Last Virgin In California

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“Point taken,” he said and watched her as she sat on the seat and swung her legs inside. He closed the door, walked to the driver’s side and got in himself before looking at her again and saying, “All I wanted to say was, it was a nice thing to do.”

Just a little uncomfortable, as she always was when being thanked for something, Lilah pulled her head back and stared at him in mock amazement. “Gee…is this a compliment I hear?”

“Could be.”

“And me without my journal again.”

“You keep surprising me,” he said.

“Good. I do hate being predictable.”

“I like predictable,” he said and fired up the engine.

“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” she murmured. Quickly, she hooked the seat belt then turned her head to look out the side window. He put the car into gear and backed out of the drive onto the road.

Lilah barely paid attention to the passing scene. Instead, her mind rattled along at its own pace, dredging up one thought after another. She’d been happy to arrange for the new jackets for the kids. It hadn’t taken much effort—if there was one thing Lilah was good at, it was talking to people—and after all, it had worked out well for both sides.

But she never had been comfortable with compliments. She preferred doing her volunteering and then slipping away into the mist—like the Lone Ranger, she thought with an inward smile.

They drove through the main gate, and waited for a break in the cars to join the traffic. Once they were a part of the streaming line of lemmings, Kevin spoke up, breaking the silence in the car.

“At least Sea World shouldn’t be crowded. This time of year and all, there aren’t many tourists.”

Grateful that he’d apparently decided to drop their earlier conversational thread, Lilah looked at him and smiled.

He was right. When they pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later, they had their choice of slots. The weather probably had something to do with that, she thought. Leaden skies and a cold, wintry wind would keep even the locals away from the park. It was almost as if they’d been given the place to themselves for the day.

Kevin watched her as she studied the pamphlet and decided what she wanted to see first. Something inside him shifted uncomfortably. She was just so damned…tempting.

She always had a rumpled, tousled look that made him think of rolling her around on silky sheets—and as that thought strolled through his mind, it was all he could do to keep from reaching for her. But it wasn’t just what she did for his body. He liked how her mind worked. Even when it frustrated him. Talking to her was like walking in circles and her sense of humor was a little unsettling at times, too. But the sound of her laughter was enough to set off sparklers in his bloodstream.

And now he knew that she was thoughtful enough to arrange for kids to get brand-new jackets. And that she was selfless enough to be embarrassed about it when he found out and faced her with it.

She couldn’t be more different from his ex-wife. Alanna couldn’t see further than her own reflection. She’d tossed him over without a thought, to get the one thing she’d wanted and wasn’t able to get without him.

Entrance to the United States.

Old hurts rippled through him, but he buried their memory into a dark hole in the corner of his heart and hoped they’d stay there for a while. It wasn’t often he thought about Alanna. And he liked that she was becoming more and more a part of his past. Though even he had to admit that she’d influenced his present and certainly his future. Never again would he trust that “head over heels” feeling. Never again would he believe a woman when she told him that she loved him more than life itself.

And most important, never again would he allow himself to be as vulnerable to pain. If that meant living alone, then that’s just how it would have to be.

Grumbling to himself, he pushed thoughts of Alanna aside and concentrated on the woman standing in front of him. Lilah tossed her head to one side, swinging that long, glorious fall of hair back over her shoulder and he studied the line of her throat, the delicate curve of her jaw. Air jammed up in his lungs and he had to fight for his next breath. Not a good sign, he told himself, but didn’t know how to keep from feeling that nearly electrical jolt of awareness.

Especially when memories of that kiss kept plaguing him.

She turned those big blue eyes on him and gave him one of her damn near nuclear smiles. And Kevin knew for sure that he wanted her more than his next breath. His entire body was practically humming with a kind of need he’d never experienced before. Not even with Alanna.

And that fact worried him.

“What time is it?” she asked.

Why wasn’t she wearing a watch? Crystals, yes. Silver bells, of course. But a simple watch? No way.

“Ten hundred,” he said with a quick glance at his left wrist.

“Ten o’clock,” she said and checked the pamphlet again. “Good.” She lifted her gaze to his and dazzled him with a smile bright enough to start a fire. Then she grabbed his hand and tugged at him. “We just have time to make it to the dolphin show.”

Obediently, he followed after, trying to keep his gaze from settling on the curve of her behind or the damn near delicious sway of her hips.

Dolphins.

And that’s how it went all day. They hurried from one show to another, stopping only for lunch. He’d never seen a woman so completely entranced by the little things. She loved cotton candy and hot chocolate. She dipped her French fries in ranch dressing and ordered a diet soda with an ice-cream sundae. She laughed easily and teased him mercilessly and he enjoyed it all.

By late afternoon, Kevin had seen enough fish and sea-going mammals to last him a lifetime. But Lilah showed no signs of slowing down. Damned if she wasn’t as fresh and enticing as she had been at the beginning of the day. With her endurance, she’d have made a helluva Marine.

And she wasn’t about to leave until she’d seen what she laughingly referred to as “The Big Guns.”

Shamu.

The arena was practically empty, but still she insisted on sitting down on the azure benches—despite the clearly painted warning that the first five rows might get wet.

The water was incredibly blue. Nearly as blue as her eyes and as Lilah applauded and laughed and oohed and aahed at the whale and its trainers, Kevin was watching her. Everything she felt registered on her face. Her expressions shifted constantly and he felt as though he could watch her forever.

Such a contrast, he thought. She fired his blood and kept him on his toes when she argued with him. Yet here she sat, as excited as any of the kids in the arena. There were so many sides to Lilah Forrest, he had a feeling that even if he knew her for years, she’d be able to keep him guessing.

Years, he thought and waited for the inward shudder that usually accompanied such thoughts, but it didn’t come. That alone should have worried him.

“Look at him,” she said in an awed whisper. “Isn’t he amazing?”

Dutifully, Kevin tore his gaze from her to look at the huge tank in front of him. The huge black-and-white whale did a quick circuit of its tank, creating waves that crashed and broke in its wake. The trainer was treading water in the middle of the pool, shouting instructions and slapping his open palm on the surface of the churning sea water.

Lilah’s excitement was damn near contagious. Even he got caught up in watching that mammoth creature swimming so gracefully. But a moment later, Kevin saw it coming. Knew what was going to happen the minute the killer whale made its first leap out of the water. On the far side of the tank, it lifted its huge body clear of the pool, then slammed home again, sending a wall of water swooshing over the clear side of the tank and onto the benches.

Before he could grab Lilah and make a run for it though, Shamu was upon them. Again, the whale rose from the depths, seemed to pause briefly in midair, then crashed back into the water. Instantly, a regular tsunami swelled over the lip of the clear tank wall and slammed down onto Lilah and Kevin, drenching them both instantly.

Sputtering and blinking, Kevin stood up and looked down at the laughing woman beside him. Her hair was absolutely soaked, hanging down on either side of her face like blond seaweed. She laughed and the pure, warm sound of it slid down inside him, taking the chill from his blood and lighting up his soul.

Then his gaze slipped from her face to her chest and just that fast, his body went on full alert. Her plain, white cotton blouse had suddenly become transparent. And the white lace bra she wore hid nothing from him. He saw her every curve. Her erect nipples peaked against the fabric and it was all he could do to keep from reaching out and cupping her breasts in his palms. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

His mouth went dry and when he lifted his gaze to hers again, he saw knowledge in her eyes. She knew just what he was thinking. But even better, she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“You’re all wet,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding rusty even to himself. “You, too.”

She glanced down at her shirtfront briefly, then swung her hair out of her face as she looked back up at him. “Guess you can pretty much tell I’m cold, too.”

“Pretty much,” he admitted, though her being cold was making him hotter than he’d ever been before.

Then she shivered and his hormones slipped a notch. Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, he pulled her in close to his side.

“You’re as wet and cold as I am,” she said, looking up at him even as she snuggled in, looking for warmth.

“Oh, I’m wet,” he said, then muttered, “but cold? I don’t think so.”

He led her down and out of the arena, and instinctively headed for the front gate. The sun was already sinking behind a low-lying bank of clouds on the horizon. Streaks of rose and violet burst along the edges of those clouds and spread across the sky like a spill of paint. A cold, ocean wind blew past them and Lilah pressed herself to his side, wrapping one arm around his waist.

“It’ll only take a minute to get to the car. We’ll get the heater on and thaw out.”

“Heat,” she repeated, her teeth beginning to chatter. “Good.”

His hand rubbed her upper arm, and held her tightly to him and Lilah felt the ice chips in her bloodstream beginning to melt. She ran her hand up and down his back, pretending to help keep warm, but really, she was simply enjoying the feel of his back. Hard, muscled flesh lay just beneath a soaking wet uniform blouse, and Lilah wanted more than anything, to slip her hands beneath that shirt and feel his skin against hers.

A feeling that had been building inside her for days erupted with his nearness and she gave in to it, enjoying the hum of desire pulsing within. There was just something about this man. Something strong enough to have her thinking about him at odd moments, dreaming about him at night and worrying about the dreaming during the day.

A flicker of emotion flashed inside her and Lilah wondered just what it was. More than passion. More than simple desire. This was something she’d never felt before. And rather than try to put a label on it, to try to understand it, she decided to simply nurture it.

He stopped alongside the car and reached into his pocket for the keys. The instant his arm left her shoulders, the cold slipped into her and Lilah hugged the edges of her sodden sweater across her middle.

Glancing at her, he opened the door and said, “Get in. Quick, before you freeze.”

Lilah nodded and slid onto the seat. He closed the door after her and as he walked around the back of the car toward the driver’s side, she told herself that here was her chance. With this man. At this moment. She was finally going to lose her title as the Last Virgin in California.

He climbed in, settled behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. Flipping a few dials, he had the blower going and the rush of air quickly shifting from cool, to warm, to positively toasty.

With the engine purring, she turned toward him and found him staring at her. Those green eyes of his looked stormy, dark with a desire she recognized and shared.

A muscle in his jaw clenched and released. He swallowed hard and said, “Get your seat belt on.”

“In a minute,” she said, leaning closer.

His gaze shifted from her eyes to her mouth and back again. He shook his head. “Don’t be starting this, Lilah. We both know it would be a mistake.” He was saying all the right things, but hunger colored his tone and boiled her blood.

“And we both want it anyway.” She tilted her head and leaned in farther, closer to him. She could almost hear his heart pounding.

He reached up, stroked her cheek with the tips of icy fingers and reaction shimmered up and down her spine. Then he speared his fingers into her hair and pulled her to him.

His mouth came down on hers and stole the last of her breath. Her heart hammered in her chest, her stomach did a quick jig and when he released her, Lilah looked into his eyes and knew without a doubt that this was right.

Even if it was wrong.

Chapter Seven

Outside, the wind was cold and fierce. Trees along the highway twisted and danced in the ocean gusts, bending low, their leaves breaking free and pelting the passing cars like oversized raindrops. But inside the car, heat roared into life and had nothing to do with the blast of forced, warm air rushing from the heater.

Lilah’s heartbeat quickstepped until breathing became a near Olympic sport. Her hands fisted in her lap, she kept her gaze locked on the view through the windshield and told herself she was being foolish. None of this made sense. She wasn’t the type to fall for a Marine, for pity’s sake. Hadn’t she proved that over the years with a succession of failed attempts? Hadn’t every Marine who’d ever crossed her path eventually run for the hills?