Page 126 of Winter Vows

Dylan glanced pointedly at his brother. “You going with her?”

Jeb deliberately stayed right where he was. “I hadn’t planned to.”

“Change your plans,” Dylan said grimly.

Jeb touched a lingering kiss to Kelsey’s cheek that had Dylan seeing red.

“Guess I’ve got to run,” Jeb told her. “Don’t let big brother here bully you, the way he does us.”

“Not a chance,” Kelsey told him.

“If you need any tips on handling him, call me. I know all his dirty little secrets.”

Kelsey chuckled, then gave Dylan a speculative once-over. “I had no idea you had any dirty little secrets.”

“None worth mentioning,” Dylan assured her, then scowled at his brother and sister. “Weren’t you leaving?”

When Jeb and Trish were gone, Dylan shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her. “I wouldn’t even try to bully you, you know.”

She laughed. “Sure you would. I’m not dumb enough not to know it’s your nature to bully the people you care about.” She studied him thoughtfully. “And you strike me as smart enough to know that it won’t work with me.”

“Duly noted.” He nodded toward the living room. “Still mobbed in there?”

“It’s thinning down some.”

“Want me to clear the rest of them out?”

“No, I’m fine. I just can’t seem to take my eyes off of Bobby for more than a second. I forced myself to come in here, just so I could break the pattern before it became a habit. Even at three, he’d hate me hovering.”

Dylan stepped closer, crowding her. “And here I thought you came into the kitchen to see me.”

She laughed again and Dylan realized how little reason she’d had for laughter in the last few days and what a pleasure it was to hear the sound of it.

“You’re just a bonus,” she told him.

Dylan met her gaze evenly, saw the laughter die on her lips, then the fire of desire in her eyes.

“Do you know how badly I want to kiss you right now?” he asked.

She swallowed hard before answering. “I have an inkling.” Her chin rose a notch. “What are you going to do about it?”

The feisty tone made his pulse hum. “Why, Doc, I think you’re actually flirting with me. In fact, that almost sounded like a challenge. Is that possible?”

“Try me.”

Dylan kept his hands jammed in his pockets as he lowered his head until his lips skimmed lightly over hers. Even so, he felt the shudder that washed through her. It was only a faint imitation of the one that rocked him when she leaned into the kiss, deepened it.

“Oh, baby,” he murmured, “I have wanted this for so long.”

“We’ve only known each other a few days,” she reminded him before her breath hitched on a sigh.

“Forever,” he corrected.

His arms went around her then and his mouth moved over hers, tasting, savoring, possessing. Heat spread through him with the speed and intensity of a flash fire.

With the one tiny little part of his brain that was still functioning he recognized this as a bad idea. It wasn’t the time or the place to go into a passiongenerated meltdown. In the aftermath of Bobby’s rescue, Kelsey couldn’t be thinking clearly, so it was up to him to do it.

In just a minute, he promised himself as he dipped his head for one more kiss. She had recently had a sip of wine and her lips were still cool, still bore its fruity taste. He doubted he would ever touch a glass of Chardonnay again without thinking of this moment.

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