Lost in His Arms by Carla Cassidy

time for romance. Besides, I think I’m probably best alone.”
    â€œNobody is best alone,” she protested softly.
    He glanced at her sharply. “What about you? Why haven’t you remarried?”
    She emitted a dry laugh. “Who has time? Besides, I’m not alone. I have Andrew. Between work and all of Andrew’s activities, I meet myself coming and going.”
    Talbot focused on the road again. They had reached the city limits of Kansas City, and traffic had become thick. He wanted to protest, to tell her that a son wasn’t the same as a man in her life.
    Instead, they both fell silent as Talbot battled the traffic, tried to concentrate on his driving and not on Elizabeth.
    With the women Talbot had dated in the past, he’d always found that familiarity did, indeed, breed contempt. But with Elizabeth, it seemed to be breeding something quite different.
    The car accident his parents had when he’d been twenty-one had stolen his mother’s life instantly, but his father had lingered for two long days in the hospital. “Promise me,” he had said as Talbot gripped his hand and begged him to fight for life. “Promise me you’ll always take care of Richard. He’s not strong like you.”
    And Talbot had promised. Even before his parents’ deaths, there had been times when Talbot felt more like Richard’s father than a brother.
    As Talbot wheeled into the apartment complex where Elizabeth lived, he pushed aside thoughts of the past.
    He pulled up before her building and stopped the engine, surprised by the vague sense of disappointment that seeped through him. “Guess the adventure is over,” he said.
    â€œYeah, guess so.” For a moment, he thought heheard the same disappointment he felt in her voice. “Are you coming inside?”
    â€œNo. I need to get home, and you need to talk to Richard.” He got out of the car as she did the same. He grabbed her suitcase from the back seat and handed it to her, then walked with her partway to her door.
    â€œThanks for taking care of me, Talbot,” she said.
    He smiled. “I didn’t take care of you. If you were in the woods by yourself for a week, my bet would be on you.”
    â€œStill, it was nice not to be alone…to have somebody with me during the darkness.” A slight blush stained her cheeks, and God help him, he wanted to reach out and stroke her skin.
    It was an ache deep within him, the need to touch her one last time. “Just tell Richard I’ll see him back in Morning View.” He bent forward to give her a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.
    He wasn’t sure what happened—whether he aimed wrong or she turned her head at the last moment—but suddenly his lips were on hers.
    Â 
    The kiss was no more than the mere touching of lips, but Elizabeth felt the power of the intimate connection right down to her toes. His mouth, which always appeared rather stern and forbidding, was in reality soft and sensual and filled with heat.
    However, before she had time to respond in anyway, he released her, turned on his heel and stalked away.
    As Elizabeth watched him get into the car, she raised a trembling hand to her lips where the imprint of his mouth felt like a brand.
    He’d kissed her. Talbot McCarthy had kissed her. Why on earth had he done it? What had prompted him to kiss her?
    His car pulled out of the parking area and disappeared from sight. She stared after it for a long moment, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
    She turned to go into her apartment, confusion whirling inside her. The kiss had been so unexpected. And what confused her more than anything was the knowledge that someplace deep inside her, she’d wanted him to kiss her, again and again.
    Andrew greeted her at the door, banishing any other thoughts from her head. He gave her an exuberant hug, and for a long moment Elizabeth clung to her son, grateful that everything