Free About That Kiss by Jayne Addison Page A

much sun,” Nick said lazily. Way to go, Tremain. You, rascal, you.
    “Or too much sun,” Joy concurred. She knew he wasn’t referring to the trials and tribulations of making a winery pay off. He was referring to the beach in East Hampton. What did he want from her?
    Joy hugged her arms together. “Well…” Her hands got lost in the sleeves of her coat like a muffler, as she clasped them together in front of her waist.
    “Are you cold?”
    “Not really,” Joy answered, staring straight ahead. The snow was beginning to cover the front window. The muscles in her lower abdomen were shivery, but not because she was cold. “I sampled enough wine in the last two days to keep myself warm for a while.”
    “And Diana said you couldn’t handle your wine,” he teased, with one arm draped over the wheel, his back to the driver’s door.
    “To be perfectly honest, I am a little tipsy.” Joy wondered if he had any sense of her tension. Sitting alone with him in his car with the sky darkening around them was very intimate..
    “How tipsy?” Nick asked, clearly amused, though his eyes had taken on a sultry look.
    “You don’t have to worry until my eyes cross,” Joy answered, getting impudent with him. It was as good a way as she could think of to cover her nervousness.
    “You’re too far away for me to check that out for myself.” His fingers circled her neck, while his other hand slid around her waist where her hands were girded together. He towed her slowly toward him until the gearshift between their seats held him back.
    “Are they crossed?” Joy asked breathlessly. She knew it wasn’t her eyes he was interested in playfully exploring. Oh, she was such a weakling.
    Nick slowly shook his head, and then he smiled that damnable sexy smile of his.
    The instant his mouth settled onto hers, Joy’s eyes closed and her lips parted for him. She felt his tongue reach toward her own, felt hers respond.
    He released her neck, taking her into his arms to pull her closer against his leather jacket. She gave him permission as her hands unwound from the fortress she’d made in front of her waist.
    Joy wrapped her hands low around his hips. Her tongue was moving along with his in sensual circles within her mouth. He put a few inches between their bodies to bring one hand to the front of her coat. She sensed that he’d finished opening the buttons even before his hand came over one breast to cup her gently against the fabric of her blouse and bra. Her imagination—andit had run creatively rampant—had in no way prepared her for what it would actually feel like to have him touch her this way. Joy thought she’d actually stopped breathing. She was completely unaware she was moaning. Or that his other hand had slid inside her coat and was tugging her blouse out of her skirt. Lost in passion and emotion, Joy initiated her own racing need to touch. Tentatively Joy brought a hand up inside his unzipped jacket to his chest, moving his tie aside to slip a trembling finger between the buttons of his blue shirt.
    At the realization of what she was attempting to do, he stopped kissing her and leaned back just enough to give her more access.
    “Go ahead,” Nick whispered raggedly, his breath whisking across her face as he finished tugging her blouse out of her skirt.
    Joy didn’t feel what he was doing with her blouse. The only thing she felt was his shudder as she opened a button of his shirt. Remembering the way he’d looked without a shirt, his chest entirely exposed, Joy opened another button. It was too dark in the car for her to see all she wanted to see, but touching was no problem at all. She pressed her palm to hard muscle. Her fingers fanned out. She found a nipple and timorously touched the tip.
    His breath was painfully constricting but neither hell nor high water could have kept Nick from lifting up her blouse now. He bunched the hem in his hand and brought it up.
    A guttural groan came from his throat. He sought the