Part 4 (2/2)

He reached for her hand and, for one breathless moment, she thought he meant to kiss it. Instead, he used the grasp to pull her to her feet. With no more than a few inches between them, his presence surrounded her like a cloak.

”Only if you promise to invite me in,” he said.

”I think I can manage that.” Antic.i.p.ation made her entire body tingle. ”I'm ready.”

And this time, she wasn't lying.

Alex slapped freezing hands against his sides. ”When I promised to walk you home, I had no idea you lived so far away.”

Sarah laughed. She had a truly lovely laugh, deep, infectious and achingly s.e.xy. Hearing it made him want to sweep her into his arms and kiss the breath out of her ... but he held back. Like a long-simmering sauce, there were some things that tasted better the longer you had to wait for them.

Sarah patted her stomach. ”After that meal, I had to have a long walk. Besides, one more block and we're there.”

In the light of the streetlamps, her eyes looked as blue and clear as a spring-fed stream. Her nose had reddened with the cold, as had her cheeks. Her hair had tousled in the breeze and tangled about her face in dark tumble he wanted to straighten with his fingers. It would feel like silk. Feel like silk and smell like heaven.

”You're staring.” Unlike the last time she'd accused him of it, Sarah didn't look upset.

”I can't help it.”

She nodded and smiled, and that tempting pink tongue slipped out to glide along her lower lip again. His groin tightened in response. She pointed to a narrow Victorian house to their left. A solitary light burned in a lower window. As they approached, the porch light also flickered to life.

”That's mine. I have the light on a timer.”

He followed her up the front steps, and when she turned to say something, Alex gathered her into his arms and did what he'd wanted to ever since the night of Rivka's show. He kissed her. She stood stiffly in his arms at first, and his first thought was that he'd made another mistake. Then she eased into his embrace like sliding between a set of flannel sheets, and he knew it was all right.

She tasted like cold air with a hint of the spicy sauce she'd had on her pasta. Her lips were soft and warm against his; her tongue a sweet surprise when he urged her mouth open with his own. She twined her fingers in his hair and tickled the sensitive spot at the nape of his neck.

She pressed into his embrace. The bulky field coat she wore obscured any hint of the body beneath it, which was just as well because he needed nothing more to arouse him. He was already hard and throbbing just from the taste of her and the touch of her fingers in his hair.

Sarah broke the kiss and stepped away from him. Her blue eyes had grown dark with a pa.s.sion he was certain he did not imagine. Her perfect lips were swollen from his kiss, a sight that only tempted him to kiss her again.

She smiled. ”Hmm.”

Nothing more. Just that simple sound of musing. Or maybe she'd said ”Mmm,” like she'd tasted something good. Either way, the smile and the wordless reply she'd made to his kiss was s.e.xier than any noise he'd ever heard.

He decided on boldness. ”Are you going to invite me inside?”

”Yes, Alex.” Sarah's voice was soft and pitched low, and he heard a note of hesitation in it. Not exactly the tone he'd been hoping for. ”I'm going to invite you inside.”

Sarah led the way into the long hall that stretched the entire length of the house. To the right rose a narrow set of curving stairs. To the left was an arched doorway leading into the living room. Alex followed Sarah to the left.

”Make yourself comfortable.” She unb.u.t.toned her coat and tossed it over a well-sprung chair badly in need of reupholstering. With her face turned from him it was hard to see if the pa.s.sion had disappeared from her eyes, but it sure had gone from her voice. ”Would you like some tea?”

He didn't, not really, but he said yes anyway.

She moved through the living room and under an arch that led to a dining room. Beyond that was a set of swinging doors into the kitchen. She disappeared behind them and left him to settle himself on the sofa.

The house was decorated simply but with bold taste. Several of Rivka's prints hung on the walls. One in particular caught his eye. ”I have this print.”

Carrying a loaded tray, Sarah returned to the living room.

He smiled at her. ”It was the first real art I ever bought. It's my favorite work of your sister's.”

She appeared to a.s.sess him for a moment. ”Is it?”

He moved closer to the wall to look at the picture. ”Something about the flowers and the sky makes the rest seem so erotic. The line of the woman's body, the way she's got her hands raised to the sky. It's very s.e.xy.” All at once the resemblance struck him, and he felt like a fool. Everything seemed to click at once. The shape of the woman's hands, her hair, the curve of her jaw.

”It's you, isn't it?”

Sarah nodded, busying herself with the mugs and spoons. ”Yes.”

”No wonder I thought you looked so familiar at the show!”

Now she did look up at him. Her brow raised in the look he recognized from the first night they'd met.

”You can't see my face in that picture,” she pointed out dryly. ”Exactly what part of me did you recognize, Alex?”

Alex knew women expected him to be suave and smooth. Sometimes, he even was. Right now, he felt about as smooth as a gravel driveway on the skin of a toddler's knees. ”Your left ear?” He hoped for a smile. To his relief, he got one.

”I don't usually tell people it's me. You're very observant.” Sarah's expression was inscrutable. She patted the couch next to her. ”Sit down?”

He did, remembering the way her thigh had felt against his at the restaurant. What had happened since then? She'd pulled back, was aloof, not like the handful of pa.s.sionate woman who'd kissed him only moments before on the front porch.

”I had a nice time tonight.” Sarah poured him a cup of steaming tea. ”I like talking to you, Alex.”

”I liked talking to you, too.” They'd moved from topic to topic like water

flowing downstream. Though they'd shared different views on many subjects, not once had either of them gotten defensive or argumentative. Instead, they'd laughed. ”I liked kissing you, Sarah.”

Her cheeks pinked, and her tongue slid across her lips again. ”You make me nervous when you say things like that.”

”I'm telling the truth.”

She looked away from him and toyed with a single curl that had fallen over her shoulder. ”I'm finding this all a little weird.”

He frowned. ”Why weird?”

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