They ate their breakfast and talked about their lives, and Annie realized that the tests she’d thought about last night had disappeared. She wasn’t playing games and keeping score anymore. She was just enjoying her time with him.

When the meal was over he helped her clean up the containers and then repacked them. Then he took her hands in his and drew her around to face him. They sat cross-legged, knees touching. He leaned in, cupping her face in his hands.

He kissed her, a soft, sweet brush of his lips against hers. “Yesterday I meant for our lunch to be the start of our relationship. A real start. But that got botched, so I want to start again.”

“Me, too,” she said, her voice sounding breathless to her own ears.

He pulled the Tiffany box from a pocket in his jacket and held it out to her. “Will you accept this now?”

She nodded.

He took the bracelet out and fastened it around her wrist. She glanced down at it and noticed that there was a second charm hanging from it this morning.

She smiled and tried not to give the new charm too much importance, but it was a dazzling sun charm. She fingered it carefully and then leaned forward to kiss him.

He pulled her into his arms and leaned back so they were both lying on the blanket.

She closed her eyes and wrapped herself around him. His mouth moved over hers in languid sweeps, making her feel like they were the only people in the world.

JARED TOOK HER MOUTH in his, letting his hands wander over her body. He was still amazed that she’d agreed to give him a second chance. A chance that he was determined not to screw up.

He hadn’t slept at all last night. Instead he’d spent the time planning out the next steps he’d take in his courtship of her. Having her accept the bracelet gave him confidence that he was on the right track.

He rolled over so that she was under him. Her legs parted and he settled against her. His arms were braced on either side of her body. Looking down into her serious brown eyes he saw something fragile there, and he knew that she was vulnerable to him.

He caught her head in his hands and brought his mouth down hard on hers. When he finally came up for air he said, “I promise you won’t regret this.

He hoped she’d believe him. Jared wasn’t the kind of man to make promises lightly. Oh, man, he’d just given her another promise. But with Annie he wanted to make promises he knew he would keep, no matter how hard it was on him.

She turned her head, reaching up with one hand to caress his face. “I promise you won’t, either.”

He stroked the long line of her cheekbones. Her skin was softer than anything he’d ever touched. Her lashes drifted down as he explored the angles and curves of her face. He traced the lines of her lips as they parted under his touch. He stroked his thumb over her full lower lip, watched the natural pink color of her lips darken.

She tipped her head back and leaned the slightest bit away from him. He knew that despite what she’d said she still wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t hurt her emotionally. But she’d been willing to meet him here. Seeing the implicit trust she’d just given him by turning to him affected him. He refused to analyze it, happy that she’d let him back into her life.

He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, meaning for the embrace to be an apology?or perhaps even a thank-you for staying when no one else had. Even though he wasn’t sure if this would last.

Jared had never seen anything more beautiful than the woman in his arms. He reached between them, the backs of his fingers brushing her. She shook from the brief contact. She bit her lower lip, and he bent down to lick it.

He leaned back, bracing himself on one elbow so he could run his finger down the center of her body, down her sternum and between her ribs. He lingered over her, caressing her with long sweeps of his hands. She was so responsive to his touch, and he wanted more.

She was the best thing that had happened to him in a life filled with lucky moments. He thought about the story he’d told her earlier about the coffeehouse. He was one of those men who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it came to business, but this was the first time he felt like he was in the right place with the right woman.

But he wouldn’t say those words out loud. He wanted her, but until this moment he had not realized how fiercely.

She was exquisitely built, soft and feminine. Her breasts were full and her skin flushed. He ran his hands slowly over her torso, almost afraid to believe that after all his hard work, after all his planning, she was really here.

He’d barely explored her before, and he needed to now. He needed to find out how she responded to his every touch. But they were lying on a blanket in the infield, and though it felt like they were in their own private world, he knew they weren’t.

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Legends and Lies - Page 24