“You’re talented,” he said, voice ragged as he dragged his gaze back to her face. “You really know how to dress, Tamara.”
“Tam,” she said, voice soft in his ear. “Just Tam, okay?”
Heartbeats marked the seconds that thudded between them.
Murphy propped his arm on the wall, just below the gold of a Chinese symbol. With him hovering over her, she had to tilt her chin to look up at him.
She wasn’t a short woman, coming up to just above his shoulder. Their proximity meant that her mouth was this close to his neck. All she would have to do is cant over a couple of inches to press her lips to his skin.
The music’s volume abruptly lowered, breaking the flow of his thoughts. With a glance, Murphy discovered that the bartender had turned down the stereo while he argued with a patron who’d imbibed way too much happy juice.
Great. That meant there was no need to lean over her anymore. The lack of a rhythmic, driving cadence changed the room’s tone, somehow set them back to first-date distance.
“Julia had nice things to say about you.” Tam was holding her drink in front of her chest now.
Kyle. She was talking about Kyle. Murphy had to keep reminding himself.
“What did Julia have to say?” Murphy asked, not certain who the woman even was. Could she be the one who’d put Kyle’s name into the business-card lottery? His cousin had told him all about the setup, but had failed to mention the name of the lady he’d impressed, not that he probably even remembered.
“Hmm, let me think. What did she say?” Tam tapped a finger against her mouth, stopped, then glanced at him sideways out of the corner of her eye.
Cute. Taunting him, huh?
Murphy inched nearer, lowering his arm from the wall.
“Tell me everything,” he said, tweaking a curl that was hanging down to her collarbone. Inadvertently—or maybe not—he skimmed against the thin material separating his finger from her flesh, and her face went red.
Strangely, it was the most seductive reaction he could’ve wished for. An unexpected combination, an angel wearing the devil’s lingerie.
“You going to hold me in suspense here?” he asked. “Or are you going to tell me what Julia said?”
“Oh, just the basics.”
She tentatively reached out, tugged on the bottom of his T-shirt. It was the shy move of an unpracticed hand, confusing Murphy. Stoking him further.
“She said you’re a waiter,” she added, “but you want to open your own restaurant someday.”
Murphy wasn’t sure how to respond. He and Kyle had talked about this, but never seriously. His cousin didn’t have the ambition to commit to that kind of project. But it was true that Murphy loved the dream of his own place, where he could indulge himself in the world’s second-best stress-relieving activity: cooking. Kyle enjoyed it just as much, meaning that it was one more thing for them to get competitive over.
Also, Murphy wasn’t Kyle, and the reminder sent another ping of adrenaline through him.
Forget it. All he knew was that he wanted to be touching her again, and from the way she kept glancing at him from beneath her eyelashes, he guessed that she felt the same way.
When she opened her mouth to say something else, Murphy impetuously took up where she’d left off when she’d pulled at his T-shirt. He casually ran a finger down her thinly covered arm, just as if he did this sort of thing every night of the week. Her mouth remained open, the words frozen as she watched his face.
The breath caught in his chest while he waited for her reaction.
HIS TOUCH BURNED her world at its edges.
As Tam stood there, stunned and overjoyed, she heard the sucking sound of flame being pulled into her body—a backdraft that singed through her flesh, deeper, until it flared around her belly, stirring her up and making her keenly aware of how badly she’d missed being with a man.
Driving home how much she wanted this man.
The awakening interest she’d felt for him on the phone was nothing compared to what was happening now—the fire, the attraction, the utter pleasure of connecting.
He was measuring her with an intense gaze, tacitly asking her to come a step closer to what she’d been hoping for when she’d drawn his name out of the vase.
For a good time call…
But just as she was about to respond—with a gesture? with words?—a stumbling girl backed into Tam, making her cocktail splash over her glass’s rim and onto her hand.
Immediately Kyle reached out to keep the tanked girl from knocking into Tam again.
“You all right?” he asked Tam.
The party girl cut off her response, grabbing on to Kyle’s arm and swaying into him.
“Whoa. Will you marry me?” she asked, slurring.
Her friends broke into embarrassed laughter and dragged her away. Clearly amused, Kyle raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
Was he flushing a little? Nah. Couldn’t be. Based on what she’d already learned about Kyle Sullivan, he wouldn’t be the type. Nope—not the cocky man who’d accepted a weird call for a blind date. Not the anything-goes guy who’d offered to show her the ropes tonight.
She blew out a breath, and shrugged. “So much for privacy here.”
His eyes widened a little as he handed her a napkin to dry off. Jeez, she’d sounded…well, really easy. Sounded as if she was hot to get him alone.
But wasn’t she?
Before she could find an answer, he was back to making her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room, giving her that teasing look, that knowing smile.
“Want to get out of this zoo?” he asked.
He was into her! She held back a happy dance.
“That’d be great. Maybe some fresh air?”
Fresh air. Heh. So that’s what they called it these days.
He took her hand, his fingers warm around hers, and led her through the crowd and out of the lounge, into the purple-gray of coming night. The wind had picked up a little, toying with her hair as they headed toward God-knows-where.
“I know a quieter bar nearby,” he said, squeezing her hand, not letting go, even though they were done with dodging people.
She liked that he was still holding her, liked that she could link her fingers through his and feel her arm rubbing against those muscles.
They passed boutiques, other bars, a dance club. Soon he slowed their pace, and she felt the urge to chat, because it’d been so simple with him before.
“So. Whereabouts do you live?”
“Over in Sunset. I’ve got an apartment—”
He cut himself off, then laughed. Did he want to keep this night on an impersonal level? Part of her applauded the decision, but the other part…
Get a grip, she thought. You’re not here to get serious.
“And you?” he asked.
Odd. She’d told him on the phone. But…whatever. He’d probably forgotten.
“I moved to Russian Hill a few weeks ago.” Before he could start with the inevitable commentary, she hurried to correct his admiration. “I’m just house-sitting one of my family’s places while my dad is on a long-term consulting job in New York. I’m not exactly a perfect Hill fit, so don’t worry.”
Clearly, she