“Yes.” She exhaled sharply. “Travis, please move. I need to go.”
She tried to move past him, but he closed her in. When he lowered his gaze, he saw a twinge of fright on her face. An inexplicable pang of guilt tugged at his gut as he realized he’d trapped her against the rack like a cornered rat. Christ, he knew he had the tendency to be demanding, but he was no tyrant.
He took a step back, but it happened to be at the precise moment a passing shopper tried to squeeze through the already narrow aisle. The man bumped into Travis’s back, causing him to stumble right into Rachel.
Her mouth widened in a deep O as he fell against her, and within seconds, Travis, Rachel and the rack of sweaters tumbled to the tiled floor.
His body was slamming over hers before he could even attempt to prevent the fall. Though, he wasn’t really complaining about the current position they found themselves in. The feel of Rachel’s lithe body beneath his caused every part of him to harden. Her breasts pressed against his chest, her stomach right against his groin, and their legs had tangled on their way down to the hard ground.
All the breath drained from his body as he met her gaze. She looked stunned. But more than that, he thought he saw a flicker of desire in her eyes. Everything around them—the array of clothing and shoppers and the sales clerk who had rushed over—all hissed and crackled and then disappeared. All he saw, all he felt, was the woman under him.
He let his eyes roam her face, absorbing the splash of freckles at the bridge of her dainty nose, the long sooty eyelashes fluttering over her eyes, the soft pout of her lips. Her lips. Fuck, he wanted to kiss her.
“Get. Off. Me.”
The menace he heard in her voice snapped him out of his sensual thoughts. Feeling her bucking beneath him, he slowly raised himself up and extended his hand. Ignoring his offer of help, she jumped to her feet and brushed dark-blonde strands of hair out of her face.
“You okay?” he asked sharply, slightly disturbed by his overwhelming reaction to her.
Ignoring him, she reached down and tried to lift the rack that had fallen over.
“Let me do that,” he said.
She stopped, only to shoot him a dirty look. “I can do it myself.”
He gritted his teeth. Of course, she had to be one of those stubborn women who refused to accept a man’s assistance. “No. I’ll do it.” He grasped her by the waist and forcibly moved her aside, then lifted the rack himself. As he began picking up discarded sweaters, she pinned him with a glare.
“Goodbye, Travis.”
Before she could move, his hand shot out to grasp her arm. “Damn it, Rachel, why are you behaving like a child?” He heard the harsh tone of his voice and softened it. “Look, why don’t I buy you a cup of coffee and we can catch up?”
The second he said the words, her cheeks flushed and her jaw tightened. “I don’t want to catch up,” she said in an ominous tone. “I don’t want a cup of coffee. All I want is to walk out of this department store.” She exhaled shakily. “It’s wonderful you’re sorry about what happened to my sister, I’ll be sure to keep your sympathy very close to my heart.” She paused. “That was sarcasm, if you didn’t pick up on it.”
“Rachel—”
“Travis, just go away.” She sucked in her breath. “I don’t want to catch up with you. In fact, you’d be the last person I’d want to reminisce with, okay? So just pretend we never saw each other today. Because that’s sure as hell what I’m going to do.”
Feeling like he’d just been whacked in the chest with a sledgehammer, all Travis could do was watch her stalk away.
Chapter Two
Rachel stormed out of the department store, working hard to keep her pace under a full-throttled run. She attributed her fluster to her half-naked stint through the store. It certainly had nothing to do with her reunion with Travis Gage. If anything, her encounter with him should have left her exhilarated. After fifteen years, she’d finally had the opportunity to tell the creep off, to let him know she hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to her sister. But instead of feeling thrilled, she was overcome with a desperate need to get as far away from that store and everyone in it as quickly as possible.
It was Sales Boy Chris and that tent in his pants that had left her hot under the collar. She was sure of it. Not that she had a fetish for horny teenage boys. It was just difficult to see the extent of a man’s lust without feeling something.
And that something couldn’t be attributed to Travis Gage.
That would be insane.
That would be despicable.