Prima Donna by Laura Drewry Page A

to talk, but Regan started then, too.
    “So, listen—”
    “About last night—”
    “What?” In stereo, then Carter shook his head and tipped his glass toward her. His stuff could wait; what couldn’t wait was finding out what she had to say about last night.
    “Last night was…” With a cheese knife clutched in her fist, she inhaled slowly and began again, slicing off pieces of cheddar with slow, even strokes as her smirk warmed into a wide smile. “Last night was good.”
    “Good?”
he choked. “Sweet Jesus, woman, I don’t know what you’re used to, but that was a helluva lot better than
good
.”
    It was something else to watch the way her freckles stood out when she blushed. He’d never been a big fan of freckles before, but on her…oh yeah. She cut a few pieces of Monterey Jack and layered the cheeses between slices of sourdough.
    “Okay, it was better than good.” Her bottom lip, full and moist, disappeared behind her top teeth for a second before she finally smiled. “And while I’m no prude, I’ve never done anything like that before.”
    “Could’ve fooled me.”
    “Very funny. I mean I’m not like…I’ve never slept with someone I just met.”
    She wasn’t like him; that’s what she started to say, and it didn’t matter that she’d stopped herself, they both knew that’s what she meant. And Carter couldn’t even deny it because he’d done just that on more than one occasion. All he could do was grin.
    “We didn’t just meet, Red; we’ve known each other a good five or six months.”
    “You know what I mean. It’d been a lousy day, I was miserable, and we’d both been drinking.”
    “It was a couple beers. Wasn’t like either one of us was plastered.” He slid off his stool and made his way around the bar as she set the sandwiches into a prepared frying pan.
    Her eyes widened and she tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go.
    “What are you—”
    Cupping her face in his hands, Carter kissed her words away, devouring the softness of her lips as he pressed her back against the pantry door. He only meant to kiss her once, just to prove his point, but one kiss turned into two, and then…well, then it didn’t matter. All that mattered was how she slid her arms up around his neck and held on so tight, and how it almost buckled his knees to feel her softness curling around him like that.
    He kissed her chin, the corner of her mouth where her lips curved into a slow smile, and down her neck where she smelled so freakin’ good.
    “Okay,” she moaned over a throaty chuckle. “So maybe it wasn’t the booze.”
    Carter snorted quietly and kissed her again, lingering over her bottom lip a little longer until she sighed shakily and grinned up at him.
    “You, uh, wow. You made your point, now get back over to that side of the island before your sandwich burns.”
    If he’d done what she said, or if he’d so much as blinked just then, he would have missed the way her guard wavered in the deep green of her eyes, or how with one small lift of her chin, she reinforced that guard all over again.
    And if he’d done what she said, he’d be way over there, too far away to keep her soft scent around him, too far away to kiss her just one more time before he eased back a little and pressed the spatula into her hand.
    “Flip the sandwiches. Plates?”
    Her pretty little mouth opened but whatever smart-ass remark she wanted to say never came out. Instead, she pointed to the cupboard beside the fridge, then filled the plates he handed her with the best grilled-cheese sandwiches Carter had ever tasted. The girl definitely knew her cheese.
    “Damn, that’s good.” He swallowed his mouthful and washed it down with the rest of his water. “So what’s the deal with you and New Year’s Eve?”
    “What d’you mean?”
    “Nobody leaves the party before the ball drops.”
    “I do.”
    Carter wasn’t quite as clueless as she must’ve hoped. He noticed the way her hand stuttered