She untangled her fingers from his hair and dragged her mouth from his. “We have to stop this now,” she managed to say, her voice hoarse.
He groaned. “Are you sure?”
She looked wistfully at his so-talented mouth and removed his hand from beneath her sweater. “Very sure.”
He sighed but levered himself into his own seat.
Her face flaming, Teresa made an effort to straighten her clothes. She resisted an illogical impulse to check her body for handprints. Waves of heat were still coursing through her when she sat taller in her seat and reached up to run her hands through her tumbled hair.
Riley sat very still in his own seat, staring out the windshield at the shimmering lake ahead of them. He was quiet for so long that Teresa finally felt compelled to ask, “What are you thinking?”
“I was just thinking about taking a quick dip in the lake,” he said, his tone almost whimsical even though his voice was still rather strained. “It’s the closest semblance to a cold shower I have available.”
“We, um, sort of got carried away, I guess.”
“A bit, perhaps.”
“It must have been the wine. And the dancing.”
“Or maybe the moonlight?”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe,” he said, still not looking at her, “it’s more than that.”
“It can’t be more. You know that as well as I do.”
He was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded. “You’re probably right.”
She glanced at the lighted clock on his dashboard and gasped. “It’s getting so late. We have to go home.”
He reached down to start the engine. “It was a nice fantasy…while it lasted.”
“Yes,” she agreed evenly. “But that’s all tonight was. A fantasy. A temporary lapse in judgment. I had a wonderful time, I can’t deny that. It’s been years since I’ve danced…or since I’ve been carried away by passion,” she added, trying to keep her tone light.
Riley focused on the road ahead, but she knew she had his full attention. “Carried away by passion? Is that what just happened between us?”
“Something like that.”
“Whatever you call it, it was fantastic.”
“I can’t argue with that,” she murmured, remembering.
The car swerved almost imperceptibly on the narrow road. Riley spoke in a near growl. “Unless you want me to turn this car around and take up where we left off, you’d better get back to the topic of why we had to stop.”
“I don’t think it’s really necessary for me to spell it out again.”
“You’re really content to go back now to the way you’ve been living? Concentrating only on your kids and your job?”
“It’s a good life. A comfortable life. The children are happy and healthy. I enjoy working for Marjorie, and I’m making new friends in town. I really can’t ask for more.”
“And what about your own needs? Don’t try to convince me you don’t have any. I know better now.”
Her cheeks warmed again, but she managed to speak evenly. “My needs can wait until the children are older. They require all my time and attention now.”
“Which is exactly why I’m still single and childless,” Riley muttered. “I’m much too selfish to change.”
He wasn’t selfish, of course, Teresa mused as she gazed out the side window without responding. Riley had broken his rules to rent to her. He’d changed her tire and sat with her sick child without protest when she had needed him. He was so good to his uncle, so patient with her children.