The girl giggled. “Hi, Thly.”
She was about the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “Hey there, Courtney.” He patted her head. “How’s married life?” he asked Amy.
“I’m enjoying it. Jon and I are having so much fun with Courtney that we’re having another baby in the fall.” She touched her softly rounded abdomen. “Well, I’d better get this little one home. See you tomorrow, Lana, and thanks for keeping her a few minutes late.” Amy flashed a sly smile. “You two have fun.”
“How did you and Amy meet?” Lana asked, as the woman buckled her daughter into her car seat.
Sly watched the minivan roll out of the parking lot. “We dated years ago.” Amy had wanted to get serious, but he hadn’t and they’d broken up. “Coming here now is bad timing on my part,” he added. “She’s a big gossip.”
“Tell me about it.” Lana fiddled with the cuff of her blouse, her expression both curious and openly pleased he was there. “How did you find me, and what are you doing here?”
“I saw your business profile in the paper. Great article.” He dug the page from his hip pocket and handed it to her. “In case you didn’t get a hard copy.”
“Thanks, Sly.”
As she took it from him, her fingers casually brushed his. Heat shot straight to his groin, and by the sudden flush of her cheeks, she, too, felt the powerful connection linking them. Yep, the pull between them was as strong as he remembered.
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye before I left you that morning.”
“I’m glad you let me sleep in. Oh, and thanks for the aspirin. It helped.”
“No problem.”
Both went silent. In the uncomfortable moments that stretched between them, she glanced over her shoulder at the daycare door, as if she wanted to slip through it. “I?—”
“You—” he said at the same time, then paused. “You first.”
She nodded. “I want you to know that I usually don’t spend the night with a man I just met. You were the first and the last.”
“I’m honored you picked me. I enjoyed our night together.”
Her warm eyes flashed that she had, too. She had a mouth made for loving. Plump, soft lips that were naturally pink. They parted a fraction, just as they had seconds before he’d kissed her the night they’d spent together.
He definitely wanted to explore that heat, unleash her fiery passion, and enjoy a repeat of their memorable time together. Stepping closer, he tucked her hair behind her ears with hands that shook. He wanted her that much. Too much. The strength of his need scared him. If he was smart, he’d turn around and leave. But his legs refused to budge.
Finally, Lana swallowed and stepped back. “Is there anything else you wanted?”
Besides kissing her and more? At the moment Sly couldn’t think of a thing. He was debating whether to ask her out or walk away while he still could when she spoke.
“Okay, then. It’s chilly out here and I left my coat inside. I also need to get ready for tomorrow. Thanks again for the article.”
She left him standing in the parking lot, feeling both relieved and confused.
Clearly, he’d misread her. She wasn’t that happy to see him after all.
In a way, that made sense. He wasn’t supposed to think about her, and he sure wasn’t supposed to seek her out. They’d agreed on that.
Yet here he was, standing in the parking lot of the business she owned, aching for her, even though getting involved with her could be dangerous.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Chapter
Four
Lana madea practice of responding to TLD e-mails by the end of the same day she received them. She usually took care of that chore before leaving work, but thanks to Sly, today she’d been too rattled.
If that wasn’t enough, her father had called to say that Cousin Tim was being sued by his neighbor. No one in the family had ever been sued, and all of them were upset and banding around their cousin. They offered to be character witnesses, lend him money for an attorney and whatever else he needed. He was too proud to accept their money, but said he’d let them know if character witnesses would help.
