They were the softest, sweetest lips Chad McCray had ever kissed, and he’d kissed a lot. Laced with lime and a touch of salt from her margarita, but mostly they tasted of sweet raspberry wine. Who would have known Catie Bay tasted so good?

Catie Bay.

Little Catie Bay.

Little bit.

Damn.

Chad ripped his lips from hers. Thank God he hadn’t sunk his tongue into her mouth. He’d have been lost then. This way, it remained a friendly kiss. A welcome home kiss. Nothing special, just a little peck between friends.

Damn, he wanted more. He wanted to taste the sweet secrets of her mouth, of that beautiful body pressed against him. Her pert little nipples were hard berries protruding through her cotton blouse. They jutted out, begging for his attention. Had any man had tasted them before? His groin tightened, and he wished, if only for a second, that he could be the first to suck them into hard little pebbles. The first to run his tongue over the silky contours of her body, to taste the nectar she had to offer.

Get hold of yourself, McCray. This is little Catie Bay!

Little Catie Bay who was still looking into his eyes with lusty desire. Hell, she had no idea what she was doing to him.

“Come on, sugar,” he said, “let’s get back to the table.”

“I wanna dance.”

“Another time.” He led her back, his fingers entwining with hers of their own volition. Why did her hand feel so good in his?

Amber was deep in conversation with Harper. Thank God she hadn’t seen him kiss Catie. But he had invited her home with him.

Strange thing, he was no longer interested in a roll in the hay with Amber.

Right now, he wanted a roll in the hay with one sugar-lipped Caitlyn Bay.

He was definitely headed for hell in a hand basket.

“Having fun?” he asked Amber, when he and Catie returned to the table.

“Oh, yeah. Harper’s a barrel of laughs.” Amber giggled. “But don’t you think we should be going, Chad? I do have to work tomorrow.”

“Okay. Sure, we can go.” He held out his hand to Amber, trying to come up with a way to get out of taking her home with him. They left the bar and he walked her to her car.

“Honey,” he said, “I’m going to have to take a rain check on that hand massage. I just remembered I have an early day tomorrow. Promised my brothers I’d help them with a few projects. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh.” Amber’s face fell.

Chad felt like a heel. She was nice enough girl, but he was no longer interested. What the hell was the matter with him? Pretty face and a hot body, and all he could think about was getting into Catie Bay’s pants. He was hell-bound for sure. Maybe a night in Amber’s bed was exactly what he needed.

“You know, maybe it’d be okay after all,” Chad said. “If you took your own car. I…” Okay, this was awkward. “I have to get up real early, so you wouldn’t be able to spend the night.”

“I think I get what you’re saying,” Amber said. “I’ll take that rain check. I have an early day tomorrow too. And don’t worry about Harper’s party tomorrow night. I can find my own way.”

“Now come on, honey, don’t be like that. This is just a little bump in the road. I can take you to the Bay shindig.”

“Well…”

“I don’t mind at all. I’ll pick you up at the salon at six like we planned, okay?”

Amber smiled. She sure was pretty. So why wasn’t his libido on fire? Didn’t make any sense at all.

“Okay. I’d like that. See you tomorrow, then.”

Chad closed the car door for her and watched as she drove off. He walked back toward the entrance to the bar, and out came a whiff of roses and raspberries. Catie.

“Hey,” he said. “You all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed some air.” She laughed, a little shakily. “Shouldn’t have had that second margarita.”

“When’s the last time you ate? Or slept?”

“I slept and ate on the plane.”

“You’re all jet-lagged, sugar. You’d best get home and get to bed. No more ’ritas for you until you’ve had a decent night’s sleep and a decent meal.”

“Now you sound just like Harper,” Catie said. “I happen to be twenty-one, for your information. I’m certainly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Twenty-one.” Chad chuckled. Twenty-one had been so long ago. “You’re just a baby. Let’s get you back inside, and Harper can take you home.”

“I am not a baby, Chad McCray.” She stomped her foot adamantly, barely missing Chad’s boot-clad toe. “I haven’t been a baby for a very long time. You just never took notice.”

“Well, you haven’t exactly been around for me to take notice,” Chad said. Why was he engaging in this infantile conversation? What the heck did he care? “Come with me, sugar.”

“I will not.”

“Oh, yes, you will.” He grabbed her arm, shocked at the tingles he felt when he touched her.

She jerked her arm away. “I’m not a baby, you stupid cowboy, and I’ll prove it.”

She clamped her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers. Her lips claimed his in a forceful open-mouthed kiss. Lime again, and raspberries. Sweet, soft lips. Chad couldn’t help himself. His tongue met hers and tangled, devouring the hidden treasures of her mouth.

He nibbled at her lips, her tongue, and then moved to her cheek, raining tender kisses along her jawline, up to her ear.

“God, you taste good, sugar,” he whispered.

Her sigh was sweet as spring rain against his neck. “Kiss me again, Chad. Please.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. He crushed his mouth to hers and drank of her intoxicating sweetness. Where had she learned to kiss like a little siren? Her tongue inched along his lips, his teeth. When she sucked the point of his tongue into her mouth, his groin tightened and pulsed inside his jeans. He grabbed her and rubbed his arousal against her. That body. That luscious, tempting body.

But this was Catie Bay.

Little Catie Bay.

What the hell am I doing?

He broke the suction of the kiss with a loud smack. “Sugar. We can’t do this.”

“Why not? We’re both adults.”

“No.” He stopped to catch his breath, which was coming in rapid puffs. Damn, he wanted her. Wanted to sink into her softness with every part of his body. Especially one particularly persistent part.

“Chad—”

“Come on.” He led her back into the Bullfrog. “Harper needs to get you home. You need sleep. Or maybe you should eat first. Aw crap, I don’t know, but you need to get the hell out of here.”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, something’s gonna happen that we’ll both regret come morning.”

“I’d never regret it, Chad.”

“Yeah, sugar, you would. Trust me.”

“Don’t tell me what I’d regret and what I wouldn’t, Chad McCray.” She stomped her foot again and looked charmingly indignant with her hands on her luscious hips. “I’ve been in Europe for four years. Europe, where nude beaches are the rage and indiscriminate sex is as common as a—”

Chad clamped his hand over Catie’s mouth. “Christ, sugar, shut up, will you? You’re just a babe. You can’t lie on a nude beach. As for sex… I hope to hell you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mmmffpph,” she said under his hand.

“I’m taking you back into Harper, and you’re going home. You and I are going to forget this mistake of a kiss ever happened.”

Catie stopped struggling—why? Chad didn’t know—and let him take her back to Harper. Once she and Harper were safely on their way home, he found his pickup and started the engine. He inhaled sharply, trying to get his bearings. A slight aroma of raspberries wafted to his nose. Catie. Her scent still lingered on his clothes, her sweet taste on his lips.

He hoped to God she could forget their kiss, but one thing was for damn sure.

He never would.

---

Maria Bay crushed Catie into her arms. “Home, finally. Where have you two been, Harp?”

“Catie wanted to stop at the Bullfrog.”

“The Bullfrog? Land sakes.”

“I just wanted a margarita, Mama,” Catie said. “The plane ride was harrowing. And then there was the two hour drive to Bakersville.”

“I could have made you a perfectly fine margarita here,” her mother said, “though God knows why it couldn’t have waited. I’m so glad you’re finally home.”

“Just push me toward my room,” Catie said. “I need to fall into bed.”

“I understand completely, sweetie, but Angie’s on her way over, and I thought we’d have a nice late supper together.”

“Ma, Catie’s been up for twenty-four hours,” Harper said.

“I slept a little on the plane.” Catie’s mouth cracked open in a wide yawn.

“Well, well, little Catie-bug.” Catie’s father, Wayne Bay, entered the room, big as a bear and just as cuddly.

“Daddy!” Catie ran into his arms.

“Let me look at you, sweetheart.”

“You just saw me at Christmas, Daddy.”

“True enough, but let me look at you back in your own home. It’s sure been lonely around here the past four years. Did you see Ladybird?”

“Of course. Harp and I stopped at the corral before we came up to the house. I had to see my precious. You’ve taken great care of her, Daddy.”

“Thank the hands, darlin’. They knew you’d be back eventually and you’d check her out real good. Feel up to a ride?”

Catie yawned again. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but not tonight. I need to get to bed. I’m absolutely exhausted.”

“What about Mama’s dinner? And Angie?”

“All right, all right. Can I just lie down a minute? Why don’t you all come get me when Angie shows up.”

“Sounds fair to me,” her father said, grabbing one of the suitcases Harper had set in the foyer. “Harper and I’ll bring up your luggage. The rest of your stuff arrived yesterday.”

“Good,” Catie said. “I’ll see you all in a little while.”

She trudged up the stairs to her room and flopped on her canopy bed, all pink and ruffled. Yuck. Had she really been the girl who lived in this room? Horse posters everywhere. Tomorrow she’d think about redecorating. But tonight…

She yawned again, her lungs expanding. Closing her eyes, she remembered soft, full masculine lips traveling up her jawline to her earlobe.

Mmm. Chad McCray. She slipped into a dream.