Tender Kisses (3 page)

Disappointment filled him when she hadn't arrived by eleven fifteen. He hadn't realized how much he wanted to see her again. Dropping his head in his hands, he contemplated his next move. Whatever the case, he had to vacate the booth. When he arrived he had been starving, but his appetite had waned considerably. Justin slid out of the booth and came to his feet. He took one step and froze. Siobhan came through the door and searched until their gazes locked. His heart rate accelerated, and he smiled. Somehow his excitement went well beyond a casual encounter. His gaze lingered on her face then slowly drifted down. Unlike the loose-fitting gown she wore the previous night, today she had on a short-sleeved fitted T and jeans that hugged her curves. A rush of desire hit him hard and fast.

Siobhan hurried over. “I'm so sorry I'm late. I was talking to my sister and lost track of time.”

He bent slightly to kiss her cheek. “No, no. It's all right. I'm just glad you came.” He gestured for her to sit and slid back in across from her. “I didn't think you would.”

Looking him directly in the eye, she said, “I hadn't planned to. I decided at the last minute.”

He had never met a woman so straightforward and who had no problems expressing her opinions. “What made you change your mind?”

She angled her head. “Truthfully, I don't know,” she said.

The hesitancy he heard in her voice was a stark contrast to the confidence in her earlier statement. He reached for her hand. “Like I said, I'm glad you came.”

The server approached. “I guess you were waiting for someone after all,” she mumbled. “What can I get you?” she asked Siobhan.

“A cup of chamomile tea with honey, please.”

“And you, sir?”

“Coffee and wheat toast, please.” He glanced over at Siobhan when the young lady walked away. “You sure you don't want anything to eat, Siobhan?”

“No. The tea is fine. We're having Sunday dinner at my parents' house this afternoon, and my mom always cooks a feast.”

“Do you eat at your parents' house every week?”

“No, but we usually get together about once every month or so. My mom is big on family.”

“So is mine, but since my parents live outside of Las Vegas, they're not as easy to visit.”

She propped her head on her hands and smiled. “Vegas, huh? I haven't been there in a long while. Need to go again sometime soon.”

Her eyes sparkled, and those beautiful gloss-slicked lips curved into a sexy smile. His first thought was booking a flight for two to Las Vegas as soon as he got home.

He was in trouble.
Big
trouble.

Chapter 3

D
espite her calm demeanor, Siobhan's stomach was in knots. True, her mother would prepare a feast, but she had ordered the tea because she didn't think anything else would stay down. She had no problems standing in front of the media giving a press conference and had stared down her fiercest competitors. But sitting here with Justin, she felt out of her element. It had taken her until an hour ago to make up her mind to meet him today. Partly because she was curious about his background, and partly because she just wanted to see him again.

The server set a cup of tea and a plate with honey and lemon in front of her, then coffee and toast in front of Justin.

“Usually, men eat more than toast and coffee,” Siobhan said after the server departed.

“You're right, but I went for a run earlier and my appetite hasn't quite returned yet.”

When they had danced the night before, she'd felt his hard body against hers. The cut of his expensive suit had done nothing to disguise his muscular build. Today he wore a black T-shirt that fit nicely against his well-defined chest, and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off his bulging biceps that flexed with every movement as he spread jelly on his toast.

Justin chuckled. “Believe me, in a couple of hours, I'll be hungry enough to eat a horse.”

She laughed. “You remind me of my brothers.”

“Speaking of brothers, you mentioned being the oldest of five.”

“Yes. I have three brothers and one sister.”

“Do they all live in the city?”

Siobhan added honey and lemon to her tea then took a sip. She nodded. “Yes. My brother Brandon is one year younger than me, but sometimes acts like he's the oldest. My brother Khalil is three years younger, and the twins, Malcolm and Morgan, six years.”

“Wow, you have a big family.”

“What about your family? You mentioned having two sisters.”

He finished chewing before speaking. “There's a nine-year age difference between me and my sister Yvonne, and thirteen between me and Jocelyn. Yvonne is a forensic scientist, and Jocelyn is a junior in college majoring in electrical engineering.”

“Wow. That's a huge age gap.”

“Tell me about it,” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn't too happy about having to share my parents after such a long time, but I love my sisters more than anything
now
...though they drove me absolutely crazy when they were little.”

Siobhan laughed. “I can imagine. My brothers used to torment me every time my parents' backs were turned. From cutting my dolls' hair to mixing my makeup, I wanted to kill them all day, every day.”

Justin laughed. “Ha! I had it just as bad. Yvonne used to change the time on the microwave whenever I heated up something. If I put it on two minutes, she'd change it to ten minutes. I'm surprised I still have any taste buds left after having burned them off so many times. And Jocelyn would always tamper with whatever electronic device I was building. Once, she rerouted the wires on a remote-controlled car I was working on. I almost burned my room down when I turned the damned thing on,” he muttered.

Siobhan laughed so hard she sputtered and choked on her tea. She grabbed a napkin, wiped away the tears and fanned herself. “Your sisters are a mess.”

Justin shook his head. “And don't get me started on dating.”

“Oh, my goodness!
Yes.
They used to scare my dates so bad, those boys wouldn't give me a second look.”

“How about inviting three girls over at the same time?”

Her mouth fell open. “I sure would've loved to see how you got out of that one.”

“It wasn't easy. I couldn't get a date for six months after that little stunt.”

They continued to laugh and swap stories over second and third cups of coffee and tea. Siobhan enjoyed every moment. When she finally glanced at her watch, three hours had passed. “I didn't realize how late it is. I'm supposed to be at my parents' house right now.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you late.” He leaned forward and flashed that sexy smile. “But I have to tell you, this is the best non-date I've ever had.”

The timbre of his voice and the intensity of his gaze made her pulse race. “I...I had a good time, too.” She opened her purse and pulled out a few bills.

“What do you think you're doing?” Justin asked, staring at her as if she had lost her mind. “Siobhan, please put your money away. My invite, my dime.”

She didn't want to owe any man or find strings attached to an invitation, so she always made it a practice to pay her own way, even for a three-dollar cup of tea. But Justin stared her down until she put the money back in her purse. “Thanks. I'd better go.”

He was up and around to her side of the booth with his hand extended before she took her next breath. Recalling the warm feelings his touch stirred in her last night, she hesitated briefly before placing her hand in his. He gently helped Siobhan to her feet and tugged her close to him. For a moment she thought he might kiss her... She
wanted
him to kiss her.

Finally he backed away and murmured, “Let me pay for this and I'll walk you to your car.” Justin gestured for her to lead the way to the counter.

She walked ahead of him on shaky legs, feeling the heat of his gaze on her. After paying, Justin reached for her hand again and pushed through the doors. They stopped next to her car.

“Nice ride,” he said.

“Thanks. I like it,” she said of the Lexus SUV. “I wanted a little luxury, but it had to be safe and functional, as well.” They fell silent for a moment.

“Well, I guess I should let you go. Siobhan, I know you said you don't have time to date, but I'd really like to see you again. We can even come back here again, if you like.”

“Justin, I—”

He moved his body flush against hers. “Please don't say no.”

The contact made her pulse leap. She opened her mouth to tell him she couldn't see him, and his mouth came down on hers. He kissed her gently, unhurriedly, bringing his hands up to frame her face, holding her in place. A slow burn started in her belly and flared out to the other parts of her body, causing her to tremble. Siobhan moaned.

Justin eased back and whispered against her lips, “Say you'll go out with me.” He gifted her with one last kiss and stepped back.

Still trying to get her breathing under control, she said, “Can I think about it?”

“Absolutely.” He whipped out his cell. “Give me your number and I'll call you this week.”

She recited the numbers then pressed the remote to unlock her doors. He reached around her and opened the door.

After she was seated behind the wheel, he leaned in and kissed her again. “Drive safely, and enjoy your dinner.”

Siobhan managed to nod. She started the car with a shaky hand and backed out of the spot. Justin smiled and threw up a wave as she passed. She waved back and wondered what she was getting herself into.

* * *

For the second day in a row, Justin watched Siobhan drive away. He raked a hand down his face. He wasn't supposed to kiss her, only engage her in friendly conversation. He certainly hadn't planned to ask her out again. He walked to where his car was parked an aisle over, got in and leaned against the headrest. Her full, sexy lips were softer than he'd anticipated, and he could still taste the sweet flavor of honey from the kiss they'd shared. When she had scooped out the bit of honey left in the package with her finger and sucked it off, he almost came out of his seat. Justin had wanted to smear honey all over her and lick off every drop. If he ever got her to his house...

He shook the thought away. No honey and no more kisses. He needed to focus on the goal and not get distracted. Except he had just asked her out on a date. He groaned. What was he doing? Okay, maybe dinner, nice conversation and sharing more childhood stories. Nothing more. He could do that. He had never allowed a woman to stand in the way of his dreams, and he wouldn't now. Feeling confident he could pull it off, Justin started the engine and drove home.

Once there, he went directly to his home office, booted up the computer and worked on his in-home safety sensor program. An hour later he placed sensors in his living room and used his cell to test whether it would distinguish between heights.

“Yes!”

Now that he had solved that problem, he had only a couple more additions he wanted to make. He was close to having a system that would outperform his competitors. And if it hit the market in a big way...

Excitement raced through his veins. Justin's stomach rumbled. The toast and coffee was long gone. He removed the sensors, shut down the computer and padded to the kitchen to find something to eat.

After finishing his meal, he tried to concentrate on the basketball game he was watching, but thoughts of Siobhan continued to play in his mind. Although she laughed and talked, she seemed somewhat guarded, even a little tense at times. He had fully expected her to bolt after the first few minutes and was surprised but pleased she stayed as long as she had. Sitting here now, he realized Siobhan had revealed very little about herself, preferring to keep the subject focused on her family and him. He chuckled thinking back on some of the stories they'd shared, especially the ones about dating, and wondered if her brothers still ran interference. Not that he should care one way or the other. Dating Siobhan Hunter did not fall under the scope of his mission. Yet something about her made him want to peel back the layers to find out what lay beneath her prim exterior.

Justin glanced over at his cell and debated whether to call her. Was she still having dinner with family, or had she gone home to an empty house like him? Several minutes passed, and then he picked up the phone. It buzzed in his hand immediately.

“Hey, Joce. What's up? Your ears must have been burning.”

“Hey, Justin. You were talking about me, huh? Hopefully it was to some cute guy.”

He snorted. “In your dreams, Short Stack,” he said, using the nickname he had given her when she was five.

“Hey, I may be short, but I've got my assets in all the right places,” Jocelyn retorted.

Justin frowned. “I don't want to hear about your
assets
, and there'd better not be anybody else looking at them, either,” he gritted out.

She laughed. “Oh, lighten up, big brother. I'm too busy right now to deal with guys. So, who were you telling about me?”

“I was sharing with a friend some of the pranks you and Yvonne used to pull. Turns out she had siblings who did her the same way.”

“Did you say
she
? I haven't heard you talk about a woman in ages. Ooh, wait till I tell Yvonne.”

“Slow your roll, girl. It's not like that. Anyway, I know you're not calling to get in my business, so what's on your mind?”

“We're working on a project in my engineering class, and I need your help.”

“What kind of project?”

“Designing an intruder detection system. I'm having trouble with it differentiating between humans and pets. Right now it goes off anytime there's movement.”

“Inside, outside or both?”

“Inside. It should work in any enclosed environment.”

“Did you build in filters to minimize false positives and negatives?”

“I thought I did,” she grumbled. “So, can you help?”

He really wanted to call Siobhan, but it would have to wait. He rose to his feet and walked to his office. “Yeah. Send me what you have and we'll work on it.”

“Thanks, Justin! I'm going to put you on speaker so Alana and Francesca can hear.”

“Who?”

“My partners. Those guys aren't going to know what hit them when we unveil this project,” Jocelyn added with a giggle.

Justin shook his head and clicked on the email his sister had sent. He plugged in the cell, figuring the battery would be close to dead by the time the call ended if he didn't. He scanned the document. “All right. Let's see what you've got.”

They went back and forth, and he talked them through a series of steps. He asked them several questions and was impressed by the wealth of knowledge all three young women possessed. Instead of using sensors, which an intruder could step over or avoid, they had chosen to use a camera and create a system with image processing. Later, Jocelyn assured him they could handle things, thanked him and hung up with a promise to let him know how the final project turned out.

He checked the time—five o'clock. Knowing he shouldn't, but unable to resist, Justin dialed Siobhan.

“Hello,” came the tentative greeting when she answered.

“Siobhan, it's Justin.”

“Oh. Hey.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“We just finished cooking dinner and are about to take everything to the table.”

“I'm sorry. I figured you'd be done with dinner.”

“It's no problem. I usually come early to help with the cooking,” Siobhan answered. “Was there something you wanted?”

“Yes. No.” Justin felt like a sixteen-year-old again, calling a girl for the first time. What was wrong with him? “I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your company today, and I'm hoping you'll give me a chance to take you out on a real date.”

Her soft laughter came through the line. “You're persistent, if nothing else.”

He hadn't got this far in life without being tenacious, particularly when it came to pursuing his goals. “Only when necessary.”

“I did say I'd think about it, but stalking me isn't going to win you any prizes or
dates
.”

He chuckled. “Okay, so no stalking. Got it. What about kisses? Siobhan!” he called when she didn't answer.

“I'm here.”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“My kisses. Will they win me any prizes or a date?”