Operation Date Escape

the apartment appraisingly. “Nice.”
    Nanci was right. The man filled his jeans well. The dark blue denim hugged his long legs and muscular thighs, and did things to his butt that made her want to reach out and see if it felt as hard as it looked.
    “It sure is,” she muttered, wondering if he’d mind if she copped just one quick little feel. Cole’s husky chuckle as he turned had Kelsie’s eyes snapping up to meet his. Oh, damn, he ’d caught her checking out his butt. “I...I mean it’s just right for me.”
    “My butt or your apartment?” he teased with that melt-a-girl-into-a-puddle lone dimpled grin of his.
    That would teach her for not being more discreet with her ogling. “Both,” she admitted, countering his grin with one of her own. “But your butt is off limits.”
    “Says who?” he challenged, taking a step closer to where she stood looking up at him. Tiny lines formed at the outer corners of his dark eyes as his grin widened.
    Ooh, volcanic activity in her lower region. Maybe she’d allow him one little peek at her thong...
    “Forget about it,” she muttered with a frown, immediately reeling that last thought back in. She was not about to give in to her primal urges.
    “Excuse me?”
    She slipped around his lean frame. “I said I just need to grab my purse from the kitchen and then we can go.” Before I drag you down the hall and into my bed.
    * * *
    Thank God women carried purses. If Kelsie hadn’t stepped away to get hers when she did, Cole wasn’t sure where things would have ended up. And the last thing he wanted to do with her was move too fast. She was already skittish when it came to relationships. Even more so about dating him.
    Holding back wasn’t easy around her. She was just so damn sexy. And she wasn’t even trying to be, unlike the women he’d dated before. The women Joe admitted after-the-fact he thought were shallow and boring.
    Remember, Maxwell, you’re trying to convince her just how imperfect you are.
    Problem was, he’d lost focus on his plan the second Kelsie had opened the door to greet him with that sexy little smile of hers and those big beautiful green eyes. Boy, had he lost focus.
    The phone rang once and then stopped. Kelsie must have picked it up in the kitchen. He leaned against the doorframe and ran a hand over the fake hillbilly teeth in his jean pocket with a smile. She was on to him, which meant their date wasn’t going to be nearly as easy to screw up as he’d hoped it would be. But something told him it was going to be well worth the effort.
    A minute later, she stepped from the kitchen, purse in hand. “Sorry. Phone call.”
    “Should I be jealous?” he teased as they made their way outside. But the thought of another man calling Kelsie didn’t sit well with him . Not at all.
    “Not unless you’re jealous of a nosey older woman with incredibly bad timing.”
    “Your mother?” he asked as they stopped next to his truck.
    She laughed. “How did you know?”
    “Lucky guess.”
    She slung her purse over her shoulder and tipped her head to look up at him. “Do you think we could just videotape our date so I won’t have to answer a million questions afterwards? My mother can just watch the video.”
    Grinning, he reached past her to open the passenger door. “Are you sure you’re not using your mother as an excuse?”
    “An excuse for what?”
    “To have a video to remember me by since you’re so certain we won’t be going out again.”
    Her beautiful green eyes studied him for a long moment before she said, “I hope you realize that our not going out again is nothing against you. You seem to be a really nice guy.”
    Maybe so, but not tonight. Tonight, he was a bad boy waiting to happen. Pushing aside the urge to help her up into the cab of his truck, he stepped away.
    “We’d better get going.” Before I give in to the urge to press you against my truck and taste those lips again.
    He turned away and rounded the truck, the gentleman in him finding it incredibly hard to walk away without helping her up. He settled behind the wheel and started the engine while Kelsie climbed up into the cab on her own.
    The subtle scent of wildflowers and something more exotic filled the enclosed space, teasing his senses. Everything about this China doll teased his senses.
    “Cole, would you mind stopping by my office on our way to dinner? I need to pick something up.”
    “No, I don’t mind.” He put the truck in gear and pulled