At the same moment, his own lips moved and parted hers, his mouth unexpectedly hot and sensual. Her head was swooshing, and the blood was suddenly racing through her as she followed his own movements, her lips somehow finding their own way as she savored the heat and the heavenly feeling of just being kissed.
His hand lifted again to cup her face, and she melted farther into him as her hand reached up to his shoulder and she braced herself against him. He’d moved forward now, and the pressure of the cushions against her back increased. Henry had settled his hips between her legs, the hem of the dress higher, exposing her skin.
Both of his hands slid down her waist and rested on her hips, his fingers digging in but not unpleasantly as he pressed her closer to him. Her legs wrapped around him, holding him to her deliciously.
She didn’t want the moment to ever end.
Wait. Moment?
What on earth was she doing?
The same realization seemed to hit Henry, and he froze. She opened her eyes to stare into his, dark and filled with desire. His hands dropped away as he sat back, and her mouth, once so hot and connected to him, felt cool, almost…lonely. Self-consciously, she covered it with her hand.
What just happened?
Henry came to his feet. “I think that we can safely assume that you know what you’re doing, at least in the kissing department. I don’t think there’s really anything more I can offer you.”
He sounded so…awkward. Uncertain. Not the sure, confident Henry she was used to, and she looked up at him with a slight smile as he nearly stumbled back in his haste to gain more distance. “I almost forgot, I’m meeting someone for drinks in a few minutes, so I should probably be going.”
She came to her feet, uncertain if they’d hold her, but she managed to stay upright and follow him to the door. “I’m sorry, Henry. Did I do something wrong?”
He paused and shook his head, his gaze finally meeting hers again for a minute. “Not at all. You have nothing to worry about. Go out on your date with Luke tomorrow and know that he’s a very lucky guy.”
Then he turned and opened the door and was gone before she could say anything more.
What the heck just happened?
She leaned against the door, bemused and still tingling from the effects of that kiss.
In all her life she had never felt the power of a kiss. She had kissed men before, of course. But nice, pleasant kisses that gradually grew more impassioned until things naturally moved to the next level.
But this kiss. This one had been like a powder keg. The lust and desire that rushed through her so instantaneous it still had her reeling.
From a kiss with Henry.
Her fingers touched her lips again. If that was what kissing Henry was like for every woman, no wonder he had such a female following.
Well, he did have a lot of experience.
She shook her head. That was it, of course. And now he was off to kiss another woman senseless and probably bring her back to his place for a night of more kissing and pressing their bodies together like—
No. Stop.
She had what she wanted—assurance that kissing her wasn’t the kiss of death. She was more confident now, having seen that Henry, who could barely even stand her before, had clearly enjoyed their kiss as much as she had.
She needed to push thoughts of Henry and his kisses out of her mind once and for all.
Tomorrow night she’d be with Luke. It would be Luke’s lips she’d be kissing, his hands that would wrap around her waist.
That was what this was all for. Wasn’t it?
…
It was after nine the next night, and Henry was on his second beer at one of his favorite bars, trying to pay attention to the game that was on. He told himself that he was there for the atmosphere, the sheer entertainment value of watching the occupants vie for the attention of whoever caught their eye. Including him sometimes.
But really it was a distraction, and he knew it.
He was there instead of entertaining the usual small group of clients and coworkers at his place because he didn’t want to be around when Luke Seeley picked up Benny for their big date. Didn’t think he could stand to see her look as enticing as she had last night, only instead of smiling and shining those brilliant eyes at Henry, she’d be flashing them at Luke. Would Lu