Almost in Love by Kylie Gilmore Page B

wanted to make sure—”
    “Who is this?” Kate asked, appearing at Amber’s side.
    “This is Bare.” She turned to her sister, who had the strangest look of awe on her face. “This is my sister, Kate.”
    “I know you,” Kate said, pointing at him. “I read about you in The Journal of Computing Science and Society . You’re Giggle Snap. I mean, Barry Furnukle.”
    Bare grinned. “Oh, well. Yeah, that’s me.”
    “You’re brilliant,” Kate breathed. “The compression algorithm you developed for sound recordings was groundbreaking.”
    Bare smiled and shuffled his feet. “Thank you. It was nothing. There’s much better on the market now.”
    “I’m Kate,” she said, holding out her hand.
    He shook it. “Yes. Nice to meet you, Kate.”
    Kate pulled the rubber band out of her hair and shook her hair loose. “You want to come in for a drink?”
    Amber stared at her sister. Really? Now she was interested in a man? She’d been starting to wonder if her sister was into women.
    “Actually I came by just to k—” Bare shook his head with a smile. “I just wanted to talk to your sister.”
    “Come on,” Kate coaxed, hand on her hip. “One drink. I’ll tell you the latest in operations research for databases in apps like yours.”
    “I am working on a birding app that’s database dependent,” Bare said.
    Kate pushed up her glasses. “Excellent!”
    Amber stifled a groan as they settled in the living room with glasses of iced tea. Kate waxed on enthusiastically to Bare’s eager ears, both of them completely forgetting about the drinks. After an hour of computing and higher mathematics talk that went way over Amber’s head, she slipped away and went to bed.
    A few moments later, the door creaked open.
    “Amber?” Bare called.
    “What?” she mumbled.
    “I’m going to kiss you goodnight.”
    “Don’t.”
    He’d kissed enough women tonight, and then he’d kissed up to her sister.
    “Come on, wench. Ouch!” The bed shook. He must’ve bumped into it.
    She bit back a laugh. “Don’t call me wench.”
    “Give us a kiss, me love.”
    She threw the covers over her head. “I’m not your love.”
    He yanked the covers down. “I say you are.”
    His hands found her hair, then her cheek, and he turned her toward him. His lips came down over hers, soft and gentle. She relaxed into it, forgetting about her worshipful sister and the worshipful Major-General’s daughters.
    He kissed the tip of her nose. “Good night, Amber.”
    “Night.”
    He kissed her forehead. “I hope one day to say good morning.”
    “Don’t push it.”
    “Where’s me buried treasure?” He felt all over the bed, then all over her, his hands patting over the covers, making her giggle; then he slid into the bed with her.
    She shoved at his chest, trying not to laugh. “Your treasure’s not here.”
    “Aye, but ’tis.” He pulled her up against him, so they were both on their sides, chest to chest. She wore a tank top with pajama shorts, and he felt deliciously warm through the thin fabric. She snuggled closer. His hand cupped the back of her head, and he kissed her again. This time was a hard, claiming kiss, his tongue thrusting inside, his leg wedging between hers. Then he was kissing along her jawline, down her neck, while his hands roamed up and down her body, never lingering at any of her good spots, just an allover stroking that left her fully awake, fully aroused, and wanting more.
    “Amber?” Kate knocked on her door. “I forgot my toothbrush. Do you have an extra one?”
    Bare nuzzled along her collarbone while his hand worked its way up her shirt, caressing her breast.
    “Yes,” she gasped as his finger rasped over the sensitive tip. “Take it. There’s extra.”
    “Is Barry sleeping over tonight?” Kate asked through the door. “I forgot my pajamas too. Is he going to see me without my pants?”
    Bare laughed into her neck. Amber stifled a laugh.
    Kate went on. “It’s okay if he does.