Ready for Her Close-up. Katherine Garbera

bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to lie to him, but then she had nothing to lose. Russell wasn’t the kind of guy she usually went for, so being brutally honest wasn’t going to cost her anything. “Yes, like this situation with you. I mean, I planned to go to the matchmaker and find the perfect guy. I have a checklist in my head with all his qualities.”

      “And I don’t measure up?” he asked. “That’s not fair, Gail. You don’t know if I have those qualities yet.”

      “You’re right. But you are flashy,” she said with a grin. “And I’m a bit afraid to risk getting to know the real man.”

      “I can understand that. I’m coming at this from the opposite point of view. If you aren’t the woman I think you are … then I’m screwed.”

      She laughed at how he’d said that. “I guess we both are.”

      He reached over, took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth, rubbing his lips over the back of her knuckles. “I don’t want that. Let’s start over. I’ll try to be more the man of your dreams and you can …”

      “Yes?”

      “Give me a chance and not judge me so harshly.”

      “I will try. It’s one of my worst faults,” she said, liking the way her hand felt in his.

      “What is?”

      “Not being able to accept failure.”

      “In others?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand before slowly letting it go.

      Chills spread up her arm, and she knew she wanted to keep touching him. It was unexpected. She didn’t know why and couldn’t really explain it, but there was something about Russell Holloway that made her forget about lists and plans.

      “And in myself,” she said softly, almost to herself. But she knew he’d heard her because he nodded.

      “I’ll try not to let you down,” he said.

      And just like that, she was hooked on giving him a chance. She wanted to guard her emotions, to warn her heart to be careful where he was concerned, because her common sense told her there was more to Russell’s move than just his wanting to change. But she couldn’t help herself. For these next six weeks she wanted to be the kind of girl who’d allow herself to be caught up in a man. Even if she knew he was at his core a bad boy who would probably break her heart.

      Russell knew that he was luckier than many men. He had his secrets and more than his share of hardships, but life had been good to him. And this was one of the moments when he realized he’d gotten lucky. He needed a woman like Gail and here she was, dropped into his lap.

      Her skin was soft and smooth and he liked touching her, holding her hand. But he didn’t want to crowd her. She smelled nice and clean, a pretty floral fragrance that he knew he’d remember long after he left her tonight.

      “Thank you, Russell,” she said.

      “For?”

      “This ride. It’s really nice being up here, and I needed some time away from the cameras.”

      “I did too. I’m not used to conducting my dates in front of an audience,” he said. Even though most of the women he dated were famous and they always had their pictures in the tabloids, Russell did try to avoid the spotlight.

      “Me either. In fact, this is the first date I’ve been on that has felt this … high profile,” she said. “Not at all what I expected.”

      “Is it on your list?” he asked.

      “What list?”

      “The Mr. Right checklist,” he said. He liked the forthright way she spoke and how she always looked him straight in the eye when she talked to him. It made him aware that she was weighing everything he did and said. He needed to be careful to watch himself around her.

      “Well … it’s not real. Just a bunch of feelings and qualities that I think a man should have that would be compatible with mine.”

      He tipped his head to the side. “That’s a checklist.”

      She shrugged delicately, drawing his gaze to her shoulders. They were left bare by the sleeveless dress she wore. Her arms were toned and muscled, so she must work out, he guessed.

      “You’re right. It is a list. I’m looking for someone with a good job.”

      “Easy! Check one off for me.”

      She smiled at him. “I’ll give you that.”

      “What else?”

      “He has to be … committed to the person he’s dating.”

      “Ah. That one will be harder to convince you of, won’t it?”

      “Yes. You aren’t exactly known for monogamy.”

      “I am here, aren’t I?”

      “Yes. So that one is a maybe,” she said.

      “What else?”

      “Um …” She hesitated, then a pretty pink blush spread up from her neck to her cheeks.

      “What could be next?” he asked. “Why are you so shy now?”

      She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked out at the skyline of Manhattan. He saw the reflection of her face in the window of the chopper as she absently brought her hand up to toy with the charm on the gold necklace she wore.

      “I have to be attracted to you. A healthy sex life is on my checklist.”

      “When the time is right, Gail, you will have no doubts that I can fulfill your needs on that count.”

      She turned back around to face him. Her thick black hair with the headphones on it made her seem smaller somehow. In the intimacy of the chopper, she didn’t seem as tough as she had in the ballroom when first seen her. Her mouth was full, and he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on her lips. He wanted to taste them. He needed to kiss her just to prove to himself that, even though she felt different to him, she wasn’t. He desired her. He knew that, but he wanted it to be just the normal lust he’d feel for any attractive woman.

      Somehow though, in these close quarters with just the soft sound of her voice in his ears and her leg brushing his, it felt different. He felt different. He wanted to imagine he could check off all the qualities on her Mr. Right checklist, and he didn’t know why that mattered.

      He leaned in close and she just stared at him. The microphone was in front of her face, and he reached to push it up and out of his way. He did the same with his mic, and then touched her face. Her skin was smooth and cool to the touch.

      He let his thumb move lower to touch her lips. He traced them: the small indentation at the top and the full, fleshy lower one. Then he closed the small distance between them and kissed her. Just a simple brushing of their mouths at first, and then he slipped his tongue in over her teeth until he tasted her.

      He tipped his head to the side; he wanted more of her. The thought that she was just like any other woman disappeared in an instant. This was more than lust. He lifted his hands, tangling them in her thick hair as he tried to get more out of the kiss. Gail’s hands fell to his shoulders, softly at first, and then as she moved closer to him, her grip got tighter.

      He pulled back and took a deep breath. She said something, but he couldn’t hear it because her microphone wasn’t in position. He brought it down and she shook her head. “I didn’t expect that.”

      “I didn’t either.”

      She wrinkled her brow. “You were the one who kissed me.”

      “I was trying to prove something to myself.”

      “What?”

      “That you were like every other woman I’ve ever kissed,” he said.