50 Harbor Street - Debbie Macomber [50]
She found herself blurting out a rather awkward invitation. “Would you like to come inside? Inside my apartment, I mean…for a few minutes?” She knew she’d suffer a sleepless night if she didn’t tell him. It was completely unfair to lead him on.
Linnette stepped into the apartment and was greeted by a blast of warm air as the furnace kicked in. “Oh!” she said, pointing toward the window that overlooked the marina. With the snow drifting down, the scene could’ve been an illustration on a Christmas card. A number of the boats were gaily decorated with colorful lights strung on their masts. They bobbed almost rhythmically on the water, their lights reflected by its dark surface.
Cal stopped her when she moved to flick on a lamp. “Keep them off,” he said—again with no sign of a stutter.
Oh, boy. Here it was. Just as she’d feared, he was going to kiss her. He turned her in his embrace and slipped one arm around her waist and the other over her shoulder. As he bent forward, there was ample opportunity to stop him. But she didn’t. Why, Linnette could only speculate. Curiosity, she supposed.
Without even a whimper of protest, she tilted her face toward his, closed her eyes and waited. She wasn’t disappointed. His mouth was firm and moist and surprisingly smooth. That was what shook her most. Because Cal was a man’s man. A horse trainer. Before she was even aware of it, he’d coaxed her lips open. From that point on, the kiss quickly heated up. Everything did.
A few minutes earlier, they’d been standing in the cold and snow. Now heat suffused her until it was all she could do to breathe. Gripping his coat, she welcomed the exploration of his tongue, meeting his with her own, shyly at first and them more boldly.
By the time Cal broke off the kiss, Linnette felt on the verge of collapse. They edged away from each other as though they were both in shock.
Linnette staggered into the kitchen and placed her hand on the kitchen counter in an effort to regain her balance. Long before she was ready, Cal was standing behind her, touching her shoulder.
“No,” she insisted, horrified that the word sounded more like a croak.
“No?” he asked.
She turned, unsure how to handle this. Sliding her arms around his waist, she exhaled a long, drawn-out breath. Unable to resist, she kissed the underside of his jaw.
He purred as softly as a kitten. “Nice.”
“Too nice. This isn’t right.”
His eyes narrowed. “Sooner than you w-want?”
“That isn’t it,” she whispered, and because she was embarrassed and more than a little confused, she buried her face in his chest. “I think very highly of you.”
“Hmm…” He nuzzled her neck. “Me, too.”
Shivers of desire shot down her spine as his lips explored the sensitive skin of her throat. She had to say something, and fast. “It would be wrong to let this go on.”
“Wrong?” He lifted his head and looked directly into her eyes. “No.” As if to prove her incorrect, he slowly lowered his mouth to hers again. This kiss was as devastating as the first. More so. She felt herself weaken.
“Cal, please,” she managed when she found her voice. “There’s someone else I’m interested in.”
He froze and instantly released her.
Linnette lurched backward. “I’m sorry. I’ve known Chad Timmons for some time and well, I accepted this date to make him jealous. That was wrong. I apologize.”
He stepped away from her as though in a daze. Because of his Stetson she couldn’t see his eyes. She didn’t need to. She felt his disappointment, his frustration—his pain.
“I feel dreadful.” She shouldn’t have told him about Chad. It was too hurtful, too cruel. “Will you forgive me?”
Without a word, he turned and strode out of the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. But his only response was the slamming of her door.
Cal was gone. So much for letting him down gently, for not wanting to mislead him. If Linnette had been feeling sick earlier, it was nothing compared