“The kitchen.” She gestured over her shoulder. “I think it’s better if we go in there.”
Moments later, Kyle stood across a large, stainless steel island from Heidi, wondering why she was acting as if he posed some sort of threat to her. He didn’t look threatening, did he? He slid his hands in his pockets and grimaced. “This is where you work then? In the kitchen?”
Stupid question. He knew she was a certified chef. That she had a busy catering business and that as soon as she obtained her MBA she planned to apply for a loan to expand the company to include employees and her own store front.
“Yes,” she said simply.
The place was quieter than he’d expected. Not that he’d thought about it much, but it struck him as odd that beyond the hum of the refrigerator, there was no other sound.
“So…” they said at the same time.
A smile.
Kyle chuckled.
“This is awkward, isn’t it?” Heidi crossed her arms under her breasts, drawing his attention to the soft mounds under her clingy black T-shirt. Was it him, or had she just shivered?
She followed his gaze and immediately uncrossed her arms.
“I guess we should start with the basics,” she said. She felt around her hips as if looking for something. “I’m not wearing my apron.” It was hanging near the door and she went over and took out a hand-sized spiral notepad from the pocket. She opened it, put it down on the counter and clicked her pen.
Kyle realized she’d spoken but he hadn’t heard what she’d said. “Pardon me?”
“What have you done so far?” she repeated. “Have you decided on a venue? Your house? Or maybe his parents’ place?”
“I was hoping you could help me with that.”
She wrote something down. “Guests? Who do you want to invite?”
An hour later, they’d pretty much worked out the major details of the party.
Kyle couldn’t help feeling that despite how tired she looked, Heidi appeared to want to get this over with in one meeting. Probably so she wouldn’t have to see him again. The rest could easily be taken care of over the phone.
It didn’t sit well with him that she was uncomfortable in his presence. Was it because he’d seen her naked the other day? Or were her reasons a secret? A mystery even to herself?
Whatever the cause, he found himself wanting to put her at ease.
“Heidi…?”
“Hmm?” She was putting her notepad back into her apron pocket, and she turned quickly, ending up almost nose to nose with him. There was little maneuvering room, with the wall at her back.
“Oh!”
Kyle’s throat suddenly felt tight as he watched her pink tongue flick along her bottom lip.
He leisurely took his fill of her up this close. He hadn’t noticed the light spattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, or the specks of deep green in her warm brown eyes. And she smelled of…was that gardenia?
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?” Her voice was a mere whisper as she returned the same attention to him that he was giving her.
Kyle smiled. “For going in on this with me.”
Her gaze darted around the room. “Sure, no problem.”
“Are you certain? Because I’m getting the impression that there is a problem.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged, his palms itching with the desire to reach out and touch her. “That’s what I’m wondering. You don’t seem to want to be in a room alone with me for any stretch.” God, but she smelled good. His voice lowered. “Why is that?”
He heard the catch in her breathing. “Don’t be silly. You’re Jesse’s best friend.”
And she was Jesse’s girl.
The thought should have been enough to chase Kyle away from the woman in front of him. Should have been enough to remind him that not only was she taken, but she had Jesse’s name stamped all over her. While they weren’t engaged, they were practically engaged. The two had been a couple for almost a decade.
“And any friend of Jesse’s is a friend of yours?” he finished for her.
She nodded, her pupils nearly eclipsing the rich color of her eyes as she stared at him unblinkingly.
And maybe that’s what she needed to do. What he needed to do. Give a good blink to break whatever spell being this close to each other was casting over them.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Then opened them to find that he should probably have shared his thoughts with her. Because Heidi was doing what he had hoped to prevent. She was leaning in to kiss him.
Chapter 4
OH, MY God…
Heidi wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing. It looked like she was kissing Kyle. But that was impossible. There was no way she would ever kiss her boyfriend’s best friend.
She heard a small sound and realized that not only was she kissing Kyle, she was doing so wholeheartedly—and enjoying it.
Enjoying it? Hell, she was afraid she might spontaneously combust from the simple contact of her mouth against his.
She abruptly broke off the kiss, only to find Kyle’s hands on either side of her face, allowing her no quarter.
Heidi swallowed thickly, incapable of movement, incapable of doing anything more than stare at him, wondering what he made of her actions…and, more, wondering how he might respond to her.
In that one moment, she knew that she’d risked everything she’d worked so hard for. Jeopardized every last plan, every last intention.
And when Kyle leaned in to kiss her again, she knew that she’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
She wasn’t sure what it was about this one man, what made her yearn for him in a way she was unable to resist. Perhaps it was the way she saw herself through his eyes: sexy, desirable, wanted. Or maybe it was her need of an unnameable something in him that compelled her to reach out. Something fundamental that transcended simple sexual need, consequences be damned.
Where before their kiss had been tentative, testing, now it was hungry and demanding. As if they both understood that they’d already thrown caution to the wind, risked so much, so why not just go the whole way?
Oh, yes. Why not?
Heidi couldn’t seem to kiss Kyle enough…touch him enough. She sought and licked and stroked from his crisp, thick hair to the back waist of his slacks. He pressed her against the wall, his mouth demanding as he grasped her hands and pulled them above her head, trapping them against the cool drywall even as he ground his hips into hers. Heidi moaned, the pressure he applied on the outside spreading to her inside, swirling and growing as she hooked her foot around his calf, drawing him closer still.
She struggled to regain control of her hands and he released her, moving her instead toward the preparation island. If she’d thought the wall was cool, she shivered when he hoisted her up to sit on the stainless steel, coaxing her knees apart with his hips and then filling the void with his body. Heidi tunneled her fingers into his hair, hauling him in for another kiss, a deeper kiss, her breathing coming in quick gasps. She reached for his shirt buttons and then roughly pulled the shirt up, separating herself from him briefly until the white cotton lay in a pile in the corner. He did the