The Bridesmaid's Baby Bump. Kandy Shepherd

focused with intense anticipation on her sweet mouth. Her lips were beautifully defined, yet lush and soft and welcoming. She tilted her face to him, making her impatience obvious. Jake needed no urging. He pressed his mouth against hers in a tender kiss, claiming her at last. She tasted of salt—peanuts on the plane, perhaps?—and something sweet. Chocolate? Sweet and sharp at the same time. Like Eliza herself—an intriguing combination.

      She was beautiful, but his attraction had never been just to her looks. He liked her independence, her intelligence, her laughter.

      The kiss felt both familiar and very different. Within seconds it was as if her kiss was all he’d ever known. Her lips parted under his as she gave a soft sigh of contentment.

      ‘At last,’ she murmured against his mouth.

      Kissing Eliza for the first time in the front seat of a four-by-four was hardly ideal. Jake had forgotten how awkward it was to make out in a car. But having Eliza in his arms was way too exciting to be worrying about the discomfort of bumping into the steering wheel or handbrake. She held his face between her hands as she returned his kiss, her tongue sliding between his lips to meet his, teasing and exploring. He was oblivious to the car, their surroundings, the fact that they were parked in a public layby. He just wanted to keep kissing Eliza.

      Was it seconds or minutes before Eliza broke away from him? That kind of excitement wasn’t easily measured. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shades brighter, her lips swollen and pouting. She was panting, so it took her some effort to control her voice. ‘Kissing you was all I could think about that night in the castle.’

      ‘Me too,’ he said.

      Only his thoughts had marched much further than kissing. That last night he hadn’t been able to sleep, taunted by the knowledge she was in the apartment next to his at the castle, overwhelmed by how much he wanted her. Back then his married state had been an obstacle. Now there was nothing stopping them from acting on the attraction between them.

      He claimed her mouth again, deeper, more demanding. There’d been enough talking. He was seized with a sense of urgency to be with her while he could. He wasn’t going to ‘over-think’ about where this might lead. Six months of pent-up longing for this woman erupted into passion, fierce and hungry.

      As their kiss escalated in urgency Jake pulled her onto his lap, one hand around her waist, the other resting against the side of the car to support her. He bunched her hair in his hand and tugged to tilt her face upward, so he could deepen the kiss, hungry for her, aching for more. The little murmurs of pleasure she made deep in her throat drove him crazy with want.

      His hands slid down her bare arms, brushed the side curves of her breasts, the silkiness of her top. She gasped, placed both hands on his chest and pushed away. She started to laugh—that delightful, chiming laughter he found so enchanting.

      ‘We’re steaming up the windows here like a coupled of hormone-crazed adolescents,’ she said, her voice broken with laughter.

      ‘What’s wrong with being hormone-crazed adults,’ he said, his own voice hoarse and unsteady.

      ‘Making out in a car is seriously sexy. I don’t want to stop,’ she said, moaning when he nuzzled against the delicious softness of her throat, kissing and tasting.

      The confined area of the car was filled with her scent, heady and intoxicating. ‘Me neither,’ he said.

      Eliza was so relaxed and responsive she took away any thought of awkwardness. He glanced over to the back seat. There was more room there. It was wider and roomier.

      ‘The back seat would be more comfortable,’ he said.

      He kissed her again, manoeuvring her towards the door. They would have to get out and transfer to the back, though it might be a laugh to try and clamber through the gap between the front seats. Why not?

      Just then another car pulled into the layby and parked parallel to the four-by-four. Eliza froze in his arms. Their mouths were still pressed together. Her eyes communicated her alarm.

      ‘That puts paid to the back seat plan,’ he said, pulling away from her with a groan of regret.

      ‘Just as well, really,’ Eliza said breathlessly.

      She smoothed her hair back from her face with her fingers and tucked it behind her ears. Even her ears were lovely—small and shell-like.

      ‘The media would love to catch their most eligible bachelor being indiscreet in public.’

      He scowled. ‘I hate the way they call me a bachelor. Surely that’s a term for someone who has never been married?’

      ‘Most eligible divorcé doesn’t quite have the same headline potential, does it?’ she said.

      ‘I’d rather not feature in any headlines,’ he growled.

      ‘You might just have to hit yourself with the ugly stick, then,’ she said. ‘Handsome and rich makes you a magnet for headlines. You’re almost too good to be true.’ She laughed. ‘Though if you scowl like that they might forget about calling you the most eligible guy in the country.’

      Jake exaggerated the scowl. He liked making her laugh. ‘Too good to be true, huh?’

      ‘Now you look cute,’ she said.

      ‘Cute? I do not want to be called cute,’ he protested.

      ‘Handsome, good-looking, hot, smokin’, babelicious—’