method I personally like—" He reached to click the mouse again, but suddenly Penny's small hand came down soft on his.
His stomach clenched.
He swallowed and looked at her.
"Can you go back to the first option?" she asked. Yet when she saw his expression, she quickly drew back her hand as if realizing her error.
"Uh, yeah." His heart thumped like a seventh grader's who'd just been touched by a pretty girl. Eyes on the computer, he reopened the first window. "Sorry if I was going too fast."
"No, I just wanted to compare the two I've seen so far. Can this print be made smaller?" She reached across him to point at the monitor with one long, tapered finger, leaning closer than she had any time throughout the day.
"Not really." His senses began to swim with the fresh scent of her perfume. "Makes it too hard for the computer to distinguish which option is being selected with the screen-touch method," he continued, but he thought his voice sounded sort of strangled now.
"Ah," she said. And although she started to pull her arm back, she did it way too slowly … slow enough to give him time to wonder, to consider, to make the impulsive decision to reach up and gently catch her wrist in his hand.
Angling his body toward hers made it even clearer to Ryan how close they were to each other, how near her sweet eyes rested, and her soft lips, parted now in something that was either passion or surprise, he couldn't discern which. Time moved perilously slow. "I…" What? He what? "Oh, hell," he murmured, then leaned forward to brush a short but tantalizing kiss across her lips.
Penny nearly melted as the featherlight kiss swept through her. She hadn't expected it, but it had felt like a taste of heaven. Except for one thing. It was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Yanking her arm away, she kicked her feet out to send her desk chair rolling across the room. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Kissing you?"
She couldn't believe he'd done it, no matter how nice it might've felt! "You can't be kissing me!"
Ryan nodded emphatically. "I know that, believe me."
"Then why did you do it?"
He gave a helpless sigh. "I have no idea."
The words left her even more stunned, only in a different way now, and she gasped, affronted, almost insulted. He was kissing her and he didn't even know why?
"What I mean is…"
"Yes?"
His demeanor shifted. "I have a lot to lose here, you know. Like my job."
"Then don't you think kissing me is a bad idea?"
"Absolutely." He suddenly looked determined, stalwart. "In fact, you're exactly the last type of woman I need in my life."
She pulled in her breath sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," he began, lifting his gaze to hers, "frankly, you're too wild for me."
Penny's mouth dropped open. What had just happened here? And how could he think…? Well, okay, she supposed he actually had every reason to think she was wild, but she'd hoped she'd succeeded in explaining all that away the other night in the limo. Apparently not. "Listen, I told you, that was just a onetime thing, a person I made up—"
"Sure, that's what you told me, but…"
She blinked in disbelief. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm just saying … maybe you're a little wilder than you think you are."
"How would you know what I am?"
"Because you can't fake what we did together."
His answer hit Penny low and hard, and she struggled for a reply, feeling defensive now that his words hung in the air. "Well, you were just as wild back, and—and you didn't even think I was someone you knew! At least I thought I knew you."
"Well, I'm not the one denying I'm wild. I'll admit I have the capacity to be that way, but I can't because I came to Cincinnati to settle down and be a good boy."
"If you're such a good boy, then why did you respond in the limo?" Aha, Penny thought, she had him now.
But when their gazes met, she quit feeling defensive. His eyes were such a warm, alluring shade of brown and he looked … desperate, passionate.
"I
His stomach clenched.
He swallowed and looked at her.
"Can you go back to the first option?" she asked. Yet when she saw his expression, she quickly drew back her hand as if realizing her error.
"Uh, yeah." His heart thumped like a seventh grader's who'd just been touched by a pretty girl. Eyes on the computer, he reopened the first window. "Sorry if I was going too fast."
"No, I just wanted to compare the two I've seen so far. Can this print be made smaller?" She reached across him to point at the monitor with one long, tapered finger, leaning closer than she had any time throughout the day.
"Not really." His senses began to swim with the fresh scent of her perfume. "Makes it too hard for the computer to distinguish which option is being selected with the screen-touch method," he continued, but he thought his voice sounded sort of strangled now.
"Ah," she said. And although she started to pull her arm back, she did it way too slowly … slow enough to give him time to wonder, to consider, to make the impulsive decision to reach up and gently catch her wrist in his hand.
Angling his body toward hers made it even clearer to Ryan how close they were to each other, how near her sweet eyes rested, and her soft lips, parted now in something that was either passion or surprise, he couldn't discern which. Time moved perilously slow. "I…" What? He what? "Oh, hell," he murmured, then leaned forward to brush a short but tantalizing kiss across her lips.
Penny nearly melted as the featherlight kiss swept through her. She hadn't expected it, but it had felt like a taste of heaven. Except for one thing. It was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Yanking her arm away, she kicked her feet out to send her desk chair rolling across the room. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Kissing you?"
She couldn't believe he'd done it, no matter how nice it might've felt! "You can't be kissing me!"
Ryan nodded emphatically. "I know that, believe me."
"Then why did you do it?"
He gave a helpless sigh. "I have no idea."
The words left her even more stunned, only in a different way now, and she gasped, affronted, almost insulted. He was kissing her and he didn't even know why?
"What I mean is…"
"Yes?"
His demeanor shifted. "I have a lot to lose here, you know. Like my job."
"Then don't you think kissing me is a bad idea?"
"Absolutely." He suddenly looked determined, stalwart. "In fact, you're exactly the last type of woman I need in my life."
She pulled in her breath sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," he began, lifting his gaze to hers, "frankly, you're too wild for me."
Penny's mouth dropped open. What had just happened here? And how could he think…? Well, okay, she supposed he actually had every reason to think she was wild, but she'd hoped she'd succeeded in explaining all that away the other night in the limo. Apparently not. "Listen, I told you, that was just a onetime thing, a person I made up—"
"Sure, that's what you told me, but…"
She blinked in disbelief. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm just saying … maybe you're a little wilder than you think you are."
"How would you know what I am?"
"Because you can't fake what we did together."
His answer hit Penny low and hard, and she struggled for a reply, feeling defensive now that his words hung in the air. "Well, you were just as wild back, and—and you didn't even think I was someone you knew! At least I thought I knew you."
"Well, I'm not the one denying I'm wild. I'll admit I have the capacity to be that way, but I can't because I came to Cincinnati to settle down and be a good boy."
"If you're such a good boy, then why did you respond in the limo?" Aha, Penny thought, she had him now.
But when their gazes met, she quit feeling defensive. His eyes were such a warm, alluring shade of brown and he looked … desperate, passionate.
"I
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