"All I want to do is go out with you a couple of times. No big deal. I'm talking dinner. And a movie, maybe. I'm not asking you to do the horizontal foxtrot."

Although if there was even a shot of that- "But I want to know what for."

"Doesn't matter. It's what I want. Or do we need to review the balance of power between us again? Who needs who more?"

Her eyes narrowed on his. "I don't like you very much right now."

"Duly noted. Now what's it going to be?"

She paused. Looked at her hands. Pushed down a cuticle. "How many times?"

"Every Tuesday night."

Frankie started to shake her head. "I just don't understand you. Why would you-"

He reached across the seats, took her into her arms, and put his mouth on hers.

G.o.d, her lips were soft.

And when she didn't fight him, Nate groaned and deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding up against hers. His body had gone from sitting quietly to straining against his clothes and the change happened in the blink of an eye.

But Frankie Moorehouse could do that to him.

When he finally pulled back so they could both get some air, his voice was hoa.r.s.e. "That is why. And I'm not saying we have to have s.e.x. But if I can't touch you, I'm going to lose my friggin' mind."

Her hand lifted up and he wondered if she was going to slap him. But then he felt her touch on the back of his neck and she drew him down to her lips again.

Oh, sweet heaven, he thought.

He complied with her demand in a hungry rush, capturing her in a kiss that went on and on. When he felt her push against his chest, he kept his disappointment to himself.

"Take me home, Nate," she said in a shaky voice.

Ah, h.e.l.l. He'd done it again. Too far, too fast. He wasn't surprised that she'd pulled back, but frankly he didn't know where she found the strength.

He started the car while trying to remember how to drive and the trip to White Caps was silent and mercifully short. When they walked into the kitchen, Frankie headed directly for the stairs and he figured he'd let her go. He was in no hurry to be across the hall from her while she was undressing.

"Nate?"

He looked over his shoulder.

"Aren't you coming upstairs?" she said with one foot on the first step.

He shook his head. "I think it's better for us if I stay on the first floor for awhile."

h.e.l.l, maybe he should take up sleeping on the counter.

Frankie flushed. "Oh. Because that's not what I'm thinking."

Nate stopped breathing. Was she telling him what he was dying to hear?

"I, ah, I thought we'd go up together."

Without hesitating for a nanosecond, he bolted for the stairs, grabbing her hand and towing her along with him.

After she shut the door to her bedroom, he took her face in his hands and kissed her softly on the lips. He pulled back, thinking that he wanted to ask her why now, why tonight? But he kept his questions to himself because he had a feeling he wouldn't like the answers. She'd seen her ex-fiance. With his children. She'd had a little more wine than usual. The change of heart made sense, but curiously, made him feel like h.e.l.l. He would have preferred to be chosen, not used as a refuge or a distraction.

But he would take her anyway.

As if his doubts showed in his face, Frankie looked him straight in the eye. "You're the only man in this room tonight, Nate. This isn't about seeing David. I've been thinking about making love with you since the moment you walked through my back door. I'm just tired of fighting it, I really am."

Nate crushed her to him. He told himself to take it slowly, but he was so hungry that his hands were shaking as he stroked her back. He kissed her deep and long as he maneuvered her backward towards the bed and he almost shouted with joy as she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and yanked it free from his khakis. Desperate to be naked with her, he pulled back and whipped that polo off so fast, he was back at her mouth before the thing hit the floor.

And then they were on the bed. She was hot and restless under him as he slipped his hand under her skirt and dragged the fragile fabric up to her knees and then past her smooth thighs. Her hands were doing crazy things to his body, running over his back and slipping on to his ribs. He found the soft skin of her throat with his lips while parting her legs with his knee. As she cradled his hips with her own, he growled deep in his throat and concentrated on getting her naked.

However good he'd thought it would be between them, the reality blew the doors off his fantasies.

Frankie reached between them and fumbled with the fly of his pants as Nate undid the b.u.t.tons down the front of her blouse. He lifted himself from her and kicked off the khakis while stripping off her shirt. She reached for the clasp of her bra, thinking she loved a man who could mult.i.task."Oh, no, you don't," he said, stilling her hands. "I want to do that."

He kissed her again as he traced the lace edges of the bra with his fingertips, and his touch was gentle considering how frantic they both were. Her eyes met his. He was so hungry, she thought. The skin on his face was tight, as if he were in pain.

No man had ever looked at her like that. And she'd never imagined one would.

Cool air hit her b.r.e.a.s.t.s as he did away with the lace, and then the warmth of his palms was on her tender skin. She felt no modesty at all as his gaze fell upon her body. How could she? She saw herself reflected in his eyes, through the prism of his reverence and awe. In his arms, she was beautiful and she felt an absurd desire to thank him, but kissed him instead.

He nuzzled his way down her neck and over her collarbone, and then his lips brushed against the side of her breast. She arched up off the mattress as he took her nipple into his mouth, the warm, wet feel of his tongue making her cry out. He answered her with a groan of his own and reached underneath her, undoing the skirt. She pushed it off and entwined her legs with his, feeling the length of him pressing into her, all hard demand. G.o.d, he was deliciously heavy.

Her panties disappeared and his boxers were gone, and then it was skin on skin, mouths on mouths, hands seeking and finding pleasure.

"Condom," he mumbled against her neck. "We need a-oh G.o.d! Touch me again like that."

"Here?"

He let out a crazy moan. "Yeah. There."

Condom? Did she even have one?

"I don't-" She didn't finish because he kissed her, tongue deep in her mouth.

"Have one?" he said, when he pulled back to catch his breath.

"Yeah, I haven't done this in a while." If she had kept any around from her time with David, they would have turned to dust by now.

Nate leaped off her and jogged across the hall. "Let me see if I do."

The curse word that floated out of his room didn't inspire confidence.

He came back. "There a pharmacy around here?"

"Not open this late."

"Grocery store?"

She shook her head. "It's after ten."

"d.a.m.n."

He had a wild look on his face as he hesitated. Then he kicked the door closed and stalked over to the bed. She welcomed him with open arms.

"I'm totally into safe s.e.x," she said, antic.i.p.ation roaring through her. "But we don't have to-"

And then he suddenly stiffened against her. The lack of movement was a complete shock.

As she looked up, his eyes went dark, haunted. His face a.s.sumed a tortured expression, one that had nothing to do with the wanting.

What she'd been about to say was there were other ways for them to finish the evening off. Except now, all the heat appeared to have been sucked out of him. Out of the whole room.

"Nate?"

He seemed to shake himself from whatever had captured him.

"No buts," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "About safe s.e.x."

He kissed her again, but it wasn't the same. Something had taken him away.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He rolled over on to his back, tucking her into his side. His hand stroked her shoulder, but it was a restless movement.

"Nate?"

His eyes were focused somewhere across the room.

"It's all right. Whatever it is," she said.

He finally looked at her. And she realized he was measuring her, although against what she wasn't sure.

"I'm really sorry," he said. "But I need to go."

Even though she'd been undressed for the last half hour, she suddenly felt naked and pulled her top sheet around her body. "Okay."

He got off the bed, picked up his clothes and left.

Chapter Eleven.

N ate dropped his shirt and pants on the floor and paced around his room naked. It was no big surprise that he'd come unglued.

Seeing that little girl with her daddy. Having Frankie suggest they could have s.e.x without protection. And boom!...he was right back in the nightmare.He sat down on the bed, put his head in his hands, and tried to breathe.

How old would his child have been now? Three. He or she would have been three.

If only Celia hadn't ended the pregnancy. If only he'd been the rich man she'd thought he was- There was a soft knock on the door.

He pulled on some boxers. "Yeah."

He didn't look up as the hinges creaked. He knew who it was.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Frankie's voice was warm, concerned.

He had to give her credit. There were few women who would handle the transition from hot and bothered to cold and deserted so well.

"Are you?" she whispered.

He wasn't going to lie to her so he kept his mouth shut. Because he wasn't okay. He hadn't been okay for a while although he'd gotten d.a.m.n good at hiding it.

He felt the mattress dip down slightly as she sat next to him. She'd pulled on jeans and a long T-shirt.

"If you want to talk..."

"No." Because d.a.m.n it, he was on the verge of tears. And there was no way he was going to cry in front of her. Going limp in her bed was enough of a cringer for one night.

"That's all right." She let out a small laugh. "I know all about keeping things inside as you've witnessed firsthand. So I'm good with silence."

He didn't answer her, but reached out and took her hand in his. Her skin was smooth, soft. He stroked his thumb over the pad of her palm.

"You know what?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"We keep this up, we might just get to be friends after all."

He looked over at her. She'd left her gla.s.ses back in her room. G.o.d, her eyes were lovely. So blue. A bottomless blue. He had the sudden impulse to get lost in her eyes, just let himself float away and trust that she would catch him. He opened his mouth.

Ah, h.e.l.l. He couldn't do it. "I'm sorry, Frankie."

She reached up and brushed his hair back. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."

"That's where you're wrong."

"I don't care that we stopped. Well, I do. But I wouldn't want you to be with me if you had doubts."

Doubts? About being with her? He'd been so into her, he'd almost said to h.e.l.l with the condom. And that was at the core of what killed him. That he'd been so tempted to throw out common sense just because he wanted her so badly.