Not that he thought for one minute Kendall would go along with his insane idea to pretend they were involved in order to keep the women from Rick’s door. He didn’t even intend to suggest it, but he had to admit the plan had been a fun one while it lasted. “We still haven’t gotten you out of that dress,” he said at last.
“I’m right here waiting.”
He grit his teeth and finished the buttons on the dress with minimal fuss and conversation, focusing solely on his task and not the increasingly bared skin on her back.
He paused when his fingertips finally reached her waist. “How about I give you some privacy and you take things from here?” Because the next step would mean he’d be pulling down the top of the dress and revealing her bare breasts for view. It would mean he’d work the material lower, over her legs and then—
“That would probably be best.” Her voice stopped his daydream just in time.
“I’ll leave the door open.” He stepped toward the exit. “Yell if you need anything.”
“Will do.” She shot him a grateful smile.
“Good. Good.” Rick slipped out, escaping before he could indulge further in any need, be it his or hers.
* * *
The wedding gown hung from her waist as Kendall stared at her flushed reflection in the mirror. She wished she could blame the heat but knew her response to Rick’s lips on her flesh, his strong hands on her bare skin, was responsible.
She hadn’t expected him to kiss her, but the sexual tension humming between them couldn’t be missed. Neither could the bond created over understood grief. Add to that he’d been stripping her out of her gown, for God’s sake. How much more of an intimate act could there be? When his lips had touched her skin . . . her body shook now with the memory, her nipples puckering at the remembered sensation.
Kendall didn’t normally “do” brazen. But she’d needed to see his face and so she’d turned her head—and met his lips with hers. The kiss had rocked her world. He was so sexy he melted her insides with one look. So strong and sure he protected with a touch. He made her feel wanted. And in doing so, he answered a need she hadn’t known still existed.
She’d always been the displaced child that no one wanted. And though Brian had desired her, he’d never given back emotionally. Their relationship had been a bargain. He’d gotten her the modeling jobs she needed to pay for her aunt’s care and she’d pretended to be his girlfriend to help him through a transition period after a breakup. Though their fake relationship had turned into a real one, she’d never connected with Brian.
Not like she had with Rick. One kiss and she’d felt more than a physical pull. Enclosed in the small bathroom with Rick had been a confinement of a different kind. A sensual kind. The kind she’d like to explore further. Why not? The surprising thought flashed through her mind.
So did the answers. She’d ended her engagement to Brian and a huge phase of her life just a few short hours ago. Though she hadn’t been in love with him, the whole ordeal had been traumatic. Though the dizziness had already passed, she splashed cold water on her face, then she shook her head and wrapped her icy, wet hands around the back of her neck for shock value.
She couldn’t be thinking clearly, not if she was tempted to indulge in a romantic interlude with a virtual stranger. Yet he felt like anything but. After all, she’d seen the desire in his eyes, felt the tremor in his calloused fingertips. Kendall wasn’t normally into affairs or quickies with men she barely knew, but Rick Chandler, his goodness and strength, his openness and giving, not to mention his sexiness, tested her resolve.
She changed out of the dress and reached for her casual clothes, leaving the bridal trappings on the floor in a discarded heap. The wedding was in her past. The open road awaited her in the future. Though it’d be wonderful to indulge in some T.L.C. and though Officer Rick Chandler might seem like the perfect man for the job, it wouldn’t be fair to him.
She couldn’t use him that way, no matter how good he made her feel. A man who lived in one place, who valued stability, and who was a family friend, was hardly the man to pick for a fling, assuming she was ready for one. Which she wasn’t, she assured herself.
Too bad her body made a mockery of that promise. She straightened and started for the other room, steeling herself against the chemistry she couldn’t control or deny.
* * *
Rick paced outside the bathroom so he could hear the thud if the heat got to her again and Kendall passed out cold on the floor. He was thankful when minutes later the door opened and she walked out, but gratitude evaporated when he got a good look at her newest getup, taken from the small suitcase he’d brought in for her earlier.