“Good point.” He glanced down at their hands. He still held hers and she hadn’t pulled away. “I take it this is why you hate being on the receiving end of publicity?”

Amy nodded. “It’s part of the reason.” She didn’t know how to further explain, but she tried. “My dad was nothing like my mom. From the time I was little, he taught me the importance of making a difference. He was a lawyer who specialized in family law and he did his part to make the world a better place.”

He squeezed her hand lightly and she appreciated the gesture. She smiled, and one look into his eyes told her his understanding wasn’t an act. He got what she was saying.

What she couldn’t explain to him, what she didn’t want to even admit to herself, was that her fear of the press went deeper. Being fired from her first job just for being photographed beside her naked mother reinforced her belief that her mother’s wildness was a trait she had to suppress-in her parent and in herself. Because a secret part of Amy admired her mother’s brazenness. That same part sometimes yearned to be set free so she could jump in pools on a whim and openly enjoy life without fear.

She had more of her mother in her than she cared to admit. Amy had gotten drunk at college and joined her best friend in streaking outside the boys’ dorm. When she’d woken up the next morning, she had a fuzzy recollection of a wild night, but nothing more-until the football players whistled at her the next day. “Nice ass, Amy!” they’d called, and the memory of what she’d done came flooding back. It wasn’t the first time she’d done something crazy. But she always tried to make it the last. And by attempting to temper her mother’s antics, she managed to control her own.

During her years at the retirement community, she hadn’t exactly excelled at keeping her mother in check-but short of enforced confinement, not even her father had been able to do that. What Amy had accomplished, however, was to turn her uncle’s retirement home into a successful establishment, and she’d proved to herself that working behind the scenes was her forte.

“Hey.” Roper reached out and brushed a strand of hair off her face.

She trembled at his touch, her body immediately responding.

“Not everybody’s cut out for my kind of life. Hell, sometimes I’m not cut out for my kind of life,” he said, chuckling.

“Poor baby.” She spoke lightly, but she was feeling anything but casual toward him at the moment.

He understood her feelings. He cared. And from the moment she’d met him, she’d wanted this. Wanted to be alone with him and see where things went.

Maybe it was that damned wild side and maybe this yearning for Roper was real. She didn’t know, but when she looked into his intense eyes filled with desire for her alone, everything inside her told her to go for it.

Her heart pounded hard, echoing in her ears. The tension had been building between them all night, and sharing her past, her fears, herself, only intensified the connection.

She wondered if he’d make the first move or if she’d just throw caution to the wind and kiss him first. It was a tie. They met in the middle, lips lightly touching at the same time he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, locking her in place.

She wasn’t going anywhere but liked the pressure of his palm pressing her ever closer, deepening the kiss. Fireworks went off inside her brain while sizzling heat seared her body inside out. She was lost in the moment while he seemed to grow frenzied. His hands threaded upward through her hair, while she grasped his shoulders and dug her nails into him, needing more with each passing second.

With shaking hands, she moved to his shirt, working on the buttons, opening one at a time, making sure her fingers grazed his chest. “Did I ever mention that I like how you’re always so nicely dressed?” she managed to ask him.

He lifted his head and smiled. “No, but I’m glad you noticed.”

She laughed softly. “I noticed everything about you. Of course, it’s hard for a woman who’s used to running around in shorts and flip-flops to compete with you. I changed at least fifteen times tonight,” she said, embarrassed at the admission.

His eyes grew darker, hotter, if possible. “I’ve never seen you looking anything but perfect,” he said as he brought his hands around to the back of her dress.

Her nipples tightened even more than they already were, puckering hard as he slowly undid her zipper, lowering it until he reached the small of her back.

“I’d like to see Florida through your eyes,” he said in a husky voice. “And I’d love to be with you when you’re running around in those skimpy little shorts and tank tops.”

She licked her damp lips. “I don’t recall mentioning that my shorts were skimpy or that I wore tank tops.”

“It’s my imagination. Let it get carried away, will you?” He splayed his hands across her back and sucked in a shallow breath. “No bra.” He closed his eyes and counted to ten, all the while skimming his hand up and down her bare back. “I’m glad I didn’t know about this before now.”

“Honestly, this dress didn’t call for one.”

“Honestly, I’m glad.” He pulled the dress down over her shoulders, releasing her breasts.

She tried not to squirm or show her embarrassment as he stared at her full breasts, tight nipples and overall bare top half.

He leaned his head back against the couch and groaned. “Amy, you are so gorgeous.”

She shook her head. “I’ve seen the women you’ve been with, so let’s not go there, okay? If I wasn’t so far gone with wanting you, I’d be more self-conscious. Let’s not give me time to get there.” She glanced away as she spoke.

It wasn’t that she didn’t think she measured up as much as she knew how hard the women in his circles must work to keep up appearances, cosmetic and otherwise. She was just an everyday woman with an everyday body. It was a reality she understood. How could she not mention the obvious?

He shook his head. “Listen,” he said in a serious voice. “Considering I’m here with you, and you can feel how much I want you, I think we’re clear on what looking at you does for me.” He covered her breasts with his palms and she forgot all sense of embarrassment.

Heck, she nearly passed out from the glorious sensation of his warm palms and hot touch. And when he slowly, gently, cupped their weight, palming her flesh, she writhed, squeezing her thighs together, letting small waves of pleasure build higher.

A soft moan escaped her throat and he reacted immediately, lowering his head and pulling her nipple into his mouth. She whimpered. He merely suckled her harder, using his tongue to lick and his teeth to lightly graze her flesh. Nerve endings on fire, unable to control herself, she rocked her hips from side to side, desire and longing building inside her. And when she couldn’t take the sensations he evoked any more, he seemed to know and transferred his attention to her other breast, giving it equal loving attention.

Bells went off in her head and it took some time before she realized it was a cell phone and not ecstasy causing the sound.

Hers? His? She wasn’t sure, but reality, which had been far away, dawned slowly. It wasn’t her phone.

“John?” she asked, calling for his attention.

He didn’t respond.

“John?” She curled her fingers into his shoulders.

“What?”

“Your cell phone,” she said, pushing him away.

He blinked and raised his head, his eyes glazed. “Ignore it,” he said, leaning closer, obviously intending to kiss her again.

But she wasn’t lost in the moment anymore. Nor was she so far gone she wasn’t aware of what she was doing. She shook her head and scrambled to her feet. “No, it might be important.”

He raised an eyebrow. “The woman who insisted I shut my cell phone off when I’m with you now wants me to answer it?” he asked in disbelief.

She rose and began to work her dress back up over her shoulders. They’d moved too fast and she needed space. “Get the phone, okay?” she asked, hoping he’d take the hint and give her a minute.

He ran a hand over his eyes and groaned. “It’s stopped ringing.”

“Then listen to your voice mail.”

Obviously she’d made her point, because he stood. His shirt hung open, a reminder of how close she’d been to heaven.

He walked up behind her and reached for her dress. She flinched, but when he ignored her reaction and merely did up the zipper, she felt badly. “I’m sorry. This was just…I got carried away.” She hoped he understood, because she didn’t want an argument.

Roper stared at Amy. They’d been hot and heavy until his damned phone ruined the moment. He had no choice but to be a gentleman and respect her wishes. Talking could come later.

He grabbed for his phone and dialed his voice mail.

For once it wasn’t his family interrupting. One of his teammates wanted to meet for drinks. Roper had no desire to leave Amy or to hang with the guys, but the damage here had been done.

“Anything important?” Amy asked, as she turned to face him.

He shook his head. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

“Well, at least it isn’t an emergency.” She ran a hand through her hair, trying to fix the strands he’d messed with his fingers.

“Amy-”

“It’s getting late,” she said.

Obviously she wasn’t going to let him talk about them, which was quite a contradiction to her planner personality. She liked things discussed and analyzed as long as she wasn’t the one under the microscope.

He flexed and unflexed his fingers, grasping for calm. He was frustrated. But getting angry at her withdrawal wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He forced himself to remember she’d given him insight into her past, and maybe he could work with that, given time.

“You’re right. I should get going.” Maybe he would meet his teammate for a drink. He was definitely too wired to sleep.