LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

She carried the bag with the sandwiches.

      The sun had just set, casting an orange glow across the western horizon. The rest of the sky was a brilliant indigo blue. Instead of thinking about how the colors were created, he took in the scene like Stacy obviously did. He’d never noticed the way the colors melted together before. Now he noticed not only that, but the way the light cast a glow across Stacy’s face and made her look beautiful. The way her hand felt in his also cast a warm glow over him, though he knew that was scientifically impossible.

      Several of the Sunset City residents smiled and waved, then turned and whispered to each other.

      “This should go a long way toward convincing them we’re madly in love,” she said. “We can walk around to the lake, sit on a bench and pretend to enjoy each other’s company.”

      Pretend? Perhaps she was pretending, but he was definitely enjoying her company. He didn’t like the thought of her pretending.

      “I appreciate you going to all this trouble for me,” he said.

      “It’s no trouble.”

      Okay, that was better.

      “You’re sure?”

      “Positive,” she said, a content look on her face. She met his gaze. “Is it hard on you?”

      To his surprise, he wanted to say yes. It was hard to look at her mouth and not kiss it, hard to understand why he wanted to kiss her when they were only pretending and the last thing he needed was someone like her in his life.

      She was waiting for his answer, as though it mattered to her.

      “No, not at all.”

      When they reached the small park area, he released Elmo to explore. The dog sniffed the ground as he traveled in circles, though he never took his gaze off Barrett for more than five seconds. If that was adoration, well, he did like it. He glanced at Stacy, who quickly shifted her gaze to Elmo, as well.

      “Have you ever been adored?” he asked, making her snap her gaze toward him again.

      “Me?”

      “Yes, you.”

      For some reason, she tried to pull her hand free of his. He held on tighter, not ready to relinquish the charade.

      She looked at their linked hands. “I…well, Granny adored me, though I’m not sure it counts when it’s family. Not that they have to adore you or anything, but…” Her gaze lifted to his. “No,” she finished with a soft sigh. “Not even by a dog. I’m sure my time will come.”

      He led her toward the bench that faced the lake. The surface reflected the sky and the palm trees that swayed in the breeze. Only the occasional ripple marred the mirror image. It amazed him how something so simple could be so beautiful. He looked at Stacy, who looked beautiful, too, even if she looked a little sad.

      They ate, the wrappers making makeshift plates in their laps. Stacy kept dabbing her face, reminding him of the chicken crumb episode. At one point, she left a smear of mustard by her mouth, which she licked off with a swipe of her tongue. He heard himself make a small sound between a choke and a groan.

      “Did you say something?” she asked.

      He crumpled his sandwich wrapper. “Not me.”

      She stuffed the rest of her sandwich in the bag.

      “Should we…” He gestured, then took her hand. “Tell me about hand holding.”

      “What?”

      “What other uses does it have? Besides just being romantic.”

      He set their linked hands on his thigh and traced his thumb over her skin. Her breath hitched as she stared at their hands.

      “Didn’t your parents hold hands?” she asked.

      “No. I’ve seen my sister, Kim, and her husband, Dave, hold hands. I was just wondering if it served some practical purpose.”

      “Why do you want to know?”

      “If we’re going to be a couple, I should be aware of all the nuances, right?”

      “Well…it’s a friendly gesture. But it doesn’t last very long in that context.” She demonstrated, loosening their hands, giving his hand a squeeze, then retracting her hand again. “It’s a gesture of support, too. If you were going through something sad or trying, I might hold your hand for a while.” She took his hand again. “I might even place my other hand on top of yours, just to give you extra support.”

      He was supposed to be cataloging all this for research purposes, but the feel of her hands enveloping his was making it hard for the information to register.

      “What about this? I’ve seen men kiss a woman’s hands before.” He turned her hand over and kissed her moist palm.

      She shivered. “You kiss the back of the hand…in greeting.” She took his hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. “Like that. Only women never do it to men. It’s a romantic gesture. Sometimes it’s a classy greeting. I think the French do it.”

      A trace of moisture remained on the back of his hand from her kiss, skewing his thoughts. He’d never had trouble focusing before he met Stacy. “Have men kissed your hand before?”

      “No. It’s not an everyday sort of thing.”

      He kissed the back of her hand. She didn’t react the way she had when he’d kissed her palm. “You didn’t like it when I kissed your palm?”

      “Well, actually…I did. No one’s ever kissed my palm before. It was…interesting.”

      “Tater Tot casserole interesting?”

      She laughed, and a warm, satisfied feeling flooded through him.

      “Definitely more interesting than that.” She took a quick breath. “It was arousing. Like this.”

      She took his hand, faced it palm up and kissed the center of it. Her mouth lingered there, hot and moist against his skin. She was right—it was arousing. And not just the legal definition of inciting to action, awakening…No, this was arousing in a different way. More than physical.

      But very, very physical. His body was awakening, rising. If she asked if this charade was hard on him, he couldn’t honestly answer no this time. Heat flushed through him. Was it dopamine or norepinephrine? All he knew was that it was way more interesting than Tater Tot casserole interesting.

      She abruptly stopped pressing her mouth against his palm and sat up. “We’d better stop.”

      “But we’re doing so well. I’m aroused. Aren’t you?”

      “Yes, but we’re only supposed to pretend to be…aroused.”

      “Oh…right.” That pretending thing again.

      “Geez, look. No, don’t look. There’s Nita and Jack. And Arlene. Look at them, they’re like vultures, moving in for the kill. No, don’t look!”

      He was getting dizzy with the looking and not looking. “The people we’re supposed to be fooling,” he whispered.

      “Exactly.”

      “So, if I did this—” he kissed her palm again, very slowly, the way she’d kissed his “—it would help our defense position. Right?”

      Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she whispered, “Exactly.”

      He’d never had this effect on a woman before, at least not that he’d noticed. He was noticing now, cataloging every action versus reaction. When he flicked his tongue against her skin, she inhaled sharply. When he traced his tongue across the lines of her palm, her breathing increased threefold. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elmo watching them with interest. When Barrett’s tongue dipped into the crevice between her fingers, he didn’t care what Elmo was doing anymore.

Скачать книгу