About That Kiss:A Heartbreaker Bay Novel(42)

"I'm trying to decide what I want to do with you."

"What are the options?" he asked.

"Kill you or kiss you."

He laughed. "Here, let me help you decide." Reaching out, he tugged her into him so that she stood between his spread thighs.

She sighed. "I find it really irritating that you smell so good. I want to bite you."

He gave her a small smile. "Bite away."

"I'm really mad at you, Joe."

"I know. Let me make it all better."

For now, he meant. But maybe not. Even in the dark she could see the  need and yearning and hunger on his face. He wanted her every bit as  much as she wanted him. Staring at him, she gave a slow nod and in one  dizzying move, he snagged her around the waist and tugged her back onto  the bed.

And then turned on the light.

"Hey," she complained and lifted a hand to block her eyes. "Turn that off."

"I want to see you."

"You know what I look like!"
         

     



 
"Not when we're naked," he said.

"I'm not naked-" She broke off when he slid off her panties. Okay, now she was naked.

"We've never done this before," he said.

She gaped up at him. "What are you talking about? We've done nothing but this."

He smiled but shook his head. "Not as you. You've always been in a wig as a disguise. But now you're you."

She was finding it very hard to talk with his big, delicious bod holding  her down. "I wasn't in disguise that other morning in the shower," she  said.

"Semantics. Your sweet curves were all warm and wet and covered in soap. I lost my mind."

"How about the other night when you showed up late-"

"That's just it," he said. "It was late. And dark." He pushed her hair  from her face and made himself very at home between her legs. "Where  were we?"

With her about to walk. But now she had him this close and she couldn't  hold on to her resolve. Not ready to have the conversation with him in  this position, hell, not wanting to have it at all, she rolled so that  she was on top. Better. Now he was sprawled out beneath her, all sinew  and heat, and she couldn't think. One last time, she told herself. You  can have him this one last time before you walk away. "I think we were  just about to rock each other's world."

"I like the sound of that." Then he rolled, and before she could blink, she was pinned beneath him again.

And not, apparently, because he was in any sort of hurry to get to it.  No, it was as if it was the complete opposite. A switch had been thrown  and suddenly he seemed to have all the time in the world as he worked  his way down her body, kissing, licking, nibbling, and then kissing  again, every single inch of her. She was writhing, begging him for more,  but he couldn't be rushed as he made his way back to her mouth for a  kiss that was hot, deep, and slow, and she absolutely melted. He kissed  her like that for long minutes, seemingly content to just drink her in  as they rolled over the bed, taking turns on top. She reveled in the  dominant position for long, rare moments, reacquainting herself with  every inch of him, wondering if she'd ever get enough of feeling his  heat, his hard muscles quivering beneath her tongue. And when she took  him just a little too far, when he groaned her name and pulled her up to  straddle him, she took his hands in hers and pushed them over his head  as she brought him deep inside her.

The ambient glow from her bathroom night-light lit his warrior's body in  bold relief, highlighting the sheen of his skin and the flex of his  muscles moving beneath it, all the way down past his abs to where their  bodies were joined. She watched, helplessly fascinated, as his body  surged into hers, again and again and again. Her eyes drank in the  details of him, the faint line of hair down his belly, a long, thin scar  across his ribs, the line of stitches from the other night, another  scar in the hollow of his shoulder.

The muscles in his neck were corded, his head thrown back in pleasure,  and his eyes, locked on hers, sent her right over. She felt him go too,  his mouth at her throat as he shuddered along with her . . .

They were still gasping for air, still lying tangled together where  they'd collapsed. From somewhere in the dark room, Joe's phone buzzed.  The nature of his job and the story of their lives. He ignored it but  Kylie was barely able to recognize this fact. She was that far gone in  what they'd just done. It felt as though he'd peeled back all her layers  and broken into her heart. There were feelings, oh so many feelings,  and she knew, dammit, she knew, she wasn't alone in this.

Not that she was going to wait around for him to realize that. As she  worked at putting air into her lungs and waited for the feeling to  return to her extremities, she realized the pillows were gone. Her lamp  leaned drunkenly against one wall. The blankets and sheets had  disappeared and the fitted sheet had been pulled loose, lying twisted  and damp beneath them.

The only thing moving was Joe's hand, slowly stroking up and down her  damp back as she continued to struggle to regain her breath and some  semblance of control. Only when she was clearly relaxed, boneless, and  very near a pleasure coma in fact, did he go for his phone.         

     



 

When he did, she pulled the blanket off the floor to cover herself. Joe  glanced over at her, clearly amused by her sudden modesty. But as he  listened to a message, his smile faded.

"What?" she asked when he'd disconnected.

He didn't answer, just began pulling on his clothes.

She sat up. "Joe."

He paused with only his jeans on, low-slung and sexy even now. "Remember the cowboy apprentice, Eric?" he asked.

"Of course. What did he want?"

Joe looked pained.

She stared at him. "Joe."

"He found the imposter's card. He's got a number for the guy."





Chapter 28





CarpeDiem



Kylie's heart took a good hard fast leap at the first real progress  toward getting back her penguin. Finally, they were getting somewhere.  Except . . . She met Joe's gaze. "Tell me something."

"What?"

"Were you going to fill me in on Eric's call if I hadn't asked?"

He hesitated and she felt the shock roll through his system. "Seriously?" she asked.

"Okay, hold on a second," he said, shoving his fingers through his hair  in a rare tell of frustration. "Yes, I did briefly consider not telling  you . . . yet . . . but I knew you'd get all up in arms over that. I was  going to tell you, Kylie."

"But maybe not until you'd checked it over."

That one he didn't answer, but he didn't have to. The truth was in his eyes.

Stunned, she shook her head and stared at him, unsure how to feel. She'd  never thought about trust being a premeditated, calculated thing  before, but apparently it was. She didn't like it, not one little bit.  Jumping up, she pulled on some clothes before grabbing her phone.  "What's the guy's name and number?"

"Kylie-"

"Joe."

He didn't sigh but he looked like he wanted to. "We don't have a name,"  he said. "Just the business-Wood Specialties-and a number."

"Fine. Just the number then." She made the call on speaker. The voice mail was a brusque male voice saying one word. "Beep."

"I'm interested in your work," Kylie said. "Call me back." She left her number and disconnected.

Joe was finishing getting dressed. He grabbed his keys. "I'm going to  the office to do a search on that number and get an address."

"Great idea." She slid her purse over her shoulder. "I'm going with you."

"It's the middle of the night."

She just looked at him and he blew out a breath and lifted his hands. "Fine," he said.

"Fine."

Half an hour later they were in his office and had the address of Wood  Specialties, located on a houseboat in the marina. They also had a name  for the guy who owned it.

Kevin Baker.

Kylie sat down hard in Joe's office chair.

Joe was watching her carefully. "You know him?"

"I used to," she said. "He's one of my mom's old boyfriends. One of the  few I actually liked. He was nice to me. And he liked my grandpa. He did  a little work for him now and then, although he took off right around  the time of the fire."

Joe took his eyes off his computer screen and looked at her. "And you didn't think he should be on the list of suspects?"

"No, I didn't," she said a little testily, hugging herself. "I never  would've considered Kevin for taking the penguin. He wasn't an  apprentice. And out of all of my mom's boyfriends, he was my favorite.  He's a nice guy and the only one who bothered to be even halfway nice to  the daughter of his crazy girlfriend."

Joe blew out a breath, which spoke volumes. They both knew she hadn't  had a lot of nice guys in her life who'd put her first. And she had the  feeling that Joe believed they were about to ruin the memory of one of  the few. "It's not him," she said. "No way."