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Excerpt:

When the song ended, he didn’t let go. She looked up when the fast beat of a song exploded from the loudspeakers. He must have mistaken her expression for something else, because instead of releasing her, he bent down for a kiss.

Shocked, she jumped back, stumbling into another couple. The boy swore as his partner stumbled.

“I’m so sorry,” Josie cried, taking the girl’s arm. Some chaperone she was. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay, Josie.”

Josie recognized the girl as a senior whose mother was a frequent shopper at the scrapbook store. “Okay, sorry again.”

She backed away, nearly bumping into another boy, before she whirled and dashed toward the punch table.

She grabbed a paper cup and poured punch into it. When she lifted it to her lips she slopped a little of the red liquid on her dress. It figured. The dress had survived the end of her high school relationship with Miguel but not the beginning of phase two.

She grabbed a handful of the napkins meant for cookies and wiped the bodice of her dress. Someone took her cup from her other hand.

“What happened?”

Of course it was Miguel. “I spilled.”

“I can see that. Why did you run off the dance floor?”

“This is a high school dance. Chaperones don’t make out.”

“Oh, right.” He paused. “Wait, don’t you remember? The science teacher was having an affair with the Spanish teacher and the principal caught them in the kitchen at prom?”

“No.”

“Huh. I could have sworn I wasn’t making that up.” He grinned at her.

She remembered he had been a very good storyteller, bordering on liar. “I’m going to see if there’s any club soda in the kitchen. I hear that can fix anything.”

She dashed toward the kitchen. The lights were off, since all the reinforcements were already out on the table. She supposed the kids had been ravenous after the football game, since the concessions at the stadium were so awful and overpriced that people tended to avoid them. The refrigerator light came on when she opened the door, but all she found inside was a carton of orange juice.

“No luck?” Miguel had followed her into the kitchen.

“No.”

“Will you talk to me now?”

“I don’t want to kiss you.” Okay, that was a lie, but a kiss was risky.

He folded his arms. “Is that what this is about?”

“You had no right. You left me and anyway, we’re supposed to be a good example.” She had always been the girl who liked public displays of affection. Funny how time had turned her into a woman who didn’t want to be kissed. At least under these circumstances.

She saw his grimace in the refrigerator’s light. “I said I was sorry.”

“I don’t think you are. I get the feeling you’re hoping to pick up right where we left off!”

“Are you single?” he asked.

Wasn’t that supposed to be her line? “Yes.”

“So am I. We obviously still have great chemistry. All you need to do is forgive me and then we can have a great time.” His tone was reasonable.

How could she forgive him for something that happened so long ago that it had actually formed her adult character? “You have got to be kidding me.”

“You have any better prospects?”

“Maybe. There are men who are interested in me, men who are settled.” She wasn’t interested in them, but that wasn’t the issue. “We should get back out there.”

Miguel’s grin didn’t falter. He ignored her faint protest. “I don’t remember you being so interested in material things.”

“I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“Neither am I. I would have thought, teenager or not, you’d still know how to prize sexual chemistry.”

Josie shut the refrigerator door.

“We still have chemistry,” he repeated. “How long has it been for you?”

“How long for you?” she countered, her voice sounding embarrassingly weak and somehow needy in the dark.

“Longer than you can imagine.”

She laughed. This was the boyfriend who had gone down on his knees begging her for sex after she’d shut him down for a ten-day family vacation.

“Three weeks?” she guessed, giving him credit for maturity.

“No, sweetheart, it’s been a lot longer than that.”

“Then you have changed.”

“I have workaholic tendencies.”

“So what did you do, work your way out of your last job?”

“You could say that. Now, you didn’t answer my question. How long has it been?”

“You aren’t my one and only, if that’s what you’re asking,” Josie told him.

“And?”

“That’s all you need to know. I’m no Sleeping Beauty waiting for your touch to reawaken me, but I do live in a small town.”

“You didn’t like any of the local boys.”

“Yeah, but I drive now.”

He chuckled and leaned against the refrigerator. “What do you say, Josie? We’re adult, single. I have a queen-sized bed and my own place, unlike last time. You probably have the same.”

“You’ll leave,” Josie told him, the words spilling from her lips like ash. “I’m not going to let you break my heart again.”

“Who said anything about hearts?” Miguel countered. “You know you can’t trust me, so you’re smart enough to understand that this time, it’s all about sex.”

Sex. She really did miss it, even if it had really been good only with him. He was the only one who exactly fit her. Her body softened and she felt herself start to sway toward him, then caught herself.

“It’s all about sex,” he repeated softly. “I won’t make you cry this time.”

She shook her head. He’d lost none of his self-confidence, that was for sure. How had he ended up an auto mechanic instead of, well, whatever she had imagined he’d be? A movie star? He had the looks and charisma. An extreme sports star? Or maybe some kind of cutthroat courtroom lawyer, grandstanding and winning cases. A success, certainly. She was interested enough to stick around and learn more. But did she really want to sleep with him again?

As soon as she asked herself the question, she knew the answer was yes. “You haven’t developed any criminal tendencies?”

He put out his hand, found her chin in the dark and pulled her toward him. “I still steal kisses.”

This time when he bent his head she didn’t pull away, but parted her lips and waited for him to come to her. His mouth still had the warm intensity she remembered. Her lips tingled at the contact. Why was it that some guys just instinctively knew how to kiss?

His skin rubbed against her, his mouth smooth, his breath tasting of chocolate from a brownie he must have sneaked earlier.

His tongue toyed with the edges of her mouth, teasing her into opening further. He took possession slowly, but so thoroughly. She found herself gripping his forearms as he claimed her. Her body went liquid and she found herself right back in slow dance position.

Blurb:

Webcomic artist Josie Manheim never expected to reunite with her sinfully gorgeous high school ex on a blind date. But one look at him has her remembering their sexy exploits and wanting more. He’s changed, though, darker and more mysterious than in the old days. Each encounter ratchets the intensity of their connection…and begs the question of who he’s become.

Miguel Barrino, now an undercover FBI agent, has trailed a priceless piece of stolen art to his former home town. Can he keep his ex out of trouble and still heat things up with her under the covers? With criminals on the loose, falling in love could lead to more than hearts in danger.