A Deep and Dark December by Beth Yarnall Page B

happy?”
    “You did.”
    She looked at her lap where she’d twisted the fringe of her scarf around her finger. “I’m happy.”
    Her tone told a different story. He dropped the subject rather than upset her more.
    “I used to bring girls up here sometimes.” He pointed to where the bluffs bent back before curving around again. “Right over there is a group of trees with perfect camouflage. A blanket, an illicit bottle of cheap alcohol, and a willing girl in the moonlight is a beautiful thing.”
    “Yeah, Susie Philpot swore she saw a shooting star at the exact moment you took her virginity.”
    He couldn’t help grinning in surprise. “Oh, yeah?”
    “Susie set us all up for disappointment. There were no shooting stars or fireworks when I lost mine.”
    “That’s because you didn’t lose it to me,” he joked.
    She chuckled. “No, I certainly didn’t. All I got was a big ole that’s it? and a sticky mess to clean up.”
    He barked out a laugh that sounded old and little used. She watched him with a strange awed look on her face.
    “What?” Self-consciousness made him ask a little too defensively.
    “You should laugh more. It completely changes your face. And you get these little laugh lines right here.” She touched a finger to the corner of his eye. “Very sexy, like a movie star.”
    “A movie star? I don’t think so. But I’ll take the very sexy part.”
    “Your modesty borders on annoying.”
    She was smiling up at him and he forgot the cold, forgot the surf pounding the rocks below, and the distant bark of sea lions. Forgot why kissing her was such a bad idea as he leaned forward, his gaze dropping to her mouth. She put a hand on his chest and he thought for a moment she might shove him back. Instead she fisted the lapel of his jacket and pulled him the rest of the way toward her.
    “This is probably a bad idea,” he murmured and instantly felt her grip change, pushing him away. The exact opposite of what he wanted. Or maybe the very thing he wanted. Kissing a local girl was probably not the smartest thing he could do right now.
    “You’re right.” She leapt up and backed away from him. “I can’t do this.”
    He caught himself with a palm on the bench seconds before he face planted. “What the hell just happened?” he said more to himself than to her.
    “I have a boyfriend,” she asserted.
    “He’s not here now.”
    “That’s not… It doesn’t matter. We’re committed.”
    “Somebody should be committed and I think it’s me.” Why was he trying to talk her into what he’d just talked her out of? He shook his head. And why couldn’t he keep his big, freaking mouth shut?
    She started backing away from him toward the staired path that wound down to town. “I should go.”
    “Let me drive you home at least.”
    “No need. My house isn’t far.”
    He stood and followed her. “Erin. Let me drive you.”
    ~*~
    Erin knew if she stayed one more moment under the moonless sky with Graham Doran she’d do more than temporarily forget she had a boyfriend. She needed to leave. Now.
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, scrambling backward.
    Her foot caught on a rock. She teetered at the top of the stairs, arms pinwheeling. Time slowed. The sky rushed across her vision. Graham dashed forward. He grabbed her, pulling her from the edge so suddenly her head snapped forward. She gripped him roughly, her heart pounding so hard she couldn’t speak. The sensation of falling stayed with her and she didn’t think she’d be able to stand without him.
    “Jesus God,” he breathed, clutching her closer. “You scared the shit out of me.”
    “Me, too.”
    “Erin—”
    She cut off his words with the firm press of her lips. His surprised oomph morphed into a low growl as he changed the angle of the kiss, pulling her closer still. His lips were cool from the night air, making his mouth seem even hotter. She wound her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers into his