She shrugged, a “suit yourself” gesture, but he saw the hurt and lack of understanding in her gaze.
He reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb caressing her soft skin with broad strokes. “Do you have plans tomorrow?”
“I’m off. I’m forwarding patients to a covering doctor in the next town. If I don’t get some time to myself, I won’t be good for anyone.” She spoke quickly, obviously in a rush to get inside and away from him.
“How about I pick you up early and we head into Boston for some holiday shopping?” he asked.
She turned to face him. The glow from the outside light illuminated her blonde hair and exquisitely made-up features. He hadn’t thought about it before, but not only had she shown up at the party, she’d gone all out for it, too.
Pleasure took hold inside him. “You’re beautiful, you know. Not in the young-girl way I remembered, but in a womanly way I appreciate so much more.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What kind of game are you playing, Dylan? You can’t come in for a drink because you have plans; then you offer to pick me up early tomorrow. What’s going on with you?” Thoroughly annoyed, she perched her hands on her hips while her lips puckered into a pretty pout.
He shook his head. “Sorry about the mixed signals. I want nothing more than to come in, but we both know where that’ll lead, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want to take it slow.”
“Slow?” Her lips mouthed the word. “Ten years isn’t slow enough? You’d rather just torture me, is that it?”
“I want you to go to sleep and dream of nothing but me?” He let his fingers trace the outline of her glossed lips. “So when I pick you up tomorrow, you’re ready to focus solely and completely on getting to know me again, and me getting to know you.”
“You want to discover what makes me tick now?” she asked, a sparkle and teasing glint in her eyes.
“In a word, yes.”
* * *
Unexpectedly, her tongue darted out and licked the pad of his thumb, being deliberately seductive. He felt the sensation straight through to his already hard groin.
Before he could think it through, he slipped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her towards him, capturing her mouth with his. Her lips softened but didn’t part. Obviously she intended to make him work for what he wanted, and that was okay with him.
He slid his lips back and forth over hers, floored by the gratification he found in tasting her at last. The longer they kissed, the more he realized that his memories had grown fuzzy and reality was so much better and definitely hotter. He braced her face in his hands, tilted her head and continued to tease and taste, just as he’d promised, kissing her slowly, intent on branding her and making sure that if she slept, her dreams would be of him.
His tongue glided over the seam of her lips, and he was rewarded with a low moan from the back of her throat as she opened her mouth and let him inside. He savored the absolute sweetness and desire flooding him. His groin pushed hard against his jeans, the urge to possess her with his body strong.
Before he could go back on his word and join her inside, he stepped back, reminding himself that he wanted to win her trust for the long haul. Not just for one night in bed.
She met his gaze with heavy-lidded eyes, her mouth reddened from his kiss. “You’ve perfected your technique,” she murmured.
He grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment, babe, and you should know, your technique’s gotten pretty good, too. Still, I don’t think technique has anything to do with it.”
“No? Then what explains two people who don’t learn from their mistakes?”
“Speak for yourself. I’ve learned a lot from the past. And I think it’s us that’s so potent.”
She raised an eyebrow. “This from the man who said we were nothing more than a high-school crush?”
He accepted the blow. “An immature boy said that, not the man I am now.”
She swallowed hard. “Who is that man, and what does he want from me?” she asked.
“Time will tell.” He didn’t mean to be cryptic, but he could hardly say, I’ve come back for you, and expect her to believe his words when his promise had failed her before. “Just give me some time.”
Her fingers touched her moist, red lips. “Sex wasn’t enough before.”
“We’re older and wiser now.”
She grinned. “We can always hope.” She let herself into the apartment and shut the door behind her.
He expelled a breath and tried to pull himself together. He’d been her first, Dylan remembered, and though she’d been an eager learner, she’d rarely initiated sex. This teasing side of her was new, and he liked it a whole lot.