her toes. Nell let out a long breath. The last thing on her list completed. “Well, thank you, Riley.” She slipped sideways and turned to leave. Not that leave was the right word, escape was closer in meaning.
Riley grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “We haven’t hashed out the details yet.”
Nell bit her lip. “Details?”
Something strange appeared in his eyes that sent a spiral of fire down to her belly so strong she bit her bottom lip. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Her body was so hot she wanted to pour the whole pitcher of cold tea over her head.
Riley pushed her tight against the counter, and she was powerless to stop him, even if she’d really wanted to.
He lowered his head, his mouth touching hers with featherlike gentleness. “Everything important is in the details.”
Nell’s mouth opened under the insistent pressure of his lips. Time stopped. She felt Riley’s hands move up her arms. Heat spiraled outward. Though she understood the biology of love, she didn’t understand the pounding wave of anticipation radiating through her.
His tongue slipped between her lips to caress her tongue. Nell’s eyes fluttered closed. The bottom of her stomach dropped out of her world. His body molded to hers. His broad chest flattened her breasts. Nell grabbed the fabric of his shirt in her fists. She stood on tiptoes and opened her mouth wider. Her first real kiss. The kind of kiss an adult man gave an adult woman. Nothing could have been more perfect.
His long, callused fingers climbed up her shoulders and locked behind her neck. The tips of his thumbs caressed her chin. Heat, desire, need overwhelmed her. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She didn’t want the moment to end. Her nipples tightened in her too-restrictive bra. She wanted to free her breasts, to touch his bare skin. She knew this was bad, but everything felt so right. Her grandmother had lied. His touch was sheer heaven.
Then Riley lifted his head.
Nell couldn’t breathe as she stared into his dark eyes and saw her own startled-doe look reflected back at her. He looked at her as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world.
His mouth tilted into a wicked smile. “I believe we’ve worked out the first detail.”
Nell wanted to touch the spot he’d kissed to capture the hot memory in her hand and keep it forever. “What’s that?”
“To see whether we have chemistry.”
She couldn’t relax, couldn’t make the heat inside her leave. “Do we?”
He grinned. “Oh yeah.”
Good, she thought. Now there was only one question left for her to ask. “When do we get started?”
Chapter 3
Riley picked at his lonely plate of spaghetti. After Nell had dropped her bombshell, he was surprised he’d still ended up alone tonight. Well, maybe that was a good thing. Tomorrow evening would be soon enough to start her education. Hell, he was probably in for a few new things himself.
His head was still reeling. In a short time his boyhood fantasy was about to come true. Nell, naked and willing in his bed. He raised his eyes to Heaven. Thank you, God. He twirled the tomato-paste-covered noodles on his fork. As he lifted the fork he heard a knock on the back door. A second later the door opened. Only one person walked into his house this way—his ex-wife Chloe.
“Riley Francis Martin, what the hell is going on?” The back door slammed and the stained-glass panels rattled.
Gritting his teeth, he waited for the sound of antique glass to hit the handmade Italian marble he’d laid there three weeks ago. “Hello to you, too, Chloe.” He heard her high heels click on the hardwood hallway floor as she made her way to the den. He took a quick look around the room, even though he knew there was nowhere to hide.
He knew her moods, and he felt that he was in for one now.
Riley put down the fork and picked up the television remote control, fighting the urge to hit the volume control to turn up the sound and tune her out, but that wasn’t going to be a safe option. Reluctantly he turned off the Braves baseball game he wasn’t watching anyway and waited to hear from his ex, or, as he sometimes like to call her, the Harbinger of Doom.
Chester gave a low whine, then got up from his doggy bed in the corner and slunk out of the room like the coward he was. His toenails clicked on the floor as he ran out of the den. Chloe and Chester had never been the best of friends even on a good day.
Chloe tapped her way into the den and leaned over his TV tray, gripping the edges tightly. Her dark brown hair swung along the crest of her shoulders. Her pale brown eyes blazed at him. “And just what in the ever-lovin’ hell has gotten into your head?”
Riley shrugged and pointed to the television. “Watching the game and eating dinner.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know what I mean.”
Guess that wasn’t the answer she wanted. “Actually, no I don’t.” When in doubt, go for dumb.
Her long red fingernails tapped on the TV tray. “Why are you are turning Nell Evans into your personal sex puppet?”
Okay, now he knew what had gotten her knickers into a twist. He sat back in his chair, knowing he was in trouble and wanting to get out of face-slapping distance. Chloe had never hit him during their marriage, but there was always a first time—and he was pretty sure she was close to reaching her boiling point. “How did you find out?”
Chloe straightened up and flipped her hair back. “Nell told me everything.”
Riley cringed, his stomach roiling This was not good. “She did?”
“She even asked me to go shopping with her in New Orleans. She wants the works. A new wardrobe, a new hairstyle and a new face.”
Oh, God! How could Nell tell his ex-wife? “She really told you?”
Chloe crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her arms. “When a girl like Nell decides to get herself a new image, there is a reason behind it besides falling into a lot of money. I weaseled an explanation out of her. One that would curl the hair of the most jaded of people.”
You mean you got out the velvet-covered rubber hoses, he thought. When she wanted info, Chloe could be merciless. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
She sneered at him. “That would be worse than kicking a puppy.”
Maybe so, but Chloe was going to ruin Nell. He could just picture her in makeup, fake nails and dyed hair. Not that Chloe wasn’t one of the most beautiful women in the universe, but Nell was perfect the way she was. He didn’t want another beauty queen, he wanted Nell. “Don’t help her. Please. I like her the way she is.”
“She wouldn’t take no for an answer.” She spread her arms in a dramatic gesture. “She thinks I can help her craft a whole new sophisticated image for the Big Apple. She said spare no expense. How could I turn down something like that?”
Yeah, so she can look sexy for some other guy. That didn’t sit well with him. “Damn.”
Now the hands went to her hips. “Don’t you dare hurt her. She’s not like your usual women. She doesn’t understand the rules of the game.”
Not his rules. Nell seemed to be playing by her own set of rules. Rules he was willing to play by for one taste of her sweetness. Rules he’d bend in a heartbeat. Hell, he’d run naked down Main Street coated in honey and pickle juice if she wanted him to. “Chloe, she came to me for help. How could I turn down an offer like that?”
“She is like a woman possessed.” Chloe paced the den, then stopped and stared at him.
“Tell me about it,” he agreed.
“I think she wanted to ask about the intimate details of our marriage.”
Pain