The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance by Trisha Telep

certain. But something else mingled with the heat in his eyes. Something was holding him back.
    The kiss could wait. “Come on, birthday boy. Let’s party.”
    Kara sat cross-legged on the floor of her small apartment and sipped her red wine. Jake had eventually relaxed after she’d stopped hitting on him.
    Instead, they’d talked all day and into the night, learning they were both dog people, neither liked anchovies on pizza and both preferred vanilla ice cream over chocolate. Fabulous to know they had more in common than dead mothers and dysfunctional relationships with their fathers, but her hold-off-on-the-seduction strategy was growing old. She’d wanted this man for ever and he was right here.
    Across from her on the area rug, Jake leaned back and bent one arm up on the sofa at his back. The NYPD T-shirt she’d loaned him stretched across his body accentuating his deliciously solid shape. Tubs of take-out Chinese and a half-eaten chocolate cake stood between them like a shield to deter her from crawling across to explore the planes of his chest, his abdomen, with her fingers, her lips.
    Given the chance, she could even learn to live with the sideburns, that suit. She’d had her fair share of men over the years, and while many had been physically handsome by any objective standard, not one had been able to stir her insides with just a look the way Jake could.
    “You must be tired,” he said, setting his wine glass down.
    She shook her head. “Not a bit.” Staying up through the day was an all-nighter for her and although bed beckoned, sleep was the last thing on her mind.
    Time to blast down the shield.
    Pushing the picnic remnants to the side, she crossed the few feet between them and pressed her lips against his.
    His body stiffened, and her heart sank, fearing he’d push her way, but then a groan rose from deep in his throat and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in, tipping her back, intensifying their kiss. Drawing deep breaths, his tongue plunged into her mouth.
    For years she’d dreamed of his kiss, but reality far exceeded her fantasies. The perfume of red wine and chocolate lingered as his lips devoured hers and his tongue stroked and suckled with the fervour of a starving man served his first meal.
    Lost in Jake’s kiss, the room spun, drifted, and she lost all concept of time, space and where she belonged in either. There existed only his lips, his tongue, his hands and the heat from their bodies mingling to form a white hot inferno.
    When they came up for air, she found herself stretched across his lap, his hardness pressing into her hip through those crazy plaid pants she wanted to get off him as quickly as possible.
    She moved and he groaned, capturing her lips in another ravenous kiss. Leaning on to his shoulders for support, she shifted to straddle him as his large clever hands continued to explore every inch of her body. She rubbed the seam of her jeans against him, igniting more fires as he pulled her in tighter.
    “Jake.” She pressed her lips into the pulsing vein at the side of his neck. “Let’s move into the bedroom.”
    She pushed back and rose to her feet, pulling him with her.
    “Kara, wait.” He stopped before they reached the bedroom.
    “Sorry, sailor.” She slid up against him. “I’m done waiting.”
    “I need to give you something.” He reached for his blazer, balled up on the sofa, and pulled out the envelope and key.
    “Can’t this wait?” Her body ached to be naked and pressed against his.
    He took a step back. “It’s important.”
    She nodded, wondering what could be more important than having him inside her.
    “I picked this up at my dad’s lawyer that day in 1967. The key’s for a safety deposit box and the letter gives the holder of the key access. If you have problems, George will help.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Everything my dad left me is in that box. There’s a whack of gold bars, stock certificates, a few other valuables.