Surprise Package. Joanna Wayne

idea, especially since you said the one her mother left with her wasn’t meant to be played with.”

      “A doll? Hmm.” She put a finger to her chin as if she were giving the matter serious deliberation. “Like the blow-up ones you usually sleep with?”

      He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “You could change all that, neighbor. One night and I could melt you down to nothing more than liquid gold.”

      “And then what would you do for a challenge?”

      “Bathe a baby.” They spoke in unison as they passed a counter of plastic baby bathtubs.

      They both dissolved in laughter before their gazes met in one heated instant. The mood changed from easy to awkward as quickly as if a cold wind had blown through the department store.

      “Did I say something wrong?” Kyle asked, knowing full well what had just passed between them.

      But she could play the game as well as he could. “No. Everything’s cool. Let’s just work our way down the list and get out of here.”

      “So cool, your face is still red. You really need to loosen up, Ashley. All we did was laugh together. That’s not like having sex.”

      “You just never give up, do you?”

      He smiled a devastating smile. “Only when I have to.”

      But the easy teasing mood was lost. Playing games with Kyle was playing with fire. Step over the line and she’d be involved with him. Get involved with him and she’d be sleeping with him. Sleep with him, and her life would become a complicated, convoluted, giant headache that aspirin wouldn’t touch.

      They finished their shopping and Kyle paid for the purchases, handing her two of the lighter shopping bags as they hurried back to his sleek black sports car. They still needed to make a stop at the grocery store and one at the rent-all business to arrange for a crib to be delivered.