Free Shot in the Dark by Jennifer Conner

her down the stairs. “I live on peanut butter crackers half the time,” he commented. “Anything that’s homemade will be a real treat. My stomach and my mom will thank you.”
    Before all hell broke loose with Jon and Devan, she’d lit taper candles on the dining room table. When they entered the living room, Luci reached to turn the lights back on, but decided to keep the lighting low. The candlelight went with the ‘ Italian dinner mood’ she’d wanted to set for the evening in her small apartment.
    “Why don’t you open it?” Luci motioned toward the grocery bag with her head.
    “Do you want the juice, or the wine?”
    “Let’s save the juice. Last night, when I said I didn’t drink, I meant I didn’t drink whiskey . Wine’s great.”
    “Whiskey’s made with natural ingredients,” Devan added, taking the corkscrew from her grasp that she’d fished from the bottom drawer.
    She nodded. “You’re right. Why draw a line in the sand? It’s like when they ask you at the doctor’s office ‘ do you consume alcohol ?’ I always want to ask, a fifth a day, or once a month? There’s no right answer.”
    “Like when women ask, ‘ does this dress make me look fat ?’” Devan grinned wiggling his hips in a feminine gesture. His genuine smile warmed his dark eyes to a lighter shade of brown. He hooked his thumbs in the back pockets of his pants.
    Luci leaned toward him, raised her lashes and batting them dramatically. “I’ll tell you a little secret. That’s when the man says, ‘ you’re beautiful, honey, in anything you wear ’ and then kisses the woman’s socks off. She’ll forget about the question she just asked or why she was baiting him into the possible argument in the first place.”
    Devan moved in closer. His gaze raked slowly down her body and came to rest on her bare feet. “You’re not wearing socks. In fact you’re not even wearing shoes, so there’s nothing to kiss off. But, you do look beautiful. You always look beautiful.”
    For a long moment he studied what she knew was a look of surprise on her face, before dipping his head and capturing her mouth with his.
    Running a hand though her hair he cupped the back of her head, angling it to deepen the kiss. He tasted spicy and hot. His tongue entwined to meet hers, a deliberate move she was sure he’d created to steal the breath from her lungs.
    There was no doubt he knew his way around a woman, and that was a little intimidating. Luci could count the sexual experiences she’d had with men on the ten digits of her fingers.
    Breaking the kiss, Devan pulled back enough to make eye contact. A slight smile played at the corners of his fine lips. “Maybe it’s something about this kitchen. When I’m here I always want to kiss you, and I seem to be making a habit out of it.”
    Luci’s voice cracked as she tried to speak. “We could make a habit of it in other places… like the bedroom?”
    He cocked a brow, making her heart flutter. “Let’s wait until after dinner.” His eyes darkened with the sensual glitter of promise.
    “So you’re telling me if we have sex, it’ll be based on my cooking abilities? Because that’s a lot of pressure to put on a girl. I never said I was Rachel Ray. It’s only spaghetti!”
    Devan gave a sexy chuckle, as he brushed his fingers through Luci’s hair. Taking nips at her neck, he kissed a trail back to her mouth before sealing his lips to hers again. Luci let out a whimper and her knees weakened from his supercharged kiss.
    Blood pulsed through her veins as the need to feel him shot to her core making her wet with desire. Arching on her bare toes, she pressed against him, wanting to climb inside his big warm body. The press of his cock was evident against the loose fitting fabric of his dress pants.
    The flick of his tongue and the feel of his mouth on hers were more than perfect. They fit so perfectly, how could that be?
    His breathing was ragged as he stepped back. “This wasn’t