smoothed her hand over her skirt as he bent to pick up the blanket. He gave it a quick shake before folding it roughly. Still without speaking, they turned toward the park entrance. The silence that had been so comfortable a few minutes ago now seemed fraught with tension, and she wracked her brain for something innocuous to say.
"So where were you going when your motorcycle broke down?" Anne asked and then nearly winced at the brightness of her tone. She just didn't have any experience with making conversation with a man who'd just melted her bones with a kiss.
"Ft. Lauderdale, more or less." Neill seized gratefully on the distraction and expanded on it. "My parents retired there a couple of years ago."
"Where did they live before?" she asked.
"Wisconsin. Before that it was Denver, and before that, Texas, Los Angeles and Michigan. I was born in South Dakota."
"You moved around a lot."
"More than most families, I guess. Not as much as we would have if Dad had been in the military."
A teenager on a skateboard zoomed toward them and Neill took Anne's arm to pull her out of the way. He didn't release her when the boy passed but simply slid his hand down to link with hers.
"What did your father do?" Anne was pleased with the steadiness of her voice. No one would ever have guessed that her heart was bumping up against her breastbone.
"A little of everything. Managed restaurants, owned a dry cleaners, worked construction now and again. He had a butcher shop in Denver and even did a brief stint as a disc jockey in L.A."
"I know it's difficult to get a small business off the ground," Anne said diplomatically, thinking that his father sounded less than stable.
Neill shook his head with a smile. "Dad didn't have any problem getting a business off the ground. He just got bored once he had it in the air. It was the challenge of it that he loved. As soon as things were on an even keel, he'd sell it and start over again somewhere else."
"Wasn't it very difficult for you—always moving like that?"
"Not that I recall. We'd have a family meeting and discuss where to go next. We all got input. We moved to Denver because my older brother was thirteen and desperately wanted to be a cowboy."
"Did he manage it?"
"Not so's you'd notice. He learned to ride pretty well, but he wasn't so good at getting off. He kept getting thrown. The third time he broke a bone, my mother put her foot down and Tony had to turn in his spurs. I think he was getting a little sick of spending time in a cast, anyway."
"That's understandable." Distracted by the conversation, she forgot to feel self-conscious about holding hands with him."Do you have just the one brother?"
"And two sisters—one older, one younger. Darcy is the oldest. She's a sergeant with the Denver Police. Tony gave up horses for pizza. He and his wife run a restaurant in Chicago where they serve fancy pizzas and pasta. Maggie's the baby of the family. She's a hotshot attorney and lives in New York City."
"So you're pretty well scattered across the country."
"We don't manage to get together all that often," Neill said. "But we keep in touch by phone and, for the last couple of years, we usually manage to connect over the holidays."
"It sounds like you're close," Anne said, feeling a twinge of envy.
"I guess we are. Maybe that's one result of moving so often. Or maybe that's what made it easy to move. It might be a new town, but we always had each other."
"I've never lived anywhere but here," Anne commented, looking at the familiar street and trying to imagine what it looked like to someone who'd spent time in so many different places. ''I've never even traveled anywhere else, unless you count a trip to Disney World amusement park when I was eight." She sighed. "I used to think it would be such fun to see the world."
Neill slanted her a questioning look, wondering what was behind the wistful tone. ''Last I looked, the world was still out there, and you're not exactly tottering on
"So where were you going when your motorcycle broke down?" Anne asked and then nearly winced at the brightness of her tone. She just didn't have any experience with making conversation with a man who'd just melted her bones with a kiss.
"Ft. Lauderdale, more or less." Neill seized gratefully on the distraction and expanded on it. "My parents retired there a couple of years ago."
"Where did they live before?" she asked.
"Wisconsin. Before that it was Denver, and before that, Texas, Los Angeles and Michigan. I was born in South Dakota."
"You moved around a lot."
"More than most families, I guess. Not as much as we would have if Dad had been in the military."
A teenager on a skateboard zoomed toward them and Neill took Anne's arm to pull her out of the way. He didn't release her when the boy passed but simply slid his hand down to link with hers.
"What did your father do?" Anne was pleased with the steadiness of her voice. No one would ever have guessed that her heart was bumping up against her breastbone.
"A little of everything. Managed restaurants, owned a dry cleaners, worked construction now and again. He had a butcher shop in Denver and even did a brief stint as a disc jockey in L.A."
"I know it's difficult to get a small business off the ground," Anne said diplomatically, thinking that his father sounded less than stable.
Neill shook his head with a smile. "Dad didn't have any problem getting a business off the ground. He just got bored once he had it in the air. It was the challenge of it that he loved. As soon as things were on an even keel, he'd sell it and start over again somewhere else."
"Wasn't it very difficult for you—always moving like that?"
"Not that I recall. We'd have a family meeting and discuss where to go next. We all got input. We moved to Denver because my older brother was thirteen and desperately wanted to be a cowboy."
"Did he manage it?"
"Not so's you'd notice. He learned to ride pretty well, but he wasn't so good at getting off. He kept getting thrown. The third time he broke a bone, my mother put her foot down and Tony had to turn in his spurs. I think he was getting a little sick of spending time in a cast, anyway."
"That's understandable." Distracted by the conversation, she forgot to feel self-conscious about holding hands with him."Do you have just the one brother?"
"And two sisters—one older, one younger. Darcy is the oldest. She's a sergeant with the Denver Police. Tony gave up horses for pizza. He and his wife run a restaurant in Chicago where they serve fancy pizzas and pasta. Maggie's the baby of the family. She's a hotshot attorney and lives in New York City."
"So you're pretty well scattered across the country."
"We don't manage to get together all that often," Neill said. "But we keep in touch by phone and, for the last couple of years, we usually manage to connect over the holidays."
"It sounds like you're close," Anne said, feeling a twinge of envy.
"I guess we are. Maybe that's one result of moving so often. Or maybe that's what made it easy to move. It might be a new town, but we always had each other."
"I've never lived anywhere but here," Anne commented, looking at the familiar street and trying to imagine what it looked like to someone who'd spent time in so many different places. ''I've never even traveled anywhere else, unless you count a trip to Disney World amusement park when I was eight." She sighed. "I used to think it would be such fun to see the world."
Neill slanted her a questioning look, wondering what was behind the wistful tone. ''Last I looked, the world was still out there, and you're not exactly tottering on
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