Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set by Virna DePaul, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Charity Pineiro, Sophia Knightly, Susan Hatler, Kristin Miller Page B

you never felt about me. Is that it?" he asked, tracing the bones of her hand with a finger.
    "Sort of," she answered without deception. "I'm sorry, David. I didn't go looking for this."
    "I never thought you did, Bianca. You've always been a lady and totally honest with me." David shook his head and slipped his hand from hers.
    She shifted away as well, leaning back into her chair. "I don't know what else to say, except I'm certain this is what's best."
    David nodded. "Maybe. Do you mind me asking who he is?"
    It was awkward for her, giving voice to something that was yet so uncertain in her mind and in her heart. "I'd rather not. It wouldn't be right."
    "It's not right for me to know who the competition is?"
    Bianca glanced down and toyed with the fine linen napkin in her lap. "It's not a competition. It's about what two people feel for each other and we just don't feel the right way."
    "Speak for yourself," he said with such vehemence that she was forced to meet his gaze. "I care for you, Bianca. And I want you to know that if it doesn't work out with this guy, whoever he is, I'll still be there for you."
    "I'd rather you didn't wait."
    David considered her words and then softly said, "I hope it works out for you."
    She nodded and thanked him, grateful that he was being a gentleman about it. Hoping that one day, he would find that special someone as well.
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Rey leaned back against the tree as Bianca grabbed a strawberry from the small paper bowl of fruit salad. The berry was a deep crimson red and glistened from the juices of the fruit salad. She brought the berry to her lips, those lips he had been lusting after since the first day he had seen her. They were as red and luscious-looking as the berry. She bit into it and the juices from the berry squirted out all over her mouth.
    Bianca smiled and wiped the juices away with the back of her hand. She glanced at him and her smile broadened as she noted his interest.
    "Want some?" she asked and held out the berry, like Eve with the proverbial forbidden fruit.
    He grasped her wrist and leaned forward until he was able to take a bite of the last of the berry, leaving only the stem and hull between her fingers. He didn't release her wrist, but met her gaze, grinned, and said, "This was delicious, but I think I know something that would be even tastier."
    Bianca smiled and bent toward him until it was all too easy to move his hand up the bare skin of her arm, and tunnel it beneath the thick luxuriant mane of her shoulder length hair.
    "What would that be?" she asked, but even as she said it, she was smiling and he was drawing her closer until her lips were a scant inch away from his.
    "You," he murmured and took possession of her lips, licking the juices of the berry from them, and then the sweet succulence of her mouth. He kept eating at her lips, drawing sustenance from them, from her groan, and how she moved her hand to cup the back of his head to keep him close.
    "Bianca," he said against her lips, separating from her and glancing around. There were too many eyes watching them from afar. Alex and Maya over by the tubs with the sodas. Daisy and Brad, who were leaning on Brad's Navigator and talking, but shooting an occasional peek their way.
    "Rey," she pleaded and brought her lips to his again, her tongue tracing the outline of his mouth to request entry.
    He opened his mouth and she danced her tongue against his until they were both breathing rapidly and the kiss was no longer enough. He wanted her so badly, his hand at the back of her neck was shaking. There was a similar tension in her body, but there was little he could do with so many eyes watching them.
    Bianca seemed to have no such inhibitions.
    She moved close to him and straddled his legs until she was sitting in his lap.
    "This is crazy," he said, trying to stop her as she brought her hands to his shoulders and ran them across the bare skin.
    "No, this is totally right," she replied and