A Kiss To Remember

It wasn’t like him to be so rude, and she couldn’t understand his motivation. It wasn’t as though he suspected anything between herself and Lance. Loretta’s earlier suspicions seemed to have been doused as well, especially as Lance had moved off and started chatting up a tall, voluptuous blonde, who could hardly contain her delight at his attention.

Angie wasn’t at all delighted. Jealousy stabbed deep into her heart. Jealousy, plus insecurity and a general feeling of inadequacy. Maybe even now Lance was deciding he would be a fool to have anything to do with a naive and totally inexperienced virgin. He would probably prefer to spend his break in Sydney with someone who could cater to his undoubtedly sophisticated tastes in bed. The more Angie watched him with that woman, the more she was convinced any attraction she held for him was already on the wane.

When the blonde lightly touched Lance on his arm, then laughed up at him, her fears increased. There was something incredibly intimate about that laugh. And something incredibly sexy. Were they making plans for a secret assignation—maybe even later tonight? Angie could practically see them now, laughing in a motel bed together, their naked bodies entwined, the blonde’s long legs wrapping around Lance as he bent his head to her very large breasts.

Angie choked down the bile which rose in her throat and launched herself across the room towards him. Lance seemed startled when she grabbed his arm and said she wanted to go home and needed him to move his car.

Quickly recovering, he excused himself from the blonde, who didn’t look so pleased now.

‘And where are you two off to?’ Bud pounced as they made their way together towards the front door.

‘Angie wants to go home,’ Lance explained patiently, ‘and my car’s parked behind hers.’

Bud’s obvious relief reminded Angie of how disapproving her brother would be of her becoming sexually involved with Lance. Not that she intended telling him.

Still, maybe that would never happen, now that Blondie had come on the scene. Angie’s insides began to churn. She wished Bud would just disappear, so she could get Lance alone to tackle him on the subject.

‘Goodnight, then, love,’ Bud said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Thanks for coming. I’m not sure I should thank you for that rude birthday present, though. Just wait till your next birthday comes along. I’ll find you something that will make you go as red as a beetroot!’

Angie laughed. ‘I’ll look forward to it. Say goodnight to Loretta for me, will you, Bud? I really must go home. I have this awful headache coming on.’

‘Do you really have a headache?’ Lance asked her after he’d moved his car and returned to where she was standing by her own.

‘Yes,’ she snapped. ‘And it has blonde hair and big boobs!’

‘Ah...’ He grinned at her. ‘You’re jealous.’

‘And if I am?’

‘If you are, sweet Angie,’ he said, drawing her into his arms, ‘then that’s good. That’s very good.’

‘You wouldn’t think it was so good if you were on the other end. There again, I suppose you’re never jealous, are you?’

‘I could be...’

‘You’re not going to sleep with that woman tonight, are you, Lance?’ she asked, true anxiety in her face and words.

Lance lurched backwards as though she’d struck him, his arms dropping away, his eyes suddenly stormy. ‘Damn and blast, but I’m getting fed up with this! What is it with you? Do you think I have such little control that I can’t go one night without sex? I’m not some randy ram who ruts around indiscriminately. I do have some standards. Believe it or not, I like to know and respect a woman before I go to bed with her. I haven’t had a mindless one-night stand since the night of my uni graduation party.’

‘Oh! I...I’m sorry, Lance,’ she apologised, confused by his heated defence of his own character. And not altogether convinced he was telling the truth.

‘And so you should be,’ he ground out. ‘I’ve had about as much second-hand insult from the Browns tonight as I can take. It’s got to stop, Angie. I’m not what you think I am. Hell, don’t you have any respect for me at all? Have you agreed to have an affair with me only for the sex?’