Return of the Runaway Bride (18 page)

As if by its own volition, his hand reached out and he gently stroked her silky blond hair. Then the backs of his fingers grazed her cheek.

"You're beautiful when you smile," he murmured.

She froze for a mere instant. The excitement that had danced in her eyes a moment before changed to an inquisitive gleam. Then she smiled again, just for him.
A slow, languorous smile that tempted and teased.

"Thank you," she said.

Without even thinking about his actions, Daniel ran his fingers along the length of her jaw, over her chin and rested them on the pulse point of her throat. He felt the blood throb through her veins, the pulsing causing his own heartbeat to quicken.

"You've changed."

Savanna grinned. "For the better, I hope."

He could only nod, thinking it ungentlemanly to explain. But in his mind he noted how the teenage Savanna he'd known six years ago had had a rounder face and a body that had been rail thin. Time had altered her, thinning out her face to define high cheekbones and a delicate jaw, and filling out her body with lush, irresistible curves. He was afraid she wouldn't appreciate his opinion of how she'd changed, but he certainly liked what the years had done.

"I think it's only fair to tell you,"
she
said, her voice whisper soft, "that I wanted you to notice."

Her cheeks tinged a gorgeous pink and he enjoyed watching her become flustered.

"I mean, I wanted you to see that I was a woman."

The color in her face deepened as her embarrassment escalated. She shook her head.

"What I meant to say was that I wanted you to see me as someone other than the teenager from your past..." Her voice trailed and she dipped her head, turning away from him.

Lifting her chin with his index finger, he looked into her eyes and assured her, "I know exactly what you mean."

"I feel like I'm all of sixteen," she muttered.

Daniel had to chuckle.
"Me too."

He smoothed a trembling hand over her shoulder and reveled in the feel of the soft silk of her blouse. He'd sell his soul right now to feel the silkiness of her skin beneath it.

His breath caught in his throat as the muscles in his lower abdomen began to ache. He hadn't felt desire this strong in a very long time.

Locking onto her gaze, he watched her eyes darken to the deep-blue color of a southern twilight. Was that an invitation he saw there?

"May I kiss you?" The question sounded almost too formal even to his own ears, but he needed to be sure.

The merest hint of a smile parted her full, sultry lips. "Please."

He continued to stare a moment longer. The problems and doubts that faced them outside the door would still be there when they emerged from this small office. He hadn't a single qualm about that. And his rational mind told him to stop this, here and now, before it went any further. However, right now his mind was anything but rational. It wasn't his mind he was listening to, anyway.

All he wanted was to taste Savanna's lips, smell the secretive scent of her skin, feel the softness of her hair brush his cheek. All he wanted was to spend a few moments lost in the desire she roused in him.

For an instant, he pondered pulling away, denying the need that called, no, screamed inside him. But then
she touched him, her warm, sure fingers gliding over the back of his hand and wrist, along his forearm…and he was lost.

He lowered his head, ever so slowly, and pressed his lips against the curve at the base of her neck. Nibbling his way up to her ear, he inhaled deeply the scent of her hair and a picture of a flowery meadow came to his mind. He kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear and her sharp intake of breath nearly made him smile. He remembered the spot as being one of her erogenous zones, and joy burst through him knowing he could still draw that kind of reaction from her.

Pulling her to him, he slid his hands around her back and hugged her tightly. She felt good in his arms.
So very good.

He was only momentarily surprised when she raised herself a scant inch, eased her weight from her chair and slid onto his lap. She settled in, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Heat flowed through his veins as though his blood was liquid fire. Savanna stoked the flame when she touched her lips to his neck. Her mouth felt cool and moist. And when her tongue flicked out to taste him, his breath quickened.

Pulling her back gently, he rained small, soft but urgent kisses all along her
jawline
. He tasted her pert chin and then kissed his way to her other ear. Nipping her earlobe with his teeth, he then soothed it with his tongue. She arched her back and shivered deliciously.

He lifted his head and darted a glance at her face. Her closed eyes, fanned with dark, delicate lashes.
Her full mouth, ripe and ready and waiting.
Her milky skin, flushed from his kisses.

Her eyelids fluttered open. She stared at him with irises that were a familiar deep navy. Again,
emotion coursed through him, hot and strong, at the knowledge that he had aroused the desire he read in her gaze. The realization came to him slowly that she had the material of his shirt bunched in her fists.

"Dear, God, Daniel."
Her words were a throaty whisper. "Kiss me."

Swallowing hard, he tried to get a grip on himself. His gaze searched hers until her eyes cleared a bit.

"What are we doing?" he
asked,
his voice hoarse.

"I don't know," she told him. Her tone was erotically breathless. "Right now I don't care. I don't want to think about it."

"Then we won't."

After six long years, he covered her lips with his.

Chapter Eight

Savanna hummed as she rolled paint onto the wall, using long strokes to turn the beige guest room a bright, cheery white. She was surprised by the small amount of paint it was taking to cover the walls. Once the paint dried, she'd hang the green chintz curtains she bought, toss the new throw pillows she'd found on the bed, and the bedroom would have a fresh, new look.

Stepping back from the wall, she took a moment to rock her hips to the soft pop music floating from the radio. She sang a line of the song and ended up in a fit of laughter remembering how, as a child, she had overheard her music teacher remark that "little Savanna Langford couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." The woman had been right, Savanna thought ruefully, but that didn't keep her from singing.

Lord, she was happy. Plans for the fund-raising dinner were going better than she could have expected. And the volunteers reported that their tele
phone pleas were being met, for the most part, favorably which meant profitably.
Although she'd had to take some gentle ribbing from
Miz
Ida.
The woman was the only board member to point out that the night Savanna and Daniel had been scheduled to make telephone calls, there had been only one pledge made. Savanna had tried to explain how she and Daniel had become busy talking, catching up after six years, but she was certain Ida hadn't believed a word she'd said. Savanna tingled from her head to her toes just thinking about that night. Daniel's kiss had been worth every bit of teasing
Miz
Ida could dole out.

The main reason for the happiness trilling inside her, Savanna knew, was the fact that she'd had dinner with Daniel three nights running. Oh, there hadn't been another passionate encounter such as the one they'd shared in the office at the hospital. But nowhere was it written that she couldn't hope. Savanna laughed aloud, the sound echoing off the bare walls.

She thought Daniel might call her a little later. Maybe she could suggest they go to the movie theater on Main Street. Then, she mused, maybe he'd walk her home in the romantic moonlight. Maybe they would take a shortcut through the park. A sensual smile lingered on her mouth and a chuckle rumbled deep in the back of her throat. Maybe they would find that park bench, the same one they'd shared on their first date, the same one where they shared their first kiss.

The giddy feeling that tickled through her made her press her palm flat against her stomach. She felt like a teenager again. Life was perfect. Well, nearly so.

There were a couple of small clouds throwing shadows over her exhilaration. Daniel still believed that she was going to leave the hospital in a lurch. Oh, he didn't say the words out loud. He didn't have to. She saw the guarded look in his eyes when the topic of the dinner came up. They worked hard to avoid talking about the fund-raising activities.

And then there was the continued rumor of his leaving Fulton. Ida's Cousin Emma had reported that Darlene had heard that the senior partner in the law firm located in Richmond had called Daniel several times. Savanna wondered why he hadn't said anything to her about his plans.

Bending over, she turned up the volume of the radio. She'd play the ostrich, she decided, and hide her head in the sand a while longer. That was the only way she could go on seeing him and not confront him with the gossip and questions she had about his partnership offer. And if there was one thing she knew, it was that she had every intention of continuing to spend time with him. Indeed, she did.

As she belted out another off-key chorus of the song, she scooted her roller into the tray until it was saturated with white paint. Stretching her arm high, she smoothed paint to the wall.

The sound of a single tap caught her attention. She stopped painting and looked toward the door. Then she heard another tap.
And another.
When she realized the sound was coming from the window, actually the sound was caused by something hitting against the glass, she put down the paint roller and leaned to look through the screen.

Daniel was standing in the backyard, a fistful of tiny pebbles in his hand. His lips were moving, but she couldn't hear him.

"Just a second," she called. "Let me turn down the radio."
When she returned to the window, she asked, "What were you saying?"

"I said, turn down the radio," he yelled.

Savanna laughed. "Come on in."

"I tried, but the
door's
locked."

"I'll be right down."

Padding down the stairs in bare feet, Savanna tucked the extra-wide neck of her big, comfortable t-shirt back onto her shoulder and tugged at the frayed hem of her tight denim cutoffs. Then she smoothed her hand over her bangs and fingered the red print bandanna she'd used to tie her hair up into a ponytail.

She grinned ruefully and thought,
You
can't expect to look the
glamor
girl every time you see him
.

"Hi," she said, stepping back from the open door.

"Hi, yourself."

He brushed his lips against her cheek. Once they separated, she could tell by the way he avoided her eyes that he was as startled by the impulsive kiss as she.

Reactive emotions swirled in her at a dizzying speed. Lord, a simple kiss shouldn't cause her such havoc. Inhaling deeply, she smiled and took the piece of paper Daniel held out to her.

"I stopped in at Ida's store," he said. "She mentioned that she had this list for you, and when she found out I was coming over she asked me to bring it along."

He spoke quickly, almost nervously, as though be felt he might need an excuse to visit her.

Feeling the urge to rib him a little, she made her voice sweet and innocent as she said, "You were coming over?"