All the Right Moves(24)

She nodded. “Thanks for the thought, but I invited you to dinner. I didn’t think you’d mind staying here. It won’t take long to make, and then I’ve got to hit the books.”

“But you don’t owe me anything. It was my pleasure to help out. And it also would be my pleasure to take you to dinner.”

“Wow, that’s nice, but...”

He glanced again at the textbooks and pads of paper scribbled with notes on the dividing counter. “I suppose me telling you we could go somewhere casual wouldn’t convince you?”

“I know it’s cluttered and there are lots of plants, but the kitchen’s clean.” She pushed aside her study material and a potted flowering cactus. “I thought maybe you could quiz me while I cook, but that’s okay. Forget it. Dumb idea. In fact, don’t feel like you have to stay.”

“I didn’t mean to imply...”

“I didn’t infer anything.”

Her arms crossed her chest, and how had this conversation gone so off the rails? He moved around to her side of the counter. “I just wanted you to be waited on for a change,” he said. “But I’m happy to help in any way I can. Hell, I’d offer to cook, but that wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest.”

There was her smile. Wide and bright and making her a whole different kind of pretty. Her hair had something to do with that, and he couldn’t deny that outfit of hers was making this nondate thing difficult. He stepped closer to her. Really close, although he didn’t touch. “I should lay my cards on the table, though,” he said. “Staying here might complicate things.”

“How so?” she whispered as her grin disappeared behind a quick swipe of her pink tongue.

Half a step nearer and he watched as her hazel eyes darkened. The temperature of the kitchen had gone up in a flash. “I’m having a lot of difficulty thinking about anything but that kiss of ours.”

“That wasn’t really about us.”

“It may have started out as a game, but it sure didn’t end that way. At least for me...” With a gentle nudge of his finger under her chin, he tipped her head back. She stayed perfectly still as he bent to kiss her. As soon as their lips met, her hand came up to rest on his chest.

His body’s instant reaction to the kiss shocked him. Last night had obviously been a teaser, because the first taste of her went straight to his cock. Maybe what got to him was the relaxed palm over his heart when she just as easily could have shoved him away. And maybe he’d better back off before things got out of hand.

They broke contact at the same time. He knew why he’d cut the party short, and looked into her face, hoping to learn her reason. He found her staring at her hand, frowning as if it somehow had betrayed her.

“I should start dinner. I’ve got a test tomorrow, and I’m not ready for it.” She met his gaze for a second, then stepped back. “Hope you like pancakes and omelets.”

He smiled. He wasn’t here for the food. “I think pancakes and omelets sound great.”

* * *

CASSIE TURNED TO THE FRIDGE. He was damn smooth, and she wasn’t used to that. Not when it seemed so earnest. She thought about how he’d offered to leave the bar yesterday, how he’d made sure she came out of the Karma situation on top. It was entirely possible he was for real.

“What did you say you wanted to drink?”

“A beer would be good.”

“One beer coming up, Mr.—what is your last name?”

“Devlin.”

“Devlin,” she repeated softly.

“John Harrington Devlin, to be precise.”

After she passed him his drink, she reached up to her high cabinet to fetch the pancake mix. She felt his gaze on her as her tank top rode up, sure he’d seen the tattoo on her hip. She wondered if he would comment on it, but he stayed quiet, leaning against the edge of the counter, just far enough not to get in her way. “John Harrington Devlin,” she said, turning to the task at hand. “That sounds—”

“Formal?”

“A bit.”

“Imagine if I’d tacked on the third.”

“Are you?” She’d been hoping to find out a little more about him, and even though she would have to hit the books soon, she wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass. “There are two more like you?”

“I’m third in line,” he said, then thought a moment. “But we’re really different.”