“Charlotte never knew that Sawyer had watched her sleeping that day. He never told her, which I think was particularly dear of him. It was too special a memory to share even with her. It was so special that he called it forward on the day of his execution. He was reliving it when the trapdoor of the gallows dropped open beneath him. Because it was the most pivotal day of his life, he died reliving his first sight of Charlotte.”
Parker had listened. Motionless. Intent on every word. For several moments after she stopped speaking, they just looked at one another. Neither was capable of dispelling the mood, or willing to.
When he finally spoke, his voice was abnormally husky. “You should have been the writer, Maris.”
“Me? No,” she said, shaking her head and laughing softly. “I envy the gift. I can recognize it in those who’ve been blessed with it, but I’m a facilitator, not a creator.”
He pondered that for a time, then said, “Do you know what made that scene so erotic?”
She tilted her head inquisitively.
“It was his having that much access to a woman, his having cerebral intimacy with her, without her knowledge.”
“Yes.”
“His eyes and mind had touched what his hands and lips wanted to. He hadn’t seen much, but he felt guilty for looking at all.”
“The forbidden.”
He nodded and said in an even lower voice, “The strongest sexual stimulant of all. What isn’t good for us. What we can’t have. What we want so badly we can taste but can’t touch.”
Maris drew in a shaky little breath and exhaled it slowly. For the first time becoming aware of the loose strands of hair on her neck, she raised her hand to them, but repair seemed beyond her. She lowered her hand back to her lap, but not before it made a brief stop at that button she had fiddled with before. This time, she merely brushed it with her fingertips as though to reassure herself that it was still there. But Parker’s gaze fastened on it and remained.
Suddenly she stood up in the narrow space separating them. “I’m going back now. The rain has stopped.”
That wasn’t altogether true. It had stopped coming down so hard, but it was still raining lightly. Parker didn’t argue, however. He let her pass.
Almost.
Before she could take a full step, he reached out and stopped her with his hands. They clasped her just below her waist, the heels of them pressing her hipbones, his fingers curved back toward her hips. He was eye level with that alluring strip of bare skin between blouse and skirt. Slowly, his eyes moved up.
She was looking down at him, startled and apprehensive. Her arms were raised, her hands in front of her shoulders as though she were unsure where to place them, what to do with them.
“We know why I kissed you last night, Maris.”
“To frighten me off.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t even merit an argument. I kissed you because you braved Terry’s and showed up everybody in the place, including me. I kissed you because just looking at you made me ache. I kissed you because I’m a rotten son of a bitch and your mouth looked so goddamn kissable. Simply put, I kissed you because I wanted to. It’s something I admit and you damn well know. But there is one question that’s driving me fucking crazy.”
His eyes focused harder on hers and, by doing so, penetrated. “Why did you kiss me back?”
Chapter 12
Maris’s call came at an inopportune time, but Noah figured he had better take it to avoid her becoming suspicious. Even though he had a meeting scheduled in ten minutes, he asked his assistant to put her call through. “Darling! I’m so glad to hear from you.”
“It’s nice to finally talk to you, too,” she said. “It’s been so long, your voice sounds strange.”
“Strange?”
“My ears have become attuned to a southern drawl.”
“God help you.”
“Even worse, I’ve actually slipped and said ‘y’all’ a few times, and I’ve acquired a taste for grits. The secret is lots of salt and pepper and drenching them in butter.”
“Keep packing down a diet like that and you’ll return to me fat.”
“Don’t be surprised if I do. What the southerners don’t cook in butter, they cook in bacon grease, and it’s all delicious. Have you ever had fried green tomatoes?”