Reckless

Liar. She could start by telling him how something had changed in her feelings toward him the other night. Something elemental. Something confusing. Something frightening.

Nina had told her that plans often didn’t turn out exactly the way you wanted them to. That wasn’t Heidi’s experience. At least not in recent years. And she didn’t even want to consider that her well-laid plans would go anywhere but where they should. She’d been raised in an environment where simple things like cooking dinner and regularly paying the electric bill hadn’t been planned, so she’d taken it upon herself to impose order on her own life. As soon as she was old enough, she’d gotten herself up and to the bus stop on time, changing from an often-tardy student to one with no late slips. She’d gone grocery shopping with her mother, and while Alice Joblowski had lingered in the book section leafing through the latest titles, Heidi had consulted a list she’d made of ingredients for meals for the next two weeks, because you never knew when her mother would think to go to the supermarket next.

She liked order in her life.

And her reaction to Kyle’s skin against hers now was nothing if not disordered.

She slipped her wrist out of his grip.

“Look,” he said, shoving his hand back into his pocket, seeming as irritated as she was. “I know you and I…well, we haven’t really gotten on well since I moved here. But Jesse would like to change that. And, frankly, so would I.”

Heidi frowned. “I’m okay with the way things are.”

He looked at her closely. Perhaps a little too closely.

“What is it that you want to talk about, Kyle?” She made a point of checking her watch again. At this rate, she’d be late returning from break. And she hadn’t finished one of the three errands she’d wanted to run.

“I want you to help me plan a surprise birthday party for Jesse.”

“A SURPRISE birthday party?” Nina repeated sometime later, after Heidi had returned to work.

The two women were in the café’s kitchen, Nina sitting on the prep table snacking on oyster crackers while Heidi put all her energy into kneading a fresh batch of sweet dough.

Usually, this was one of her favorite times of day. When the morning baking and the lunch rush were over and she could enjoy the afterglow of a job well done and kvetch or gossip with Nina while she tried out a new recipe.

Sometimes it was difficult to remember that Nina Leonard was her boss. Nina certainly never put on any airs, and she always treated Heidi like a coworker rather than an employee. Ideas were exchanged, schedules switched. And there wasn’t a thing Heidi couldn’t tell Nina.

Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire…along with her pants. What was the saying? Liar, liar, pants on fire?

There was one thing she wouldn’t dare tell Nina. And that was anything having to do with her recent sexual awareness of Kyle. To do so would be the ultimate in reckless, and even worse, it would be taking that awareness beyond a real fear to a very real reality.

“So what did you tell him?” Nina popped another cracker into her mouth.

Heidi slowed her kneading. “What was I supposed to tell him?”

“That you had to check your schedule?”

She pinched off a bit of dough and threw it at Nina. “I told him yes, of course.”

Kyle had offered a convincing case. Said he wasn’t used to organizing parties but wanted to do this one thing for his best friend to make a dent in the debt he owed Jesse for helping him out on so many occasions.

“What do you know about this guy?” Nina asked.

Heidi shrugged. “That he and Jesse met at college. That they roomed together for two years. He’s an architect and works a lot in cooperation with Jesse’s family’s company…”

“What about personally?”

“Like how?”

“Like does he have a girlfriend?”

“Not that I can tell. Jesse and I haven’t really discussed it.”

Nina pushed off the counter and threw away the dough stuck to her shirt. “I’d be careful there.”

Heidi’s kneading came to a full stop. “How do you mean?”

“I don’t know. You could say that I’ve had a little experience being…friends with two hot men.”

Heidi remembered the rumors and was tempted to ask about them. But the telephone rang, like some sort of physical warning that she should just leave well enough alone. She was mildly surprised that Nina didn’t seem to hear it. Someone must have picked it up out front.

“Anyway,” Nina said, checking the progress of another bowl of dough that was rising on top of thewarm stove. “I just think it’s important for you to be careful.”

“I’m not following you.”

“You know, you might not want to be…alone with Kyle during any of the planning meetings…stuff like that.”

Heidi laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Jesse and I have been a couple for eight years.”

“Just the same…”

Janice, the front-counter girl, opened the door a crack. “Heidi, it’s for you.”

Her throat suddenly went dry. Nina’s gaze sharpened on her.

“I’ll finish up,” her friend said. “You go talk to whoever it is.”

Heidi wiped the dough from her fingers and then quickly washed her hands before picking up the phone in the corner.

“Heidi?”

Her shoulders instantly relaxed and she made a point of saying directly to Nina, who was still watching her, “Hi, Mom.”

Then she turned away, not about to admit that she, too, had been half afraid that the call was from Kyle.

She groaned inwardly. However was she going to plan a party with the man if she couldn’t deal with the thought of talking to him on the phone?

She didn’t know. But she knew that, for Jesse’s sake, she was going to have to find a way.

Chapter 3

HEIDI COULDN’T IMAGINE what her mother wanted her for. It wasn’t like Alice to be cagey. But all she’d said on the phone was that she needed to see Heidi and could she please come over to the house when she had the chance?

Heidi put the last of the dough in the fridge and then leaned against the kitchen island and sighed. It was after nine and it had been a long day. But since she wanted tomorrow off for a catering job, she’d needed to put in the hours. She was lucky that Nina and Kevin allowed her to work around her class schedule and whatever else came up. Definitely different from any other employer she’d worked for. And if she wanted to use the kitchen after hours to prepare for any catering gigs that she’d put together, that was all right, too.

Of course, her long day had left her no time to stop by her mother’s. Which was just as well, because after the day she’d had, she wasn’t sure she was up for any surprises. At least not any more surprises. She had her hands full trying to figure out what she was going to do about Kyle. More specifically, she had to get a handle on her sudden, runaway attraction to him.

Jesse was busy tonight with softball practice and would no doubt be at the pub with the rest of the gang right about now. She’d spoken to him earlier and bowed out of his invitation to meet him there when she finished. She was tired and, okay, more than a little distracted. She didn’t think it was a good idea that she be anywhere near Kyle until she figured out what was going on between them.

Or rather, what was going on with her. Because if there was one thing she was relatively sure of, it was that Kyle Trapper wasn’t interested in her. Not one iota. He’d made that abundantly clear with his constant frowns in her presence, and he’d gone out of his way not to interact with her in any capacity.

Until now.

Heidi untied her apron and lifted it over her head, hanging it next to the door before going out into the café. The place was quiet. Nina had left some time ago and asked her to close up shop. She switched off all the lights save the one over the display counter which was always kept lit, and walked toward the music center. It was dark as well except for a couple of backlights in the public area. The same applied to the bookstore division, which was set up to look like a comfortable living room-library combination in a large, century-old house. Although the fireplace was empty of logs, the explosion of flowering plants in the hearth still made it the center of attention, and the overstuffed sofas and chairs invited road-weary shoppers to sit down for a moment and crack open one of the books in carefully arranged stacks on the nearby coffee and end tables.

The utter quiet brought Heidi a brief sense of relief, a feeling of control that she liked. There were no customers to wait on, no bosses to answer to. Her time was her own.

And she really should be getting home to catch up on her course work.

She checked to make sure the back door was locked, then headed toward the front, clutching her purse to her side. She turned the key to let herself out, and nearly fell backward when someone appeared on the other side of the glass.

It would have been bad enough had it been a stranger. What made it worse was that it was Kyle.

HE’D FRIGHTENED her.

Kyle held open the door, prepared to steady Heidi. He’d been hoping to catch her as she was leaving the store, but he hadn’t planned to scare her.

“I’m sorry. I startled you.”

“No, no. That’s okay,” she said quickly, her color high, her breathing uneven. She easily stepped out of touching range.

Damn, but she looked good. Her hair was a dark cloud around her pretty face, her eyes but shadows in the dim light. It had only been a few hours since he’d last seen her, and she’d looked good then. But that had been in the plain light of day. Now that it was night…

“What are you doing here, Kyle?”

Now that was a question.

“When you told me you’d consider my request, we didn’t name a time when you’d give me your answer.” Kyle’s gaze dropped to the pulse at the base of her slender throat. “Since Jesse’s birthday’s in less than two weeks…I figured that if you don’t want to help, I need to know now.”

Her frown made her prettier, if that were possible. She looked around the parking lot, where few cars remained. He hadn’t parked there.

He didn’t think it was a good idea for them to be seen spending time together without a valid reason.

“I’m around back,” he said.

She looked at him.

“So have you thought about it?”

“Yes.” She dropped her gaze.

“And?”

“And I’m not sure if it’s such a good idea.”

“The party?”

“Our working together to arrange it.”

Kyle raised his brows.

Okay, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t picked up on the spark of attraction that had ignited between them, turning what had been his one-sided lusting into a reciprocal need.

Probably it wasn’t a good idea to encourage that, considering she was his best friend’s girl. But he’d been mentally planning Jesse’s twenty-fifth birthday party for months now. And he was determined to make it a reality.

“We’re adults, aren’t we?” he asked.

“What?”

“We’re both capable of putting aside personal differences so that we can work together.”

She gestured with her hand. “Sure.”

She didn’t look too sure.

Causing Kyle to look more closely at her.

Footsteps sounded on the sidewalk and then the jingling of keys. “Good night, Heidi,” a middle-aged man from the next-door business called as he locked up.

“Yes…good night, Mr. Bannon. See you tomorrow morning.”

Bannon glanced at Kyle and nodded once.

He returned the gesture. Even though he’d been in Fantasy for a relatively short time, he still hadn’t gotten used to how small a town it was. Everybody seemed to know everybody else’s business.

“Um, I think we should go inside,” Heidi whispered, although there was no longer anyone around to hear her.

Kyle didn’t argue as she opened the door and ducked inside. He followed, waiting for her to lock the doors before leading the way through the bookstore, then the music center until finally they were in the café where she worked.

She stopped in the middle of the room, the display case backlighting her sexy form. She appeared about ready to jump out of her skin as she took in the large window overlooking the walk and the parking lot beyond.

“The kitchen.” She gestured over her shoulder. “I think it’s better if we go in there.”

Moments later, Kyle stood across a large, stainless steel island from Heidi, wondering why she was acting as if he posed some sort of threat to her. He didn’t look threatening, did he? He slid his hands in his pockets and grimaced. “This is where you work then? In the kitchen?”

Stupid question. He knew she was a certified chef. That she had a busy catering business and that as soon as she obtained her MBA she planned to apply for a loan to expand the company to include employees and her own store front.

“Yes,” she said simply.

The place was quieter than he’d expected. Not that he’d thought about it much, but it struck him as odd that beyond the hum of the refrigerator, there was no other sound.

“So…” they said at the same time.

A smile.

Kyle chuckled.

“This is awkward, isn’t it?” Heidi crossed her arms under her breasts, drawing his attention to the soft mounds under her clingy black T-shirt. Was it him, or had she just shivered?

She followed his gaze and immediately uncrossed her arms.

“I guess we should start with the basics,” she said. She felt around her hips as if looking for something. “I’m not wearing my apron.” It was hanging near the door and she went over and took out a hand-sized spiral notepad from the pocket. She opened it, put it down on the counter and clicked her pen.

Kyle realized she’d spoken but he hadn’t heard what she’d said. “Pardon me?”

“What have you done so far?” she repeated. “Have you decided on a venue? Your house? Or maybe his parents’ place?”

“I was hoping you could help me with that.”

She wrote something down. “Guests? Who do you want to invite?”

An hour later, they’d pretty much worked out the major details of the party.

Kyle couldn’t help feeling that despite how tired she looked, Heidi appeared to want to get this over with in one meeting. Probably so she wouldn’t have to see him again. The rest could easily be taken care of over the phone.

It didn’t sit well with him that she was uncomfortable in his presence. Was it because he’d seen her naked the other day? Or were her reasons a secret? A mystery even to herself?

Whatever the cause, he found himself wanting to put her at ease.

“Heidi…?”

“Hmm?” She was putting her notepad back into her apron pocket, and she turned quickly, ending up almost nose to nose with him. There was little maneuvering room, with the wall at her back.

“Oh!”

Kyle’s throat suddenly felt tight as he watched her pink tongue flick along her bottom lip.

He leisurely took his fill of her up this close. He hadn’t noticed the light spattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, or the specks of deep green in her warm brown eyes. And she smelled of…was that gardenia?

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“For what?” Her voice was a mere whisper as she returned the same attention to him that he was giving her.

Kyle smiled. “For going in on this with me.”

Her gaze darted around the room. “Sure, no problem.”

“Are you certain? Because I’m getting the impression that there is a problem.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged, his palms itching with the desire to reach out and touch her. “That’s what I’m wondering. You don’t seem to want to be in a room alone with me for any stretch.” God, but she smelled good. His voice lowered. “Why is that?”

He heard the catch in her breathing. “Don’t be silly. You’re Jesse’s best friend.”

And she was Jesse’s girl.

The thought should have been enough to chase Kyle away from the woman in front of him. Should have been enough to remind him that not only was she taken, but she had Jesse’s name stamped all over her. While they weren’t engaged, they were practically engaged. The two had been a couple for almost a decade.

“And any friend of Jesse’s is a friend of yours?” he finished for her.

She nodded, her pupils nearly eclipsing the rich color of her eyes as she stared at him unblinkingly.

And maybe that’s what she needed to do. What he needed to do. Give a good blink to break whatever spell being this close to each other was casting over them.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then opened them to find that he should probably have shared his thoughts with her. Because Heidi was doing what he had hoped to prevent. She was leaning in to kiss him.

Chapter 4

OH, MY God…

Heidi wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing. It looked like she was kissing Kyle. But that was impossible. There was no way she would ever kiss her boyfriend’s best friend.

She heard a small sound and realized that not only was she kissing Kyle, she was doing so wholeheartedly—and enjoying it.

Enjoying it? Hell, she was afraid she might spontaneously combust from the simple contact of her mouth against his.

She abruptly broke off the kiss, only to find Kyle’s hands on either side of her face, allowing her no quarter.

Heidi swallowed thickly, incapable of movement, incapable of doing anything more than stare at him, wondering what he made of her actions…and, more, wondering how he might respond to her.

In that one moment, she knew that she’d risked everything she’d worked so hard for. Jeopardized every last plan, every last intention.

And when Kyle leaned in to kiss her again, she knew that she’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

She wasn’t sure what it was about this one man, what made her yearn for him in a way she was unable to resist. Perhaps it was the way she saw herself through his eyes: sexy, desirable, wanted. Or maybe it was her need of an unnameable something in him that compelled her to reach out. Something fundamental that transcended simple sexual need, consequences be damned.

Where before their kiss had been tentative, testing, now it was hungry and demanding. As if they both understood that they’d already thrown caution to the wind, risked so much, so why not just go the whole way?

Oh, yes. Why not?

Heidi couldn’t seem to kiss Kyle enough…touch him enough. She sought and licked and stroked from his crisp, thick hair to the back waist of his slacks. He pressed her against the wall, his mouth demanding as he grasped her hands and pulled them above her head, trapping them against the cool drywall even as he ground his hips into hers. Heidi moaned, the pressure he applied on the outside spreading to her inside, swirling and growing as she hooked her foot around his calf, drawing him closer still.

She struggled to regain control of her hands and he released her, moving her instead toward the preparation island. If she’d thought the wall was cool, she shivered when he hoisted her up to sit on the stainless steel, coaxing her knees apart with his hips and then filling the void with his body. Heidi tunneled her fingers into his hair, hauling him in for another kiss, a deeper kiss, her breathing coming in quick gasps. She reached for his shirt buttons and then roughly pulled the shirt up, separating herself from him briefly until the white cotton lay in a pile in the corner. He did the same with her shirt and her bra, leaving her bare to his attentions. The image of him running his tongue along her engorged nipples was almost too much to endure.

She’d never been intimate with any man except Jesse. Merely watching Kyle take liberties with her, claim her with a passionate certainty, nearly brought her to the brink.

“I have no fantasies,” she’d told Nina not too long ago.

Her friend had stared at her as if she were nuts.

But Heidi had never had any need for fantasies. Not when reality provided everything she wanted.

As she helped Kyle peel her slacks off, she wondered if perhaps she should have found something to fantasize about. Because maybe if she had, she wouldn’t have allowed definite fantasy material to seep into her reality.

Kyle’s fingers probed her throbbing flesh. She threw her head back and groaned, her hands flat against the counter, her hips bucking involuntarily.

How long had it been since she’d experienced this insane heat? This chaotic need? To be sure, up until recently, Jesse and her sex life had been satisfying.

Oh, but not this hot.

Two years? Five years?

The thoughts muddled in her brain as Kyle fitted a finger into her dripping wetness, rendering her helpless to do anything more than concentrate on him and only him.

Was this what it was like? Playing the field? Inviting intimacy with multiple men?

God, if this was any indication, then she’d lived a very sheltered life, indeed.

The problem was, she was terrified that the incredible heat she was experiencing wasn’t the result of exploring new territory with just any man…but only with Kyle.

“No…no…no…” she whispered, biting hard on her bottom lip even as she hastily undid the button on his fly and reached in to cup his silken length.

“Yes…yes…yes,” she countered.

If Kylewas tuned into her internal dilemma, hewasn’t letting on. Every bit of flesh he uncovered seemed to fascinate him endlessly, and his hands and mouth would follow his gaze, leaving no inch unexplored.

Heidi was in awe of his absorption. As was her body. She ached in a way that left her breathless, her heart racing uncontrollably.

Then came the moment when he would cross that last line, breach the last barrier.

Sheathed with a condom, he grasped her hips and stared into her eyes.

Heidi’s chest felt tight, her every cell shimmering with desire at this unexpected act of courtesy.

She licked her lips repeatedly and then scooted even closer to the edge of the counter.

“Please,” she said in response to his unspoken question.

He groaned, only too happy to oblige.

HEAVEN, hell and grandma’s devil’s food cake all rolled up into one hot package.

That’s how Kyle would have described finally being able to touch Heidi. But no one was asking, including himself. Because to bring any sort of gravity into the moment would completely negate the need for the question itself.

Oh, he knew that the last thing he should be doing was baring the true way he felt about Heidi, especially to Heidi herself. But, damn it, the instant her soft lips had met his, he’d been incapable of doing any differently. He’d lived with his desire for her for so long that he couldn’t have stopped himself if he tried.

His heart beat unevenly in his chest as he fitted himself against her slick portal. She’d given him the go ahead. That’s all he needed just now. He’d deal with the rest afterward…

Heidi shivered and curved her feet around his hips, bringing her vulva to rest solidly against his pulsing length. He watched, fascinated, as she leaned back against her arms, proudly displaying her full breasts, their pink tips seeming to scream out to him for attention. He bent to take one stiff nipple into his mouth, rolling it around like a pebble on his tongue as he entered her in one smooth, long stroke.

Her moan wound around him more tightly than her legs, reaching for something inside of him he hadn’t known was there. He slid his hands up over her hips and then under her, providing a pad against the hard surface as he pulled her slightly over the edge of the counter and then entered her again.

Sweet mercy…

She felt better than any woman had a right to.

He told himself that he was reacting so powerfully to her because he’d gone so long without a woman’s company. But he’d never been very good at lying, not even to himself.

He grasped the flesh of her bottom more tightly, holding her still as he thrust into her again, the action causing her breasts to jiggle. He gritted his back teeth, staving off climax. No. He’d waited too damn long for this for it to be over so quickly.