This Kiss

by Teresa Southwick

  In a pig’s eye, he thought. No one had gotten his attention. Correction, no one until he’d seen Hannah again. A woman who lived fifteen hundred miles away. How perverse was that?

  “I’m not looking,” was all he said.

  “It can’t hurt that women always follow you around like the Pied Piper,” she said, ignoring his protest.

  “Says who?”

  “Says me.”

  “You must be thinking of another cowboy.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. At least that’s the way it was in high school.”

  “Times change.”

  “What about Cassie Gordon?”

  “Ben doesn’t always get his facts straight.”

  “So you didn’t kiss her?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “But her kiss didn’t make the earth move? Didn’t make you see stars, or hear bells and banjoes?”

  “Good Lord, Hannah. Tell me you haven’t been reading those women’s magazines instead of your medical journals.”

  “It doesn’t matter where I got my information. I’ve heard when it’s good you see fireworks.”

  “They’re not talking about kissing,” he said wryly. “Have you ever seen fireworks?”

  “We were talking about you,” she answered with a neat little sidestep. “Maybe your ideal woman doesn’t exist.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s a new millennium. Women have careers in addition to families.”

  “When two salaries are necessary to put food on the table and make ends meet, I can see it.”

  “That’s not always how it is. Women have hopes and dreams and aspirations. And believe it or not—brains.”

  “Okay. But it’s not especially bright to get involved with someone who doesn’t want the same things I do. I’m not stupid, Hannah.”

  “I never said you were. I always thought you were smart.”

  “Until Corie. I thought she wanted what I did. I found out I was wrong. But I won’t make the same mistake twice. I won’t ever again get involved with someone who’s not on the same page as me. I’ll do anything to prevent my son from being hurt again.”

  At the mention of his son, Dev glanced to the boy’s upstairs window on the front of the house. He saw a small face peeking out at them and wondered how long Ben had been watching. And hoping to see evidence of them being a couple, he expected.

  “I wouldn’t hurt him, Dev. I’m serious about that. I could find a place to stay in town—”

  “No way. I couldn’t ask you to do that. For two very good reasons.”

  “Such as?” she asked.

  “Number one, I owe your mother more than I can ever repay. Besides the fact that we already established how much I appreciate her cooking skills, she’s great with Ben. I’d be lost without her. And she’s been looking forward to this visit for too long and wants to spend every moment she can with you.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to it too,” she admitted. “So what’s number two?”

  “How would it look breaking hospitality rule number one of the Texas gentleman’s cowboy code of the west? A gracious host would never send a lady packing.” He shook his head. “Just isn’t done.”

  She laughed. “Okay. But there must be something we can do to convince Ben not to get his hopes up.”

  “Actually there is. I have an idea.”

  “I thought I smelled something burning.” The corners of her mouth turned up.

  “Very funny,” he said. Although the heat her smile produced inside him wasn’t funny at all.

  “Sorry. So how are you going to convince the little matchmaker that I’m medical, you’re country western and never the twain shall meet—or something like that?”

  “There’s one thing that might do it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A kiss.”

  Chapter Four

  Hannah’s heart started to pound. “Excuse me? I thought you said kiss.”

  “You heard right. How about it?”

  She was glad there was a large span between them. If he hadn’t been sitting on the opposite side of the gazebo, she might feel compelled to stand and relocate to another county. But he was a safe distance away. So she casually settled herself on the wooden bench attached to the railing, leaning back against it as she folded her arms across her chest.

  “Did I miss something here?” she asked. “I was under the impression you wanted to convince your son that there was nothing between us and unlikely to ever be anything. I’m not quite sure I understand what a kiss would accomplish.”

  “Ben needs a reality check. He thinks life is like the movies. One kiss and everyone lives happily ever after.”

  “Like the fairy tales,” she said.

  He nodded. “A kiss brings the princess out of her coma.”

  “Yeah.” She couldn’t help smiling. “Or turns the toad into a prince.”

  “I believe it was a frog,” he said wryly. “But you heard him as well as I did. Basically he’s convinced that your dreams can be changed by a single kiss.”

  “You know, Dev, I’ve lived in California. I’m not a little girl from Hickville, Texas, anymore.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Why in the world would you expect me to believe this song and dance that a kiss will help Ben get the message?”

  “Because I believe in teaching with visual aids?”

  She couldn’t see it but his amused tone told her there was a twinkle in his eyes. She’d only been there a short time, but that sexy expression was branded forever into her memory. Maybe she should leave the ranch—and not just for Ben’s sake. For her own.

  “So you have no ulterior motive?” she questioned.

  He put his hand over his heart. “May lightning strike me if I’m not telling the truth. The fact that you are a beautiful woman has absolutely nothing to do with my motivation.”

  “Let me make sure I understand. If I was so homely I had to sneak up on a glass of water, you would still want to do it?” The words evoked past humiliation. It was diluted, but still there. She’d once overheard him saying that about her to a group of his friends including Mitch Rafferty, Jack Riley and Grady O’Connor. She hadn’t forgotten. Would he remember?

  “If you had a hump on your back and a wart on your nose, I would still be asking permission to kiss you.”

  “I don’t believe you for a minute,” she scoffed.

  “You’re a beautiful woman, Hannah. So there’s no way for me to prove I’m telling the truth.”

  Oh mercy! The world champion charmer was turning the flattery on full blast. God help her, it was working. She didn’t for a single moment believe that he believed she was pretty. But she was beginning to want very much to kiss him.

  She cleared her throat. “Not that I agree with this crazy idea, but if I—If we…kiss, how will Ben know? Do you want me to swear on a stack of bibles and sign an affidavit in blood?”

  He laughed. “Nothing so dramatic or painful. Don’t look now, but he’s spying on us from his bedroom window over yonder. We can take care of this right now.”

  “Yeah?”

  Dev nodded. “It will teach him that a kiss isn’t a life-altering experience. He’ll also get the message that in spite of it, when your time here is up, you’ll go back to your work in California.”

  “Whatever that might be, as in which prestigious medical practice in L.A. offers me the job of my dreams in pediatrics.”

  “Specifics aren’t required for purposes of this kiss.”

  “Of course not.”

  She hadn’t thought her heart could pound any harder, but hammer it did. Her adrenaline kicked in faster than an IV push of meds. The space in the gazebo seemed to shrink. Staring across it, she could see him in the moonlight. He looked relaxed. His hat was missing and she could see his brown hair, mussed as if he’d run his fingers through it countless times. The sleeves of his long-sleeved white shirt were rolled to just
below his elbows and his worn jeans stretched across his thighs, outlining the muscles there. His mouth curved up. She wished she had a nickel for how many times in the last twenty-four hours she’d wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. Never again would she have to worry about money. And he was handing her the opportunity on a silver platter.

  “You’re not afraid, are you?” His tone was subtly challenging and his teeth flashed white with a sudden grin.

  The combination made him look nearly irresistible.

  But resist him she must. And yes, she was afraid. But to him she said, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  However unlikely that serious sparks would fly between them, it was still pointless to start something. There was no way she could finish it. She had to leave. The job she was hoping for would give her the income she needed to help her mother and pay her back for all the years of sacrifice. Not only that, there was a part of Hannah hyper-aware that Dev could be dangerous to her emotionally. There was no way she could stay in Destiny and she didn’t intend to go back to California with a fractured heart.

  No way would she be another romantic notch on Dev Hart’s belt. Only she had a bad feeling that she’d judged him harshly. He’d been young and it was past time to get over the comments of the immature boy he’d been. But she couldn’t seem to let go of one high school regret: she’d never gotten Dev’s positive attention for anything but her brains. She had wondered from time to time in the last ten years what it would be like if he noticed her as a woman. In her wildest dreams, she’d never expected fantasy fulfillment. If only he’d gone bald and soft in all this time. But she wasn’t that lucky. Not only had he gotten older, he’d gotten better. The idea made her shiver.

  “Are you cold?” he asked.

  How had he seen that? Was he a superhero? Did he have X-ray vision? She shook her head, unwilling to feed his ego by confessing the involuntary movement was all about him and the effect on her that she couldn’t seem to stifle.

  “It’s a beautiful night,” she said.

  A perfect setting for a kiss. Damn him for suggesting it. And his reason, at least on the surface, was noble—to show his son that he couldn’t always expect to get what he wanted. How endearing was that?

  “So what do you say?” Dev asked. “He’s spying on us. Shall we give him a taste of his own medicine?”

  She wanted to tell him not in this lifetime. But Dev was not the dimmest bulb in the chandelier. He was brighter than the average bear and curious to boot. If she refused his suggestion, he would want to know why.

  “If your remedy has any chance of working,” she said, stalling, “it should look convincing. He’s only four, but in my experience, kids are hard to fool.”

  “Medical school and a residency in pediatrics taught you that?”

  “So I’m an overachiever,” she said, teasing back. “How do we do it?”

  “I could draw you a diagram,” he said, a smile in his voice. “Think mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

  Ignoring the heat in her cheeks, she sighed. “I know the mechanics. It’s just that—I have a problem.”

  “Bad breath? Head lice? The heartbreak of psoriasis?”

  “Very funny.” She tried to make her voice stern, but couldn’t help laughing at him. “None of the above.”

  “Then what?”

  “I’ve been kissed before and, frankly, I just don’t get the point. Considering that, I doubt I can make it look real.”

  “Well, darlin’, whoever kissed you obviously didn’t know what he was doing.”

  Oh Lord, that deep Texas drawl did things to her insides that should be declared a medical emergency. He was smiling, a look that was too masculine and way too cute for her peace of mind.

  Suddenly, he stood and crossed the distance between them in two long strides. Looming above her he held out his hand. The fragrance of soap and aftershave and the scent that was uniquely Dev’s drifted to her and combined to tie her stomach in knots.

  “Help me out here, Hannah. Kiss me, and help me show Ben that it’s not enough to make you stay in Destiny.”

  The sheer masculinity of him stole the breath from her lungs along with her ability to draw in replacement air. Her heart thumped so hard, she was afraid either it would pop out of her chest, or simply wear out and stop so that she needed to shock it into pumping again.

  But part of her wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss the guy all the girls had wanted. If the experience was horrible, she could stop wondering about it. But, if as she suspected the sensation was akin to a religious experience, the memory might be worthwhile. On some dark, cold, lonely night, she could pull out the recollection and wrap it warmly around her.

  She looked at his large hand, still extended—long, lean fingers, steady palm right there waiting for hers. Why at that moment did she have to remember that she couldn’t remember how many bones there were in the human hand?

  “Hannah?”

  With a resigned sigh, she placed her shaking fingers in his palm then held her breath as she felt the warm strength when his hand closed around hers. He tugged her to her feet, then drew her to the edge of the circular structure where a slice of silver moonlight chased away the shadows.

  “I want him to see us,” Dev said, explaining the move out into the open.

  “Okay, he spots us. We kiss. Then what?” Hannah wanted to know, her voice annoyingly husky and irritatingly breathless.

  “After seeing me kiss you, he’ll ask you about it. Guaranteed. Then you can explain to him that our brief encounter of the moonlit kind hasn’t in any way, shape or form changed your plans. You can remind him that when your visit is over you’re going back to California.”

  “Okay. Got it.”

  “Let’s put this plan into motion.”

  Her vocal cords chose that moment to freeze up. All she could do was nod before Dev slid one hand around her waist. He drew her to his tall, solid length. Cupping her cheek with his other hand, he tunneled his fingers into her hair and tilted her head slightly, angling her until he seemed satisfied. Then slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers.

  The touch was warm and firm and chaste, yet Hannah half wished they were in a horizontal position. Then all of a sudden her heart started beating faster than it ever had before. An involuntary sigh escaped her and he snuggled her even closer to him. Tipping his head to the side, he made the contact of their lips more firm.

  Of their own accord, Hannah’s arms found the way around his waist and up his back. Her breasts nestled against the solid wall of his chest as if that’s where she belonged. She was soft to his hard, small to his tall, and feminine to his masculine. The sensation brought out all the womanly feelings she’d learned the hard way to suppress.

  He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and without thought or question she opened to him. He caressed the inside of her mouth which became a flashpoint, sending heat radiating through her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Excitement cast its spell. There was no room for reason or sanity. She could only feel. Heat, hunger, and heady abandon swept her on a tide of sensual freedom.

  Her legs were weak as the kittens she’d watched being born earlier that day. In self-defense, she fisted her hands in the back of his shirt and hung on for dear life. Dev wrapped his other arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet, bringing her mouth to a level with his.

  As a doctor she’d found numerous causes for accelerated breathing. But in her experience, never had something so pleasurable set off the condition.

  She touched the hair at his nape, finding it silky and soft. With her index finger, she traced the side of his neck, up, down and around to the ridge of his ear. At the barest contact, she heard him suck in his breath and groan. Instantly, his breathing cranked up. How exciting was that! What a heady, powerful feeling, that a man like Dev could be affected by a mere touch from a woman like her.

  Finally, he set her feet back on the ground without separating his lips from hers. And how sh
e wished they could stay lip-locked longer, if not forever.

  He lifted his head without removing his arms from around her. “That’ll show big Ben,” he whispered in a husky voice.

  “I should hope so,” she answered, struggling for just the right tone.

  Cooly amused, almost bored was her goal. What she achieved was more like take me, take me now. If there was any justice in that, she was not aware of it.

  Dev dropped his arms as if he’d suddenly realized she was a hot rock. He backed up a step and rubbed his palm across the back of his neck. Hannah thought he looked like he didn’t know what to say. When was the last time he’d been tongue-tied with a woman? Surely never.

  His reaction must have something to do with the fact that he’d actually kissed Hannah Morgan, the brainer misfit who’d tutored him in high school. The girl who hadn’t belonged in Destiny ten years ago and still didn’t.

  Glancing up at Ben’s bedroom window, she couldn’t tell if he was still spying on them. If the boy had missed out on the show and the intended lesson, she couldn’t find it in her heart to care. She’d never in her life been kissed like that. In medical school, she’d had her share of opportunities. But apparently just studying anatomy wasn’t a prerequisite for expertise in the field. Dev knew what he was doing. Boy howdy did he ever, she thought still trying to catch her breath. If not for his son, she never would have known that a single kiss truly did pack a powerful punch.

  “I think it’s high time I went inside,” she said, then released a long breath.

  “Yeah. I think I’ll stay out a little longer while it’s cool. A few more weeks and it’ll feel like someone stoked Mother Nature’s fire.”

  Hannah felt that way now. But all she said was, “Good night, Dev.”

  She wasn’t staying, her heart warned. But this kiss almost made her wish she was.

  “Hey, Hannah banana.” Ben Hart poked his head in her room, pushing the door a little wider.

  “Hey, big Ben.”

  Here comes the cross-examination, she thought. From her semi-reclining position on her bed, Hannah stared at the little guy and wondered if he knew she’d just called him a London clock. It was early afternoon and she’d been hibernating there most of the day, telling herself it was high time she caught up on her medical journals and periodicals. When she’d been bored enough to open an entertainment magazine, she couldn’t lie to herself any longer. Who would have guessed she would be hiding out on Dev Hart’s ranch the day after kissing Dev Hart himself?