‘You’re never right, McKenna. And all our teenagers want to do is party.’
‘Talking of parties, when is the beach barbecue to raise money for the lifeboat? Must be soon.’
Anna laughed. ‘The highlight of our social calendar. I’m amazed you remember it.’
‘It was at the beach barbecue that I finally scored with Daisy Forest,’ Sam said smugly. ‘Not likely to forget that in a hurry. What a girl.’
‘Well, it’s probably only fair to warn you that Daisy Forest is now a happily married woman with three little girls and a doting husband whose shoulder measurements exceed even yours. You might want to rethink that attachment.’
Sam winced and gave a wry smile. ‘Damn. There go my dreams.’
‘Just for my own interest and research, what was it that wrecked them? The three little girls or the dimensions of her husband?’
‘Both. I’m a man who hates competition. So when is it?’
‘The beach barbecue? Three weeks on Saturday. Usual fund-raising stuff. Ken does the food, there’s dancing, several people get drunk and make fools of themselves. We raise some money, we buy new equipment. You know the sort of thing.’
‘Sounds too good to miss.’ He stood next to her, broad-shouldered and handsome. Sexy.
Anna scooped her hair away from her face and frowned. Since when had she ever found Sam McKenna sexy?
Obviously since she’d drunk too much champagne on an empty stomach. She was hallucinating. Her judgement was failing. It was time to go home.
‘Do you want to leave the car and walk?’
He turned. ‘Unlike you, I didn’t indulge. I’m fine to drive. And I’ll need the car in the morning.’
She yawned as they walked to the car park. ‘So tomorrow filming starts in earnest?’
‘Polly has all sorts of plans, but often we just see what comes in. What looks interesting.’
He drove back slowly and Anna closed her eyes, loving the feel of the wind in her hair. ‘All right, you win. This is bliss. Not the engine, just the lack of roof.’
‘Glad I’ve finally pleased you. Remind me to give you champagne more often,’ Sam said dryly. ‘You become more human.’
‘With most people I’m human,’ she murmured. ‘It’s just you that brings out the worst in me. Always have done, McKenna. Always will do.’
‘We’ve done all right tonight.’ He pulled up outside the house and they walked inside. ‘No bloodshed. No visible wounds.’
They made their way to the kitchen and both of them reached for the light switch. Their fingers touched and suddenly she realised how close they were. She could feel the warmth of his breath near her face, feel the brush of his powerful body against hers. The lights flickered on and his gaze slid slowly to hers. Suddenly they were eye to eye and awareness shot between them like a bolt of lightning.
The breath caught in her throat and her heart bumped against her chest. ‘Do you…want coffee?’ Her voice sounded strange. Totally unlike her own. And she found herself noticing things about his eyes that she’d never noticed before. Like the fact that in this light they looked an even deeper blue. And that his lashes were thick and sinfully dark. Lashes that should have looked feminine but somehow made him more male than ever.
‘Coffee?’ His gaze slid to her mouth as if he was trying to make sense of something extremely complicated. ‘I thought you were keen to get back to those journals of yours.’
‘That’s right.’ She fought the temptation to lift her fingers to her lips, but his gaze fixed on her mouth was making her tingle. ‘Journals.’
‘No coffee, then.’ His eyes lifted to hers and locked. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Presumably.’
Their fingers were still tangled together, still on the light switch, and they both pulled away at the same time, their bodies bumping together as they turned for the door.
‘Hell, Riggs…’ He hauled her against him and brought his mouth down on hers hard, one hand sliding behind her neck and holding her fast.
She fell into his kiss, drowning in the heat and the fire, a dangerous thrill curling upwards from deep inside her. It was hot and frantic and totally out of character, but for a brief moment in time she didn’t care. She didn’t care about the future and she didn’t care about the past. She just wanted now.
She grabbed the front of his shirt to press herself closer, and without lifting his head he backed her against the wall, his kiss impossibly intimate, his hands sliding with sensual purpose up the sides of her body until they rested on her breasts. She felt the cool wall against her back, felt the press of solid muscle and hard, sexy male and closed her eyes.