Confessions

“Nadine! Hey! Wait! Monroe, you bastard...” Ben’s voice faded on the wind.

Nadine laughed over the roar of the powerful boat’s engine. Turning, she waved back and forced a sweet smile onto her lips. Ben motioned with even more agitation and Patty, left on the blanket, was frowning darkly, probably because Ben’s attention had been ripped away from her. Too bad. Nadine laughed again before she slid a glance to the boy...well, man really, standing at the helm. The wind blew his hair, revealing a strong forehead with a thin scar, chiseled cheekbones and a jaw that jutted slightly.

“Where do you want to go?” he shouted over the wind.

She lifted a shoulder and hoped that he couldn’t see through her sunglasses to the excitement she knew was gleaming in her eyes. “You’re the captain.”

His white teeth flashed against his dark skin. “If you don’t state a preference, you’ll have to accept my decision.”

“I do.”

He laughed at that and the deep, rumbling sound surprised her. “Hope you’re not disappointed.”

She considered the rumors she’d heard about him, but dismissed them all. She felt carefree and a little reckless as the boat sliced through the water at a speed fast enough to bring tears to her eyes.

He followed the shoreline, turning back on the path they’d taken. On the south side of the lake, they passed by the old bait-and-tackle shop and the dock where Ben’s boat still rocked with the waves. Ben was standing at the dock and his expression was positively murderous. Nadine smiled back at him. They passed the public park and moorage, as well as the old summer camp and chapel. Following the curve of the shoreline, the boat sped along the north bank, the rich side of Whitefire Lake. Nadine caught glimpses of huge mansions nestled discreetly in thickets of pine and oak. Boathouses, patios, tennis courts and swimming pools flashed by. Every so often a private dock fingered into the clear water.

“You probably wonder why I’m driving this—” he said, motioning toward the boat, as if suddenly a little self-conscious.

“It’s yours?”

“My father’s,” he admitted with a grimace, and then, as if guessing her next question, added, “Even though I didn’t want the Mercedes, this is different. I can use the boat without having to worry about having any strings attached to it.”

“No price to pay?”

“Not yet. But it could still happen.” His smile faded. “With my old man you just never know. Everything comes down to dollars and cents with him.” As if hearing the anger in his voice, he glanced at her. “Still want to hang out with me?”

“Talking about your father doesn’t scare me off.”

“It should.”

“I’ve got two older brothers. I don’t scare easily,” she remarked, though her tongue nearly tripped on the lie. Truth to tell, she was frightened even now. Scared of being alone with him, scared of what she might do.

He laughed and shook his head. “You haven’t come up against dear old Dad.”

Seemingly convinced that she wasn’t going to change her mind, he slowed the boat and edged the prow into a small cove on the north shore. Nadine’s heart was thumping so loudly, she thought he could hear its uneven beat. What was she doing here, alone, with a boy she barely knew? A rich boy with a bad reputation? He decelerated the speedboat to a crawl, guiding the craft through a thin inlet that opened to a tree-shaded lagoon. “Ever been here?” he asked, and she shook her head.

She’d never been so close to all the expensive homes on this side of the lake. “Is this on your property?”

“My father’s.” A line of consternation formed between his brows for a second. “Garreth takes great delight in owning things and people.”

“Like you?”

One side of his mouth lifted crookedly. “Well, I’m the one thing he can’t buy. At least not anymore. It frustrates the hell out of him.”

“And gives you great joy.”

His white teeth flashed devilishly. “I do like getting his goat.” Taking her hand, he guided her to a stretch of beach where sunlight pierced the canopy of pine boughs and pooled on the glittering sand. “I used to come here as a kid,” he admitted, eyeing the berry vines that were beginning to encroach along the forest’s edge. “But that was a long time ago, when my father could still buy me.”

“You act as if your father’s an ogre.”

“Isn’t he?”

“My dad doesn’t think so.” Nadine sat on a smooth, bleached boulder and wiggled her toes into the warm sand. “In fact, he thinks your father is a prime example of the American dream.”

“By inheriting a sawmill or two?” Hayden snorted. “He just happened to be the son of a wealthy man.”

She glanced at him pointedly, but didn’t say a word.

“I know, ‘like me.’ That’s what you were thinking, so you might as well say it.”

“It’s just that I don’t see that you have all that much to complain about.”

“But, then, you don’t know my family, do you?”

She shook her head, her long hair sweeping across her shoulders. And when she looked up, he was staring at her, his feet planted wide apart, his muscles tense. She felt the undercurrent of electricity in the air, as surely as the breeze causing the branches overhead to sway. The air smelled of water and cut cedar, and over the erratic beat of her heart she heard the muted sounds of birds chirping and the distant roar of motorboats.

She swallowed against a cotton-dry throat and licked her lips.

“Do you know why I brought you here?” he asked suddenly.

Oh, God! She couldn’t breathe. The air was trapped in her lungs.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Since the other day, when you gave me a ride.”

She could hardly believe her ears and wanted to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming. “You...haven’t called.”

“I didn’t want to call. I didn’t want to see you again.” He advanced slowly and sat down next to her, his body bare inches away. “I mean, I told myself I didn’t.”

“Then why did you stop at the dock?” she asked, her blood pulsing wildly.

“Because I saw you again and I couldn’t help myself.” He dropped his sunglasses into the sand and stared at her with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. Intense. Electric. Erotic.

She licked her lips, and he let out his breath in a whistle through his teeth.

“Why didn’t you want to see me?”

Laughing derisively, he touched her arm. Her skin tingled with a heat so intense, she nearly jerked away as his fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Because it’ll only cause trouble.”

“I thought you liked trouble.”

His gaze sparked a little. “Some kinds.”

“But—”

“But not girl trouble.” His fingers grazed the inside of her wrist. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard all the stories about me—all the dark tales about my past.”

“I...I don’t believe everything I hear.”

He gazed at her long and hard, and a warmth curled inside her, gently turning over and causing her skin to tingle.

“You had a nickname for me.”

“What?”

“Prince.”

“Oh.” She smiled a trifle nervously. “You deserved it.”

“Yeah, I suppose I did,” he admitted, but he didn’t remove his hand. Like a manacle, the fingers encircling her wrist tightened, only warmly, gently. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Have you been thinking of me?”

She wanted to lie. She told herself she shouldn’t give him an inkling of what she really felt, and yet she despised women who calculated every thought or speech to manipulate men. She tried to yank her hand away, but couldn’t.

“Well, have you?”

“Thought about you? Not a whole lot.” She forced the words over her tongue.

“Liar.”

“Why would I lie?” Instinctively she inched up her chin a fraction and found herself staring into eyes so blue, the sky paled in comparison.

“Because I scare you.”

“I already told you I don’t scare.”

His eyebrow lifted an inch and his fingers moved upward to the sensitive skin on her throat. “You’re trembling.”

“I’m not scared.”

“What, then?”

“Cold,” she threw back, refusing to acknowledge that his touch caused her skin to quiver.

Laughter danced in his eyes. “Today. When it’s over ninety degrees. You’re cold?”

“Yes—”

“Could be you’re coming down with something. Chills and a fever,” he said, with a slightly wicked grin.

“Could be,” she agreed, though she guessed they both knew the reason a blush was stealing up her neck and her flesh tingled all over and her pulse was beating rapidly.

He tugged gently on her arm, pulling her closer, positioning her so that his face was bare inches from hers, his breath warm as it fanned over her cheeks. “Or it could be that you’re scared,” he said again.

“I’m not—”

Her protest was cut short when his lips settled easily over hers. His mouth was warm and hard and persuasive, and all Nadine’s resistance faded as surely as the ripples moving slowly to the shore.

Wrapping strong arms around her waist, he pulled her closer and she gasped as they fell to the ground. His tongue found entrance to her mouth, touching and exploring, flicking against her teeth and gums.

A wanton warmth invaded her blood and she opened her mouth even more, tasting him, feeling him, smelling the scent of lake water on his skin. He was hard and male and virile, calling upon a feminine part of her that readily answered.

Her entire body responded to him. Her breasts seemed to stretch the fabric of her swimsuit, and when his chest rubbed against hers, her nipples grew taut and firm beneath the shiny aquamarine Lycra. Hayden groaned and pulled her so close to him that their bodies lying on the sand were pressed intimately together. Her breasts were crushed against his naked chest and her bare thighs fit snugly against his.

A tremor passed from his body to hers, and when he finally lifted his head, his eyes were fired with a passion she’d never witnessed before.

He kissed her again and this time her lips sought his. Desire scorched them, and she felt his hardness pressing into her abdomen. His fingers moved around her rib cage as his lips stole the breath from her lungs. Gently exploring, inching upward beneath her breasts, his hands caressed her.

Moaning, she moved instinctively closer to him and he cradled one breast in his palm.

Somewhere deep in her mind she knew she should stop him, that if she continued kissing him she’d end up in a kind of trouble she’d never even considered, but her body betrayed her and the light, branding touches of his fingers against her swimsuit convinced her that what they were doing was right.

He reached for the knot of her blouse and quickly untied it, parting the cotton fabric before shifting and pressing hot, wet kisses down her neck and into the cleft of her breasts. She arched against him and a wildness deep inside her turned into a molten beast. Her hands delved into the thick strands of his hair, and he ran his tongue slowly up her breastbone, causing her to shiver in delicious anticipation.

There was a dull roar in her ears, the slamming of her heart against her ribs as his fingers rimmed the neckline of her suit. Her breasts felt full and ached for his touch.

“Damn, Nadine, I knew it would be like this with you,” he said, lifting his head. His eyes were glazed and his hair fell over his forehead to cover the scar that cut across one of his dark eyebrows.

She could barely speak. “Like what?”

He smiled, a sexy, boyish smile that touched her heart. “Like there could never be enough.”

“Oh.” She licked her swollen lips, and he kissed her again, harder this time, with a mounting passion that swept from his body to hers. Rolling her quickly onto her back, he threw one leg between hers and she clung to him, kissing him feverishly, dismissing any thoughts of denial. He rubbed against her and she moaned in a voice she didn’t recognize as her own. One hand tangled in her hair while the other scaled her ribs. His lips were everywhere. Kissing her face, her neck, her bare shoulders. And she wanted more. He lowered the strap of her suit and the stretchy fabric gave way, allowing her breast to fall free.

Groaning, he lifted it, touching her nipple with his thumb, while staring at the line that separated tanned skin from the white veined flesh surrounding the rosy tip. “So beautiful,” he said, his hot breath causing her nipple to stand erect. He touched the hard bud with his tongue and Nadine arched upward, forcing more of her breast into his eager mouth. Heat exploded in her veins as he began to suck and she moved against him, wanting more of his touch. His free hand curved around her waist and fitted over one of her buttocks.

She moaned low in her throat.

“Oh, Nadine, don’t do this to me,” he pleaded as he lifted his head and her nipple, suddenly surrounded by air, stiffened with the cold.

“Hayden?” she whispered, and he slammed his eyes closed.

“You don’t want this,” he said.

“I do—”

“Damn it, Nadine, you don’t.” His fingers, still molded around her hip, dug into her buttock, and he swore loudly. “I don’t!” With a guttural sound, he shoved himself off her and ground his teeth together. “Damn it all, Nadine!” he muttered, rolling to his knees and shoving his hair away from his face with shaking hands. “We can’t do this!”

Nadine, suddenly bereft, felt a tide of embarrassment stain her neck. As if coming here and making out had been her idea! “You wanted me to come here with you,” she pointed out.

“Look...I didn’t mean...oh, hell!” He pounded a fist into the ground, then rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky through the pine branches. The bulge in his jeans was still evident, as were the taut muscles of his jaw. “I wanted to be with you. I just didn’t realize that things would get this out of hand.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, hoping to hide the irrational disappointment that burrowed deep in her soul. She should be grateful for his self-control. Lord knew hers had fled. Brushing the sand from her skin and the folds of her blouse, she forced a brave smile. “Nothing happened.”

“Yet. Nothing happened yet. But it wouldn’t take long.” He sent her a look that fairly sizzled. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t feel it.”

“I think you should just take me back to the dock,” she said, wondering how she could have acted so wantonly. She thought of Trish London and realized that all too easily, she could have been seduced by Hayden. Or was it the other way around? Had she inadvertently started to seduce him? Their newfound relationship was already too complicated and frightening to think about.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Hayden said. “I liked what happened between us. It was what I wanted. Or thought I wanted. But...” He opened and closed one fist in frustration. “We should think of the consequences.”

The consequences of getting mixed up with a girl from the wrong rung on the social ladder, she thought with a bitter taste rising in her throat. “I don’t think we should talk about it.”

He shook his head. “And just pretend that what we feel for each other doesn’t exist?”

What we feel for each other. Her throat clogged. “I...I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before!”

“Me, neither,” he admitted, and with a shaky smile, drew her into his arms again. She wanted to resist, but when he placed a tender kiss upon her cheek, she melted inside. With a sigh he rested his forehead against hers. “Some mess, eh?”

She almost laughed.

“Come here,” he whispered roughly and tilted her chin upward before capturing her lips in a kiss that was sweet and chaste and so tender, it nearly broke Nadine’s heart.

“What the hell is this?” Ben’s voice boomed through the woods, reverberating through the trees and causing Nadine to jump away from Hayden, but she couldn’t go very far. With lightning swiftness he caught her wrist and held her fast. Ben, nearly six feet of towering rage, strode into the clearing. His near-black eyes snapped with anger.

“Ben, don’t—” Nadine interjected.

“What the devil are you thinking?” His gaze scraped her up and down, and the lines around the corners of his mouth turned white as he stared at her hair and open shirt. Her suit covered her breasts but one strap was still dangling over her arm.

“Oh, God, Nadine, what’re ya doing?”

“I don’t see that it’s any business of yours!” Nadine tied her blouse beneath her breasts.

“Like hell!”

“You weren’t invited, Powell,” Hayden said, his fingers still gripping Nadine possessively.

“This is my sister.”

“I can handle myself!” Nadine interjected.

“You’re only seventeen!”

“That’s no reason for you to think you’re my keeper!” she shot back.

“Well, it looks like someone has to be!”

“That’s enough,” Hayden warned, his eyes narrowing.

Every muscle in Hayden tensed, but Ben didn’t back down an inch. In fact, he seemed almost glad to have a reason to fight—an enemy he could pinpoint.

His fists curled menacingly. “Take your hands off my sister.”

“Oh, stop it!” Nadine said, jerking out of Hayden’s grasp.

Hayden’s nostrils flared, and he looked more than eager for the fight that was simmering in the air. “Don’t let him tell you what to do, Nadine.”

“I won’t!” Outraged, she marched up to her brother and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Leave me alone, Ben. I can handle myself! I’m a big girl now.”

“Who’s about to make a big mistake! If she hasn’t already.” Ben plucked a brittle twig from her hair and twirled it in front of her nose.

“My mistake to make.”

“Damn it, Nadine. Use that thick skull of yours.”

“And you take your macho, big-brother act somewhere else.” So angry she was shaking, she stared Ben down.

“Nadine—”

“I said I can take care of myself.”

“You always were too stubborn for your own good!” Mumbling a curse under his breath, he threw a killing glance over his sister’s shoulder. “Don’t you dare touch her, Monroe. Not so much as a finger—”

“Ben!”

Her brother glared at her, but beneath the rage she noticed a deep regret in his eyes. His words, however, cut like the bite of a whip. “Listen, Nadine, I expect you back at the dock in fifteen minutes. If you’re not there, I’m not waiting. You can explain all...this—” he flung his arms wide “—to Mom and Dad.”

Swiftly Hayden crossed the short distance and glared at Ben. Heat seemed to rise from his body, and the tension he used to restrain himself was visible in the vein pulsing at his temple. “Don’t you ever threaten her,” he ordered.

“Just as long as you leave her alone.” With a scathing glance cast at the rich boy, Ben muttered a choice blue oath under his breath and turned quickly and disappeared down a path. A few seconds later Nadine heard the sound of his boat’s engine grind, then roar away, leaving only a disturbing silence.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as Hayden’s face turned to stone. “I don’t know what got into Ben—”

“I’d better take you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

His jaw tightened. “Ben’s right—”

“Ben’s never right!”

“Look, you’re not going to get into any trouble because of me. Come on.” Without another word of explanation, he grabbed the mooring ropes and tossed them inside the boat. Nadine had no choice but to follow.

Chapter Three

MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, Ben managed to keep his mouth shut. Nadine didn’t know if he was honoring their unwritten code not to tell on each other, or if, because he’d been with Patty Osgood, he was as guilty as she of being with the wrong person. The purple patches on Ben’s skin, just below the collar of his shirt, were proof enough of Patty’s passion. If the Reverend Harry Osgood ever found out that Patty had been showing off her body and kissing Ben in his boat, there was sure to be fire and brimstone in the service on Sunday.

At dinner, Ben had ample opportunity to let the family know that Nadine had been spending time with Hayden, but he’d studiously avoided talking about waterskiing at the lake. Though several times he cast Nadine a meaningful glance across the table, he never said a word. Not even to their older brother, Kevin, when the subject of the sawmill came up.

“You’d think old man Monroe would provide a Coke machine or something out in the sheds,” Kevin said as he pronged a slice of ham with his fork.

Their father, always the defender of Garreth Monroe, scooped macaroni salad onto his plate. “There’s soda in the company cafeteria.”

“Big deal.” Kevin glowered at his father and hunched over his plate, even though their mother had told him often enough to sit up straight but at twenty-two, he was well past paying attention. In Nadine’s opinion, Kevin was still a kid in a lot of ways. He liked younger girls, had lost all interest in college when he couldn’t play basketball and he seemed restless, though he wouldn’t give up living in Gold Creek. “All Monroe cares about is making money!” He reached for the salt shaker.

“And that’s what he should be thinking about. Remember, I’ve got money invested with him.”

At the mention of the dollars that had been “invested” with Garreth Monroe, Nadine’s mother dropped her fork. The subject was touchy and a topic that was usually avoided during the dinner hour.

“It didn’t help much when my basketball scholarship ran out,” Kevin pointed out, and George bristled slightly.

He turned his attention to his ham and cut off a bite-size piece with a vengeance. “These things take time. The money’ll be there—it’s just a matter of being patient.”

“Some of us are tired of waiting,” Donna said.

“If you ask me, you’ll never see that money again. Old man Monroe will find a way to keep it for himself,” Kevin predicted.

“It’ll pay off.”

Nadine noticed a drizzle of sweat near her father’s temple.

“Monroe’s a bastard.”

Donna gasped. “Kevin!”

“I’ll hear no talk like that at my table,” their father ordered, and the dining room was suddenly silent. Deafeningly quiet. Aside from the drone of the anchorman from the television set in the living room, no one uttered a sound.

A piece of ham seemed to lodge in Nadine’s throat. She drank a long swallow from her water glass and met Ben’s worried gaze over the rim. Their animosity dissolved instantly and once again they were allies in the war that seemed to be growing daily within the family. A war, Nadine was sure, in which no one would be a victor.

* * *

THE NEXT WEEK was the Fourth of July. In celebration, and because of the escalating fire danger in the woods due to dry summer conditions, Fitzpatrick Logging Company and Monroe Sawmill Company were closed. The entire town was on vacation. A fever of excitement swept through the streets of Gold Creek in preparation for a parade led by the mayor, a city-wide barbecue put on by the churches and a dance held in the park.

In addition, the Monroe Sawmill Company picnic was slated for that weekend in the county park on the west shore of Whitefire Lake.

Long before she’d met Hayden, Nadine had planned to spend most of the weekend with Sam. Now, as the celebration approached, she couldn’t find any enthusiasm for being with Sam. He was nice enough and he cared about her, but...if she were honest with herself, she knew she’d rather spend her free time with Hayden. Silly girl!

The day of the city barbecue dawned sultry. Thick, gray clouds huddled in the western sky and the air didn’t seem to move. The house felt a hundred degrees as Donna baked three strawberry-rhubarb pies to take to the potluck dinner.

Nadine rode into town with her parents, watched the parade, then walked to the park where red, white and blue streamers had been tied around the trunks of the largest trees. Balloons filled with helium floated skyward, while children ran and laughed and adults set up the tables covered with butcher paper. Under a canopy, several women set out platters of corn on the cob, green beans, salads, Jell-O molds and every imaginable cake and pie. Men, sweating and laughing, stood barbecuing chicken and ribs.

There was a festive feel in the atmosphere, and even Nadine, glum because she’d agreed to meet Sam, was caught in the good mood. There was a chance that she would see Hayden at the picnic. She helped her mother serve desserts and watched as children ran in gunnysack and three-legged races. Some adults were caught up in a softball game and most of the teenagers were playing volleyball or sunbathing.

Nadine couldn’t help scanning the crowd, searching for Hayden. Though she’d agreed to help pour soda into paper cups, her gaze strayed from her task so often that her hands were sticky near the end of her shift.

Sam showed up in the late afternoon. With a group of boys from school, he approached the soda station and suggested that Nadine find someone to take over her job.

“Can’t. I promised that I’d work until seven,” she said. “Unless you want to finish my shift and spend the next couple of hours pouring soda.”

“Very funny,” Sam replied, though he didn’t smile.

“This is important to Mom. The proceeds go to the library book fund.”

“Big deal.”

She felt more than slightly irritated by his attitude. “It is if you’re the part-time librarian.”

“I suppose.” Sam ordered a Coke, then hung around the booth’s window while she continued to work. He even helped out when the dinner crowd showed up, but still she resented him. Ever since she’d been with Hayden, her interest in Sam had waned. She still liked him; he’d been her friend for years, but she knew she’d never tingle in anticipation when she saw him, would never feel the powerful surge of emotions that seemed to explode in her every time she looked into Hayden’s eyes.

At seven o’clock, she was finally relieved by Thelma Surrett and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Carlie. Thelma worked as a waitress at the ice-cream counter of the Rexall Drugstore and Carlie was a couple of years behind Nadine in school. With raven black hair, round blue eyes and high cheekbones, Carlie was drop-dead gorgeous and had already attracted a lot of male attention. Even Kevin, who was twenty-two, had noticed her.

Nadine quickly showed them the cash box, how to change soda canisters and the portable cupboard in which the extra paper cups were stashed. She offered to work longer and help out, but Thelma waved her aside. “I’ve spent half my life serving these folks down at the store. I figure Carlie and I can handle a few cups of root beer. You two go on along.” She shooed Nadine out of the booth. “Have some fun. Dance.”

Sam didn’t need any encouragement. Grabbing Nadine’s hand, he headed toward the stage where a group of local musicians were tuning up and one of the technicians was trying to eliminate the feedback that screeched from the microphone.

She had no choice but to dance with Sam. She had promised that she’d be with him for all of the celebration, yet she wasn’t comfortable in his arms, had trouble laughing at his jokes, avoided his lips when he tried to kiss her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked as he held her close and swayed to the band’s rendition of “Yesterday.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she lied, knowing that Hayden Monroe was at the heart of her discontent.

“Sure.” He tried to pull her closer and rather than argue, she let him fold her into a tight embrace. How could she explain that she was falling for another boy—a boy she barely knew, a boy who would probably never look her way again? She closed her eyes and remembered the kisses she and Hayden had shared, the feel of his skin, the way his touch could turn her bones to water....

“That’s more like it,” Sam whispered against her ear. He kissed her temple and Nadine tensed. She felt like a Judas, dancing with him, holding him when her heart was far away with Hayden Monroe.

As the song ended, she disentangled herself and made an excuse about needing to go to the bathroom. Sam found his friends and she hurried off toward the restrooms, intending to splash cold water on her face and find a way to tell Sam that she wasn’t interested in him romantically.

“Having a good time?”

Hayden’s voice stopped her short. She whirled, hardly daring to breathe and found him in the thickening shadows, lounging against the rough trunk of a massive cedar tree.

“I’m trying to.”

“That your boyfriend?” He cocked his head in Sam’s direction, where, along with a few of his friends, Sam was adding to his soda from a bottle hidden in a brown paper bag.

“He’s...he’s just a friend.”

“Looked like more than that to me.”

“You were spying on me?”

His teeth showed white in the coming darkness. “Just happened to see you.” He stepped out of the shadows, and Nadine’s heart lurched at the sight of him—his smooth, disjointed walk, his thick dark hair and blade-thin mouth. His eyes, midnight blue in the gloaming, held hers and the night seemed to close around them. Laughter, music and conversation grew suddenly distant, and the air, still and muggy, became thick. When his gaze shifted to her neck, she knew he could see the tempo of her heartbeat at the base of her throat.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” she said.

“Command performance.”

“Who commanded?”

“The king.” When she didn’t smile, he explained, “You called me the prince. That would make my father—”

“The king,” she said.

“So now I’ve done my duty.”

Her heart dropped. “And now you’re leaving.”

Smoldering blue eyes held hers. “Want to come along?”

“And go where?”

“Does it matter?”

No! her heart silently screamed, but she knew she couldn’t just take off. Not without an explanation to her parents and to Sam. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” He cocked his head toward the group of boys huddled in the parking lot. “Your boyfriend disapprove?”

“I already told you he’s not—” He took hold of her shoulders, pulled her impatiently against him and cut off her explanation with a kiss. Hot and supple, hungry and anxious, his lips molded firmly over hers.