She sighed. One of the problems she was having trouble coming to terms with was the knowledge that their relationship—if they could call it that—had developed because of their kids. She doubted they would have met any other way. There was a strong possibility that if they’d been in the same room together at any given function, he wouldn’t have given her a second look. So in her mind their meeting was a twist of fate rather than by their own choosing.
She jerked her head off the pillow at the sound of the phone ringing. The last time she had gotten a call this late it had been Chance. Sensations raced through her at that possibility and she quickly reached over and picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“Sorry to call so late,” Lena was saying. “But I forgot to mention today that the American Cancer Society is sponsoring their annual ball and I’m on the committee. The price of the tickets is high but it’s all for a worthy cause, of course. Would you like one?”
Before Kylie could answer, Lena quickly inserted, “In fact you can get two if you like and bring a date.”
“I’ll take one ticket, Lena,” Kylie said softly, hoping Lena didn’t pick up the disappointment in her voice. A part of her had hoped the caller was Chance. She hadn’t seen or talked to him since Sunday, which was three days ago.
“Sure you don’t want two?”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “No, I only want one ticket, Lena. I won’t have a date that night. Will that be a problem? I either come alone or not at all.”
“No, that won’t be a problem but I was hoping there was someone you could ask. Someone like Chance, perhaps?”
Kylie sighed. She knew where this conversation was leading and wasn’t in the mood. “No. Only one ticket, Lena. Good night.” She then hung up the phone.
A few seconds later, before Kylie could reclaim her comfortable position in bed, the phone rang again. She frowned. There were times when Lena was worse than a dog with a bone. She didn’t know when to let up.
Snatching the phone, not giving her best friend a chance to say anything, Kylie said, “Look, Lena, forget it. There’s no way I’m going to ask Chance to go with me.”
There was a brief pause and then…
“And just where is it that you won’t ask me to go, Kylie?” Chance Steele asked in a deep, husky voice that bespoke more than mild curiosity.
Kylie’s eyes widened and hot color rushed into her face. If she’d been standing she would have melted to the floor in embarrassment. Instead she found solace in burying her face under the pillow.
But even that couldn’t drown out the sound of Chance’s voice when he said, “Okay, Kylie, tell me. What’s going on and why won’t you ask me to go wherever it is that you’re going?”
She closed her eyes and moaned. Her only saving grace was that she’d heard the teasing in his voice and was glad he had such a good sense of humor, even if it was at her expense.
“Kylie?”
She pulled her head from beneath the pillow. “What?”
“Are you going to tell me voluntarily or do I have to come over and tickle it out of you?”
The thought of Chance actually tickling anything out of her had a stimulating effect on her rather than an amusing one. Yet she couldn’t help but smile. “I doubt if you can tickle anything out of me, Chance.”
“Don’t let me come over there and prove you wrong,” he warned in an even huskier tone of voice.
Kylie closed her eyes and in her mind she could envision him lying in bed saying what he’d just said. He would be propped back against the pillow with a sexy smile on his lips and a teasing glint in his dark eyes.
She allowed her mind to go a little further by envisioning him lying on top of the bedcovers completely naked. Her overactive imagination spread warmth through her as she envisioned her gaze moving down his muscular chest and firm stomach before coming to rest on his exposed groin. He was hard as steel.
She inhaled deeply and wondered what it would be like to touch him there, caress his body all over, bury her face in the curve of his neck, taste his skin and nibble him in a few places to brand him hers. She would let his musky scent fill her nostrils before pressing her mouth to his, getting the deep, tongue-tangling kiss she knew awaited her. She would let her hand reach down to touch him in his most private area, feeling the heat of him, hot, hard and thick. The mere thought of seducing him that way had blood racing recklessly through her veins.
“Kylie?”
She swallowed, trying to bring her thoughts back in check. “Yes?”
“Tell me.”
The sensuous tone of his voice was playing havoc on her sensibilities. She leaned back in bed, letting her body cool from the heated thoughts that had flowed through her mind earlier. Her lids lowered and for a long second she didn’t say anything, wondering if she should. But she knew he wouldn’t let up until she told him.