Annie was an inch away and her gaze seemed locked on Hollis’s mouth. “She does. Very much.”

Hollis’s hands trembled. Her insides burned. She wet her lips. “I just took a chance. You never know until you try, right?”

“No, you never do.”

Annie’s voice was soft and sensuous and every inch of Hollis’s skin hummed with pleasure. The sounds of children playing ball in the street faded and the still night closed in around them. “Annie, you look beautiful. I want—”

Annie’s pupils flickered and the hazy desire in her eyes disappeared. Her gaze sharpened. “We should go.”

Hollis caught herself a second before she would have put her hands on her. She hadn’t been thinking, and she was always thinking. She wasn’t impulsive—decisive, yes, but she always knew what she was doing and why. She’d asked Annie to dinner to get to know her and to find a way through the defensive shields Annie used to keep her at arm’s length. She wanted in—inside Annie’s walls, where the warmth of Annie’s smile waited. She didn’t know why, but she’d figure that out. Chemistry, probably. Something as simple as that. Trying to kiss her before they even had a single date wasn’t very smart.

“Right. We should go.” Hollis forced herself to move, even though she wanted to stay exactly where she was until Annie looked at her the way she had just a minute before. Carpe diem—too late for that now. She sucked in a breath and grinned down at Callie. “Hey. Do you like Mexican?”

Callie looked at Annie. “Is that a movie?”

“No, baby, it’s food. Come on.” Annie swung Callie’s hand. “You’re going to like it.”

Hollis picked up the car seat, hurried down the steps, and opened the rear door of her FJ Cruiser just as Annie reached the sidewalk. “I’ll have this secured in a second.”

“Thanks.” Annie stepped back as Hollis moved aside, careful that they didn’t touch. “Come on, Callie, climb in.”

Annie buckled Callie in and handed her the bunny and her new coloring book and crayons. She closed the door and settled into the passenger seat, grateful for the bucket seats. At least there was no possibility that her body would accidentally brush Hollis’s. If Hollis got any sweeter before the evening was over, she was going to have a hard time remembering they were colleagues. After Callie was born, she’d shaped a safe, stable life, with no room for uncertainty. Hollis was a cipher whose very presence made her world tilt.

Hollis reached between the seats and squeezed her hand. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” Annie said evenly, gently easing her hand away. “Absolutely fine.”

Chapter Seventeen

“You sure Mexican’s okay?” Hollis asked as they crossed the parking lot to Casa Ranchero, a low-slung, one-story restaurant painted in bright oranges, greens, and yellows. Annie had been quiet on the short drive. Her subtle withdrawal of her hand when Hollis had casually touched her was obvious too. Hollis wasn’t sure where she’d gone wrong, but she’d pushed some button that had sent Annie backpedaling until they might have been strangers again. She didn’t plan on letting that go on for very long. Annie was hard to figure, and usually Hollis read people pretty easily. So far Annie only seemed comfortable letting her see her professional side—there she was solid and sure, certain of herself and the best treatment for her patients. Hollis had nothing but respect for her, even though they were at odds philosophically. Personally, though, Annie was exactly the opposite—introverted, guarded, and wary. She’d slipped up at the barbecue, revealing things about Callie’s biological father and her past, and now she seemed determined to avoid anything else touching on the personal. Annie had good reasons to be wary—just thinking about the people who had abandoned her made Hollis’s stomach curdle. She knew what it was to lose a huge chunk of her heart, and she’d had a loving family to help her get through the first shock of it. Annie had had no one—just loss upon loss. Hollis hurt to think of Annie in pain.

“Hollis?” Annie said softly. “Something wrong?”

Hollis gave a start and realized she’d slowed until she was barely moving. She shook her head, feeling her face warm. “No, I’m really sorry. My mind wandered there for a minute.”

“I understand. Mine does that a lot lately.” Annie grinned ruefully. “Guess that’s going around too.”

“Well, I promise to stay focused the rest of the night.” Hollis quickly squeezed Annie’s hand but didn’t try to hold it. Annie would have to declare the limits first. But she let go of her anger—Annie didn’t need her anger. Annie probably didn’t need her to fix anything at all, although that was her default setting. It’s all she knew how to do—the only safe thing she could do. “Forgiven?”

“Of course.” Annie reached as if to touch her cheek and then let her hand drop. “You’re allowed one lapse an evening.”

Hollis wanted to grab her hand and tug her close. She wanted to kiss the smile that lingered on Annie’s mouth. “Noted.”

Callie skipped a few feet ahead. “Is it dinner soon?”

“You bet it is.” Laughing, Hollis hustled to the door and held it open for Annie and Callie. She followed them inside and a hostess came forward to greet them.

“No takeout tonight?” The busty twentysomething brunette in a low-cut white ruffled blouse smiled brightly, her dark-eyed gaze glancing briefly over Annie and Callie and settling on Hollis.

“Not tonight.” Hollis stopped by at least once a week to grab a quick takeout dinner, and the brunette—Kristi, with an i, as she’d reminded Hollis on several occasions—was very friendly.

Kristi leaned down and smiled at Callie. “Hi there. That’s a great coloring book you’ve got.”

“It was a present.”

“Well, it’s super. Have fun while you’re waiting for dinner.” She straightened and smiled at Annie before turning pointedly to Hollis. Her mouth lifted flirtatiously. “She’s adorable. Yours?”

Hollis glanced at Annie. “Ah—”

Annie leaned toward Hollis until their shoulders nearly touched. “All ours.”

“Well,” Kristi said, her expression midway between surprised and disbelieving, “let me show you to a table.”

Wending between the tables in Kristi’s wake, Hollis murmured, “Ours?”

“I don’t know what came over me,” Annie muttered, looking straight ahead.

Hollis laughed, pleased. Kristi took them to a booth at a window overlooking the canal that ran through Manayunk, a one-time blue-collar area that had benefited from urban revitalization and now hosted chic restaurants and eclectic stores cheek by jowl with neighborhood bars and coffee shops—the kind with long Formica counters and heavy white ceramic mugs, not the Italian espresso machine types.

“Enjoy your dinner,” Kristi said with one last smile for Hollis as she set the menus in the center of the table.

“I imagine you get that a lot,” Annie said, accepting the menu Hollis held out for her.

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

Annie laughed softly. “I’m sure you haven’t. Any recommendations?”

“Everything’s good. Want to start with nachos?”

“Great idea. You’ll like these, Cal.”

“Okay.” Callie knelt on the seat next to Annie, her coloring book open in front of her and her crayons splayed out beside her plate. She busily colored while Hollis and Annie made small talk. The wait for dinner was comfortable, the conversation light and completely non-work related. Annie asked Hollis about her renovation plans, and when Hollis realized she was monopolizing the conversation she asked Annie what she did for fun.

Annie stroked Callie’s hair. “You’re looking at it. We’ve got after-school events and swimming lessons and—”

“Don’t forget the zoo,” Callie said, pausing in the midst of coloring.

“The zoo…often,” Annie said.

“Sounds like you’re pretty busy.” Hollis noted the absence of any mention of a girlfriend. Welcome news. She also noted Annie seemed to take very little time for herself—her life seemed to be about her patients and her daughter. But then, neither did she, and she didn’t even have a kid to spend time with. She was all about work. Maybe that ought to change. The thought made her uneasy, and excited in a way she hadn’t been since before Rob…since before her family was torn apart and her girlfriend decided she wasn’t any longer. “Okay—tell me one thing you like to do that no one knows.”

Annie stared at her. “That’s rather personal.” Her eyes were dancing, as if daring Hollis to push a little.

“I know.”

“Hmm,” Annie said, tracing the tip of her finger over her lower lip.

Hollis’s breath stopped in her chest.

“I am completely addicted to…”

“Oh, come on,” Hollis groaned.

Annie laughed. “Sons of Anarchy. I tape every show.”

Hollis laughed. Annie was always surprising her. “A secret biker babe, huh? What do you ride?”

“Nothing.” Annie glanced out the window, her gaze growing distant.

“Is that not allowed? By the church, I mean?”

Annie shook her head. “No. Some communities are very progressive about machinery use—especially farm equipment. Motorcycles too. I’ve heard of churches that even have motorcycle groups who worship and ride together.” She glanced at Callie, pain flickering in her eyes. “But that would be for the men. Some wives ride along, I imagine.”

“Well, you don’t strike me as the type who’d be happy being a passenger anyhow.”

Annie turned from the window and regarded Hollis. “Is that what you think? That I like to be in charge?”

“Not that so much,” Hollis said, taking another chance and wondering if she was about to push another hot button. “But I think you’d be happier making your own choices.”

“Well, you’re right there.” Annie took a short, fast breath. “I’d rather be driving.”

“So,” Hollis said, treading carefully. “I happen to have a sweet Harley Street Glide, and I’d be happy to teach you how to ride it.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “Really? Really!”

Hollis laughed, her heart soaring on the wings of Annie’s smile. “Sure. It’s not hard to learn. We’ll find an empty parking lot and I’ll teach you.”

“I don’t know,” Annie said, glancing at Callie, frown lines forming between her brows.

“And the first thing will be a safety lesson.” Hollis reached across the table and took Annie’s hand. “Hey. I wouldn’t take any chances with you. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t let you go out unless I was certain you’d be all right.”

Annie searched Hollis’s face as if looking for what lay beneath. Hollis hoped she couldn’t read the picture that had just popped into her head of Annie—her neck arched, her eyes closed in surrender—or sense the fierce urge she had to see that nothing and no one ever hurt her again. She took her hand away before her trembling betrayed her. “What do you say?”

“Yes.” Annie nodded, certainty erasing the tiny lines in her forehead. “Yes. When?”

“Whenever you want.”

“Good.” Annie nodded. “And then I want leather pants.”

Hollis choked on a mouthful of salsa and grabbed for her water. She gulped down half while struggling to erase the image of Annie in tight leathers straddling her. Not working. Sweat popped on her forehead. Every muscle in her body seized, some of them transmitting extremely pleasurable and highly ill-timed messages.

“Are you all right?” Annie asked.

“Fine,” Hollis wheezed. She wiped her face with the corner of her napkin and forced a smile. “Sorry. Hot—the salsa. You’re serious—you really do want to be a biker babe.”

Annie grinned. “Da—darn right.”

“Well, no point doing anything halfway, right?”

Annie’s met Hollis’s gaze. “No point at all.”

“All right then.” Hollis strove to sound casual while avoiding looking directly at Annie. Her circuits were already overloaded, and no amount of ice water was going to cool her down. “We can use one of the parking lots over at Textile for our training course. Work for you?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Annie said, mentally reviewing her schedule and resolutely not questioning what she was doing. “I have a few patients to see and a home follow-up this weekend, but maybe after that. I could call you—and I’ll make you lunch this time.”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

“Mommy, can I come?” Callie had put her crayons aside as soon as the nachos had arrived and, after demolishing her weight in chips and cheese, declared them her new favorite food. Now her eyelids were beginning to droop. Annie stroked her hair. “Mommy has to learn how to ride first, baby. When you’re bigger, you’ll be able to ride with me.”

“When will I be bigger?”

“Every single day you grow up a little bit more, and before you know it, you’ll be big enough.”