Mason waved to Katie as she climbed into her rattletrap of a convertible and twisted on the ignition. The engine coughed twice before catching. Then Katie gunned it, and in a plume of blue smoke, the old car lumbered down the drive.

Bliss stood her ground and wished she knew what to say to this man who could turn her world upside down with one long, slow, life-altering kiss.

* * *

Mason felt a tightening in his gut at the sight of her. Dear Lord, Bliss Cawthorne was beautiful and seductive and sexy without even trying to be. As he braked, she smiled slightly, the wind catching in her sun-streaked hair. His heart stopped for a second that was destined to change his life forever. He didn’t have a reason to be here, but all day long he’d thought of last evening and making love to her. The image of her blue eyes, dusky with desire, her lush lips and rosy-tipped white breasts had filtered through his mind time and time again.

“Well, Mr. Lafferty. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“No?” Was she kidding? “I thought we needed to talk.”

“I suppose,” she agreed, though her eyes were bright with suspicions. She rolled one palm toward the heavens. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” he repeated as he stared at her. You. I want you, Bliss Cawthorne, and I always have. I wish things were different between us, and God, I wish I never had hurt you. He crossed the span of the driveway and stood so close to her he saw the slight trembling of her lip and caught the light scent of her perfume. “There are lots of things, Bliss.”

“Such as?”

“I wanted to see you again.” He searched her eyes. She swallowed hard and some of her false bravado slipped away. “Look, just because we made love doesn’t mean you have some kind of responsibility, a duty to—”

“Is that what you think?”

“To tell you the truth, Mason, I don’t know what to think.”

He believed her. She’d never looked more confused in her life. Well, he intended to set one thing straight. Before she could back up a step, he gathered her into his arms and lowered his lips to meet hers. Her mouth was soft and supple and yielding, her body warm and inviting. With a groan, he held her fast, hands splaying over her back, his blood pumping through his veins.

Lifting his head he stared into eyes that reflected his own passion. “Now that we’ve settled my sense of ‘duty,’” he said, running a thumb over her lower lip, “let’s talk about us.”

He felt her stiffen. “I thought I told you goodbye last night.”

“You didn’t mean it.”

She lifted a teasing eyebrow. “Didn’t I?”