Read Online Blackjack and Moonlight: A Contemporary Romance by Magdalen Braden - Free Book Online Page B

something? Except it wasn’t his date to organize—it was supposed to be hers. Let her ask.
    If she didn’t say anything, he’d just assume it was next Saturday.
    He walked her to the door.
    “Do you want to come in?” she asked. “I believe the conventional lie is that I’ll make you coffee.”
    “I believe ‘coffee’ has to wait for your date.”
    She shrugged. “Okay. Next Saturday?”
    “Fine.”
    He kissed her, lightly, his hands barely touching her. She surprised him—delighted him—by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into her embrace. Their kisses blossomed to more than a mere meeting of their mouths. She pressed her body against his erection.
    He pulled away finally. Of course he’d enjoyed the embrace, reveled in it. He just couldn’t turn off his thoughts, anxious for answers. Why was she kissing him so enthusiastically? Was she interested or just aroused? Did she even know who she was kissing? He had to stop trying to decode her actions.
    She peered up at him. “You sure?” She was asking about the “coffee.”
    He smiled. “Next Saturday, you get to make all the decisions.” He kissed her one last time. Without thinking, he put all his love into that feather-soft kiss. Scary to let it loose like that.
    He really needed to get a leash for his emotions.
     

     
    The sun was pouring into her bedroom when Elise finally stopped all pretense of sleeping. She was still wound up from the date with Blackjack McIntyre. He couldn’t have picked a better venue than Dave & Buster’s, drat the man. She didn’t want to like him. She wanted to have a lot of hot sex with him and then wave goodbye when he got bored and left.
    Instead, she’d had fun. She flopped back on the bed and covered her face with her hand. Fun. Fun at dinner, fun playing games, and way too much fun kissing him.
    Something happened just at the end, and she’d closed the door feeling oddly unsettled and uncomfortable. Nothing, not even imagining a very vivid and detailed sequence for their first sex date, had relaxed her. She’d fallen asleep still struggling with her jangled thoughts.
    Now all those thoughts came flooding back. Why did he have to have such a dry sense of humor? She’d liked talking to him, even when she could tell he was thinking about his alleged feelings for her. That look of his—the one which meant he was comparing her to a summer’s day or something—should make him seem like an awkward teenager. It didn’t. And she wasn’t sure why not.
    She got up finally and went through the motions of her usual Sunday morning. The familiarity of the chores soothed her. Eventually she could think sensibly about the situation.
    She stuffed dirty linens into the washing machine and reviewed her efforts to dislodge the judge.
    Okay, so he’d managed to surprise her—in a good way—with his choice of a first date. And yes, she’d enjoyed herself. So what? He was creative and insightful. At least she hoped it took some imagination to see her as the pinball wizard of Swarthmore. She was sure she projected a more dignified image as a lawyer.
    Dignified. Now, Jack was dignified. He could give lessons in how to embody gravitas. It was why he’d done so well in his career at an absurdly young age. There were partners at Fergusson older than Blackjack McIntyre who seemed callow in comparison.
    Picking Dave & Buster’s hadn’t been the move of a shallow or silly man. It had been a brilliant first salvo in their war. It got her to relax. She’d been prepared to fall into a stupor during some seven-course gastronomic extravaganza, where a different wine had to be paired with each course, then sampled, savored, and discussed. Instead, they’d had standard American fare—burgers, fries and beer.
    And the games had been fun. He’d been competitive but also appreciative of her success. Both a gracious winner and loser. Well-played, as the Brits would say. She had to hand it to him, he’d carried the first