Free Black Ice by Sandy Curtis Page A

talk to you.'
    'So I …'
    'It was the best pick-up line I'd ever heard. You turned around and caught me staring. For a whole minute you just looked back at me. Then you walked up to me and asked me if I carried a step-ladder for girls who wanted to kiss me.'
    'I didn't!'
    'You did.' That slow smile lit up his face, and Kirri had an almost uncontrollable urge to do exactly that - kiss him. 'What did you say?' she breathed.
    'Nothing,' he said, leaning closer. 'I just bent down and looked you straight in the eye.'
    'And did I … did I …'
    'Kiss me? No. You just smiled and said my eyes reminded you of a golden retriever you'd had as a little kid. So I figured that even a sassy-mouthed redhead had to be all right if she loved dogs.'
    Kirri opened her mouth to protest, but Daniel continued. 'After that, we went everywhere together. It was my third day in New Orleans and my first vacation in years that I hadn't spent learning Dad's business.'
    Gently, he placed his large hands on her upper arms. His touch did strange things to her, heating her blood, disturbing her breathing.
    'Kirri, I loved you from the first moment I saw you. And I learned the most terrible thing about love is that it makes you vulnerable. I found it hard to believe that this beautiful, talented woman would fall in love with me. When I received the phone call about Dad and had to fly back to Seattle, I knew I couldn't leave you behind. So I asked you to marry me. When you said yes I could hardly believe it. I'd never wanted to spend the rest of my life with anyone before I met you. I was content with my work, and I guess I never really thought a woman would be happy to share my fairly isolated existence.
    'So when you didn't show up at the airport I began to doubt what you'd said. As the weeks went by I began to suspect that you'd agreed to marry me out of kindness, so I would be happy when I went to see my father. Or that you'd changed your mind and didn't know how to tell me. When I found out you'd returned to Australia it seemed to confirm this. And I guess I was beginning to doubt that someone as vibrant and beautiful as you could really love me.'
    'You're kidding! You're attractive, sexy …' her voice trailed off as she realised how enthusiastic she sounded. 'and you seem to be a very nice person as well,' she finished lamely. 'It's hard to believe you were shy.' Especially the way his hands gently moved over her arms now, causing little tremors to pass through her body.
    'It took me three days to work up the courage to kiss you.' Daniel wondered if he should do so now, but he was afraid Kirri would run from him as she had just a few short hours ago.
    'And how long before we …' Kirri's voice shook as full realisation hit her. He could remember everything, what she looked like naked, what she felt like beneath him, how she moaned under his lovemaking … She had no doubts that she would have moaned, she was almost doing that now with only the feel of his hands caressing her skin. And she remembered nothing!
    She could have screamed with the unfairness of it all. Instead she pulled away from him, stepped back two paces, and folded her arms. 'Strip!' she commanded.
    'What?'
    The look on his face was comical, but she wasn't in a laughing mood.
    'It's not fair that you've seen me … naked, and I've only seen you half naked. If we're going to talk about … our relationship - the one we had,' she hastened to add, 'then I think it's only fair that I have some knowledge of what I … experienced.'
    She watched his face as he thought about what she'd said, and decided that he should never play poker. Every thought was mirrored in his eyes, and she could see why she would have been attracted to him. If ever a man had an honest face, it was Daniel Brand. No wonder he had such a hard time in big business. The jackals of the corporate world would have tried to devour him. But as she observed his slow acceptance of what she had demanded,