Free Catch 'n' Kiss (Are You Game?) by Rhian Cahill Page A

then slipped the straps off her shoulders and out through the sleeves in one of those contortionist tricks most women knew. More comfortable, she cleaned her teeth then used the loo before taking a brush to her hair.
    Instead of her normal ponytail, she’d worn her hair out, and as usual when she did, it was a tangled mass of knots. She really should think about getting it cut except she liked the ease of long hair. Liked being able to gather it up into a tail out of her way and forget about it. She’d never been the type to bother with fussy hairstyles even in her younger years, and once the girls had arrived she’d barely had time to shower, never mind spend hours blow-drying. Jody yanked the last snag free then gathered it all together and wrapped an elastic band around it.
    With nothing else to do, she had no excuse to hideout in the bathroom any longer. Determined to show Dan he didn’t get to her even though he did on so many levels she refused to examine them, Jody opened the door and entered the room. The moonlight filtering in lit the area enough for her to see he was lying on the bed closest to the window. He had the sheet drawn up to his waist but the effort was too little too late. She knew what lay beneath the covers and wanted to crawl under there with him. But she wouldn’t give in to the urge.
    Using the skills she’d learn through years of self-denial, she crawled into the other bed. He didn’t say anything and she was grateful. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash the evening. She was dog-tired and just wanted to go to sleep. She’d stupidly stayed away from the room in the hope of finding him asleep when she returned so they wouldn’t have to face each other. Fat lot of good that idea had done her. Not only had he been awake, he’d been standing there in all his naked—aroused—mouth-watering glory waiting for her.
    “Sorry.” Dan’s voice broke the quiet.
    “For?” Jody didn’t think he was apologising for being naked. Or aroused.
    “For hounding you about where you’ve been and with whom.” His sigh echoed through the room. “I have no right to question you.”
    She smiled. She totally understood why he’d asked so she couldn’t let him think she’d been offended by his questioning. “It’s okay. I should have just come to the room straight away.”
    “Why didn’t you?”
    The darkness made it easier to reveal her true feelings and she found herself disclosing more than she should. “I was trying to avoid being alone with you. Especially seeing how I knew you’d be stripping out of your clothes at some point.”
    “The chance of seeing me naked repulses you that much?” he asked.
    Jody laughed. “No. Not repulsed.”
    “What then?”
    “Honestly?”
    “Yes.” His answer was muffled by the rustling of the bedcovers and she imagined him rolling over. “I wouldn’t expect you to be anything but honest with me, Jody.”
    He sounded closer and she turned her head to find him stretched out on the very edge of his bed closest to her.
    “I was more concerned with keeping my distance from you. Naked or otherwise.”
    “I scare you?”
    “No, not exactly.” She sighed and returned her gaze to the darkened ceiling. “I can’t explain it really, and even if I could I’m not sure you’d understand.”
    “Tell me about your marriage.”
    The abrupt change of subject threw her. “My marriage?”
    “Yes. How old were you? How’d you meet him? How long were you together? Did you love him?”
    “Eighteen. High school. Years past when we should have been and I thought I did. Now I’m not so sure.”
    “You don’t know if you loved him?” Shock laced his words.
    Jody turned her head to look at Dan. He lay on his side, elbow bent, head resting on his palm while he watched her. “I loved him with everything I was, but I’m not sure it was ever the kind of love that lasts a lifetime. Or perhaps it was the fact he didn’t love me the same way in return.”
    “You