Lover Beware

expressionless mask of his face, the stony male reserve that was one of Rider’s defining qualities—and did she detect a hint of male smugness in that low, gravelly voice?
    Her jaw clamped, and in that moment everything changed. For years she’d been on the defensive—running—and she hated that. One thing she had never been was a coward.
    She shouldn’t feel one iota of emotion for Rider, but unfortunately she felt considerably more than that. Against her better judgment, against her will she’d been tied to Rider for the past seven years as if she’d been married to him instead of Patrick. To say she was ticked was putting it mildly.
    Rider’s head came up, as if he’d somehow latched on to her thoughts. Light glistened off the sharp cut of his cheekbones, the strong shape of his jaw. “What did you expect?” he said coldly. “That I’d live years on about two minutes of lip contact?”
    Her chest contracted on a sharp pang that she refused to label as hurt. “It wasn’t just lips.”
    And it may have been two minutes, but it had felt like an hour of teeth and tongue, hot, steamy breath, and full, pulse-pounding body contact. To say he’d kissed her didn’t cover it. His intentions and arousal had been explicit, and so had hers. Fully clothed as they’d both been, within the two minutes they’d been “lip-locked,” they’d practically had sex on her front porch. The only thing that had prevented actual penetration had been the sound of the answer phone engaging and a crippling surge of guilt.
    She had climaxed .
    Heat washed through her at the memory of just how far they’d gone, fully clothed, and despite the fury that burned like a hot coal in her chest, her breasts rose, tight and aroused against the wet drag of her shirt.
    Rider’s gaze slitted. “So, who have the local gossips put me in bed with this time? Macie Hume? Or are they having another stab at firing up a scandal with the Irwin twins?”
    The Irwin twins? Jane stared at Rider in disbelief, ignoring the moisture trickling down her face and running in small rivulets down her spine and between her breasts. Rider in bed with twins?
    Her jaw clamped. She was getting crazier by the minute. She had no idea there were so many single women in Tayler’s Creek—let alone twins—and no idea what she was doing outside in the dead of night, in the middle of a cyclone, having this conversation with Rider. “If you don’t mind,” she said stiffly, “I’m going inside. Thanks for coming over, but as you can see, I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”
    His hand curled around her arm, jerking her to a halt. “I thought you understood how I felt.”
    His voice was rough, his palm hot, burning through the wet cotton of her shirt.
    She resisted the urge to pull free. Damned if she’d fight with him. “What do you mean?”
    His gaze burned into hers. “I don’t cheat.”
    Her cheeks warmed at the memory of her own guilt. He had kissed her, but she had been the one who had climaxed—and she’d wanted to do a lot more. She didn’t know what their little interlude could be classified as; but whether it was labeled an affair or not, it had felt like one. “You could have fooled me.”
    “You’re angry.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in his voice. “Well, hallelujah for that. It beats the hell out of indifference.”
    He released her. “I don’t cheat, and I’m here. Figure it out.”
    She blinked, feeling abruptly unsteady, as if the ground beneath her feet had just shifted. She’d felt like this once before, and she didn’t trust the feeling. The last time, Rider had kissed her and almost wrecked her life.
    “You’re finally getting it,” he muttered, turning away, “but don’t expect me to go down on my knees begging—”
    “Wait!” She touched his back, then snatched her fingers back as he spun, his gaze as cold as obsidian. “Look, I’m sorry—” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Um—don’t go.”
    His expression was wary. “What do you mean, ‘Don’t go’?”
    Her stomach clenched at the risk she had to take. She would rather walk over hot coals than admit to Rider that she’d been obsessed with him for years. “If you don’t cheat, and you’re here,” she said carefully, “that must mean…”
    “Christ,” he snapped, “I can’t stand it. Just come here.”
    Jane’s heart slammed in her chest. The invitation, couched as an order—as if she was one of the soldiers under