“Kylie?”
She pulled her head from beneath the pillow. “What?”
“Are you going to tell me voluntarily or do I have to come over and tickle it out of you?”
The thought of Chance actually tickling anything out of her had a stimulating effect on her rather than an amusing one. Yet she couldn’t help but smile. “I doubt if you can tickle anything out of me, Chance.”
“Don’t let me come over there and prove you wrong,” he warned in an even huskier tone of voice.
Kylie closed her eyes and in her mind she could envision him lying in bed saying what he’d just said. He would be propped back against the pillow with a sexy smile on his lips and a teasing glint in his dark eyes.
She allowed her mind to go a little further by envisioning him lying on top of the bedcovers completely naked. Her overactive imagination spread warmth through her as she envisioned her gaze moving down his muscular chest and firm stomach before coming to rest on his exposed groin. He was hard as steel.
She inhaled deeply and wondered what it would be like to touch him there, caress his body all over, bury her face in the curve of his neck, taste his skin and nibble him in a few places to brand him hers. She would let his musky scent fill her nostrils before pressing her mouth to his, getting the deep, tongue-tangling kiss she knew awaited her. She would let her hand reach down to touch him in his most private area, feeling the heat of him, hot, hard and thick. The mere thought of seducing him that way had blood racing recklessly through her veins.
“Kylie?”
She swallowed, trying to bring her thoughts back in check. “Yes?”
“Tell me.”
The sensuous tone of his voice was playing havoc on her sensibilities. She leaned back in bed, letting her body cool from the heated thoughts that had flowed through her mind earlier. Her lids lowered and for a long second she didn’t say anything, wondering if she should. But she knew he wouldn’t let up until she told him.
“Lena mentioned that the American Cancer Society is having their annual ball and she’s on the committee,” she started off by saying. “So quite naturally she’s trying to get rid of as many tickets as she can. I told her I’d get a ticket to support the cause and then she tried talking me into getting two, knowing full well I wouldn’t have a date that night.”
“And?” he asked when she paused briefly.
That single, softly uttered word stirred an area of her body that it shouldn’t have. “And…Lena suggested that I invite you.”
“So that’s what you meant when you screamed in my ear.”
Color rushed into Kylie’s face again. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“I see. Don’t I have a say in the matter?”
“No. The only reason we met, Chance, is because of the kids,” she said, giving voice to her earlier thoughts. “If we had been at any function together you wouldn’t have noticed me. I’m not the type of woman you would have been drawn to enough to show any real interest in.”
“You think not?”
“Yes.”
“What if I said you’re wrong?”
“We’ll never know, will we?”
When he had no comeback, she said, “Besides, I don’t date. I mentioned that to you before.”
“Yes, you did mention it. Is that also the reason you won’t go camping, because you see that as a date?”
“No, that in itself is a whole other set of problems, Chance. I just think the two of us spending a weekend at a cabin isn’t a good idea, even with the kids there. Especially with the kids there.”
“Why?”
“I think you know the reason without me having to go into any great detail. For some reason, we’re like magnets—we attract.”
“And you see that as a bad thing?”
“Yes. Our focus should be on our kids. What would Marcus think if he thought you were attracted to me?”