Free Hill Country Hero by Ann DeFee

from her eyes.
    “It sounds better than my date. I was going with Carmelita Schmidt and I worked my tail off to get enough money to make it a special night. But she ended up leaving the dance with her old boyfriend. It sounds a lot like your experience.”
    It was obviously an embarrassing story, but Jake told it so wryly that CiCi had to giggle.
    “Since then I’ve gotten better with my technique,” he added.
    She’d just bet he had. Both Mia and Mama had warned her that he was a “player,” and CiCi could easily believe it. She remembered numerous pictures of him in the paper with a different woman on his arm each time. She shouldn’t—couldn’t—let herself relax around him like this. So back to her mantra—remember Tank. Remember Tank. Remember Tank.
    When CiCi opened her mouth, she wasn’t prepared forwhat popped out. “Did you know that I was married to Tank Tankersley?”
    “Are you kidding?” Jake looked at her as if she’d grown another head.
    “It’s the truth.” She knew she sounded defensive, but couldn’t help it.
    “Hey, I didn’t mean anything bad, I’m just blown away. I got the feeling that you weren’t all that impressed with jocks. And Tank’s such a…tank.”
    CiCi laughed at the accuracy of Jake’s description. “He left me for a librarian.”
    “Are you foolin’ me?”
    “Nope. It’s the honest-to-God truth. Sometimes I wonder if she’s into some kinky stuff.” CiCi didn’t know what made her share that part. That was something she hadn’t even told her sisters.
    “So how long were you and Tank together?” Jake asked. His expression was uncharacteristically serious. “Six years.”
    “Wow. I hadn’t heard Tank was married. He was quite a—” He must have realized he was about to stick his foot in it because he did some impressive backtracking. “Not that I was ever friends with him, or anything. In fact, I barely know him.”
    “Don’t worry. I know what Tank is like. I’m fine with everything.” That wasn’t entirely true but it would have to do. “How about you?”
    “I’m not married, no kids, no entanglements. I’m just a lonely soul.” He grinned at that obvious lie. “Uh-huh.”
    “What time do you have?” Jake asked, holding up his watch. “Mine’s not working.” Why was that important? It wasn’t as if they had anywhere to go.
    And why was he sitting so close? They weren’t on a date ordoing anything intimate. On the contrary, they were simply sitting by the river, enjoying the evening. But somehow it felt like a dangerous game of foreplay.
    Jake leaned across as if to look at the face of her watch, but instead his head kept going and to her amazement he laid a feathery kiss on her bare midriff.
    “Oh!” CiCi’s breath hitched as her fingers involuntarily stroked the silky hair at the nape of his neck.
    When he raised his head, he had the look of a man on a mission—sensual and intent. He was so close that in the moonlight she could see flecks of blue in his green eyes.
    “Jeez,” he muttered, before lowering his lips to hers.
    Although the kiss was almost whisper-soft, it was the most erotic touch CiCi had ever experienced. When Jake explored the seam of her lips, her temperature spiked all the way to the Milky Way. Breathing became impossible, and that was before he deepened the kiss.
    She’d known Jake less than a week and she was already on a hormonal overload. What was it about this man that she couldn’t resist? Her heart wondered if someone who could kiss like this might be worth the risk. Her head told her to run. So which was going to win—head or heart?
    Before things went any further, Jake pulled back. And thank goodness he did because CiCi had totally taken leave of her senses.
    “Why did you do that?” God, she hated being a shrew, especially after that kiss, but the very last thing she wanted was to be another notch on his bedpost.
    “Because I wanted to.” He seemed baffled by her question, and why not? She