Tara turned to Jay and put her hand on his forearm. “Why didn’t you want me to know about this?”

He shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. “Charity is something personal to me. It’s not something I do because I want other people to know about it.”

“He’s never even come here once to let them kids thank ‘im,” Charlie added.

“I think it’s time to change that,” Tara said. “So this is you. The real Jay.” She put her arms around Jay.

“What are you doing?” he murmured.

“Thanking you.” She lifted herself onto her tiptoes and slanted her mouth over his, kissing him.

“Tara,” he whispered against her parted lips, his warm breath flooding her senses.

Then his arms were around her and he devoured her with his mouth, kissing her with a hunger she hadn’t experienced before.

Hollers, cheers, and giggles from kids and adults made her pull back and interrupt the kiss. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the kids staring at them.

“We should say hello,” Tara suggested and turned back, her eyes locking with Jay’s.

Slowly he nodded. “Okay.”

Jay released her and took her hand as they walked toward the kids. Tara caught Charlie’s smirk, then he waved to the kids and the adults and motioned them to come closer to meet their benefactor.

26

Jay closed the stateroom door behind him and pulled Tara into his arms.

It had been a long afternoon, one he’d enjoyed more than he would have thought. Meeting the kids and seeing how the after-school program helped them deal with their problems, had finally pushed the sad memories of his past into the background.

Tara’s acceptance of him had been wordless. But he’d felt it in every single one of her gestures. She saw him for who he really was: the kid from the poor part of town who’d made it out of the slums by way of hard work and sheer determination.

“I don’t want any more lies between us, Tara. I’m done with that. What you see is what you get. I’m sorry that I’m rich, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it with time.”

She brought her hand to his face and traced his lips with the soft pad of her finger. “As long as you promise that for me, you’ll always be the waiter I fell in love with.”

He smiled, warmth spreading inside his chest. Tara was an unusual woman. But she was his. “So you’re in love with me?”

“Could be,” she hedged, smiling coquettishly.

“What do I have to do to find out for sure? Play waiter and wait on you hand and foot?”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Well, then I’d better get to work and earn my keep.”

Jay brushed his lips to hers, feeling her softness and willingness. Tara molded to him like a kitten that knew where its next bowl of milk was coming from. And finally this kitten had withdrawn its sharp claws and was going all soft on him.

He lifted his lips from hers for an instant. “I’m sorry for everything I did.”

She raised her lids. “Everything?”

He chuckled. “Well, let me correct that. Not everything, just the deception. I’m not sorry for the rest: the lovemaking, the hours of talking. I wouldn’t want to undo that.”

“You were the first person who truly listened to me.” She slanted her lips over his. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

He captured her lips for a passionate kiss, while his hands were busy freeing her of her T-shirt and shorts. She seemed just as impatient now as she jerked his shirt over his head and opened the button of his shorts. By the time she stripped him of his last piece of clothing, his cock was as hard as a ship’s mast.

But he wasn’t going to rush this. Not today. Now that everything was resolved between them, he had all the time in the world to make love to Tara. To shower her with affection, to show her that he was the kind of man she needed.

Slowly he eased her back, lowering her onto the bed. With his hands on her thighs, he spread her wide open for him, laying her out like a sensual feast. He let his eyes wander over her naked body, drinking her in. How anybody could have ever thought of her as the Ice Maiden was incomprehensible. Tara was a hotbed of passion and lust. She was fire itself. The fire that burned in him every time he thought of her.

“I’m going to be your server tonight,” he murmured, reminding her of what he’d said to her the night they’d met at the Gilberts’ party. “And this time I won’t take no for an answer.”

He lowered himself onto the bed, sliding into the space between her legs. When he dipped his head to her bare sex, he heard her breath hitch. He acknowledged the sound with male satisfaction.