Real Men Will. Victoria Dahl

sparks. The lust. The need.

      He shifted closer, close enough to touch. When Beth closed her eyes, he clenched his hands to fists and stopped himself while he still could.

      BETH ALMOST CONVINCED herself she was just imagining him. He smelled the same. And he looked exactly the same: dark-haired and tall, his brow furrowed in worry, as if he never set his thoughts aside, no matter what month or week or time it was.

      “Beth?” he said again, and she suddenly felt as if she’d swallowed a heart that was way too big for her chest. She wanted him to touch her so she could turn to him. At the same time she wanted to edge around him and run away.

      She shook her head and opened her eyes.

      He stole another quick glance over his shoulder before turning back to her. “How are you?”

      “Good,” she managed to say. “Great. I’m actually here with a party.”

      “Oh.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You know Faron?”

      “Yes! I…” She shifted her purse to the other hand, then back again. “Exactly. I know Faron.” It wasn’t quite a lie. They had friends in common. They’d been introduced a couple of times over the years.

      The hallway was too small, despite being five feet across. His shoulders were so wide, and her memories too big, and the space just kept getting tighter and tighter. He cleared his throat, and she saw that he was just as uncomfortable as she was.

      “I’m sorry,” Beth said. “I didn’t realize the party was here when I agreed to come. I honestly didn’t mean to…”

      “Of course not,” he said quickly. “Come by anytime.” But his gray-blue eyes darted nervously down the hall again. Maybe he had a girlfriend now. Maybe she was one of the servers.

      Beth wished the floor would open up and swallow her and her sickly thumping heart.

      “I was just leaving,” she finally said.

      Jamie stepped back. “Great. I mean, sure. Of course. That’s good. Have a nice night.”

      Mortified, she edged past him and hurried back to the party. “Welcome back!” her date said when she found him and hovered a foot away.

      “Thanks.”

      “Are you okay?”

      “I’m fine!” She smiled and he handed her the beer she’d left behind. When she saw the way her hand was shaking, Beth took a seat at the nearest table and carefully set the beer down.

      When he joined her, she hid a cringe. Was Jamie watching? She took a sip of beer to try to wet her parched mouth.

      Beth glanced toward the bar, but didn’t spy Jamie anywhere. “I’m sorry,” she managed to say, then hesitated over his name again. “I…”

      Davis! That was his name. Not David, but Davis, after Miles Davis, because this man had been cool since the day his parents had named him.

      Beth felt guilty for her snarky thought, but her guilt vanished in an instant when she heard a girl cry out, “Hi, Jamie!”

      Beth’s head snapped up so quickly that Davis’s voice cut off as if she’d sliced his words with a knife.

      “Beth? Are you sure everything is okay?”

      Definitely not. She scanned the crowded area near the bar, but she didn’t see him. While she watched, a cute blond guy in a brewery T-shirt waved toward someone. A girl broke free of the group and gave him a big hug.

      “Listen, maybe a going-away party packed with people you don’t know isn’t an ideal first date.”

      “No, it’s not that.” She tried to think of something witty to say. Tried to concentrate on this man. Yes, he was hip and overeducated, but he was also a nice guy. And his smile could melt butter on a cold day. In fact, the moment she’d met him, she’d thought she might actually enjoy herself on this date. That she might actually look forward to touching this man, to kissing him.

      For the first time in six months, Beth had thought maybe she’d finally found another man who could turn her on. And like an evil genie summoned by the thought, Jamie Donovan had popped back into her life, reminding her what it had been like with him.

      Yeah, she hadn’t had to wonder about whether sex with Jamie would be good. He’d turned her on just by feeding her dessert. The way he’d watched her, his gaze glued to her mouth as her lips parted. She’d wished—

      Davis put his hand over hers for a brief moment. “I’ll say goodbye to Faron, and then we’ll go.”

      “No. I’m sorry! I don’t want to cut the party short for you.”

      “No big deal. Come on. Let’s find Faron.”

      Davis took her hand again and led her through the packed room to the tiny woman standing at the edge of a large group of people. Beth wondered how tall she was without the perfectly round Afro, because even with it, she wasn’t bigger than five foot two. A skinny guy with long hair had his arm draped over her shoulder, a proprietary smile on his face. Faron wasn’t smiling when they walked up, but her sweet face broke into a grin when she saw Davis.

      She hugged Davis and then Beth before they said their goodbyes. Faron’s husband had taken a job in Santa Barbara, but no one wanted to see her go. Nobody seemed that broken up about her husband, though.

      “Ready?” Davis asked.

      “Yes,” Beth answered, realizing it was the most honest thing she’d said all night. As she walked through the door, she dared one look back, but Jamie was nowhere to be seen.

      The sharp cold of raindrops on her face startled her from her thoughts.

      “Run!” Davis said, tugging her along. Beth ran, and by the time they reached his car, she was laughing so hard with relief that she couldn’t draw a breath. Davis reached to open the door, then shut it behind her before dashing around to the other side.

      “My feet are soaked!” she gasped, stomping her heels against the carpet. “I think one of those puddles was more like a pond.”

      “Your everything is soaked,” he corrected. He touched her cheek, sliding a wet strand of hair toward her temple. A drop of icy water trickled down to her jaw, and then he leaned close and kissed her.

      Beth inhaled sharply and felt him smile against her mouth. When his lips brushed hers again, Beth told herself to relax, to enjoy it.

      And there was no reason she shouldn’t. He smelled good. His lips parted just enough to encourage hers to part, as well. And his hand was a sweet touch on her jaw. Beth sighed and refused to think about Jamie Donovan. He hadn’t wanted to see her any more than she had him.

      But then Davis pulled back and the kiss was over before she’d had a chance to make herself enjoy it.

      “I’m really glad Cairo introduced us,” he said softly.

      “Me, too.” And she was. When she wasn’t thinking about Jamie, she could imagine this man being her lover. She knew from experience that a first kiss said a lot about how a man would perform in bed. For example, that guy two years ago who’d immediately thrust his tongue down her throat…that had been his level of restraint and subtlety during sex, as well. Foreplay had been something along the lines of “Brace yourself, I’m coming in!”

      But Davis…he might be quite lovely.

      “I admit, though…” He started the car and glanced at her. “You weren’t quite what I was expecting.”

      Her warm thoughts froze. “What do you mean?”

      “Well, with the store and the advice column, and…you know. Cairo and the rest of her friends are…”

      Beth knew exactly where this was going. She smoothed a hand down her skirt and hid a resigned smile.

      “I