Carnal Innocence

we?”
    “Well, yeah.” He swallowed under Tucker’s quiet stare. “Sure. But it’s only right I talk to him before we say anything.”
    She hooked an arm through his. “Then you’d better start talking.” She pulled him through the back door.
    Tucker stared after them. “Jesus.” Shaken, he dragged a hand through his hair. “She used to drool on my shoulder, now she’s talking about getting married.”
    “From the look in her eyes, I’d say it was more than talk.”
    “How the hell’d she get to be eighteen?” Tucker wondered. “I was just eighteen myself a minute ago.”
    With a light laugh Caroline patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Tucker, I have a feeling she’ll be giving you another baby to drool on your shoulder in a year or two.”
    “Holy God.” Even the thought had him sputtering.“That’d make me something like a grandfather, wouldn’t it? I’m thirty goddamn three. I’m too young to be a grandfather.”
    “I’d think it would be more of an honorary title.”
    “Doesn’t matter.” He looked at the beer in his hand. “I’m not going to think about it.”
    “I’m sure that’s wise.” She turned to open the cupboard. “What are bread-and-butter pickles?”
    “Hmm?” He turned back to her, and his thoughts about life and aging flitted away. Lord, she did have fine legs, and the sweetest little butt. “Top shelf,” he said. “Stretch on up there.” He watched the way her shorts rode high on her thighs when she rose to her toes and reached. “That’s the way.”
    Caroline’s fingers brushed the jar before she realized what was going on. Dropping back on her heels, she glanced over her shoulder. “You’re a sick man, Tucker.”
    “I do feel a fever coming on.” Still grinning, he strolled over. “Here, let me help you with that.” His body pressed lightly against hers as he reached for the jar. “You smell good, Caro. Like something a man would be happy to wake up to in the morning.”
    The instant jolt of reaction forced her to take a slow breath. “Like coffee and bacon?”
    He chuckled and pleased himself by nuzzling her neck. “Like soft, lazy sex.”
    Too much was happening inside her. Too much, too fast. Tingles and pressures and muscles going lax. She hadn’t felt anything like it since … Luis.
    Her muscles tensed again. “You’re crowding me, Tucker.”
    “I’m trying.” He plucked the jar out, set it on the counter. Putting his hands on her hips, he turned her toward him. “You ever come across something, like a piece of music, that kept playing through your mind— even when you didn’t think you were that fond of it?”
    His hands slid up, his thumbs just brushing the sides of her breasts. The blood began to swim in her head. “I suppose I have.”
    “That’s the trouble I’m having with you, Caroline.You just keep playing through my head. You could almost say I’m fixated.”
    His eyes were level with hers, and so close she saw that there was a faint and fascinating outline of green around his pupils. “Maybe you should think of a different tune.”
    He leaned closer, and when she stiffened, contented himself with a light, quick nip on her bottom lip. “I’ve always had the damnedest time doing what I should.” He lifted a hand to rub his knuckles over her cheek. She had a way of looking at him, Tucker realized, a straight, unwavering gaze that made him feel defensive, protective, and weak-kneed all at once. “Did he hurt you or just disappoint you?”
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “You’re skittish, Caro. I figure there’s a reason.”
    The liquid warmth that had been spreading through her hardened into iron will. “Skittish is a word better applied to horses. What I am is uninterested. And the reason for that might be that I don’t find you appealing.”
    “Now, that’s a lie,” he said mildly. “The uninterested part. If we didn’t have company right outside the door, I’d show you how I know it’s a lie. But I’m a patient man, Caro, and I never blame a woman who likes to be persuaded.”
    Hot temper streaked to her throat, all but scalding her tongue. “Oh, I’m sure you’ve persuaded more than your share of women. Like Edda Lou.”
    Amusement fled from his eyes, to be replaced by anger, then by something else. Something akin to grief. Even as he stepped back she laid a hand on his arm. “Tucker, I’m sorry. That was despicable.”
    He lifted his beer to swill some of the bitterness out of his