He wanted her.
And despite his smug superiority—or maybe because of it—she wanted him too.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so deeply attracted to a man. He wasn’t even her type. He was too old for her, with a dusting of silver in his hair, and she normally preferred blue-collar types. Firefighters. Construction workers. Soldiers and sailors. Men with callused hands.
Not like this guy at all.
“I know who you really are,” he said, easing even closer so that her breasts brushed lightly against his chest for a moment. “You believe in love, don’t you?”
It was so far from the truth Kelly almost laughed. She hadn’t believed in love since her father was murdered. “You are so wrong about me. I bet I believe in love even less than you do.”
“What do you believe in then?” He was touching her hair again, skimming the tips of his fingers down the length of one loose strand.
She could hardly see him as a stranger. It felt like she knew him—all the way down to the core. “I believe in being self-sufficient, just like you do.” She leaned toward him just enough to graze her nipples against his shirt before she pulled back.
“Do you?” There was a slight flush to his cheeks now, and it looked like he was breathing more quickly. He was definitely turned on. Just as turned on as she was. “What else do you believe in?”
“I believe in seeing the world as it really is and not dreaming of romantic fairy tales, just like you do.” She knew this about him, as well as she knew it about herself.
She saw the affirmation in his eyes, mingling with the blaze of desire. “And what else?”
“And I believe in sex.” They were in a public park, but she didn’t care. Responding to the challenge he posed, she slid one hand down his chest, then his belly, until she reached his groin, which she gave a brief caress.
She hadn’t been wrong. He was aroused. Hard in his jeans.
His breath hitched at her touch, and she could see he was holding himself back. “What do you believe about sex?”
“I believe people can come together for mutual gratification without all the baggage the world has built up around it.”
“Ah,” he murmured thickly, settling one hand on the small of her back. “Free love then? To go with the puppies and flowers?”
“Not love. Sex. There’s no overlap unless you make it so.”
“I don’t make it so.” He pushed her hips toward his body until she could feel his arousal against her middle.
She was fighting to catch her breath, her pussy pulsing with desire and her mind struggling to keep up with his quick wit. “Somehow I knew that about you.”
“I’ve met a lot of women who make such claims, but then they’re crying when I don’t call them the next morning.”
“I’ve met a lot of men who do the same thing.”
He shook his head, pushing his erection against her very slightly. To the people in the park, they must look like they were just hugging, but a hug was very far from what was going on between them.
To Kelly, it felt more like a battle. And she liked it. A lot. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned on, this invested in a conversation.
“So you don’t cry?” he asked, his brown eyes smoldering with lust, excitement, and intelligence.
“I haven’t cried since I was ten years old.”
That was true too. She hadn’t cried since the months after her father died. Her whole world had changed that year.
“I still have no proof this is nothing but pretense on your side.”
“Because I’m a woman? Because I have a sweet face? You’re old enough to know that appearances deceive. You can fuck me now, and I’d never give you a second thought. You’d never hear from me again.”
“If I fuck you,” he murmured, “I promise you’ll think of me again.”
“There’s no way you’re that good.”