“I bet you’re great to have around for the holidays,” he said with an indulgent smile. “My idea of decorating is tying a red bow to the doorknocker.”
“No lights?”
He raised a finger to his lips in a gesture for secrecy. “Don’t tell anyone, but I keep the lights up all year long. They’re clear rope lights, so no one notices them until they’re pointed out.”
Abby laughed. “That’s cheating!”
“Hey! Some of my buddies only hang one string around their living room windows, if that. I should get some points.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m a guy. I need help with this stuff.” He bumped shoulders with her. “Maybe I can convince you to help me out?”
She shook her head. “You won’t need my help then.”
“Trust me,” he said dryly. “I’ll still be a guy in December.”
She bumped him right back. “Yeah, but you won’t be a single guy. Your new girl can domesticate you.”
“I guess.” He ran a hand through his hair. “So what’s next on the list?”
“My table.” At his curious look, she explained, “I’m a fortune-teller, so I have a table and crystal ball as part of my costume.”
“Ah, props. Again, I’m impressed.”
The doorbell rang, and they both froze, then they turned their gazes in unison to look at the wall clock.
“Wow, time flies,” he said with a wink, setting his hand at the small of her back and escorting her to the door. The familiarity was agonizing for Abby. The feel of Shane’s palm against her bare skin made sharp needles of awareness spread along every nerve ending.
They reached the foyer and he turned the knob, startling Kayla and her date, who waited on the porch. “Well, don’t you two look cute? I love it when couples wear matching costumes.”
Narrowing her eyes in warning, Abby showed her guests to the living room, where the stereo played a repeating selection of Halloween CDs. Various entertainments were set up in the corners, like bobbing for apples and a box where guests had to stick their hand inside and guess the contents. She hurried back to the entryway as the bell rang again, and found the next hour of her evening spent shuttling partygoers from the door to wherever the largest congregation happened to be.
She was finally taking a break and downing a glass of punch when Shane joined her in the kitchen.
“Having fun yet?” he asked with a mischievous smile.
“Are you?”
“Why don’t you tell me my fortune and find out?”
Abby laughed. She knew he was enjoying himself. The female guests flocked to him like flies on honey, and his deep rich laughter followed her wherever she went.
“Come on.” He took her empty paper cup with its black cats in witches’ hats and tossed it in the trash before linking fingers with hers and tugging her into the living room. There, in the corner, waited her small, scarf-draped table and two chairs. Shane pulled her seat out and saw her settled, then he rounded the table and sat, waiting expectantly.
“You’re kidding,” she said.
“Nope.”
“Okay.” She rubbed the crystal ball with both hands. “I see lots of home sales and a life-size plastic snowman in your yard at Christmas.”
“Now who’s cheating?” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, displaying his scrumptious arms to perfection. “I want to know,” he murmured in a low, provocative voice, “what does my future hold?”
Startled by the tone of the request, and thrown off-balance by the way he was watching her with those heavy-lidded eyes, Abby blurted out the first mystical-sounding thing that popped into her head. It wasn’t until he froze, unblinking, staring at her with brooding intensity that she wondered what she’d said.
“A lover to awaken your darkest desires?”
She recoiled into the seat with a hand clapped over her mouth. “Uh…” Oh jeez!
“Are we talking about your desires or mine?”
“Gah…”
Shane unfolded, leaning against the table in a way that opened his vest and revealed the beauty of his powerful chest. “Are you, by chance, hitting on me, Abby?”
Swallowing hard, she shook her head violently. “Of course not.”
He arched a dark brow.
“Seriously,” she insisted. “You’re not my type.”
His other brow rose to match the first. “How would you know?” he challenged.
“How does anyone know? You just…know.”
“That’s not very scientific.”
“Huh?” Her brain couldn’t seem to catch up with the conversation. She was supposed to be reading his damn fortune. “You’ll become very rich and live happily ever after.”
Pushing her chair back, Abby rose and skirted the table. Shane was right there with her.
“Oh no,” he rumbled, sidestepping into her path. “We’re not done yet.”
She swallowed hard and tilted her head back to look up at him. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Just forget I said anything.”
His slow smile made her shiver. “No.” Lifting his hand, his fingertips brushed from her shoulder to the hollow of her throat in a featherlight caress. Goose bumps flared across her skin. “You say I’m not your type. I say I might be.”
Her mouth fell open. “You?”
“Honey, you’re hell on a man’s ego.” He cupped the back of her neck, wrapped an arm around her waist, and tugged her closer.
Abby was so shocked by his advance she didn’t know what to say. Then he brushed his lips across hers, and she melted. The subtle scent of his cologne teased her nostrils, making her breasts swell and ache with longing.
“You only date beautiful women,” she whispered against his mouth, her hands moving without volition to his lean hips.
“You’re a beautiful woman.” He tilted his head and deepened his kiss, his tongue gliding along hers in a lush, warm lick. She moaned, helpless to the realization of her fantasy.
“Get a room!” someone shouted with a laugh. The effect was the same as a bucket of ice water. Abby yanked away, hazarding a glance at Shane before turning quickly and fleeing down the hall.
“Abby.”
She didn’t look back, she couldn’t. The way he was looking at her…
Heat swept across her skin. They’d been neighbors for five long months, and he’d never looked at her like that. She’d seriously consider that he was inebriated except she’d tasted his mouth and knew that wasn’t the case.
She lifted shaking fingertips to her tingling lips. Lord, the man knows how to kiss.
“Abby.” Warm arms caught her about the waist, and she flailed a moment in surprise. “Wait.”
Shane’s breath gusted across her ear. The feel of his bare chest pressing against the nearly naked length of her back was both heaven and hell. “We’re not done yet.”
Chapter 3
AS SHANE’S LARGE HAND SLIPPED BENEATH ABBY’S TOP AND cupped her breast, she whimpered softly. The party was behind them, just a few feet away, and Shane Markham was fondling her intimately. His fingers tugged at her hard nipple in a rhythmic milking motion that made her pussy slick with desire.
“Shane,” she breathed, her head falling back against his shoulder. His firm lips pressed to the side of her neck, his tongue flicking rapidly over her fluttering pulse. “What are you doing?”
He rolled his hips into her, revealing the hard swell of his erection. “You say I’m not your type, Abby?” Shane’s voice was a rough rumble of sound. “You want a lover who can fuck you all night, in all the ways you want, and all the ways you didn’t know to want.” His fingers tightened on her tormented nipple and his teeth sank gently into the tender flesh of her neck. “I’m your man, baby.”
Writhing in his embrace, Abby was torn between finding out what caused the drastic change in Shane and just going along for the ride. In the end, her deep craving for him won out.