His own breath was coming hard and fast. She was delicious. He’d never tasted a woman with such delicacy, such tenderness. He didn’t understand why he wanted it like this. Perhaps because she was so green. First times, he thought, should be tender.

She let him kiss her. It was so sweet, to feel him close like this, to feel his mouth savoring hers like a particularly delicious pastry. She smiled under his lips.

He drew back a breath. “What’s funny?” he whispered.

“I feel like a nice dessert,” she whispered back, her dark eyes sparkling as they met his.

He smiled, too. “You do taste delicious, little virgin,” he murmured as he brushed her mouth again. He drew in a deep breath and his lean hands caught her waist and moved her, reluctantly, away.

“I’m not used to sudden stops,” he said. “I’ve spent too much of my life enjoying women I barely knew.” He searched her eyes. “I’m not adding you to the notches on my bedpost.”

She flushed and then laughed. “Okay.” She peered up at him. “Thanks,” she said with a faint grimace. “I don’t know enough to cope with…with experienced men.”

“I noticed.” He was thinking how easy it would be to kiss her into fascinated submission and carry her to the nearest bed. Which was why he backed up a little. A lot of women pretended innocence with a flair. But this one was the genuine article. He’d have bet his life on it. “So we’ll cool it.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

“I’d prefer to toss you down on the nearest bed, of course,” he confessed, grinning at her scarlet flush. “You are one delicious little pastry.”

“I’d give you indigestion,” she teased.

“I don’t think so.” His face tautened. “You watch McGuire,” he added. “He’s been around the world a few times. Sophisticated men are devious.”

“He’s not like that,” she said. She put some apples into a bowl and found a paring knife before she sat down in a chair at the table with the bowl in her lap. “He really likes me.” She made a face. “It’s worrying.”

He was puzzled. She didn’t act like a mercenary woman. McGuire was rich. But she wasn’t talking about his wealth. She was worried that he liked her.

“You don’t like him.”

She looked up. “Oh no. I like him very much.” She bit her lower lip and tasted Cort there. Kissing him was addictive. She didn’t look at him. “It’s just that what he wants goes beyond liking.”

“Easy fix. Don’t go out with him.”

“Well,” she sighed, “I already promised to go to Galveston with him this weekend.”

“For the weekend?” he asked, angry and frankly jealous.

She laughed. “No, no, no. I balked, and he said it would just be a day trip. He promised.”

Something inside him relaxed, just a little. “Why Galveston?”

“Seafood,” she replied. She laughed. “He seems to know all the best restaurants in the country. In fact, he knows them in Manhattan as well. He offered to fly me up there in four weeks. That one’s a business trip, though.”