He drank what she offered, savoring every drop of her tender affection. He wanted this. Very badly. Seth realized he cared about Tara, and wanted her to care about him, too. Again, it wasn’t a feeling of fear or wariness that overcame him, but one of eagerness and anticipation. Helpless against the pleasure, he deepened the kiss, pulling her tightly against him. She moaned and ground against him as tenderness gave way to desperation.

Seth wanted to push her against the soft earth and make love to her, but he couldn’t be that reckless. Nor could he wait much longer to have her. “Come home with me.”

Tara froze, then slowly drew back. He relaxed his arms but didn’t let her go.

“I … can’t,” she said with a faint frown.

“Why?” She wanted him as much as he wanted her. There was no question about that. Why was she keeping him at arm’s length?

“Well … I didn’t plan on counting our chance meeting as a date.” She spoke in a rush. “And you remember the rules, right? You have to keep your pants on during nondates.”

“To hell with the rules,” he growled.

Tara scrambled back, and Seth let his arms drop to his sides. She got to her feet and looked everywhere but at him, clearly panicked. What was she afraid of? Then a thought rushed into his head. No … she couldn’t be, but maybe …

“Tara,” he said carefully so as not to startle her. “Have you … are you a … virgin?”

“What?” Her eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets. Then she burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” His eyebrows drew down into a frown because he had a feeling the joke was on him.

“Oh, my gosh. I can’t even.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and straightened up with her hands at her waist. “Was that the only reason you could think of? That I wasn’t jumping eagerly into your bed because I was a frightened virgin. Oh, no. The one-eyed monster.”

“All right. Enough of that.” She had a point there. Heat rushed up until his cheeks and neck were pulsing with it. Maybe his ego really was a bit inflated. “Look, I was just trying to make sense of why you seemed so nervous every time things got heated.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She averted her eyes again, the merriment dimming slightly. “I don’t need a reason to not sleep with you.”

“Fair enough.” He got to his feet, swatting dirt off his pants. “But what more reason do you need to sleep with me?”

“I have a reason to sleep with you?” She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“You want me.” He smirked. “Desperately.”

“Fair enough.” She smirked back at him with as much ego as he’d exhibited. “But what’s the rush? We’ve only had one date so far.”

“As you well know, I’m leaving in little over three weeks. I’m in a rush,” he said with a subtle growl. “I’m losing my fucking mind from wanting you. You do realize that, don’t you?”