“Did you say something?” Autumn asked curiously, turning to look at him.
“Just praying,” he answered, then before she could comment, “What would you like to drink?”
She looked at him rather oddly, then moistened her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Jeff closed his eyes for a moment. This was definitely a test.
“I don’t believe I want anything, thanks,” Autumn was saying when he opened his eyes again.
Come to think of it, neither did he. The one thing he did not need just now was anything that might possibly weaken his control. Autumn was intoxicating enough. “Then I suppose we’re ready to go.”
She nodded, twisting her hands in front of her. “Yes, I’m ready.”
This might turn out to be a very long evening, Jeff thought wryly as he held the door for her to pass him. Without really thinking about it, he started to place a hand on her back, then jerked the hand away when he encountered bare flesh. A very long evening.
Resigning himself to always acting like a thick-skulled, not-really-bright clod in this woman’s presence, he followed her to her sporty black Fiero, knowing better than to offer to drive—or to open her door for her.
4
AUTUMN CAREFULLY AVOIDED Jeff’s eyes as she started her car, though she was all too conscious of him within the confines of her small Fiero. Her hand was only inches from his thigh when she reached out to shift into reverse. Unable to resist, she glanced at that thigh, so solid and powerful beneath the fabric of his gray suit, and then her gaze drifted upward to his lap. She gulped and turned her eyes firmly forward, away from the tempting territory of his masculinity.
It was going to be a long evening. She’d regretted her choice of clothing ever since he’d opened the door and immediately looked like a man who’d been kicked in the gut by the Karate Kid. She’d worn the dress only once before, to a party she’d attended with Webb. After a night of being pawed by strangers, she’d decided never to wear it again. So why had she let Webb talk her into it tonight? she asked herself in disgust.
Trust me, he’d said. She should have known right then to choose something else. Though some perverse feminine part of her was secretly pleased by Jeff’s unspoken appreciation, a more rational part of her was cautious of the sparks that were so obviously flying between them. It had never been like this for her before. Never.
The silence in the car was growing deafening. She glanced sideways at Jeff, finding him watching her with a faint, enigmatic smile, as if he were waiting for her to say something. She was fully aware that she’d barely spoken to him since she’d picked him up, but she didn’t know what to say. What she really wanted to do was stop, turn in her seat and just stare at him for about an hour. No man should be that good-looking. It simply wasn’t fair. It was nature’s way of keeping liberated women on their toes, she decided. Give a guy thick black hair, deep blue eyes and a smile that could melt the gold tips on the toes of her black shoes and watch Autumn turn to oatmeal.
When the silence began to sizzle with tension, she reached out almost desperately and pushed a cassette into the player on the dash, not even noticing what she’d chosen. She smiled wryly when the music swelled out at the high level she generally preferred. Simple Minds. Appropriate choice of bands.
She didn’t know why she was behaving this way, why she was on the defensive. She only knew that Jeff Bradford was the most dangerous man she’d ever met and that she would have to stay on the defensive to survive him with heart and pride intact.
She should have worn a different dress.
Jeff tolerated the loud music for a time, then reached out and firmly turned down the volume. Autumn threw him a startled look. “You don’t like rock music?” she demanded as if he’d be confessing to all sorts of terrible crimes if he did not.
“I like rock music,” he answered. “I like Simple Minds,” he added to point out that he had recognized the group. “But I also like to converse with my date.”
“Oh.”
He fought a grin without much success. She was cute when she was being insecure, he decided, though he had no intention of telling her so. Something told him that “cute” would definitely be an unsavory four-letter word to Autumn Reed.
She was so beautiful. And so uncomfortable with that beauty. She had been much more confident in her work clothes and cap than she was now in this ultra-feminine dress. An unusual woman. And yet so very fascinating.
“Pull over for a minute, will you, Autumn?” he asked on a sudden impulse.
She glanced at him with a frown. “What?” she asked as if she hadn’t heard him clearly.
“Pull over. Just for a minute,” he repeated.
Her frown remained, but she gave a slight shrug and signaled a lane change, turning into the Saturday-deserted parking lot of an office building. Shifting into park, she turned slightly in her seat to face him. “Okay. Now what?”
“I just want to tell you that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, your dress is fabulous and I’d like nothing more than to slowly peel it off you. But,” he added as a wave of scarlet tinged her fair cheeks, “I’ll settle for this for now.”
He caught her face in his hands and brought his mouth firmly down on hers, kissing her as he’d wanted to do since he’d opened his door to find her standing there daring him to touch her.
Autumn stiffened for a moment—only a moment—and then leaned into him, her hands settling on his shoulders. Her lips parted beneath his, an invitation he accepted with alacrity. And then she was a wholehearted participant in the kiss, and Jeff moaned softly at the pleasure of it. His pulse was roaring in his ears, his heart pounding against the walls of his chest when he finally drew back. He blinked rapidly a time or two, cleared his throat, took a deep breath, then nodded. “Okay. Now that’s out of the way and we can enjoy ourselves. Where are we going for dinner?”
Autumn’s eyes drifted slowly open, and the dazed expression in their green depths almost had him reaching out for her again. And then she gave a slight shake of her head, wet her lips and glared at him. “Why did you do that?” she demanded aggressively, her tone almost making him laugh. Now this was the Autumn he’d met three times before—arrogant, annoyed, regally self-assured. He liked her this way. He strongly suspected that he was beginning to love her this way.
“I wanted to,” he answered her question, tongue in cheek as he prepared himself for her blistering response.