It was just a slight touch. Really. Her throat constricted. Really.
Then he lowered his head. A fraction closer. Slid his finger down her nose, skirted her top lip, and rested it on her full lower lip. It was damp from the beer. Damp and inviting. And for a frantic moment, Eve was sure he was going to kiss her.
He almost did. Almost. Instead, he drew his hand back, clenched his fist, and quickly turned to search for his beer. He took a gulp. “So, did you play football in high school, too?” He motioned to her nose, only this time with a lift of his chin.
“Oh, no. I tried to break up a fight between my brothers.”
“Brothers?”
“Yup, four of them, all younger. This time it was the twins. What am I saying? It was just always the twins.” She looked heavenward, realizing that she hadn’t seen acoustic tiles quite like that in a long time. She turned back to Carter. “They were arguing over something completely stupid, like who was supposed to take out the garbage, when they started cuffing each other. I couldn’t take it anymore, so like an idiot, I stepped in.” She pointed to the bump. “I got bopped. Swelled up like a goose egg, and I had raccoon eyes for a good week.”
A collective shout went up from the bar, echoed by equally loud groans. Eve looked up at the television set to see what all the fuss was. An instant replay showed the Yankees’ third baseman had just clobbered a homerun.
“Looks like my team is once more showing its true colors.” She glanced at Carter and found him studying her.
Dave set a pizza in front of Carter. “Why is it every time I go to the kitchen to get a pizza, someone hits a homerun and I miss it? Oh, man, a grand slam!” He put the metal tray down.
“Maybe I should keep ordering more?” Carter offered. “That way, it’ll guarantee you a victory.” He looked at Eve. “You hungry? How about sharing my pizza? There’s more than enough.”
Eve frowned in thought.
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about the pepperoni thing you were talking about earlier? Because really, I don’t mind a few well-placed dribbles.”
Eve smiled. A man who listened. “It’s not the thought of drips exactly.”
It was Carter’s turn to be confused.
“My suit.”
“Your suit?”
“Yes, my bathing suit. I liked the style so much I grabbed it, but it’s actually a little small for me.”
“That’s bad?”
“Let’s just say it’s not exactly built for any extra pressure. And the pizza, well, it might just put it over the top, or off the top, actually.”
Carter suddenly looked very alert. “You don’t say?”
“I do say.”
“What do you know? The things one can learn about your merchandise.” He pushed the pizza in her direction. “In the interest of personal research, why don’t you test it out?”
The pepperoni did look very tempting and the smell of spices and unadulterated fat was almost overwhelming. Was it worth it? She looked at his taunting little grin. The man knew he was irresistible. Was he worth it?
Worth it? The man was already taken. Now that had her sitting up straighter. “So, did she enjoy it?”
“Who? What?” Carter asked.
“Simone. What did she say about the camisole?”
“Oh, Simone.” Carter shook his head. “You don’t want to know what she said.” He held up some paper napkins. “You want some pizza or not?”
Eve shrugged. A woman had to live dangerously sometimes, especially when she was wearing a cover-up anyway. She reached over and took the napkins. “Self-discipline was never one of my strengths.” Actually that wasn’t true.
“I wouldn’t have thought that was true at all,” he said, watching her slip off her glasses and hook them over the neckline of her outfit.
She saw Carter notice the gesture. “Oh, I only need them, the glasses that is, for distance—you know, driving, television.” She reached over and broke off a piece of the pizza. A bit of mozzarella stubbornly held on, forming a slippery strand that finally broke off when she tugged at the slice. Holding the slice above her head, she tipped her chin upward and thrust out her tongue to catch the end of the cheese. She sucked in, swallowing the strand whole. Her eyes narrowed in deep pleasure. She inhaled slowly and turned her head toward Carter.
He held a slice of pizza in his hand. It was suspended halfway between the counter and his mouth—which had dropped wide-open. Dazed appeared to be the operative description.
“You okay?” she asked.
He blinked a few times. “Okay isn’t exactly how I’d describe what I’m feeling at the moment.” He blinked again. “Do you always eat pizza like that?”
Eve smiled. “Really, Detective.” She patted the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Sometimes a piece of pizza is just a piece of pizza.”
4
EVE WAS GOING TO EAT TWO pieces. But there was something about drippy cheese and oregano, and just sitting and talking with a really cute guy that whetted the appetite. How many men actually admitted—albeit sheepishly—that they knew all the lyrics to the Sound of Music?
So she managed to stop at three.
Carter had five. And it didn’t look like his waist—definitely flat and not a love handle in sight—had anything to worry about.
“So how do you like Grantham?” Carter asked, after she mentioned moving to town only three months ago.
“It’s a beautiful place, but different—that’s for sure. I mean, how many towns can boast that they give Nobel Prize winners parking tickets?”
The corner of Carter’s mouth turned up, producing that sexy little dimple. “On the other hand, you don’t have any parking tickets.”
Eve pulled back, surprised. “You checked?”
“You lodged a complaint. It’s all part of the routine.”
“So other than my life according to the police blotter, the DMV and the Better Business Bureau, what else do you know about me?”
“That you moved from Poughkeepsie and you’re single.”
She sat up straight. She found she was mildly annoyed and not sure why. “So you figured out I come from the land of vinyl siding and dine on Healthy Choice frozen dinners?”
“Hey, I come from Dayton, Ohio and I’m a whiz with the microwave, too. You’ve got nothing on me. Not everyone who lives in Grantham was born to the manor with a dedicated staff ready to whip up a crème brulée at a moment’s notice.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions.”
He waved off her apology.
No, but she was, sorry, that is. She was also nervous as hell. And attracted to him like crazy. And she couldn’t stop dwelling on the fact that he had mentioned she was single.
“You know—” He scratched at the label on his beer bottle, then looked at hers. “You want another?”
She shook her head. “I’ve had plenty. But you were saying…”
“Yeah, I was saying—” he paused in thought or indecision, Eve wasn’t quite sure which “—that, um, if