McIver's Mission by Brenda Harlen Page B

Then
again, lingering this time. She resisted, for about two seconds, then her lips
softened, responded.
    She could smell her soap on his skin, but the scent
enhanced rather than detracted from his masculinity. His hands were on her
hips, as if to hold her in place, but it was his kiss that immobilized her. She
couldn't think or move or speak; she could only feel. Her lips parted on a
sigh, her tongue met his.
    "You make me wish I'd asked for more than
dinner," he said huskily when he'd ended the kiss.
    She took a deep breath, tried to ignore the yearnings
of her own body. "I don't want to get involved," she said after a
long moment, refusing to meet his eyes. "I can't."
    "Too late."
    "It's not too late." She was vehement,
almost desperate.
    "You know it is," he insisted. "That's
why you look so panicked every time I touch you." He reached out and
cupped her cheek gently in his hand, and she pulled back instinctively.
"Why is that? What are you afraid of?"
    "Nothing. I'm not afraid." She glanced away.
"I'm just not interested."
    "Liar."
    She sighed. "I'm not good at relationships."
    He smiled. "We'll start with dinner."
    * * *
    Shaun
was feeling just a little cocky as the hostess led them to a quieter, more
secluded area at the back of the restaurant—as per his request. Despite Arden's
assertion that she wasn't going to fall in with his plans, she had, in fact,
done just that.
    The table was small, the chairs positioned at right
angles rather than across from each other. Tall plants and pots of greenery
allowed for a certain amount of privacy; the single rose on the table and the
flickering candle inside the hurricane shade provided a hint of romance.
    And that's what this night was about: romance.
    He'd given up trying to figure out what it was about
Arden Doherty that he found so intriguing, so compelling. He knew the reasons
didn't matter so much as the result. He wanted Arden, and he would do whatever
needed to be done to have her.
    Romance, he'd decided logically, was the first step.
Yes, Arden was a practical person, an independent career-minded woman. But he
had yet to meet a woman who was immune to romance.
    So when Arden sat down, eyeing the flower and candle
warily, he wondered if she might be the first. "Don't you think this is
overkill?"
    "What do you mean?" Shaun asked innocently.
    "I'm not going to get involved with you, Shaun.
Flowers and candlelight aren't going to change my mind."
    "Wine?" he asked, accepting the list the
hostess proffered.
    "That might improve your chances from 'when hell
freezes over' to 'not in this lifetime'."
    He chuckled, wondering at the perversity of his nature
that allowed him to be charmed by a woman so determined to be contrary.
"Red or white?"
    Arden shook her head, but she was smiling. "Your
choice."
    He scanned the menu, ordered a bottle of pinot noir
that he knew to be of a particularly good vintage. The wine came, they ordered
dinner, then they chatted casually while they sampled the wine and waited for
their pasta. Shaun deliberately kept the conversation light, sensing Arden's
tension and hoping to relax her.
    By the time their meals were delivered, she was
smiling more easily and had even laughed at a couple of his lame jokes.
    "Does this improve upon the 'not in this
lifetime' to 'maybe tomorrow'?" Shaun asked hopefully, offering her the
basket of garlic bread.
    Arden shook her head again. He wasn't sure if it was a
refusal of the bread or a response to his question.
    "I don't do casual sex, Shaun."
    "Sex should never be casual," he agreed.
"It's an activity that should be entered into only after careful thought
and deliberation, with serious attention given to the enjoyment of both
parties."
    Arden twirled her fork in her pasta. "Careful
thought and deliberation?"
    "I've given this careful thought and
deliberation," he assured her. "With serious attention to the various
ways in which I might ensure your enjoyment."
    "Isn't it true that the average man thinks about
sex