Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair

against the cabinet.
    Beneath his hawklike gaze she felt stripped bare and vulnerable. He studied her face, seeming to see more than her features. He seemed to delve into her mind, to touch things deep and frightening – parts of herself Marnie was still exploring.
    The muscles in his jaw knotted and unknotted. After a moment he stepped back and casually, but with difficulty, adjusted his jeans.
    Heat flooded her cheeks. Legs splayed, nipples peaked to his clinical gaze, she'd never experienced such acute embarrassment in her life. Her breath hitched as she jumped off the counter, tugging her top down and her pants up.
    At a loss for words, she half laughed. "I have absolutely no idea what to say." Which was a reasonable start, she guessed. It was rare for her to be speechless. But then, this was a day of firsts.
    "I told you you weren't my type." The brass button on his jeans closed kike the clasp of a miser's purse. Other than a faint flush on the ridge of his cheekbones and what looked like a painful erection, he seemed totally unaffected by what had just happened.
    She stared at him. "Not your t— What do you call what just happened?" Marnie was confused. It was out of character for her to be sexually aggressive. But now that she'd done it, she wasn't sorry.
    "What part of 'I don't want you' didn't you understand?"
    He'd wanted her. He might lie about it, but his body had been honest. He was as hard as petrified wood.
    "Then what" – she pointed – "is that? "
    He ignored the bulge in his jeans. "Just because I have it doesn't mean I intend to use it."
    Marnie stepped forward and touched his arm. He jerked away from her as if she'd used a cattle prod.
    "Was it something I said?" she asked quietly, dropping her hand to her side. "Look, I have a tendency to sort of speak without running the words through my brain first. But I know I didn't give out mixed signals just now. I wanted to make love with you. It was very good. No, darn it, it was excellent . So if you have some sort of medical condition, let's talk about i—"
    He moved backward, almost tripping over Duchess sprawled on the floor. The dog rose to hover anxiously between them. Jake's eyes turned as he said, "I do not have a medical condition."
    Marnie backed up – mentally as well as physically. Her hip bumped the counter. "Good."
    He scowled and swore under his breath.
    "That is good, isn't it?" she asked tentatively.
    He had a cowlick in his hair. Right in front. It was noticeable only when he repeatedly raked his fingers through the long strands, as he was doing now. It made him look like a disgruntled little boy. And so sexy, she wanted to lick him all over.
    "I don't see anything good about it. Do you always make a habit of screwing guys you've just met?" he asked coldly.
    "Actually, no," Marnie said just as coolly. "I don't. But in this instance I thought the attraction was mutual. And we didn't screw, so your virtue is safe." For the moment .
    "Since you arrived," he said grimly, stabbing his fingertips into the front pocket of his jeans, "my weekend has gone from bad to worse. I don't see it improving anytime soon."
    "I wasn't expecting a lifetime commitment, you know." She refused to squirm under his scowling scrutiny. How could she so desperately want a man she didn't even know? A man who refused to acknowledge he wanted her right back?
    There was this weird chemical thing going on that she had never experienced in her life. Her chemicals wanted his chemicals, and there was no denying it. Pheromones still floated thick in the air between them. She touched her swollen mouth, still tasting him on her tongue.
    "I'm very attracted to you. I thought— Well, never mind. Why is it men can have sex whenever they like, but a woman has to wait to be asked?"
    She'd wanted to make some life-changing decisions, Marnie though wryly. Never in her wildest imagination would she have imagined she'd be taking a skydive without a parachute.
    Jake opened his mouth.