She chuckled and turned her attention back to the road when the traffic light changed. “I might be at that, but it seems I’m the one destined to keep us out of trouble.”
“Some trouble I might like,” he murmured in a low voice leaden with exhaustion, before closing his eyes again.
“And what if Marcus had that same attitude?”
“When he gets to my age he’s welcome to it, but while he’s underage, I decide what he likes and doesn’t like. And stop comparing us to our kids, Kylie. Like I told you before, we’re adults. They aren’t.”
“Sorry, I keep forgetting,” she said sarcastically.
“It will behoove you to remember. The next time you forget it will cost you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Cost me what?”
“A kiss. Right then and there. Even if it’s in front of those two kids of ours.”
She frowned and took a quick glance at him and saw that his eyes were opened and he was staring at her. His expression was serious. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.”
And Kylie was smart enough to know not to. She pulled her car into the dealership, parked it and turned to him. “And just what would doing something like that prove?”
“It would prove that our kids wouldn’t have a problem with anything developing between us.”
“But I’d still have a problem with it. I won’t let any man use me to slake his sexual cravings.”
In a flash Chance snapped the seatbelt off his body and before she could get out her next breath he loomed over her. Blatant anger was carved in his features. “This isn’t about me slaking any sexual cravings, Kylie. But you’re so out of practice with men that you wouldn’t know that, would you? Well, let me tell you something, not about men in general but about this man in particular,” he said pointing to himself. “I won’t ever use you just to slake any sexual cravings, so don’t try making my wanting you as anything sullied or dirty.
“It’s the most natural thing in the world for a man to desire a woman and vice versa. I won’t apologize for it. When we do make love, Kylie, it will be a mutual thing. You’ll want it as much as I do, so don’t kid yourself into believing otherwise. And when it comes to me there’s something else you need to keep in mind.”
“And what’s that?” she asked softly.
“When there’s something I want, I won’t give up until I get it.”
“When we do make love, Kylie, it will be a mutual thing. You’ll want it as much as I do, so don’t kid yourself into believing otherwise…”
The words Chance had spoken earlier that day woke Kylie up more than once that night. This time she knew she had to deal with them before trying to go back to sleep.
Taking the pillow from the other side of the bed, she wrapped her arms around it and hugged it to her chest, wondering how in the world one man could be so utterly self-confident, so damn arrogant. The nerve of him making such a statement as if it was a foregone conclusion they’d go to bed together. Well, she had news for him, she thought bitterly.
After this camping trip was over she would put rules into place where their relationship was concerned. The only thing between them would be Marcus and Tiffany. As parents they would have some connection in order to keep their offspring on the right path, but that would be as far as things went. It wouldn’t bother her in the least if she never saw the infuriating man again.
Turning over on her side, Kylie gazed despondently at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was almost midnight, way too late to be having this sort of conversation with herself. She should be resting peacefully in a sound sleep, but thanks to Chance she was wide awake.
He had upset her so badly that afternoon that it had been a good ten minutes before she’d been able to pull herself together to drive away from that dealership. And twice during dinner Tiffany had asked her if anything was wrong.
And to think she would be spending an entire weekend in Chance’s presence. If there were any way she could cancel their plans without disappointing Tiffany she would, but she knew better than anyone how much her daughter looked forward to this trip.
The phone on her nightstand rang and not for the first time she wished that like the phone in the living room this one had caller ID. But somehow she knew it was Chance and reached out and picked it up. “Hello?”
“I need to apologize, Kylie.”
It was his deep, rich, husky voice, more than the words he had spoken, that sent a sensuous shiver through her. “Do you?”
“Not for everything—just for getting upset with you. I won’t apologize for our kisses. But your words caught me off guard. Never in my wildest dream did I assume you’d think I would want to use you that way.”