Zach looked offended. “What’s so funny about having our picture taken together? Do I have a piece of rice stuck in my teeth?”
“No, you look great. It’s a wonderful idea.” She couldn’t say what she thought of the lighting in front of the waiter, so she handed him the camera. “Thanks.”
The waiter backed up and motioned them to get closer together. Zach angled his chair sideways and reached across the small table to put his arm around Hannah.
When he cupped his warm hand around her bare arm, her heart began to beat so loud she was afraid he’d hear it. The waiter waved her closer, and she leaned in, putting her head almost next to Zach’s. That gave her a delicious whiff of his aftershave. In no time she was imagining what it would be like to kiss him, then snuggle against that soft white shirt and loosen his silk tie.
The camera flashed, blinding her. At that moment, whether it was a reflex or intentional, Zach’s fingers tightened around her arm. Warmth coursed through her, and she didn’t want to move…ever. “How about a second shot?” she asked.
“No problem.” The waiter aimed the camera again.
This time Zach stroked her arm gently as the camera flashed. That was no reflex. That was intentional. He was touching her as if he liked the idea. Well, so did she. A lot.
“Those are two winners.” The waiter handed the camera back to Hannah, and she had to move away from Zach to take it. Bummer. But her skin still tingled, reminding her that they’d made their first physical connection. She stayed high on that sensation as Zach paid the bill and they left the restaurant.
Still thinking of his hand stroking her arm, she shivered.
“Cold?” Immediately Zach took off his suit coat.
“Um, no…” Then she felt the cocoon of his coat settle around her shoulders and changed her mind. “Maybe a little.”
“I thought so. We’re not in Arizona. It’s probably a hundred degrees there right now.”
“So Mario told you I’m from Phoenix?” She’d secretly hoped Zach would take her hand as they walked along the sidewalk, but he made no move to do it. Well, holding hands in public was a statement, after all. Stroking someone’s arm while having your picture taken was not. She could understand if Zach wasn’t ready to make a statement.
“He mentioned you were from there. He thinks you’re a hop, skip and a jump from the Grand Canyon.”
“Not quite. Things aren’t quite so close together in the western part of the country.” She hugged his jacket close and inhaled Eau de Zach. He was right that she hadn’t expected chilly weather. Tomorrow she might need to buy a light jacket, but for tonight, this was perfect. Romantic, even.
That made her remember the pictures the waiter had taken. “Do you want to see what our pictures look like? It’s a digital camera.”
“First I want to know why you laughed at the idea of taking a picture in the first place.”
“You’ll see.” She pulled the camera out of her purse and clicked a button to turn on the tiny screen. Sure enough, they looked like two ghouls on Halloween. She handed him the camera. “Check it out.”
“Whoa.” He stopped walking and moved to the inside of the sidewalk. “Now, that’s scary.”
“I can erase them.” She reached for the camera.
He pulled the camera out of reach. “Don’t you dare! My nephews back home would love this. The Uncle Zach freak show. I want a copy.”
“Great. I’ll be the laughingstock of your hometown.” But he wasn’t worried about showing her around, which was nice. “So you’re not from here, either?” Knowing that made him less intimidating.
“A little town in Illinois called Auburn. It’s near Springfield.”
“That explains why you don’t sound like Mario.”
He grinned and handed her the camera. “No, but I’m working on it. Promise you won’t erase those pictures.”
“I promise.” As she was putting the camera back in her purse, a tattered young guy with long hair approached.
“Can you spare some change?” he asked.
Thrilled to be able to help, Hannah rummaged in her large purse, searching for a can of tuna. “I have something even better.”
“Folding money?” the guy asked hopefully.
“This.” She held out the can. “Loaded with omega three.”
The young man blinked and took it. “Huh.” He stared at the can as if trying to decide what to do with it. Then he brightened. “Cool! This will make an awesome puck for street hockey! Thanks!”
“But I intended for you to…” She let her protest trail off as the guy sauntered away, tossing the can in the air and whistling.
“You can’t save ’em all,” Zach said gently.
“I know.” Feeling deflated, she gazed after the young man as he crossed against the light, all the while juggling the can from one hand to the other. “This afternoon one person asked me if there was some way you could distill tuna. I told him I didn’t think so. But three others seemed really glad to get it, so I don’t think it was a total waste of suitcase space.”
“It was a great use of suitcase space.”
Something in his voice made her look up at him. One glance into his eyes and her heart started pounding again. Giving away tuna might have reaped an unexpected reward. Zach Evans was about to kiss her.
CHAPTER FOUR
ZACH HAD HELD OFF AS LONG as he could stand it. He’d been wanting to do this for two hours, and seeing the earnest way she’d offered up her can of tuna to the vagrant had sent him over the edge. Taking her firmly by the shoulders, he drew her close.
She came willingly, which was a good thing. If she’d resisted, it could have been very awkward. But she looked as ready to be kissed as any woman he’d held in his arms. He couldn’t remember a time he’d anticipated the moment more, either.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and he took the time to savor the view of her face tilted up to catch the light from a nearby streetlamp. He took it all in-the daisies in her hair, the graceful sweep of her eyebrows, the pert shape of her nose, the generous fullness of her mouth. Her lips were parted just the slightest bit, which made him believe this kiss could progress nicely into something hot, wet and French.
She opened her eyes. “I thought you were going to kiss me.”
“I am.”
Her brown eyes were soft and dreamy. “Isn’t everything supposed to move faster in New York?”
That made him smile. “You don’t think this is fast? We just met this morning.”
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“Oh, yeah. Second, third and fourth thoughts.” And they all centered on Mario’s dash.
She frowned. “Then you think kissing me is a bad idea?”
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, and that’s what worries me.” He leaned closer. “Everything is exactly…right.” And with a soft moan he gave himself up to her velvet mouth.
He should have known he’d find paradise there. The warning signs had been flashing from his first glimpse of her in the hotel lobby. Whoever had said that a kiss was just a kiss had never locked lips with Hannah.
She welcomed him with more enthusiasm than any poor mortal deserved. But deserving or not, he was going to take advantage of that delicious, moist and erection-producing welcome. He kissed her from one angle, then shifted to capture all that perfection from another, deeper, angle.
Although he longed to pull her tight against him, he didn’t dare chance it. Once that happened, they’d never make it to Times Square. So he clutched her shoulders and centered all his attention on her marvelous, incredible mouth.
He supposed passing pedestrians stopped to stare. He and Hannah must be putting on quite a show, and normally he wasn’t the type to do that. But this morning he’d met Hannah and his type might be about to change. Now he didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. He was too busy kissing a woman with daisies in her hair.