time constraints, the Christmas committee had interested parties draw numbers earlier this evening.” He waggled his brows. “This interested party got a winning number.”

“I’d ask if you ever don’t win, but having to get up in front of all these people and sing doesn’t sound like a prize.” Grimacing, she glanced at the duo currently belting out a number. “Not a good one, at any rate.”

He laughed and touched his finger to her nose. “You’re funny, Trinity. I like that.”

“Not really.” She wasn’t funny. She hadn’t been since…since Chase had broken her heart and she’d withdrawn into her shell, trying to protect her tender inside.

Why had she done that? Why had she let him steal so much from her? Why was she still letting him steal so much of her life? For goodness’ sake, she had moved to a beach town because she’d assumed the locals wouldn’t put so much emphasis on a holiday associated with snow. Pathetic.

“Fine, I’ll sing with you, but just to warn you, I’m an even better singer than I am dancer and we both know how I excel at that.” She stepped on his toes, hard, to prove her point.

“My ears can hardly wait.” He grinned down at her. “Like I said, fun girl.”

CHAPTER THREE

TRINITY’S HEAD HURT. Not just a little. Her mouth felt as if something had crawled inside and died. Her stomach warned she might just upchuck.

She rarely ever got full-blown, miserable sick, but this morning she just felt bleh. Thank goodness she wasn’t scheduled to go into work today, just to take call. Maybe she’d get lucky and her phone wouldn’t ring.

Digging deeper beneath her covers, she groaned and snuggled up next to the warm body beside her.

Warm body? Hello. There wasn’t supposed to be a warm body in her bed!

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” an unexpected voice broke into her haze.

An unexpected and very male voice.

A voice she immediately recognized, even though she’d only met him the night before. Why was he rambling on about sleeping beauty being a princess and her looking like one? Right. Because, like all fairy princesses, her hair and make-up remained perfect while she slept. Not.

She twisted to look at him. “Riley.”

“You were expecting someone else?” A lazy brow rose beneath sleep-tousled hair and he looked way too sexy for first thing in the morning. Apparently fairy princes really did remain perfect while sleeping.

She was in bed. Her bed. Between the covers. With Riley. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. Not good. She scooted away from his warmth until she reached a cold spot on the sheet. Too bad half her butt was now hanging off the edge of the bed.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Her words came out half-croak, half-cry.

Pulling the covers tighter around her, she tried to register the fact that she was in bed with Dr. Riley Williams. Even more confusing, she tried to remember how she’d gotten there. How he’d gotten there.

“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”

He shouldn’t. She barely knew him. She didn’t do one-nighters. Not ever. She didn’t do anything. Not before or after Chase.

At her accusing tone, Riley’s grin slipped. “You asked me to stay.”

That threw her. “I did?”

“You did.” His confident tone and coolly assessing blue gaze brooked no denial.

She’d asked him to stay. They were in her bed. Although her black dress was gone, as were her hose, she still wore her panties. But no bra.

In bed with a sexy cardiologist with nothing on but her granny panties. Awesome.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and asked the twenty-million dollar question that kept echoing through her throbbing head.

“What did we do?” She sounded accusatory again, but she wasn’t able to control the rising panic within her.

What had she done? She’d finally broken away from the chains that had bound her to Memphis, had moved to Pensacola to make a fresh start, and she’d ended up in bed with the first man she’d stood under mistletoe with? How could she?

Christmas.

It was the blasted holiday that wreaked havoc in her life. Always had. Always would. She really should go to some remote location every December and not come home until well after New Year. If only.

Riley had the nerve to look offended. “You don’t remember last night? Our coming here? What we did after we got here?”

“If I remembered, would I be asking?” Really, she’d thought him smarter than that. Or maybe she was just cranky because a thousand things were running through her mind and not one of them good. “Did we have sex?” she demanded, while her throat still worked because, seriously, the tissue threatened to swell shut any moment.

From where Riley lay next to her, he stared, not saying anything at first, just watching, making her wish she could pull the covers over her head, making her wish her stomach didn’t churn.

“I can assure you—” confidence and perhaps annoyance oozed from his words “—that had we had sex, you’d not only remember, you’d have woken up with a smile on your face and not that look of horror.”

Face aflame, relief flooded her, as did curiosity because sex up to that point in her life hadn’t been that memorable. There had just been Chase but, still, she had been practically engaged to the man. Sadly, she had never woken up with a smile on her face. Quite the opposite. So maybe Riley thought she’d remember if they’d had sex, but maybe she wouldn’t have remembered. Maybe she just hadn’t been impressed and had blocked the experience from her mind.

“You’re saying we didn’t, um, you know?”

Cool amusement at her lack of ability to say the actual words shone in his eyes. “We didn’t have sexual intercourse last night, if that’s what you are attempting to ask.”

No sexual intercourse. His tone mocked her question but, come on, they were in bed and she was only in her skivvies. Which meant that they had done something, right? The way he was looking at her said they’d done something. But what?

Letting her gaze run over his face, his lips, the strong line of his jaw, his throat, his bare shoulders, his chest, his…She gulped. Had she touched him? Kissed him? Run her fingers over those broad shoulders? Those washboard abs? Had she seen him naked? Face afire, she glanced back up, met his gaze, and winced. He so knew what she was thinking and he liked it.

An inferno burned her cheeks.

“Riley, I…” She pulled the covers even tighter around her, holding on in case the material got a sudden urge to slip below her neck and put her chest and abs on display for his inspection. No washboard anywhere in sight at her midsection. More like a laundry basket. Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull her thoughts together and away from their bodies. “I don’t do this.”

“This?” His face was unreadable, his eyes dark. She didn’t like the look and found herself wishing things were different. That she was different. That she could have woken up in bed with him and not freaked out but reveled in a night full of passion. That she really had woken up with a smile. That she could have been good enough that he could have woken up with a smile. That instead of lashing out at him with accusatory questions she could have teased him awake with kisses and had a morning full of passion.

A morning she’d remember always.

A morning he’d always remember.

A morning that would leave them both exhausted and smiling.

But that wasn’t her. She was a woman who disliked Christmas, disliked men, was terrible at sex, and although she’d come to Pensacola to forget her past, she could only handle confronting one hang-up at a time. She seriously had her work cut out for her even with that.

“What is it that you don’t do?” Riley prompted when she failed to elaborate.

Everything. She sighed, took a deep breath and went for broke.

“Wake up in bed with a man and not remember how I got here and what we did while here.” She grimaced. She sounded horrible. Waking up next to him was horrible. He probably thought she was horrible—in bed and out of it. “I don’t do that. Ever.”

“I just told you, we didn’t do anything, not really. We ended up here because I drove you home from the Christmas party and you invited me in. And, although there’s another bedroom, there is no bed.”

Which meant he must have at least considered sleeping elsewhere.

“I wasn’t doing the floor,” he said matter-of-factly, “and I’m too tall to comfortably sleep on your girly sofa.”

She did have a girly sofa. A plush Victorian piece that she loved because it had been the first piece of furniture she’d ever bought for herself, but it really wasn’t that comfy. Not that comfort mattered so much, because she never had company or spent much time there.

Trying to recall the previous night’s events, she closed her eyes, thought back. The Christmas party. She’d danced with Riley, sung one silly reindeer song with him, celebrated that he’d won one of the door prizes when random names had been drawn from a stocking, then they’d left. He’d driven her home. They’d walked into her house and then he’d kissed her. No mistletoe required. Just a simple good-night kiss that had somehow morphed into something more, something hotter, something that hadn’t been simple at all.

Wow, if his kiss had been that amazing she might have really woken up with a smile had they had sex. Then again, had they had sex he’d know how lame her lovemaking actually was.

Her panties weren’t the only thing she was wearing.

She reached up, touched the door prize he’d won and given to her. “You won this.”

He shrugged, causing the covers to slip a little lower at his waist. “I gave it to you.”

He’d taken the pearl necklace out of the velvet box and fastened it around her neck. There had been something mesmerizing about him putting the necklace on her. Something erotic and gentle and totally captivating.

Kind of like his abs.

No wonder she’d asked him to stay. He’d been the perfect date.

Only they hadn’t been on a date.

“You can have it back if you want it,” she offered, in case he regretted having given her the piece. Maybe he’d expected bodily payment for the beads. Ha, had they been out of a gumball machine he might have gotten his money’s worth, but that’s about it if Chase’s claims about her skills could be believed.

Riley’s brows formed a V. “Why would I want them back? Don’t you like the necklace?”

“It’s lovely.”

“Not nearly as lovely as you are.”

He was smooth with the lines. Too smooth perhaps. She swallowed.

“You told me I was beautiful last night.”

Actually, he’d repeated the compliment several times.

“You were.” His eyes bored into hers. She didn’t have to be looking directly at him to feel his stare. He stirred beneath the covers, but he didn’t reach for her. Somehow she knew he wanted to.

“You are,” he continued. “Very beautiful.”

Last night, in her haze, he’d made her feel beautiful. Like the most beautiful woman in the world. This morning she felt like a woman who’d gone to bed without washing her face or brushing her teeth. She was rank and knew it.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true.”

The sincerity in his voice told her that he was either the world’s greatest liar or he believed what he said. Maybe he really did have fantastic blue contact lenses and they were blurred with sleep, leaving him blinded to the truth.

Making sure to keep the covers pulled over her almost bare body, she rolled over to face him directly. She could feel his body heat, could feel the magnetic pull of him. She wanted to touch. Really really wanted to touch. His sheer physical perfection robbed her of thought. Or maybe it was his bare chest that made her brain waves frazzle. He was the one who was beautiful. Eye-poppingly, mouth-wateringly, finger-itchingly, body-twitchingly beautiful.