She sucked in a breath. “Getting right to the point, are we?”
“Have to.” He shrugged out of his jacket, draped it over his chair and sat. He dwarfed the wobbly little thing. Laying his hat on the table, he picked up his beer. “We’ve got like five minutes before someone decides to wander over, and speaking for myself, I want to fix this.”
She clutched her mug in both hands but left it on the table. “The truth is, I’m embarrassed and I don’t know how to get over it.”
“You have no reason to be embarrassed.”
“I do so!” She kept her voice down although the noise level likely kept anyone from hearing what they said. “You were kind enough to walk me home and make sure I got up that steep staircase. Instead of thanking you, I— well, we both know what I did. It’s humiliating.”
“You were hurting. Breakups are no fun.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“Sure it is. Especially when it happens right before Christmas. Sean’s timing was terrible.”
“He admitted that, but he said he couldn’t go on pretending things were okay. Which is legitimate.”
“I suppose, but I didn’t ask you to have a beer with me to discuss Sean. I was out of line New Year’s Eve, and?—”
“Technically New Year’s Day, but?—”
“Whenever. I never should have?—”
“I put my tongue in your mouth. I unzipped your jacket. I?—”
“I could have stopped you. Thank God you didn’t have any condoms, or?—”
“I like to think I wouldn’t have let it get that far.” She liked thinking it, but it wasn’t true. If she hadn’t thrown away an entire box in a fit of anger after Sean’s rejection, they would have had sex.
“Yeah, well, obviously I wanted to get that far. I was temporarily nuts and it won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” If sitting in this cozy spot discussing their New Year’s Eve incident was supposed to calm her down, it wasn’t working. His aftershave teased her senses and his low-pitched voice stirred her up. She might have to find an excuse to get the heck out of there.
He held his beer toward her. “To moving on.”
She lifted hers and gave his mug a gentle tap. “To moving on.” She took a swallow. Moving on was a vague concept, general enough that she could drink to it.
What did it mean in this case? She had no idea. Try as she might, she couldn’t blot out the memory of his strong arms holding her tight and his eager mouth setting her on fire. And she still burned.
CHAPTER THREE
Adam was skating on thin ice and he damn well knew it. Talking this through with Tracy was supposed to desensitize him but it was having the opposite effect.
What was happening? They’d been friends since third grade, for crying out loud. She was like a sister to him. Or had been until New Year’s Eve.
He took another gulp of beer. It wasn’t the taste he longed for. He wanted kisses flavored with champagne, the feel of her silken breast in his hand, the sound of her eager moan when he cupped her ass and tucked her in close.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced across the table. And lied. “I’m fine. I was just wondering when you’d last seen the progress on the bookstore.”
She flushed. “I’ve walked by a few times, but your truck was always there, so…”
A short, descriptive swearword slipped out. “That’s why we need to fix this. You were as excited about it as the rest of us.”
“Judging from what you said at the meeting, it’s coming along great.”
“Do you want the rest of your beer?”
