A man leaned against a large palmetto tree. The white fairy lights circling the trunk revealed a tall handsome Navy officer with dark hair and the hint of five o'clock shadow. Her breathing hitched.
He indicated Hattie with jerk of his head. “What's she to you? Looks like a prissy stuck-up cow to me.”
It was almost enough to make Caroline laugh, but the sight of Hattie's rounded stomach sucked the humor right back out of her. Hattie continued in their direction although it didn't appear she'd spotted Caroline just yet.
“She steal your boyfriend or something?” the stranger asked before tipping a small flask to his mouth, his gaze never leaving her face.
Hot tears burned Caroline's eyes and she gasped, blinking away the moisture. He couldn't know; he couldn't. It was just a lucky guess.
“Only one way to show a lady like that.” In three short steps, he'd pulled Caroline into an embrace, trapping her arms against his chest, even as the heat of his body surrounded her. She pushed against his chest, but there was no give. He smiled down at her, looming closer. What was he doing?
“Whatever happens, act natural,” he murmured. His deep voice buzzed pleasantly at her ear.
What did he mean, act natural? “Wha--?”
His mouth covered hers, his tongue slipping past her open lips to trace the inside of her mouth, to glide like butter on a hot biscuit along her own tongue.
Shock zipped from her mouth to her toes and back, sending her pulse racing and her head spinning.
Surprise held her captive and she didn't move. But his lips were warm on hers, and she smelled and tasted alcohol. His mouth coaxed hers to respond and oh how she wanted to. Had never felt such sensations. Wanted to keep feeling all warm and tingly inside. She mimicked his actions as best she could, tentatively probing his mouth with her tongue. She felt more than heard the rumble of his reaction.
What was she doing?
She didn't know this man. Pulling her mouth from his, she started to squirm, pushing against his chest with her arms once more.
He loosened his hold on her and asked, “Sweetheart, what's wrong?” His voice held just the right note of sincerity and concern.
Stilling, she met his gaze and saw, out of the corner of her eye, that Hattie had stopped and caught sight of them. Anger and hurt pride flowed through her, warming her from the inside out. She pushed aside her fear and ignored the small voice that sounded like Mother demanding to know what on earth Linney thought she was doing. Caroline slid her hands up the stranger's uniformed chest and clasped them around his neck.
“Nothing.” She shook her head and smiled.
Eyes the color of the sky on a crisp spring afternoon sparkled down at her, and he flashed her a roguish grin that made her heart thump. “That's my girl,” he said.
His hands had drifted from her back and now rested warm and heavy on her hips. Despite the fact that they were perfect strangers, it felt good. It felt exciting. Caroline had never had a man's hands on her other than her father and brother's. And never this intimately. Never like this.
Excitement made her giddy and blithely unconcerned. “Nothing at all. . . .” Her words floated on a whisper.
The stranger closed the distance between them and kissed her again. His lips were soft and coaxing. She opened her mouth to him. Pleasure flooded her limbs and settled in her belly. Rising on tiptoes, she tightened her hold on his neck, pulling him closer. Languor and recklessness swirled through her.
The soft moan that escaped her startled her, and she broke their embrace.
He smiled; the message in his eyes told her that they were still being watched. Amazed and stunned by her own response, she had no idea what do now.
And the stranger knew it.