As if he’d waited for this kiss and wasn’t about to rush it.

She was the one with her hands all over him—and he didn’t mind in the least from the way he stood so close and kept on with kissing her. Until she was breathless and her nipples plump and hard and it felt as if her breasts would burst out of her bra.

She got it now, why Danny always had a line of women out the door—and why none of those women ever had a bad word to say about him. Her childhood nemesis knew how to make a woman feel as if she was the most important person in his universe.

A pang hit her.

She pushed it aside, determined not to let foolishness spoil the pleasure between them. This was what it was; she couldn’t change it—and she’d broken her own rules to indulge in it, so indulge she would. Until it came to an inevitable end. Some would call that nihilistic thinking, but Catie called it being pragmatic.

As her father was who he was, and Jacqueline was who she was, Danny was who he was. That happened to be a hot, young rugby star who wasn’t against accepting the invitations handed to him on a silver platter.

Which brought up a point they did have to address.

Hands pressed flat on his chest, her own heaving, she pushed.

Breaking the kiss, he said, “Yeah?” and it sounded as breathless as she felt.

That did things to her. Serious, bone-melting things. But she had to be sensible about this. “Are you clean?”

“Why? Do I smell?” Lifting an arm, he sniffed at his armpit.

Shoulders shaking, she shook her head. “Not that kind of clean.”

A blank look followed up by a blush so intense it glowed through the brown of his skin. “Jeez, Catie.”

“What? I can’t afford to catch cooties.”

He shuddered. “I do not have any cooties, thank you very much. Verified by the last team medical—and I’ve been a monk since.” A narrow-eyed look, hands on his hips. “What about you?”

Oh, she wasn’t falling for that. “Clean, as per my last medical—and I’ve been a nun since. Want to see the certificate?” Fluttering her lashes at him, she gave him a beatific smile.

He made a sound deep in his chest, but then he was right there, kissing the life out of her, and oh boom. Nails digging into his hips, she held on for the delicious, sexy ride. When he finally put his hands on her, it was to push them under her sweater and start to peel it off.

Having made the decision to do this, Catie cooperated and was soon clad only in her running tights and sports bra.