It was easy, almost too easy, to forget her delicate build, her fragile looks, when her mouth was so ardent on his. He should’ve known there’d be deep, restless passion in a woman who created music with such sexuality. But how could he have known that passion would call to him as though he’d been waiting for years?

It was much too easy to forget she wasn’t the kind of woman he wanted in his life when her taste was filling him. Again, he should have known she’d have the power to make a man toss aside all logic, all intellect. Her lips were warm, moist, the taste as pungent as the scent of newly turned earth around them. The urge rose to take her in his arms and fulfill, there under the clear afternoon sun, all the needs that welled inside him. Cliff drew back, resisting that final painful twist of desire.

Breathless, throbbing, Maggie stared at him. Could that one searing meeting of lips have moved him as it had moved her? Were his thoughts swimming as hers were? Was his body pulsing with wild, urgent needs? She could tell nothing from his face. Though his eyes were fixed on hers, their expression was unreadable. If she asked, would he tell her that he, too, had never known a wave of passion so overwhelming or so mesmerizing? She would ask, and would know, as soon as she had the voice to question. As she sat, struggling to catch her breath, the events of the day came flashing back into her mind. Abruptly, Maggie sprang to her feet.

“God, what are we doing?” she demanded. With a hand that shook, she pushed the hair away from her face. “How can we at here like this when that—that thing’s only a few yards away?”

Cliff took her arm, turning her back to face him. “What does one have to do with the other?”

“Nothing. I don’t know.” With her insides churning, she looked up at him. Her emotions had always been too dominant. Though she knew it, Maggie had never been able to change it. It had been years since she’d really tried. Confusion, distress, passion, radiated from her as tangible things. “What we found, it’s dreadful, unbelievably dreadful, and a few moments ago I was sitting there wondering what it would be like to make love with you.”

Something flashed in his eyes, quickly controlled. Unlike Maggie, Cliff had learned long ago to channel his emotions and keep them to himself. “You obviously don’t believe in evading the issue.”

“Evasions take too much time and effort.” After letting out a long breath, Maggie managed to match his even, casual tone. “Listen, I didn’t expect that sort of—eruption,” she decided. “I suppose I’m wound up over all of this, and a bit too susceptible.”

“Susceptible.” Her choice of words made him smile. Somehow, when she became cool and calm, he became tempted to prod. Deliberately, he lifted a hand and ran his fingertips down her cheek. Her skin was still warm with desire. “I wouldn’t have described you that way. You seem to be a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it.”