Free Chaste Kiss by Jo Barrett Page A

pulsating heat throughout her body—a heat she was forced to ignore.
    "Aye."
    Grinning, she let out an unsteady breath and shook her head. “What am I going to do with you, my lord?"
    A sensual spark ignited in his eyes as the corner of his mouth quirked up rakishly. With a slow, sexy wink he vanished.
    Her heart permanently lodged in Isabel's throat. No amount of swallowing could move it. He was just teasing her, right? He couldn't possibly be thinking—no, not possible. Not when he looked the way he did, and she looked the way she did.
    She puffed out a breath as she folded her arms across her chest. Men like William, gorgeous, charming men, weren't interested in ordinary girls like her. But he had insinuated that he wanted to touch her—intimately—the night before.
    "I take it you and Susan aren't exactly friends anymore."
    She jerked around at the sound of her uncle's voice, still flushed from head to toe because of a handsome rogue with teasing eyes and an incredible smile. “No. I'm afraid not."
    "You okay with that?"
    She cleared her throat, still working on getting her heart back down into her chest where it belonged. “Yeah. She and I never really hit it off anyway."
    "Well, maybe this will cheer you up.” He dangled a set of keys in front of her. “Want to go for a ride?"
    "Ride? My car's fixed?"
    "No,” he said solemnly. “It was totaled. So, I bought you a new one."
    "Uncle Jerome, you shouldn't have done that. I'm sure the insurance would have left me enough to get something."
    "Doubtful, considering how old that car was. You wouldn't have hit the windshield if there had been air bags and decent seatbelts in the blasted thing."
    "I know. I thought about that myself, but I couldn't afford one.” She was lucky she had enough money after her parents died to pay for college. She often wondered what they were going to do when it ran out.
    Jerome sighed. “You should have come to me. You know I would've helped you."
    She smiled and shook her head.
    "Well, you don't need to worry about it now,” he said. “So do you want to go for a spin before lunch?"
    "You're on.” She kissed him on the cheek and snatched the keys. Fresh air would clear her mind and cool her hormones.
    As they reached the garage, her mouth fell open. Her new car was a pretty little convertible in bright cherry red. “It's beautiful. But I guess I won't be toting around any antiques in this thing."
    "Not unless you ride with the top down, and then I doubt you'd get much in the passenger seat."
    Laughing, they got into the car and headed down the drive. The spring air felt wonderful against her face. The wind whipping through her hair cleansed her mind of the frightening thoughts she had of losing William to an accidental touch, but not those other thoughts. And especially not the look in his eye right before he vanished.
    Clutching the steering wheel tighter, she thrust the car into gear. Never had she ever experienced so much sexual frustration. Oh, there'd been a time or two when she'd almost given in to the urges over the years, but that something always held her back. But this time that something didn't seem to be doing squat, and she wasn't sure how to deal with it.
    "Take it easy. This isn't a race, you know,” her uncle said.
    She smiled, forcing herself to relax and let the hum of the motor soothe her, seeing as it was her only alternative. Wasting a glorious spring day when the mountains were beginning to come to life with spring, would be a sin. If only William could be next to her now. He would get an absolute kick out of riding in a convertible.
    She wondered if he'd ever been in a car. Surely when the bed was moved he ventured out of hiding. On second thought, that wouldn't have been much fun. The back of a moving van was probably all he'd ever seen.
    Wherever the bed went, he went.
    An idea popped into her head. Did the entire bed have to go, or only part of it?
    The thought lingered as their trip around town and back