Someone Like You. Susan Mallery

wanted to whimper with delight. She wanted to freeze-frame time and hang on to this moment forever. She wanted to yell to the heavens that Mac Kendrick thought she was interesting. Instead, she reminded herself that not only was her stay in town temporary, he had always been popular with the ladies. His flirting with her didn’t mean much more than a knee-jerk reaction to being alone with a woman. Only a fool would take it personally. And a really smart woman might take advantage of the situation to soothe her recently shattered ego, as long as she kept things in perspective.

      “You’re very different from the teenager I remember,” he said. “You were cute then, but you’re amazing now.”

      Amazing? That worked. She resisted the urge to say Tell me more, and instead focused on an unpleasant truth.

      “You didn’t think I was cute. At least not naked.”

      He nearly choked on his wine. “What?”

      “You didn’t think I was cute naked.”

      He set down the glass and stared at her as if she were crazy. “I never saw you naked.”

      Now it was her turn to be shocked. “Of course you did. On my eighteenth birthday. You were home on leave and I hid out in your bedroom.” She grimaced. “I wanted you to be my first time and you weren’t interested. At least I’m assuming that’s what the throwing up meant.”

      “Wait a minute.” He shifted toward her on the sofa. “What are you talking about?”

      Was it possible he didn’t remember? No. He had to.

      Refusing to be embarrassed about something that had happened a decade before, she met his questioning gaze.

      “Do you remember being on leave?”

      “Sure. I partied every night with my friends. A couple of times things got completely out of hand and I blacked out. Talk about being a dumb kid. But I would have remembered you naked.”

      “Apparently not.”

      Partying? She turned the idea over in her mind. Had that been it? Of course. It made sense. But at the time, she’d been crushed.

      “I don’t know if I should laugh or cry,” she admitted.

      “Why don’t you tell me what happened and I’ll help you decide?”

      He was sitting so close she could feel the warmth from his body. If she moved just a little, they would be touching. The thought made her stomach clench and her heart flutter.

      She set her wineglass on the end table. “As I said, it was my eighteenth birthday. I went out to dinner with my dad, then when he went to bed, I crept over to your house. Your mom was already asleep, so I tiptoed inside and waited until you got home.”

      She thought back to that long-ago evening. How scared and excited she’d been. How she’d thought that night would change everything. It had, but not in the way she’d imagined.

      “You always teased me about being jailbait,” she told him.

      He reached up and fingered a strand of her hair. “That was to remind me as much as you.”

      “Really?” His words made her want to beam. “I don’t care if you’re lying, it’s nice to hear.”

      “It’s the truth. So there you were, waiting in my bedroom, which I still can’t believe. What happened?”

      She winced. “The one thing I never would have dreamed. You walked in, hit the lights and I dropped my dress to the floor. I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. You took one look at me, ran into the bathroom and promptly threw up.”

      He stared at her incredulously. “No way in hell.”

      “Do you think I’d make up an embarrassing moment like that? You were the first guy to see me naked. I’ve been emotionally scarred ever since.”

      She could tell he didn’t want to believe her.

      “I would have remembered,” he said.

      “Apparently not. And all this time I’ve wondered what you thought of me and that night. I can’t believe you don’t remember it.”

      He took her hands in his. He had big hands, with long, thick fingers. Wasn’t that supposed to mean something?

      “I’m sorry,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “I can’t tell you how sorry. And speaking for the twenty-two-year-old I was back then, I’m damned disappointed to have missed the opportunity to take advantage of your gorgeous, naked self.”

      She smiled. “I was determined we were going to make love.”

      “I wouldn’t have said no. Except for how I would have felt about your father.”

      “He actually never wanted to do it with you.”

      Mac grinned. “Thanks. That’s not what I meant.”

      “I know. He was there for you and you wouldn’t have wanted to repay him by deflowering his daughter.”

      “Exactly. But I might have worked past the guilt.” His humor faded. “Are you okay? Are you really scarred?”

      “I got over it.”

      “I’m sorry, Jill. It wasn’t about you. Like I said, I was partying pretty hard.”

      “I know. It’s fine.”

      She liked how her hands felt in his and the way he brushed his thumbs against her skin. She liked the regret in his expression and how the night was so quiet and they felt like the only two people in the world. She especially liked the heat in his eyes and the way he seemed to be moving closer. She swayed toward him.

      “Want to consider a rain check?” he asked, his voice low and tempting, just before he kissed her.

      Jill didn’t have an answer, which was just as well, because the second his mouth brushed hers all brain power ceased. There was only the moment and the man and the magic of what he did to her.

      He teased her with just the right amount of pressure. No wimpy almost-kiss, no plunging right for her tonsils. Instead he moved back and forth, discovering, teasing, withholding just enough to make her want more before he offered it.

      He smelled delicious and radiated enough heat to make her want to throw herself into his arms. One strong hand cupped her face, the other got buried in her hair. She sent up a brief prayer of thanks that she’d left it loose for the evening, then put her hands on his shoulders and gave into sensation.

      Their lips clung. Instinctively she tilted her head. He touched the tip of his tongue to her bottom lip and sent shivers rippling through her body. She parted for him, both aroused and amazed that this was really happening. Her kissing Mac? Was it all a dream?

      It had to be, when reality was him slipping inside, stroking her lower lip before deepening the kiss. Desire quickened her blood and made her breasts ache. She squeezed his shoulders, feeling the thick muscles tense under her touch.

      He pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers. She opened her eyes and found him watching her. He was so close, he was almost blurry, but she didn’t want to pull back. Not ever.

      “You kiss like you mean it,” he murmured. “You’re the kind of woman my mom always warned me about. Sexy and dangerous.”

      It was a good thing that all her blood had rushed to her lower body to keep her grounded. Otherwise she would have floated away.

      “You’re pretty tempting, yourself.”

      “So what would have happened all those years ago, if I’d had the good sense not to get plowed at the party?”

      “You tell me. I was doing the offering. Would you have accepted?”

      He chuckled. “In a heartbeat. Even though your dad would have killed us