She should have worn the pantsuit, she fretted as she made her way slowly toward the door. She’d dressed too casually. Would Shane interpret it to mean that she wasn’t taking this date seriously?
“You look great,” he said when she opened the door to him.
She was relieved to see that he had worn jeans, a denim jacket and a navy pullover with his usual Western boots. “Thank you.”
Shane smiled ruefully. “I’m glad you didn’t dress up. Would you believe I almost put on a tie? And then I realized how dopey that was since we’re only going to a movie.”
“How silly of you,” Kelly murmured, glad she’d closed her bedroom door so Shane couldn’t see the mess she’d left in there.
He made a face. “Yeah. Who’d have believed I spent ten minutes just trying to decide what to wear to see a movie? Dumb, huh?”
She cleared her throat, trying not to think about her own wasted hour and a half. “So what movie are we seeing?”
He named the latest big-screen blockbuster. “Have you seen it yet?”
“No, but I’ve heard it’s good.”
“It starts in forty-five minutes. If we leave now, we’ll have time to stand in line for popcorn before the film starts.”
A movie and popcorn. It sounded like a safe, pleasant evening, she thought. She and Shane had done this sort of thing dozens of times together, though usually with other friends along. There was no reason at all for her to be so nervous about it.
So why did her hands tremble when he helped her into her coat? And why did she have to take a deep breath for courage before she stepped outside with him?
She hoped they weren’t making a serious mistake.
Chapter Nine
Shane had never considered eating popcorn a particularly erotic act. But sharing a container of popcorn with Kelly in the darkened movie theater was one of the most intriguing experiences he’d had in a while. Every time they reached into the container simultaneously, every time their fingers brushed, a spark of physical awareness seemed to leap between them. Did she feel it, too?
Every time their thighs brushed, his insides tightened in reaction. Did she know what she was doing to him?
He’d thought a movie would be a fairly innocuous way to spend this first, experimental date. Something they’d done so many times before that they wouldn’t have to feel awkward about it. He hadn’t really given enough thought to how cozy and intimate a darkened theater could be, even with other people sitting around them.
He tried to follow the film, but the action on screen seemed bland and trivial compared to the much more interesting interplay between Kelly and him. Despite his efforts to concentrate on the plot, his mind wandered ahead to after the movie. What would they do then? Go out for coffee and pie? Maybe hit a club for espresso and jazz? Or he supposed they could go back to Kelly’s place for cocoa and...
He shifted in his seat as his mind was flooded with possibilities of exactly what he and Kelly could do if they were alone in her apartment. Possibilities that had been occurring to him with unsettling regularity for the past few weeks. He brought that line of thought to a screeching halt. He’d had a hard enough time talking her into a movie. Anything more—at least on this first date—would definitely be pushing his luck.
“Is something wrong with your seat?” she asked in a whisper.
“No. Want some more popcorn?”
“Shh,” someone hissed behind him.
Kelly giggled softly and reached into the popcorn container again. Her musical laughter made him smile—and then start fantasizing again.
They stopped for coffee and pie after the movie, Shane having decided that was the option least likely to get him into trouble. He noticed that Kelly seemed more relaxed now than she had earlier, and that pleased him. The dim lamp on the table between them glittered in her emerald eyes and brought out the gold in her hair. She was laughing as she recalled an amusing scene from the movie—a scene he didn’t even remember—and he found himself transfixed by the flash of dimple at the corner of her mouth.
“You really are beautiful,” he murmured. “Have I ever told you that before?”
Her smile promptly faded, to Shane’s regret. He shouldn’t have said that, he thought. He’d made her uncomfortable. But then he remembered that they were supposed to be on a date. That was the sort of thing she should expect to hear on a date.
“Umm...thanks,” she said. “So what did you think about the way the movie ended?”
“I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the movie,” Shane answered, suddenly feeling reckless. “There was someone much more fascinating in the seat next to me.”
Kelly’s cheeks flamed, making her look all the more attractive, as far as he was concerned. “Stop saying things like that.”
He rested his arms on the table and laced his fingers in front of him. “Why?”