The Virgin's Proposal. Shirley Jump

power, sent a thrill straight through her.

      “If we’re going to get this close,” he said, watching where her gaze went, “I think I should at least know your least name.”

      “You…you already do.”

      “I think I might have remembered that tidbit. A beautiful woman ravages me in the spaghetti aisle and I definitely wouldn’t forget her first or last name.”

      “I didn’t ravage you!”

      “Honey, if I’d been a side of beef, there wouldn’t have been much more than bones left after you got through with me.”

      She laughed and the sound of it broke the simmering tension for a moment. “A bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

      “Perhaps. But until we get a chance to finish what we started,” he said, tracing a finger along the outline of her jaw and starting that fire roaring all over again, “we’ll never know the truth about your ravaging skills, now will we?”

      She couldn’t answer. Heck, she could barely breath when he did that.

      “So tell me, Mystery Kissing Bandit, what’s your last name?”

      “Do you remember running into a piece of fruit this morning?”

      It took him a second to make the connection. “You’re the banana?”

      She nodded. “When I’m not going around kissing strange men, I masquerade as fruit for kicks,” she said, amazed at her ability to exchange witty remarks. It had to be the tequila that had emboldened her—because the real Katie would have had her tongue tied in double knots.

      “My, my, Katie Dole, you surprise me more every minute I know you.” His gaze ran over her face, lingering on her lips. “I’m not often surprised by women.”

      “That’s me, a surprise a minute.” What a complete lie. I couldn’t surprise a cow. She needed to change the subject, to give herself a second to think. She was playing a game where the rules were foreign and where Matt had the upper hand. “We were about to play darts, remember?”

      “I’d much rather play something else.”

      “Darts is all you’re going to get tonight,” she said. “So work out your frustrations on the bull’s-eye.”

      “Let’s raise the stakes. Loser takes the winner to dinner.”

      “Deal.” Yesterday, she would have backed down from the challenge, would have run when she encountered a man with such dangerous sex appeal. But now, she was determined to hold her own against him—at least in darts.

      It should be an easy bet, she reasoned. A girl didn’t grow up with four brothers and not learn a thing or two about competing in barroom sports.

      Katie stood on the line a few feet from the board, holding the gold-and-teal dart between her thumb and forefinger. She sighted the bull’s-eye over the feathers and took aim.

      As soon as the dart left her fingers, she knew the launch was wrong. Matt was two feet away, watching her from the sidelines and wreaking havoc with her concentration.

      The dart landed in the ignominious outer circle. Zero points. Katie squinted at the board and redoubled her concentration. She threw the other two darts at the board. One landed in the ten-point spot, the other flew wide of the board and hit the wall.

      “Might I offer a suggestion?” Matt said.

      “I know how to shoot darts. I don’t need any lessons.” She stalked over to the board and ripped her darts out, knowing all the while that their placement said otherwise.

      When she was safely behind the painted white line on the floor, he aimed his dart and let it go. It sailed smoothly into the bull’s-eye. With resounding thwaps, the other two followed.

      He was good. Better than she was. “All right. Show me what you know and save me the cost of feeding you when I beat you with your own techniques,” she conceded.

      “How much time do you have? I have all night.”

      The innuendo in his voice made flames rush to her cheeks. “I’ve got five minutes. That should be more than enough time for you to teach me all you know.”

      “Good one.” Another smile. He led her over to the line. Then he sidled up behind her, raising her right hand beside his.

      The heat from his body, inches away, was incredible. She forced herself to stand steady, to resist the urge to back up and melt against his chest—and all his other desirable parts. The sexual charges detonating throughout her body were new, completely unexpected, and nearly consuming in their power over her mind.

      “When you aim, be sure to oversight it a little. That compensates for the flight arc,” he was saying. “Let me show you.” He took her hand and placed a dart between her fingers. Then he rocked her hand back and forth, as if they were shooting the dart. “Keep it steady and remember, it’s all in the wrist.”

      “Thanks. I will,” she exhaled on a shaky breath. Concentrate. On the darts.

      This time, she focused on the dartboard and blocked Matt from her mind. Thwap, thwap. Two hit the bull’s-eye, the third landed on thirty points.

      When it was his turn, she moved into place behind him. Just as he took aim, she purposely brushed her breasts against his back. The feel of him, of the simple intake and exchange of air that made his back slip along her chest, was intoxicating. Wanton need, so foreign to Katie, pounded through her veins.

      For the first time in her life, she felt alive. Invigorated. Completely, totally feminine. “I, ah, wanted to get a closer look at your technique.”

      Matt’s dart flew wide of the mark and landed with a thunk in the wall.

      “You missed. What a shame.”

      “Pity, isn’t it?” He glanced over his shoulder at her, his gaze telling her he knew exactly what she was up to and that he was enjoying every minute of it.

      And, if she admitted the truth, so was she. She felt bold, brazen, ready to take on any challenge.

      “So, are you going to go?” Matt sent another dart sailing into the board.

      “Where?” she asked, confused.

      “To that wedding.”

      Any challenge but that one. “I don’t know.” Katie walked to the bar and took a drink. “I’m not up to watching one of my former friends marry the guy who left me at the altar.”