Aw,man.Whathadpossessed her to kiss him like that?
Dan’s kind words had burned straight through to Libby’s lonely heart but—dammit, dammit, dammit—all she could do now was turn that kiss into something platonic before he made a hasty exit and everything got awkward between them.
“I’m a sweet…friend?”Dan was saying.
“Yes, indeed, Cranky.”Oh, good god, how could she have been so foolish?She pasted on aWe’re good friends and I meant nothing by that kisssmile.“You’re a very kind man.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Argh.Why wasn’t this damn couch swallowing her up and making her disappear?
“Mind if I have a go?”Dan asked.
Eh?Wha—?
Then his lips were on hers, hotter, wetter and more intent on…on…kissing her back?His hand cupped her jaw, her breath hitched in her throat, her heart beat faster, and when his tongue brushed against hers, she damn near exploded.
Then slowly, he pulled away, his eyes wide, his lips still parted as if to ask,What just happened?
Hell if she knew.
Heat flushed through her.
This was not her life.
This was not what she did after her son went to bed.“It’s late.”
“Yes, yes, it is,” he said, but his body was still turned toward her, his arm still on the back of the couch behind her.
“We’re both really tired,” she added.
“Deliriously tired,” he agreed.
At least they were on the same page about that.Libby feigned a yawn as further proof that it was time to go to bed.Separately.“It’s been a long, busy week.We’ve had fun, haven’t we?”
“Lots of fun.I’m glad we’re friends,” he said.
Right, of course.The reminder that the kiss had meant nothing.They were just friends.But he was still leaning into her with no sign of moving.Her knees were bumping his thigh, and long gone were the days when she spent energy second-guessing what a man wanted, only to get it wrong.
“I have to point out that friends don’t kiss,” Libby said.
“No, they don’t.”Dan pressed his lips together.“Not on the mouth, anyway.”He then placed the sweetest little kiss next to her ear.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled his scent.Fresh, spicy, manly.
We’re friends, we’re friends, we’re friends…
When he pulled away, his gaze caught hers, and he smiled.“That’s how friends kiss,” he said, and then his gaze flickered to where her hand had drifted, low on his stomach.
Damn.How did that get there?
But his abs felt so good bunching under her palm.So good that she couldn’t move her hand away.
And he still wasn’t moving away either…
Libby swallowed.It wasn’t her imagination.She was seriously sensing he wanted something, and man, did she want it too.After so many years, she needed it.And who better to give it to her than a man she trusted, a man who’d become a friend.A man she wasn’t bound to in any way.
