Michelle Celmer - Texan’s Wedding-Night Wager / The Oilman’s Baby Bargain - Texan’s Wedding-Night Wager

Cara didn’t hesitate. She’d enjoyed the evening and didn’t want it to end. “I’d like that.”

Kevin squeezed her hand and nodded. “I know just the place.”

Cara leaned back in her seat, trusting Kevin to entertain her. He’d been doing a good job of it since she’d arrived back in Houston. Though their marriage was over, this short time together would help them heal from wounds inflicted years earlier. Maybe this was the salve they needed to repair their injuries so they could move on with their lives.

Whatever the reason for her carefree mood, Cara wouldn’t analyze it too deeply. She was on vacation from life at the moment, a small black hole in time where she and her soon-to-be-ex husband could enjoy each other’s company without repercussions.

She’d forget his blackmail for the time being, shoving his motives out of her head. In less than two weeks she’d be back in Dallas, planning her new studio design, doing what she loved doing.

Kevin stopped the car on a dirt road that overlooked Somerset Lake. Brilliant moonlit waters glistened with sapphire illumination. Kevin got out of the car and opened the door for her.

The air felt heavy and warm, typical for a summer Texas night. Crickets chirped on and off and, in the space of quiet, the gentlest rippling of waves could be heard.

Cara swallowed hard as she took in the view. This was the place they’d come with all their friends, to have picnics and bonfires during the summer. This was their place, the spot right beyond the picnic tables, where she and Kevin had first admitted their love for one another.

Cara took Kevin’s offered hand and followed him down a dusky, bluebonnet-laden path that led to the water. She took each step with care. She hated trampling on the flowers.

“You’re not going to hurt them, babe. They look delicate, but they’re resilient.”

Cara had heard that from Kevin before, in much the same way, but not about bluebonnets. He’d spoken those words about her when they’d had arguments about his workaholic tendencies.

You look delicate, but I know you’re resilient.

Apparently, he hadn’t thought she could be hurt. Yet even the most durable of flowers had a breaking point.

“Why take the chance?” she said softly. When Kevin glanced at her, she shrugged. “I don’t want to destroy them.”

Kevin let the comment go and Cara doubted he caught her true meaning.

“Remember this place?” he asked.

“How could I not? We came here almost every weekend in the summer.”

“That was some summer, wasn’t it?”

She knew he meant the summer when they’d fallen in love. They’d been inseparable. She nodded slowly and held his hand as they walked along the lakeshore.

“Tell me what happened after you left Somerset.”

Cara took a long, slow breath. A cricket chirped a few times, before she was able to formulate the words. “I…It was hard, Kevin. The hardest time of my life.”

Kevin remained silent. He gazed ahead, refusing to look into her eyes.

“When I decided to start Dancing Lights, my whole world opened up again.”

Kevin’s mouth twisted, though he tried very hard to conceal his angst.

Cara didn’t want to spoil the evening by talking about a sore subject. “I’m sorry, but you asked.”

They walked along the little cove and reached a clearing by another group of redwood picnic benches.

“Care to show me a thing or two about dancing? You know I have two left feet.”

“Here? There’s no music. And you don’t have two left feet. As I recall, you have some pretty good moves.”

Kevin grinned with mischief. He clamped his hands on her waist and pulled her against him. “As I recall, you liked all my moves.”

Cara gasped, immersed in the gleam of his dark blue eyes.

“But I’m talking about dance moves, babe. I could use a refresher, since I’m inviting you to Lance and Kate’s wedding reception at the club. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you with my lackluster dance steps.”

Cara blinked in surprise. She couldn’t go to Lance’s reception with Kevin. It was one thing to see him for a few casual dates privately, but being on his arm at a formal affair would give the wrong impression and make her dream things she had no right dreaming. “You won’t have to. I can’t go.”

“How do you know? I haven’t told you the date yet.”

“Because,” Cara said, stepping away from him to look at the calm waters for comfort. Weddings always made her sentimental and she already had enough to deal with. She didn’t need a reminder of their utter failure. “It’s just that I think—”

“Shh, you think too much,” Kevin said softly, searching her eyes. “You’re so beautiful in moonlight, Cara.” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

Her insides melted at his gentle touch and she reached up on tiptoes to kiss him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Maybe it was this place and the memories it evoked, or maybe she’d just been too long without any real tenderness in her life, but right now, she needed to be with Kevin, kissing him and feeling like a woman again.

It wasn’t long before Kevin’s kisses turned her into Silly Putty, except there was nothing silly about the intensity he displayed. He pulled her along, walking backward until he sat upon the edge of a picnic table. He fitted her between his legs and continued to nibble on her mouth until he drew his lips downward to the base of her throat.

Pinpricks of excitement flew up and down her body. She tingled everywhere, breathing in his sexy cologne. The musky scent she recognized from years before drove her further into oblivion.

It was easy for him to untie her rope belt and pull her blouse down. With a groan of appreciation, he murmured her name and her heart rate sped up.

Kevin unfastened her bra with adept fingers and he pulled the garment away from her. “Damn it, sweetheart,” he murmured, the curse a soft and beautiful endearment.

Exposed from the waist up, the pushed-down sleeves of her blouse trapping her arms slightly, Cara could only watch as Kevin touched her breasts, caressing, weighing, cupping her with such tenderness, she wanted to cry.

He made eye contact as he flicked his thumbs over her nipples, toying with them and making her moan with pleasure.

“You still like me touching you,” he whispered, his torturous fingers breaking her out in a sweat.

She bit her lip and nodded. She loved the way Kevin touched her. He’d been the only man who could turn her on so fast, so furiously. But Cara gave as good as she got and she never let Kevin have the last word. “Seems to me,” she said, breathless, “you could put that mouth to better use.”

Kevin chuckled, then clamped his hands around her trapped arms and brought her closer. Her breast grazed his mouth and he teased her with tiny tongue swipes until her knees nearly buckled.

“Better?” he asked in a whisper and she nodded enthusiastically.

He filled his mouth with her, suckling and blowing hot breath over her breast. Her nipple stood erect and a rush of sizzling heat invaded her body. Everything below her waist throbbed.

Kevin was in no better shape. His body was rigid, the bulge of his desire pressed against her clothes. Crazy thoughts entered her head of making love to Kevin right here, out in the open, beside the lake where they’d first revealed their love for each other.

Kevin’s thoughts couldn’t have been far behind. He kissed her soundly and stood up, his manhood grazing her between the legs. “I need more, baby.”

Cara nodded and helped Kevin unzip her pants. He cosseted her close and slipped his hand inside. With nimble fingers, he pulled her panties aside and cupped her womanhood.