Page 33 of Just What She Needed

"I don't know what to say." Rhett chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at the name Rhys on her phone's screen. "I can't."

"Oh for the love of God," Mel muttered. Before Rhett could move, she swiped her finger across the cell phone's screen, answering the call. "Go," she whispered.

After a stare of outrage, Rhett put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Rhett. It's Rhys."

At the sound of that smoky voice, Rhett's heart gave a pleasurable little thump. Once again she felt the kisses he gave her, and she couldn't help but lick her lips.

"Hi," she said. "I'm really glad you called. I kind of want to talk with you about something."

"That's funny." There was a definite smile in his voice. "I want to talk with you about something, too. D'you think you could come up for a bit?"

She found herself on her feet with no memory of standing up. "Sure, but can I get to your floor in the elevator?" Her heart pounded with a mixture of anticipation so strong it was almost painful, and trepidation because she still had no idea what she was going to say to him.

"Oh." He sounded stumped. "There must be some way I can rig the lift so you can come up."

"All right. Give me a couple of minutes, and I'll see you then."

After she ended the call, Rhett looked up to meet her sister's smug grin.

"You're welcome," Mel said.

Try as she might, Rhett couldn't maintain her irritated frown. She grinned, leaned over, and gave Mel a fat, wet kiss in the middle of her forehead.

When the elevator doors slid open, Rhett did a double take. Ready to tackle the puzzle of how to get to the penthouse without a key card, she was surprised to see Rhys leaning against the far wall, said key card dangling from one finger by its chain.

"I couldn't work out how to get this thing to come up without a card," he explained with a half-shrug.

Rhett couldn't help but laugh at his wry expression. "I can understand why it's necessary." She stared at the numbers over the door as the elevator rose. "But it's got to be inconvenient."

"Especially if your hands are full. I'm still waiting for things you see in Sci-Fi flicks, like retina scans."

Their conversation was easy and unforced, and Rhett's shoulders relaxed. The tension she expected between them was absent, and relief made her smile.

"Yeah, but then you'd end up with situations like in that Sylvester Stallone movie where Wesley Snipes's character cut some dude's eyeballs out so he could open a gate."

Rhys looked at her with a horrified expression. "No shit? I don't think I've seen that one."

"It's a great movie, eyeballs aside." She followed him into the small vestibule where the summer flowers had acquired a slight wilt overnight. "I can't remember the name of it, but you'll have to come down and watch it with me some night. Mel has it on DVD."

"Sounds good." Rhys opened the door for her, and she walked into the marble-tiled foyer ahead of him. She stopped just inside and leaned against the door. Being alone with him again made her aware of how much she wanted to continue what they'd begun the day before. With her mind satisfied that she was indeed a free, single, and unencumbered woman, her body was ready for the next step.

"Rhys."

He turned around, and Rhett let out a tiny sigh as how good he looked. The dark wash jeans were back, this time paired with a silvery-gray dress shirt with a darker gray pinstripe. His hair was loose over his shoulders and tumbled down to his chest. Damn.

She came back to herself with a start and saw that he was watching her with a question in his eyes. Time to make things right. Time to let him know she wasn't averse to more kisses, or anything else he might want to do.

"Rhys, I'm sorry I ran out on you yesterday."

"Rhett—"

"No, please let me say this. Nothing you did made me leave. In fact, everything you did made me want to stay." Did she really just say that out loud? But instead of being embarrassed, she felt a glow of satisfaction. It was the first time in her life she admitted to a man that she wanted him, and she liked it, especially the hot light it brought to his eyes.

After a deep breath that pulled his shirt tight across his chest, Rhys walked forward and stood close in front of her. "That's good to hear. I was afraid I might have come on a little strong."

"No." Rhett smiled and shook her head. "It was just me. I seem to have needed a little time to convince my subconscious that I'm not a married woman anymore." An almost inaudible laugh shook her shoulders at his nonplused expression. "Sounds nuts, right? But those were the first kisses I've had from anyone but Todd since I was a teenager."