The Last First Kiss (Harlequin Special Edition) by Marie Ferrarella Page A

looks and maybe his selflessness, he had nothing going for him.
    She reminded herself that this was to teach her mother a lesson. Eventually, it would all be worth it. If she survived.

Chapter Five
    “I take it your cousin likes balloons,” Kara observed, an amused smile curving her lips.
    There’d been three balloons, one blue, one white, one yellow, attached to the sign right outside his cousin’s residential development along with an arrow pointing the way to the party. Another three balloons, comprised of the same colors, and another arrow were on the street sign at the first corner. Three more balloons again at the next turn and so on until they had reached the block—a cul-de-sac—where the party was taking place and, if parked cars and noise level were any indication, was currently in full swing.
    She could see that the mailbox of a two-story house in the center of the block had not just three but six balloons, again comprised of the same three colors, indicating journey’s end. As if that were actually necessary.
    “Melissa just didn’t want to take the chance that anyone would go the wrong way,” Dave told her as they entered the cul-de-sac.
    He pulled up into the first available parking space he saw. It was also the last available parking space on either side of the street. A convention of SUVs hugged every available inch of curb space not only along both sides of the block, but trickling down toward the next block, as well.
    Dave unbuckled his seat belt. But as he started to get out, Kara put her hand on his wrist, stopping him. Puzzled, he looked at her. “Change your mind?”
    Having gotten him to play along, there was no way she was going to abandon her plan now. That was the whole point.
    “No, I just want to remind you that we’re supposed to be into each other. That means you’re going to have to hold my hand and not look at me as if you’d really rather be attending my vivisection.”
    He deliberately looked intrigued. “You’re having a vivisection?”
    “Don’t get cute. You know what I mean. Just act as if you actually like me.”
    He shook his head, a dubious expression on his face. “That’s an awful lot of acting you’re asking for,” he cracked. “I don’t know if I’m up to it.
    Her eyes held his, trying to determine if he was being flippant or if there was more than a small vein of truth to his words. Maybe it was time to have it out in the open.
    “You hate me that much?” she wanted to know.
    He thought he heard a hint of vulnerability in her voice. Probably just his imagination. He really doubted that Kara had had a vulnerable moment in her life. But on the outside chance that her question was actually serious—and that his answer mattered—he told her the truth.
    “I never hated you—well, almost never,” he amended, remembering a couple of incidents that involved purple paint and a great many showers afterward. He’d lost count just how many it had taken to get the hue off his skin the second time. “It was more that I was very leery of you. I never knew what you were going to pull next.”
    Okay, maybe she had been a little hard on him, but it wasn’t as if he was an innocent in all this. “Maybe if you hadn’t treated me like I was contagious, stupid and beneath you, I wouldn’t have pulled anything.” He looked at her for a long moment without saying a word. But she could read his expression. “Okay,” she relented, amending her initial statement. “Maybe a few things, but you would have never had to submit yourself to being scrubbed down with nail polish remover.”
    He’d forgotten about that. The distance of time allowed him to laugh at the memory. “I guess I should count myself lucky that I even survived my childhood with you around.”
    “That goes double for me,” she countered.
    He looked at her incredulously. Was she kidding? Or did she think he had amnesia? There were times she’d made his life a living hell.
    “You? Ha!”
    “What