Married By Mistake

involved naming as many towns as they could think of on the Mississippi. He won. At least, he thought he had.
    He looked at the potato salad on his plate and realized he wasn’t the least bit hungry. He’d already had dessert, a slice of key lime pie. Going back for a second helping of potato salad was, as Casey would say in her quack psychoanalytic way, substitution.
    He slid a sideways glance at her, lying on the blanket, eyes closed, face raised to the sun. Her hands were clasped behind her head, a pose that lifted her breasts against the thin cotton of her blouse and shortened that skirt even farther. Strands of silky hair fell over her arms and grazed the blanket. A smile hovered on her mouth.
    As if sensing his scrutiny, Casey moistened her lips with her tongue. Adam swung his gaze back to the potato salad. Yep, right now, he was substituting potato salad for a taste of his wife’s lips.
    Think about how you might convince Casey to stick around, Sam had said.
    The most obvious way to do that, Adam had decided, was to take their relationship to the next level. Sex. And, dammit, he hadn’t been able to think about anything else since. Not that the idea hadn’t occurred to him before Sam started dispensing his advice so freely. But back then, Adam had been able to slap it away as totally inappropriate. Now, it was as if Sam had given him permission to think about having Casey in his bed, about all the things he’d like to do to her there.
    Not that he’d even decided he wanted her to stick around. He should probably discuss Sam’s suggestion with her.
    Trouble was, talking was the last thing on his mind now. The memory of the sweetness of her mouth was driving him crazy.
    “Adam?” Casey propped herself up on her elbows, and the movement lifted her breasts even more. There was a languidness in her voice that he found infinitely seductive. “It’s sweltering. Can you please pass the water bottle?”
    He did as she asked, then stifled a groan as she tipped her head back and, eyes shut, drank greedily, so that a trickle of water escaped the side of her mouth to run down her chin and throat. He touched a finger there to stem the flow, and found her pulse beating.
    Casey’s eyes opened and he saw heat in their depths, which the water had done nothing to cool. Without looking away, she put the bottle down beside her. Adam slipped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her up toward him, so their mouths were an inch apart.
    He didn’t rush into the kiss. He’d been here before and he knew how right it felt. Now that he had her so close, he wanted to savor every second. Her eyes fluttered shut again as his lips drifted against hers.
    But the instant their mouths met he could think of nothing but how much he wanted her, and his intended gentleness evaporated. Casey’s lips parted to welcome his tongue. She moaned as he deepened the kiss, and she struggled to pull herself upright so she could press herself closer to him.
    The hunger in Adam had its epicenter in one obvious place. He moved a hand to cup a full, rounded breast. He felt the tensing of her body, and his mouth absorbed her sigh.
    Her arms wound around his neck, and Adam slipped his other hand beneath her shirt to caress her back. He wanted nothing more than to tear every stitch of clothing off her and make love to her. Now.
    Then some small corner of his mind remembered they were in a public place.
    Home. If he could somehow convince his mouth to move away from hers, he would tell her to get in the car, so they could go home right away and continue this in private. Her protest when he finally managed to pull away almost destroyed the last shreds of his restraint.
    “Let’s go home,” he croaked.

CHAPTER TEN
    W ORDLESSLY , THEY THREW the take-out containers, plates and food scraps into the picnic basket. The blanket was bundled in as well, then they were racing for the Aston Martin.
    Adam kissed Casey again as they fumbled to do up their seat belts, a searing kiss intended to remind them both why were they were in such a hurry—not that he’d forgotten.
    He hit the road for home, driving as fast as he dared.
    Casey turned up the fan on her side. “If we go home now, we’ll go to bed, right?”
    Bed, floor, kitchen table... Adam realized with a shock he didn’t mind where they did it. “Yep,” he said. Had he ever wanted someone this badly?
    “Which would mean we’d be sleeping together on our first date.” She squirmed in