Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (18 page)

Matt came into the kitchen with food on his mind, took one look at Tammy and instantaneously lost his mental virginity. He spent the next hour playing with his food in order to stay at the table as long as possible. With enormous eyes he watched her every move and hung on every word she uttered. His mouth only closed when he absolutely had to swallow.

To Tammy's credit, she included him in her conversation and asked him questions about his friends and school.

"Do you like video games?" she asked.

His eyes sparkled a bit more. "Yeah. My gramma and grampap just got me an Xbox for my birthday. Kenny's been letting me borrow some of his games till I get more of my own. He's like a wizard but I'm getting pretty good too."

"Would you teach me one later on? I've always wanted to try it."

Barbara hid her smile as her son practically exploded with his first case of puppy love. "Matt, why don't you give Kenny a call and see if he wants to come over." When he hesitated, she gave him the look that told him it was time to leave the grownups alone.

After Matt left the kitchen, Barbara said, "I didn't want him to hear this, but since you'll probably find out about it on Monday, I wanted to tell you first. I had my purse snatched in the parking garage yesterday afternoon."

Tammy gasped. "You're kidding! What happened?"

Barbara gave her a recap of the incident.

"Do you mean to tell me that the man actually chased the little creep and didn't even know you? Wow. Was he cute?"

Barbara laughed. "As a matter of fact, he was almost as gorgeous as you are."

"So, did you ask him out?"

Barbara made a face at her. "Not the way you mean. I bought him a drink. To show my appreciation. That's all."

"Then why are you blushing?"

Barbara's hands touched her cheeks, then confessed. "He had a very strange effect on me."

"Strange good or strange bad?"

"Both. He was one of the sexiest men I've ever met, but I told you I swore off men after my ex-husband.
He
had a strange effect on me at first, too."

"You can't judge every man by one bad one. And nobody's saying you have to marry this guy. Just have some fun with him. Did he ask you for your phone number?"

"No." She paused, then decided to tell her the rest of it. "He gave me his. He thinks we're going out tonight."

Tammy was delighted. "Why didn't you say so to begin with?"

"Because I'm not going. Now tell me what happened between you and Michael."

"No way, girl. We solve your hang-up first. Why aren't you going?"

"I'm not interested."

"Fibber. The man has you sweating just talking about him!"

Barbara recalled her list of excuses. "I can't leave Matt alone."

"I'll stay with him," Tammy offered without hesitation.

"Oh, no. I couldn't impose on you like—"

"Matt!"
Tammy called, and he appeared in a flash. "Your mom has a chance to go out and have a good time tonight. Would you mind terribly if I stayed and kept you company? Maybe we could even rent a new video game and learn it together."

Barbara knew she'd lost before Matt opened his mouth.

"That could be cool," he told Tammy in a voice as mature as he could manage. He looked at his mother with eyes that begged her to go away and leave him alone with the supermodel of his dreams. "You know, Mom, you really should go out and have fun with someone your own age once in a while."

That profound statement coming out of her baby's mouth was more than she could resist. To make things even easier for Barbara to get ready, Tammy offered to take Matt and Kenny out for fast food and an action movie at five o'clock.

As a last resort, she told Tammy the bare-bones facts about Russ stalking them for years and warned that he could show up anytime. But Tammy wasn't even slightly disturbed by that information. There was nothing Barbara could do to protect Matt that Tammy couldn't do. In fact, Matt would probably be safer in public with her and Kenny because Russ would be looking for Barbara and one little blond boy, not Tammy and two young men.

Before she knew it, the two of them had sided with her carnal urges and talked her into calling Kyle to confirm their date in spite of all her reasons why she shouldn't go.

Barbara made Tammy swear she wouldn't let the boys out of her sight for a second, that she'd keep her guard up for strangers approaching them, that she'd be back as soon as the movie ended and that she would call her cell if
anything
unusual occurred at all. Though she liked the idea of not having to introduce Matt to Kyle when he came to pick her up, under no circumstances did Barbara want Kyle bringing her home to an empty house.

That left only one problem, and it wasn't really that big a deal. In order for Tammy to be back before Barbara, she needed a key to get in. Because of Russ, Barbara was always overly careful about her keys, but if she didn't give a key to Tammy, the boys wouldn't get their outing and Tammy would think she wasn't trusted.

At five o'clock, the threesome took off, with a key, and stern reminders of everything she'd already said twice. Then Barbara headed for the bathroom to get ready for her first date in a decade.

She changed outfits three times, painted her nails, then took it off because her hands had been shaking too badly to do a neat job, snagged her stockings after she was all dressed and was still ready twenty minutes too early. She was a nervous wreck, and her antiperspirant had chosen that night to stop working. Having been certain this was a bad idea from the start, she called Kyle's hotel to cancel, but he'd already left.

It helped a little that Kyle showed up fifteen minutes early armed with flattery and a long-stemmed red rose.

"I hope I'm not too early," he said as he stepped inside. "I couldn't wait any longer to see you." His gaze slid from her hair to her shoes. "You look even more beautiful than you did yesterday. I love your hair like that."

She self-consciously touched her hair. All she'd done differently was brush it up and back on the sides and put clips in to hold it there. But it felt good that he noticed. Of course, she was also wearing eye makeup, which she never bothered with for work. The fact that she'd taken the extra effort to look nice for him reconfirmed how much trouble she was in.

"Where's your son?"

"Matt's having dinner with a friend. He'll be back any second."

He smiled and drew her close. "Then we're alone?"

She quickly pressed her hands against his chest and tilted her head back. "Not for long."

"Long enough for one kiss? To say hello. No more than that. I gave you my Boy Scout word of honor, remember?"

Barbara told herself she could say no. All she had to do was gather enough breath to say the word.

His head dipped down and she closed her eyes.

It occurred to her that he didn't actually
kiss,
as most people defined the word. He played with her mouth, nipped and tickled her lips, tasted and smelled her.

"You're much too good at this," she said, desperately struggling to retain her senses.

He winked and set her away from him. "Get your coat while you still can, milady. The carriage awaits."

The Hilton manager had recommended a restaurant in Richmond that also had a live band and a dance floor. Barbara had no preference as to where they went, so their date began with a long drive.

On the way, Kyle made her do most of the talking, since he felt he had monopolized their first conversation. As she usually did with new people, she avoided specific details about the last ten years and focused on her life before Howard or talked about Matthew or her job.

Sometime during dinner she told him about how she and her son had been at the scene of last week's train wreck and ended up with their picture all over the place.

"I must have seen it," he said with a laugh. "But I didn't pay any attention to it. Did you keep a copy?"

She nodded. "Matt wouldn't let me throw it away."

"I'll bet you heard from a few long-lost friends after it appeared."

The simple comment made her spine stiffen. "What do you mean?" His expression told her he noticed her reaction and she quickly relaxed her posture.

"You know, like when someone wins the lottery, relatives show up who the winner never even heard of before."

"Oh. Yes. I got a few calls but nothing special."

"Have you considered capitalizing on the publicity in some way, maybe do some interviews?"

Her cheek twitched as she tried to smile. "Definitely not my style."

His surprise showed. "Really? I would think someone who once had acting ambitions would enjoy the attention."

"That was a long time ago. Real life has a way of changing one's goals."

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"You were laughing, having a good time, and I made you think of something that upset you."

She looked away but he gave her hand a squeeze and she brought her eyes back to his.

"I wish we had met when you still had your dreams of stardom. I would have prevented whatever it was that happened to change your attitude."

His thumb stroked the back of her hand as his eyes apologized for not being there.

"That's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard," she said, "and one of the corniest."

He pretended to look insulted but ended up chuckling. "Okay, you've told me a lot about the good things in your life. Will you tell me about
him
now?"

She tensed again. "Him?"

"I'm assuming your ex-husband was the monster who destroyed your dreams. I'd like to understand."

The urge to tell him everything was terribly strong, but she hadn't confided in any man in nine years and didn't intend to start now. Besides, sharing confidences was something friends did and, in spite of the chemistry between them, Kyle was still a virtual stranger. "I'd rather do something less depressing. I believe you promised to dance with me."

That had sounded like a good idea when she said it. But the moment they were on the dance floor and he took her in his arms, she realized how much safer sharing a confidence would have been.

Like his kisses, dancing with Kyle was no simple act. It wasn't that he performed any fancy footwork; it was what the rest of his body parts were doing while the music played. He had a way of stroking her back as though she were one of the instruments in the band. With each breath she took, he brought their bodies closer and closer, until there was no mystery left between them. He kissed her temple, her ear, her neck, inhaled her perfume then sighed with unmistakable pleasure.

The band played three slow songs without a break and by the time they changed the pace, Barbara's common sense had retired for the night.

As soon as they returned to their table she checked her phone for the umpteenth time that night, just to make sure she hadn't missed an urgent call from Tammy. Her intuition told her she had nothing to worry about but she couldn't completely forget about it either.

To her delight, Kyle was good at fast dancing as well, something she had always enjoyed but hadn't done since she was a teenager. The music was too loud to carry on a conversation, but there really was no need for more words. He was determined to seduce her and she was ready to be seduced.

He held her hand during the drive back to Fredericksburg, occasionally bringing it to his lips for a kiss. They talked a little, about things far removed from what they were thinking.

The sensual haze lifted when he pulled into her driveway and she saw Tammy's car. Her son was home, probably waiting up for her, might even be peeking out a window. The elephant was where it was supposed to be.

Kyle shifted his car into park then turned to her. With an easy smile, he ran his finger over her lips. "You don't have to invite me in. I understand."

She wondered if he was telepathic on top of all his other outstanding qualities. "I'm confused," she murmured.

"I can tell," he returned, then gave her a soft, slow kiss on her mouth. "And that's reason enough for me to leave you without doing a single one of the things I'm dying to do."

She leaned toward him and gave him a hug. "Thank you. I had a lovely evening." Then, despite his promise to do nothing, he gave her a kiss good night that crossed the circuits in her brain.

He waited until she had her front door open then blew her a kiss and backed out of the driveway.

"Maw! You're letting the cold air in again."

Matthew's voice yanked her back to earth. She swiftly stepped inside and closed the door. Expecting to be inundated with questions, she didn't know how to react when they completely ignored her. Matt and Tammy were sitting side by side on the floor in front of the television, frantically pressing buttons on their individual controllers while animated wrestlers on the screen acted out their orders. It was hardly the sort of activity she would have pictured Tammy doing, let alone enjoying. "Hey, guys, how was the movie?"