Rumor Has It by Tami Hoag Page A

did?” His eyes twinkled as he turned her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. Her hand was so tiny and feminine in his, the contrast made his stomach tighten.
    Katie nodded. From the spot he'd kissed a shiver ran up her arm and spread through her, teasing all her nerve endings into awareness. “And do you know what else I felt when I heard all that clapping and screaming?”
    “What?” The word was no more than an exhalation of the breath that had caught in his lungs as he gazed down at her.
    “Jealous,” she whispered, still a little amazed herself.
    “Jealous? You were jealous?” he asked, looking extremely pleased with this tidbit of information.
    With an embarrassed smile she nodded again. “I didn't like the idea of all those strange women drooling over your body.”
    Nick could hardly contain his elation. Hewanted to let out a war whoop and dance around the office. He had been so afraid Katie wouldn't understand, that she'd want to walk away from him when she found out about his dancing. Instead he was getting admissions from her that he had hoped for but hadn't expected to hear for quite a while.
    He was ready to take steps toward a more serious relationship with her, but he had sensed—and respected—Katie's hesitancy. He knew she wasn't one to let a man get too close too quickly. It was her reluctance that had won her the title Ice Princess from men who hadn't been patient enough to earn her trust. She was giving him now a huge victory when he had braced himself for utter defeat.
    “But they don't know it's me,” he pointed out to her. “Only you know it's me behind the mask.”
    “That's right.” She smiled, pleased to know she was the only woman who had unmasked the elusive Highwayman.
    Running his hands back from her face, over her satiny dark hair, Nick gave her a look burningwith sensual promise. “I wouldn't mind giving you a private performance sometime.”
    “Oh?” The word quivered on Katie's lips as erotic images of Nick dancing just for her filled her head. She could feel her bones melting to the consistency of butter on a hot stove, and leaned gratefully into Nick's strength as he bent and kissed her again.
    Need surged through his body, followed by a groan that came from the depths of his soul. “I'd give you one right now if this weren't a borrowed office.” He lifted her hand and slipped it inside his robe, pressing it to his chest so she could feel his heart thudding under his ribs.
    “Feel what you do to me, Katie,” he demanded. He ran his hand down her back and over the delicious curve of her bottom, and drew her against him so she could feel his need not only beneath her hand but straining urgently against her belly. “I care about you so much. I want you so much, Katie.”
    His words set off an avalanche of trembling inside her. He wanted her. She wanted him. Oh, how she wanted him! Katie had never knownsuch need before—the need to hold and cherish and express her feelings in a purely physical way, the need to have a man want all those same things with her in his arms. However, this wasn't the time or the place. Any minute Jack Clark was going to want his office back. Then there was still the matter of her own secret.
    Nick could feel her pull back from him slightly— emotionally as well as physically. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, banishing the physical distance. “I know you're not ready for that step yet, kitten. I won't push it. But when you are ready, I'll be here, and I'll want you just as much as I want you right now.”
    She looked up at him with misty eyes and a smile as soft as dew. Another corner of her heart went to him gladly. Aside from his daring her to kiss him that first time, Nick hadn't pressured her in any way. His patience had done wonders in helping her relax with him and with the idea of gradually entering into a more physical relationship with him. No other man she'd known had possessed his patience. “Thank you for