Asher shifted, his expression going sharp and a predatory glint flashing through his eyes. “Not possible,” he said, his voice low and rough enough to send a shiver racing down her spine.
Well, that had backfired. Or maybe it hadn’t. From the moment they’d parted last night her body had been left simmering. She’d tried to ignore the need pulsing beneath her skin.
It wasn’t working.
“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be the only woman surrounded by all you big, dangerous, military men?”
“Honey, you have every damn one of us wrapped around your little finger and you know it.”
She tried to bite back the words but didn’t succeed. “You aren’t.”
“The hell I’m not.”
Kennedy stared at him. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
“Then why have you spent the past two years taunting me? What did I do?”
Asher shifted, his hips rubbing restlessly against the edge of the desk. “You d-didn’t d-do anything.”
Kennedy heard his words. She registered the stutter, nothing new. But for some reason, she loved the little halt in his voice.
To her, Asher Reynolds had been perfect. Gorgeous, powerful, determined, sarcastic, witty, sexy as hell. Every woman’s fantasy and nightmare together. He was untouchable and so utterly superb. Like the most exclusive and expensive bottle of wine she could never afford to taste.
She could feel the tension rolling off him as he waited for her reaction to his stuttered words. It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed him do this. But before, she’d simply brushed it off, thinking it was better not to acknowledge the slip and add to his embarrassment.
But maybe...
“You know, I like your stutter.”
“You wh-wh-what?”
“I like it. It’s cute.”
His entire expression went cold. “That’s not funny, Kennedy. I don’t appreciate you making fun of me.”
“I’m not. And I mean it, although maybe cute is the wrong word because no one could ever describe you as cute. Come on, you’ve looked in the mirror before and you know exactly your impact on women. I’m absolutely certain every female within a ten-mile radius wants you. So you freeze in front of a camera and stutter...it makes you real.”
He continued to stare at her, but Kennedy couldn’t stay still. Taking several steps nearer, she closed the gap between them, until their bodies were practically flush. She tipped her head back, looking into his eyes.
“I know you see it as a weakness, and maybe it is. But, hell, Asher, it’s the only one you’ve got. You’re smart, can handle any situation put in front of you with calm and confidence. Without that tiny flaw the rest of the world would never be able to measure up or compete. It gives us mere mortals a chance.”
8
HER WORDS STUNNED HIM. But he was even more shocked when Kennedy leaned in, her hands pressed tight against his chest as she sealed her mouth to his.
The kiss was pure heaven and excruciating hell all rolled into one. Because before he could even react and pull her closer, Kennedy was gone.
She backed away. Asher’s hands rose, chasing after her, fisting around empty air.
Her words had scorched through him almost as surely as that kiss. She didn’t think less of him because of his fear and stutter, but it was more than that. She liked it. Thought it made him unique.
That floored him. Especially after years of being teased and taunted because of it. It was more than he ever could have expected, especially from Kennedy.
It wasn’t as if he’d provided her any reason to be sympathetic toward him, which was the best he could have hoped for.
But that was what gave her words a ring of truth. She had no reason to lie or sugarcoat anything. So when she said something to him, he could take it at face value.
Which only made his body burn hotter, especially where her hand had pressed into his chest.
“Let’s get back to work.”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. She might like his stutter, but that didn’t necessarily mean it would disappear. His throat felt swollen and scratchy, too tight to let sound and words pass through. Asher’s gaze moved to the unblinking black eye of the camera lens pointed straight at him.
It would pick up every hesitation, magnifying it and amplifying it.
“Hey,” Kennedy’s soft voice pulled his attention. She watched him, her expression carefully neutral and easy. “Just focus on me.”
Slowly, her hands moved up her body, over her belly and breasts to the button at the top of her shirt. And she flicked it open.
For a second he thought maybe she was warm. The room was small, and they were in the middle of the Caribbean. His own temperature spiked when she reached for another button and pushed it through the tiny hole holding it closed.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you something else to think about.”
“This isn’t a good idea, Kennedy.”
“You’ve already said that, but I’m a big girl and I can make my own decisions.”
Asher stood there, powerless to do anything but watch as she swept the soft cotton shirt off her shoulders. It fluttered to the floor at her feet.
The bra she was wearing should have been labeled a lethal weapon. Why the hell was she wearing lingerie designed to drive a man to his knees?
It was candy-apple red and more lace than actual material. He caught tantalizing glimpses of skin through the strategic holes in the fabric. The swollen points of her nipples jutted straight out, silently begging for his attention.
His cock went rock hard.
Her skin was sun-kissed golden brown. Tiny freckles ran along her shoulders and down the swell of her chest.
God, he wanted to taste her. To run his tongue over every inch of her body and lap her up.
“Stop,” he somehow managed to croak out when she reached for the button holding her shorts closed. “For the love of all that’s holy, stop.”
Kennedy froze, her fingers wrapped in the waistband. She swallowed, her warm whiskey gaze sharp and searching as it roamed his face. “Do you really mean that?”
“Yes. No,” he groaned out.
A sinful smile tugged at her lips, and something dangerous flashed across her face. This woman, this tempting siren of a woman, was going to be the death of him. And he’d deserve every second of torture that came before. But at the moment, Asher couldn’t remember why this was a bad idea.
He’d watched her and wanted her for so long.
She flicked the button on her shorts open. The sound of her zipper, metal grinding against metal, was loud in his ears and the final straw.
Standing up, Asher stilled when Kennedy shook her head.
“Nope. You can’t touch.”
“What?” he asked, his voice incredulous. The woman was giving him a strip tease and expected him to keep his hands to himself?
She was crazy. Or wickedly, wickedly devious.
Or both.
“You get through the rest of these questions without hesitating, and then you can have your reward.”
She was offering herself like some prize at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box. Part of that pissed Asher off. Kennedy was more than something to be won.
She was the kind of woman you earned, and spent the rest of your goddamn life trying to keep up the pretense that you deserved her.
She was every man’s fantasy of forever.
Which was why he shouldn’t touch her. He’d tried forever and had no desire to try it again. Even his wife, a woman who’d stood up before God, their family and friends and professed to love him, had walked away without a thought.
No, their marriage hadn’t been perfect. They’d fought and irritated each other. But he’d been blindsided when he’d returned home to an empty house.
Asher had thought they were happy. He’d given everything he could to Krista, and it still hadn’t been enough.
It was never enough.
But the stakes were even higher with Kennedy. She wanted him now, but she’d decide he wasn’t good enough, just like all the others. And this time he wouldn’t just lose his home or his belongings.
He’d lose his friends, his family and the business he’d poured all his energy into.
But how was he supposed to resist with her standing in front of him in nothing but matching red lace panties and a bra?
He was human. He’d been fighting his desire for too long. He couldn’t fight anymore.
“Then you better hurry with those questions, because you’ve got about fifteen minutes before I say to hell with it and give you exactly what you’re asking for, little girl.”
“I keep telling you, I’m not a little girl.”
Asher let his gaze meander across Kennedy’s body. Her breasts swelled over the cups of her bra, threatening to spill out with every ragged breath.
At least he wasn’t the only one buzzing with need.
Her hips rounded nicely, the perfect hold for him to grasp and pull her tight against his own body. The smooth plane of her belly, the skin there a little lighter than the rest of her. Smooth, tanned legs that he could imagine wrapped around his waist.
She was playing with fire, but he was afraid that he was the one about to get burned.
“I’m well aware of that.”
* * *
THIS WHOLE EXERCISE had been designed to take Asher’s mind off his fears. However, it was backfiring because Kennedy couldn’t remember a single one of the questions she’d prepared to ask him.