Kathy didn't know that, so she was treating his no like it was made of stone and iron. The last thing she wanted was any more regrets between them.

But she did move when he pulled her, sliding into his lap, legs stretched across his thighs. Her other hand slid into his dark hair, too, joining the first in trying to soothe. That noise had made her breath catch in her throat and color rise in her cheeks, but the rhythm of her fingers remained slow and steady and even.