Truly, Madly, Briefly. Delores Fossen
thirst, in the same sentence.
“What’s going on here, Jasper?” Bobbie demanded.
He hitched a thumb in Aidan’s direction. “I’m here to tell Mr. Paddy Wrangler boxers that you’re off limits, hands off and otherwise engaged—to me!”
Aidan almost intervened. Almost. But that fiery look that shot through Bobbie’s eyes made him realize she wanted to fight this battle herself.
“Aidan has no need for the Paddy Wrangler,” she said, her voice low and edgy. Bobbie took a slow, calculated step toward Jasper. “His posterior is fine without enhancements. More than fine. It’s so fine that he could be a poster model for the Full Monty.”
Jasper gasped.
“Say what?” Aidan questioned. He wasn’t sure this particular comparison was one he wanted to have applied to his gluteus maximus.
“The Full Monty,” Bobbie repeated without moving her venomous gaze from Jasper. She tapped the toe of her meringue-colored high heels on the tile floor. “‘Catalogue number 233A. See-through-front bikini brief for the man with nothing to hide. Contour-hugging, barely-there backside for a rakish and yet daring display of your manly assets. Available in Exposed Ebony and In-the-Buff Buff.’”
Jasper gasped again. “But you said no man could ever look good in the Full Monty.”
She gave her head an indignant little wobble. “I said that before I met Aidan.”
Touché. One for the lady in pink. Flattered, taken aback and slightly confused, Aidan went to the door and held it open for Jasper to leave.
“This isn’t over, Bobbie,” Jasper insisted. “We’ll talk about it when I pick you up on Sunday afternoon for the picnic and watermelon thump. Maxine will be there, and she’ll keep Deputy Full Monty here occupied while we spend some quality time together.”
Bobbie suddenly looked ready to trim Jasper’s sails. Maybe because he was feeling particular generous—and ornery—Aidan slipped his arm around Bobbie’s waist. “Actually, Bobbie’s going to the town picnic with me.”
“I am?” she questioned.
Aidan nodded. “You are. It’s Sunday afternoon around three.”
After all, he’d already agreed to the picnic, and he didn’t want to have to face Maxine and the other Liffey women alone. He figured Bobbie felt the same about Jasper. So what if it meant they had to play the Twango-Drifter game a little longer? What were a few more days in the grand scheme of things?
And so what if he’d apparently lost his mind?
To add a tad more insult to Jasper’s obvious injury, Aidan leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Bobbie’s glossy mouth.
Hmmm.
Strawberry-flavored lip gloss. It tasted as good as she looked.
“Oh, come on. You don’t fool me,” Jasper concluded. “You’re doing this to make me jealous.”
Bobbie dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Apparently wanting to add some insult of her own, she came up on her toes and gave Aidan an affectionate peck right on the lips.
She pulled back almost immediately, but not before Aidan felt the zap. It was like a mini jolt of saturated electricity from her mouth to his.
Aidan just stared at her. She just stared at him. Had she felt that zap as well?
His heartbeat started to drum in his ears, but even over the drumming, Aidan could hear Jasper drone on about Bobbie doing this only to get back at him.
Bobbie made a little sound of surprise, but it wasn’t surprise that Aidan saw in her eyes. Or even surprise that shaped her mouth when she blew out a strawberry-scented breath.
Nope.
This was something…hot.
Something smoldering.
Something fruity.
Something Aidan suddenly had an overwhelming urge to sample.
“I know you’re just trying to make me jealous,” Jasper repeated.
Without taking his hot gaze from Bobbie, Aidan latched onto Jasper’s shoulder and helped the man outside. He elbowed the door shut.
Aidan watched Bobbie’s eyelids flutter down. At first he didn’t know why she’d done that, but Aidan soon figured it out. He was making a move on her, closing the already miniscule distance between them.
Their lips touched. Breath met breath. He skimmed his hands down her back and edged her closer until their mouths met in full force. She didn’t resist. Bobbie slipped into his arms as if she’d done it a thousand times. And she kissed him. Really kissed him.
Uh-oh.
This was more than zaps. More than jolts. And even more than a bare-all Full Monty. It was a fruity-flavored blast of pure pleasure.
And Aidan felt what was left of his resolve fly straight back to Boston.
“MMM,” Bobbie moaned.
Aidan deepened the kiss, angling his mouth to hers. Bobbie did her own share of deepening and angling. Their tongues met. Fooled around a little. They just continued to fool around until she forgot she needed air to live. Gasping, she pulled away from him.
That’s when reality hit her like a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker.
She’d kissed Aidan! And not just any old ordinary kiss either. A French kiss. Nothing short. Nothing sweet. It’d been lengthy and incredibly, deliciously satisfying. The kiss of a real pro.
Oh boy, she was in trouble.
Aidan didn’t appear to have fared much better. He looked poleaxed, out of breath and a little dizzy.
“Wow. Guess we showed Jasper, huh?” Bobbie commented as casually as she could. Which wasn’t very casual considering she was breathing heavily and trying to lick the taste of Aidan off her lips.
“Yeah, guess we did.” Aidan was doing his own share of heavy breathing.
“Maybe he’ll finally get the message that I’m through with him.”
He nodded. “Maybe. And if this didn’t work, the picnic on Sunday will do the trick for sure.”
She nodded. “It should help you with your kitty rescue woes too since just about everybody in town will be there to see us together.”
Aidan nodded again. “This will help both of us in the long run.”
Bobbie didn’t dare return the nod. She was starting to feel a little like one of those bobblehead dolls. Besides, all the nodding, breathing and bobbling in the world wouldn’t ease the awkwardness—or the startling reality—of the situation. With that kiss, they’d moved well past the faux-pas stage and had done a Full Monty-ish blunder. The only way she could save face was to brush it off as part of their plan to make their lives romance-free.
But she didn’t have time to brush off anything. By the time she managed to gather some of her breath, Aidan had already gathered his.
“Uh. How’d you ever get hooked up with Jasper anyway?” Aidan asked. “He doesn’t really seem your type.”
Small talk. It was a good start while she tried to get her heart rate back under control. Bobbie stepped away from him, hoping a little distance would clear the pea soup in her head. “I blame it on Pavlov’s dog.”
Aidan quit looking uncomfortable long enough to look thoroughly confused. “Beg your pardon?”
“In hindsight, I think Jasper was just a conditioned response like Pavlov’s dog. I used to spend hours staring at all those posters in the window of his dad’s travel agency. Jasper was always there, sandwiched between the Parthenon and the Pyramids. I guess I just started to