Spark Of Desire (25 page)

“That might be best then,” she said. “If we went home.”

“Do you need me to take you back to the store to get your car?” Now that he’d convinced her to leave, he wanted an excuse to hold her for another minute. He couldn’t decide if she sounded eager to get home or not.

“No. I got a ride to work this morning. I thought it might be closer for you to take me home.” She took a deep breath and stepped back. “Are you ready to say good night to the bride and groom?”

“If we can find them.”

“I saw them headed over there.” She gestured toward the lodge and started walking in that direction.

Kevin followed her. It didn’t seem late, but the party had started breaking up. Jessica wove through the gathering knots of people. Inside the lodge, she went to their table for her purse before she went to where Jack and Kate were standing in front of one of the fireplaces. “I guess we’re going to hit the road,” he said.

“Okay, thanks for coming out.” Jack shook his hand.

“Jessica, I wish I’d had your help planning this.” Kate took Jessica’s hands in hers. “But I’m so glad you could come. Your exam is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

“Ten days,” Kevin answered.

“Ten days, is that all?” Kate sighed. “Good luck, although I’m sure you don’t need it.”

“You’re going to need the luck stuck with him,” Kevin commented to Kate.

“It’s your fault if I do.” Kate smiled at Jack.

Kevin watched the two of them together. They matched. He was glad he’d bumped into Kate in time to talk to her before Jack quit the department for her. Their problem had been easy to fix. If only someone would come along with the easy fix to his problem with Jessica. A way to fix time so he was younger. Some magic spell to keep her interested after she didn’t need him anymore.

“It was a lovely wedding. You did a fine job planning it, and your ring is just beautiful.” Jessica smiled. Kevin wondered for a minute what she would look like in Kate’s dress.

“Thanks.” Kate held out her hand so her ring caught the light. “We had the stone from my other ring mounted into a new setting. It’s supposed to be symbolic.”

“It’s very nice.”

“I have my grandmother’s ring,” Kevin announced. As soon as the comment left his lips he wondered why he’d said it. All three of them turned to look at him.

“Why do you have your grandmother’s wedding ring? Why didn’t she give it to one of your sisters?” Jack asked.

“Because it’s family tradition that the oldest child gets the ring and because none of my sisters are much into tradition.” Kevin shrugged and tried to think of a way to change the conversation.

“So is it a family heirloom?” Kate asked.

“Sort of. It’s not like that. It’s a plain Welsh gold band and it’s really beat up. It belonged to her mother.” Kevin hoped no one would ask why it had come up now, because he wouldn’t have been able to tell them. He’d remembered it the moment he told them about it. It was in a small velvet box his mother had given him in the bottom of his underwear drawer. “Too bad you have to come right back on duty Monday,” he told Jack.

Jack blinked. “Duty?”

“Not much of a honeymoon.” Kevin glanced at Jessica and knew she hadn’t been fooled by his sudden change of topic. Kate didn’t look convinced either.

“Oh, that. We had that before the wedding.” Jack put his arm around Kate’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

“While you were gimpy,” Kate protested. “You owe me.”

“I’ll see if I can make it up to you.”

Kevin wondered if he could get the conversation back to his grandmother’s wedding ring. He hadn’t thought there was a worse topic of conversation, but here they were soaking in it. “We’re going to go now. Congratulations. See you Monday, Jack.” He put his hand in the middle of Jessica’s back to guide her away, forgetting for a moment that her dress was backless. As soon as his hand touched her flesh he wanted to jerk it away. Or pull her against him.

She turned away from his hand, waving a cheery goodbye over her shoulder, and beat him to the driveway. Walking beside her to the parking area, he wondered if he could get away with touching her again. The way she’d leaped away, probably not. At the car, he opened the door for her and walked around to the other side. He couldn’t tell where he stood with her. If he asked Jack, he knew the answer he’d get.
Ask her
. Somehow, Kevin couldn’t picture himself asking Jessica if she liked him. It sounded juvenile.

“So, how many sisters do you have?” Jessica asked before the silence in the car got so oppressive he had to say something.

“Four. And two brothers.”

“Big family.” She looked out the passenger window as if she were going through the motions of the conversation.

“And scattered to the four winds. I think only two of us live in the same city right now. Every one of them works in business and transfers where the job takes them, or where their spouse’s job takes them.”

“Do your parents live here?”

“Used to. My dad transferred to San Diego about five years ago and retired out there.”

“Oh.” Jessica sighed and folded her hands over her purse. “So are your brothers and sisters married?”

“All of them but the baby. Irene is picky.” Kevin adjusted his grip on the wheel. He didn’t want to think about Irene’s issues. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”

“No. I’m an only child. This way my mother gets to focus all her energy on making my life miserable.” Jessica leaned her head on the head rest. “That’s not fair. My mother has just always had my father around to take care of the hard stuff, i.e., everything. She isn’t very independent, and she doesn’t understand how I could be. She always thought I would settle down right out of high school and spend the rest of my life polishing my nails or something.” Jessica looked at her hands. Kevin glanced at them too. Her nails were short and ragged. She’d worn polish, but it had chipped. “What about you? I bet your mother didn’t have time to be over-involved.”

“With seven kids eleven years apart? She was too tired. I ended up taking care of them most of the time. I remember once in high school, while I was packing the little kids’ lunches for school the next day, announcing that I was never having kids because I never wanted to have to take care of anyone again.”

Jessica laughed. “How did that go over?”

“Oh, my mother started to cry and my father grounded me. Every year it gets funnier.” Kevin grinned. Every family gathering someone told that story, and it did get funnier as his brothers and sisters had their kids.

“So do you still not want to have kids?”

“Need a wife for that.” Kevin turned onto her street. He had to drop her off soon. Would she invite him in or would she want to be away from him as soon as possible? Only ten days until the written test.

“Hypothetically speaking then. If your friend Jack’s Kate had a twin sister who was available.”

“Irish babies tend to weigh in around eight or nine pounds.” Where in God’s name was she going with this conversation and why? Was it idle curiosity? Time filler? Pointed?

“We women are tougher than we look. Come on, quit dodging the question. Hypothetically, if the stars lined up just right, would you?”

“I guess so. I like spending time with my nieces and nephews. I see a lot of the other guys’ kids and they’re fun.” Over the years he’d had conversations like this with different guys and different guys’ wives. He liked kids, and they seemed to like him. Plus, he’d had plenty of experience changing diapers. But kids required a wife. He pulled up her driveway.

“Home already?” Jessica sat up. “You want to come in for a minute? I think I’ve got some coffee.”

“Sure. That would be nice.” Kevin followed Jessica up to her door. He wondered how he was going to screw this up. Waiting on the top step for her to unlock the front door, he watched her. Her dark hair brushed against her tanned shoulders. She walked through the apartment with a confident gait.

“I should have coffee, but I doubt I have much else.” She dropped her shawl on the chair and set her purse on top of it.

“Coffee’s fine.” On the bookshelf in the dining room she had a few framed pictures on the top of the shelf under the high window. One looked like a family portrait. Jessica looked like her mother in coloring, but she stood half a foot taller. Jessica’s mother also looked like she could be snapped in half by a strong wind. Another one of the pictures showed what must have been a Cast-Off Thanksgiving Dinner, judging by the sweaters, the turkey and the missing couch.

“There’s a photo album on the lower shelf if you’re interested.”

Kevin turned around. She’d stopped inside the room and leaned against the wall with her hands behind her back. Her lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair. “That’s okay. This looks like one of your Thanksgiving dinners.” He pointed to the picture he’d been looking at.

“It is. Those two are the next door neighbors.” Stepping closer, she pointed to a couple near the head of the table. “Most of the others work at the bookstore. Except that guy. He’s just a customer, but he’s in all the time, and everybody likes him pretty well. He usually carves.” She tapped the glass near a tall balding man.

Kevin tried to follow her description, but he found himself watching the line of her lips. He remembered kissing her in the kitchen at his birthday party. He’d been trying to forget it. Get a little perspective. Focus on approaching her gently. That rash act could have cost him her company. He was lucky she hadn’t decked him for it. He had already decided she wouldn’t slap, she would punch. Somehow he didn’t mind.

“What?” she asked. Her eyebrows pulled into a suspicious frown.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked before he could think better of it.

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out, and she closed it. Her dark eyes lingered on his for a long moment, until he wondered if he hadn’t made another terrible tactical error. She had said she might if he asked nice. Maybe he should have said please.

“If you like,” she whispered.

He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers at first. When she didn’t leap away, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Her hands rested on his shoulders. He brushed his hand through her hair. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” he murmured.

“I admire your restraint.” Her voice sounded weak and uncertain.

He pressed his lips against hers again. She shivered, molding against him as he teased open her lips. Her mouth felt warm and soft and tasted strangely sweet. Psychological, he decided. The icing on the wedding cake had been hours ago, and he had been imagining and dreaming about how she tasted for weeks based on the kiss at his party. He dragged his mouth along her jaw and she arched her neck to give him greater access. A roar filled his mind, but he didn’t know if it was his pulse, his breathing, or his thoughts crumbling to dust.

When he hooked his arm under her knees and lifted her off the floor, she gasped, clinging to him, but didn’t protest. He wanted to carry her to her bedroom. To that passionate cocoon she’d created from her bed. The one he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about every time he saw her, but didn’t want to rush her.

He carried her to the couch so he could feel the length of her next to him.

She lay against the arm of the couch breathing through her open lips, watching him through wide, limpid eyes.

Wanting to draw out the moment, he sat on the edge and brushed her hair off her cheek, contemplating the smooth porcelain texture of her skin before he leaned down to kiss her again.

The phone rang.

“Ignore it. Let the machine get it,” Jessica whispered. She pulled him closer.

“Are you sure?” Kevin asked. The phone unnerved him. It reminded him too much of the world outside the apartment.

The phone rang again.

“I’m sure. It’s probably somebody from work wanting something stupid.” Her voice had a rattled, almost panicked edge to it. Was she reminded of the world outside too? “I should have turned the stupid thing down.”

He stretched out next to her, enjoying the way her body fit against his. Her hips curved against his and her shoulder slid under his, leaving her hand free to stroke along his spine. He caressed down her neck and along her shoulder, trailing down the edge of her dress to feel the swell of her breast.

The machine clicked on and her familiar message started. “Hello, it’s Jessica. I can’t get to the phone so please leave a message.”