“She’s very flushed,” Albie said to David.

“She is.” David said. “Is it too warm near the fireplace? I’ll change seats with you?” Still sporting a crooked smile, Kate wasn’t sure what to make of David’s teasing. Was he able to see how easily he’d gotten to her? Was he that tuned in already?

He and Albie were still chuckling quietly at her expense. “You know,” she said, while looking back and forth between them, “I think I hate you both, just a little.”

That did it. The two men burst out laughing and Albie headed back to the kitchen, while David took her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. “You don’t hate me—even a little. I think you like me just as much as I like you.” Another kiss, but this time he’d turned her hand over and touched his lips to her palm. “Don’t you?”

Kate’s hand went from David’s lips, to the side of his face, resting on the warm skin of his cheek. No answer was necessary, but once she steadied her shaky breath the words came out easily. “Oh, yeah.”

*

David wondered what he was going to have to do to make this thing between him and Kate work. He’d have to keep himself away from the women who made themselves readily available. Her husband had cheated on her and there was no way he would put himself in the same category as that asshole. So, even while they were feeling this out between them, he had to make sure it was known he was no longer available.

He held her hand as they walked down the street. She was amazing—funny, smart, and not impressed with him at all. She liked him, there was no doubt about that, but for the first time in a long time, David felt like a woman really wanted to know him. Kate asked him about college and his family, and the hockey talk was more about how it affected his life. She knew what it was like to be in a fishbowl and didn’t care for the superficiality that came with celebrity. David came to the realization that he didn’t like it either. This quiet dinner with her was better than any ostentatious restaurant in the city.

Her car was classy. Understated. A silver Volvo that identified her as a suburban mom. The alarm chirped and the interior lights went on, backlighting her as she leaned against the door.

“I had fun,” she said right before she bit down on her lower lip, setting off his libido like a rocket.

“Me too,” David said, stepping closer and eliminating the space between them.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and bent toward her, getting a whiff of her sweet breath. He had to get close, kiss her. She was everything. At first, his lips just teased hers. His one hand continued to caress her face and the other slipped under her light coat and around her waist. The sweater she wore was soft under his hand, and her body felt warm and supple pressed into his. His lips tormented and tasted until she let out one of those little sighs that brought him to his knees. Then he just dove in, letting her take over his brain. Fighting against what she did to him was useless.

She was perfect for him. Her small frame fit against his like they were made for each other. Their scents mingled together and their mouths meshed in a hot dance. He couldn’t get enough of her—of the feel of her. He wanted to make her sigh again, for his name to be carried on that sigh.

“Oh, David,” she said.

There it was. He didn’t want this to end. He wanted her. It seemed whenever he touched her, he wanted her. Then just as quickly as it began, the moment ended.

“Kate? Kate Nicholls, is that you?”

Kate’s eyes squeezed shut. “Damn.”

She peered around the wall of his body and her eyes fixed on a pair of women who were walking right toward them.

She looked up. “Neighbors.”

He nodded, stepping out of her space, but still staying close. “Do you want me to leave?”

She shook her head and trained her eyes on the women who had finished their trek across the street. “Carla, Noreen… good to see you.”

“You too!” Carla leaned in and pecked Kate on the cheek. Noreen was too busy checking him out to acknowledge Kate.

“What brings you out?” Carla asked. Now she was checking him out.

“Dinner.” Touching his bicep, Kate said, “This is David.”

He received polite acknowledgement from both women, but what they were really doing was filing away information. He could see clearly that Kate being on a date was going to be gossiped about within the hour. Knowing what that was like, David felt bad that someone had seen them, but he was happy Kate hadn’t told him to go. The three women exchanged small talk that he was tuning out, until one of them said something really odd.

“Have you started thinking about college visits yet?”

David didn’t know who said it, but he did feel Kate’s muscles bunch under his hand. “Nothing specific, yet.”

“Don’t wait too long,” Carla said. “The whole process creeps up on you. I think the junior counselors are having a parents’ meeting next week.”

“I saw that,” Kate said.

David was doing math in his head. College Counselors? Campus visits? What the hell had he stepped into? He was relieved when the women finally left, because now he could get some answers.

When he looked down, Kate was chewing on her thumbnail, which seemed to be what she did when she was nervous about something. “Sorry about that,” she said.

“It’s fine.” David turned and leaned his shoulder into the car. “You have to take your daughter on college visits?”

Kate looked up. Her eyes wide. “Yes, later in the year.”

“How old is she?”

Kate looked off in the distance and straightened before answering. “She just turned seventeen.”

Whoa. Changing position, David moved and turned his back into the car. He took Kate’s hand and held tight, but he didn’t say anything. There were so many possibilities—how did he get the facts? Finally, he heard her draw in a breath.

“Remember in California when you said something about my birthday being a ‘crisis birthday’?”

“Yeah.”

“It was a crisis,” she whispered. “I turned forty.”

Time passed. It felt like minutes, but it was only seconds. “You’re forty.” He didn’t say it as a question. He didn’t move and didn’t utter another word. Her hand was still in his, but again, he could feel she’d tensed up.

“You’re in shock. I should have known.” Kate wiggled her fingers, trying to get out of his grip, but David didn’t release her. Shock or not, he didn’t want to let go.

“I’m just trying to get my head around this. You aren’t what I think a forty-year-old woman is going to be like.”

“I don’t know if I should be insulted by that.”

“Don’t be. It came out wrong.”

“I understand if you have a problem with it. I mean, you’re twenty-nine and I’m… well… I’m not.”

“No, you’re not.” David kept holding on, he couldn’t let her go, but he shifted position again and looked out across the town square. “Do you have a problem with it?

“The age difference?” She shrugged and there was a little flicker in her eyes. It was entirely possible she’d be the one who put a stop to the relationship. Forget the age thing, his reputation alone might send her running. “I should have said something to you sooner,” she said.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Honestly?” Looking up, her eyes looked sad, and David felt a tightness around his heart that he’d never felt before. “I never thought I’d see you again,” she said. “Considering who you are, I was shocked you asked me to dinner.”

Did she really think he wasn’t interested? Leaning in, David absorbed the sweet smell of her hair before dropping a kiss on her forehead. He liked her, probably too much for his own good, but he couldn’t help but think the years between them might be too much.

“I should let you go, I guess.” She was running. Her voice was small and he could tell she was upset. There had to be something he could say to reassure her, but his mind blanked.