“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I saw you at the party,” she said stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest, not about to be intimidated just because he was standing there like a glowering behemoth. “You could hardly take your eyes off Stephanie.”
“That woman you threw in my direction?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t have heart failure when she tossed her chest in your direction,” Kay said furiously.
“I had heart failure when you let that creep put his hands on you.”
Kay hesitated.
Mitch didn’t. His arms slid around her, gathering her up. He inhaled the sweet perfume that was Kay and savored the silken feel of her hair against his chin and he trembled, feeling the pliant crush of her breasts against him, so familiar. His voice came out in a hoarse rasp. “You need an experienced man in your bed, Kay? You’ll have one. For the next fifty years, you can play teacher.”
“You never needed a teacher, you fool. Can’t you tell when a woman’s happy?” A single tear rushed down her cheek; she tilted her head and raised trembling lips to his. “But you took off like a shot when I said the first word about your wanting to test out other waters.”
“You took off like a shot after we made love the first time. What was I supposed to think?”
“Just what did you think?”
“That you weren’t…satisfied. That you were subtly trying to tell me you wanted to move on.”
“Why the Sam Hill would I want to do that?” Kay’s voice came out in a breathy roar of outrage. How could such an intelligent man be so unutterably dense? He’d mixed up everything.
Mitch’s lips suddenly twisted in an uneven grin. A ruddy flush returned the color to his face, and his dark eyes glinted at hers, coming closer. “Darned if I know. You’ve got it all, you foolish woman. I’m more than willing to shower you in jewels, I’ll buy you plants until you’re a hundred and three, and I absolutely adore you, Kay. How on earth could you have gotten everything so totally mixed up?”
“Me?” It was amazing how one could shout through laughter, as if both of them were suddenly aware that the argument was over. It was just as amazing how fast a room could turn silent. How shadows could turn soft, how colored lights on a Christmas tree could suddenly spin and blur when the thing wasn’t moving at all. Only Mitch was moving, filling her world, the love on his face filling her heart.
His lips molded hers like warm honey, soft, smooth and sweet. “Don’t you ever be so foolish again,” he whispered. “I don’t want anyone but you, Kay. I don’t need anyone but you. If I’ve had to fight for life every inch of the way, you’re the reason why it’s been worth it. The chance to love you, live with you, be with you-”
“You don’t have to shower me with jewels, Mitch,” Kay returned softly. “I just wanted to be sure…that you would be happy.”
Mitch’s thumb gently traced the line of her cheek. He drew back. Kay watched the play of emotions on his face, the last of the tension fading to a lazy, loving tenderness, the dark intensity in his eyes subtly changing to just a hint of the hell-bent-for-leather mischief-maker he had been once. “I’m not happy,” he growled.
“You’re not?”
He cocked his head in the direction of her room. “Hey, teach,” he drawled. “If you’re still concerned that I’m looking for ‘experience,’ a few wild oats to sow-maybe you’d just better give me a few private lessons.”
“I’ll do that,” Kay said gravely, and shook her head. “These slow learners…honestly. A woman could spend her entire life-”
“Exactly,” Mitch agreed, “what I had in mind.”
About the Author
Jennifer sold her first book in 1980, and since then she has sold more than eighty books in the contemporary romance genre. Her first professional writing award came from RWA-a Silver Medallion in l984-followed by more than twenty nominations and awards, including being honored in RWA’s Hall of Fame and presented with the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. Jennifer has been on numerous bestseller lists, has written for Harlequin Books, Avon, Berkley and Dell, and has sold over the world in more than twenty languages. She has written under a number of pseudonyms, most recognizably Jennifer Greene, but also Jeanne Grant and Jessica Massey.
She was born in Michigan, started writing in high school, and graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in English and psychology. The university honored her with their “Lantern Night Award,” a tradition developed to honor fifty outstanding women graduates each year. Exploring issues and concerns for women today is what first motivated her to write, and she has long been an enthusiastic and active supporter of women’s fiction, which she believes is an “unbeatable way to reach out and support other women.” Jennifer lives in the country around Benton Harbor, Michigan, with her husband, Lar.
