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  Looking into those trusting eyes, he damn well knew if she called a stop tonight, it would have nothing to do with money. This woman was no prostitute but he needed proof and to get it, he had to carry things through. One sampling of those full lips and he could attempt to close the deal. Once she backed off, he’d make some excuse and take her home. A cold shower waited for him and then he’d file his report and forget all about Miss Kayla Luck.

  Plan set, he focused his attention on his so-called date, a woman who intrigued him more with each passing second. His grip on her arms tightened. She didn’t protest, not when he pulled her toward him and not when his lips came down hard on hers. That was the point Kane knew he’d made a mistake. Her mouth was warm and welcoming and a hint of sweet wine still lingered inside. One taste made him hungry for more than a stolen kiss in a back alley. One sampling set his blood on fire and he knew: he wouldn’t be walking away anytime soon.

  The brick wall anchored them and he took advantage letting his body thrust hard against hers. She made a sound, half moan, half plea, Kane couldn’t be sure. He only knew it made him want her more. The pulsing, pounding waves wouldn’t be ignored.

  Kayla leaned her head back against the wall, drawing deep unsteady breaths. He cupped her chin in his hand and looked into glazed green eyes. He wanted her. There it was. The stark truth, he thought. No lies, no deception, no case hanging between them…unless something she did placed it there. He’d crossed the line and there was no turning back.

  He’d never have believed he’d be so tempted to compromise his principles for a woman, never have believed he needed one night so badly. She aroused him beyond sanity, beyond reason and he needed to possess her, all of her. He traced the line of her jaw, then held her face between his palms. “I want you.” His voice rasped in her ear, the words vibrating between them.

  Her hands reached for his chest, curling into fists against the heavy jacket. “Why?”

  Of all possible answers, that one took him by surprise. So did the fact that he knew exactly what to say. “Not because you’re beautiful, even though you are.”

  Her cheeks turned a shade deeper than before and he brushed his thumb over her reddened skin. She trembled and the shudder found an answer inside him. He inhaled then forced himself to continue. “And not because your body would tempt a saint, even though it would.” His other hand brushed the underside of her breast, tracing the rounded, full contours hidden beneath the layers of clothes. Her answer, a sensual moan, shook his soul. For as he spoke, Kane realized he was telling her more than what she wanted to hear. He was telling her the truth.

  She tipped her head to the side. Her face fit perfectly in his hand. “Then why?” she asked.

  “Because you’re smart and I respect that, because you’re gutsy and I admire that.” Her eyes sparkled, glowing with a life of their own at each word he spoke.

  Kane shook his head, unable to believe he was taking everything he’d learned about Kayla in order to make his case, and using it to make her his instead.

  One night. With every second that passed, he needed that more and more. The light in her eyes, the…acceptance, he thought, struggling for the correct word. He needed everything she possessed. After taking it, he’d deal with how badly he betrayed both his job and himself. “I had fun with you tonight and everything about you intrigues me. Enough?” he asked too harshly.

  A satisfied smile caught hold of her lips. He wanted a taste of that satisfaction but refrained for now. “More than enough.” Her arms slipped around his waist.

  “I take it that’s a yes.” His heart beat faster at the thought.

  “That’s a yes…for the right price,” she said coyly.

  He froze in place, then forced a smile. He’d taken her out tonight to bait and trap her. He’d gotten temporarily distracted by a rush of hormones, but it seemed he was about to get what he came for. He ignored the swell of disappointment that came when he looked into those fraudulent green eyes. “And what would that be, Ms. Luck?”

  She touched her icicle-like hands to his face and grinned. “Hot chocolate, Kane.” She smoothed her fingertips over his brow and her light laughter caught him by surprise. “What did you think I wanted?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but you could show me.”

  Her eyes opened wide before she brushed a warm yet hesitant kiss over his lips. Arousal hit as fast as his sense of relief. Before he could change his mind, he grabbed her hand and started back down the street. His hotel room, the hotel room taken by the department, was a few blocks away. He’d face himself and the repercussions of his actions tomorrow. Tonight was about Kayla.

  CHAPTER THREE

  KAYLA WALKED INTO THE recently decorated lobby of the hotel where Kane was staying, trying not to feel like a woman about to embark on a one-night stand. She glanced around at the potted, but obviously fake plants and the bored clerk yawning behind the desk. It was a respectable establishment, but she wondered how many men brought women to a hotel room for a quick fling?

  She stopped halfway to the elevator and grabbed the hard leather of Kane’s jacket. He turned toward her. “Second thoughts?” he asked.

  “Just a reality check. I don’t know anything about you.”

  “You know what’s important.” He brushed a fingertip down her cheek. Her skin tingled and her heart rate soared. “What more is there?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, maybe you’re not really a salesman. Maybe you’re a…”

  “Serial killer?” He jumped in with a disarming grin.

  “Married or involved was more like what I had in mind,” she said on a nervous laugh. “But yours is a valid consideration, too.”

  “Well, I can set your mind at ease on that score. No bodies buried anywhere in my past. No spouses, either, present, ex or intended.” He wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. Well, it would have been comforting if not for her body’s immediate reaction.

  Pheromones, she’d read recently, acted to stimulate a body’s chemical reaction to the opposite sex. But such clinical reasoning wasn’t enough of an explanation for her response to Kane McDermott. It might explain the all-over heat despite the chill outdoors, or the delicious sizzling sensations tripping around inside her. In no way did it account for the rush of warmth when those eyes met hers or the understanding she’d seen there when she’d told him about her childhood.

  If he’d been vague about himself, that was okay. He’d be gone too soon for it to matter and he’d shown interest in her life, something no man had ever done before. His curiosity about her new career path and the new services she planned for Charmed! made her feel as if he cared.

  Catherine was right. This was a man capable of putting Kayla and her needs first. But she’d never done anything like this before and she needed his reassurance before deciding to take this next step. She needed to know there was no one else in his life. That she wasn’t making a colossal mistake.

  She glanced at his serious expression, one mixed with desire and concern. Kane might want her, but he was a gentleman in the ways he showed her his desire…except for that incident in the alley, where she’d been as willing a participant as he.

  Her entire system shook in reaction. Foreplay, she thought. He’d readied her mind as well as her body. The heavy pulsing deep inside proved that, so did the anticipation of what awaited her.

  She wanted to blame chemistry but she knew a lot more than that had pushed her to this moment. A lifetime of being treated as a sex object and not a person with feelings. Years of ignoring her own desires because she feared picking the wrong man, one who wanted her body but not the whole person. The final straw had come over the past month, when she’d taken on Charmed!—the vehicle to secure her sister’s future and hold onto her aunt’s past. While her sister dated, while Catherine registered and started culinary school, Kayla had deferred the rest of her education to run the business. She’d suppressed her own desires and needs. What about what she wanted?

 
She glanced at Kane. This man made her feel alive for the first time ever. Add what seemed to be a genuine caring and she couldn’t go wrong. There might never be another man who valued her. Because there would never be another Kane McDermott.

  She met his gaze. He was unattached and sexy, dynamic…and hers, for the night at least. The suspense and excitement built and she smiled. “Well, I guess that settles things.”

  “Does it?” He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his jeans. Tight jeans that molded against muscular thighs and showcased his obvious arousal.

  She licked her dry lips. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”

  “You were quiet for so long I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  Kayla drew a deep breath, as much for courage as for luck. Then she extended her hand.

  A sexy grin edged the corners of his mouth and he intertwined his fingers in hers. “One stop first.” He crossed to the front desk. He handed something to the clerk, whispering too low for her to catch what he said. “Ready?” he asked, turning back toward her.

  Her stomach felt as if it hit the floor. “Ready,” she murmured.

  Everything that came next, the elevator ride and the walk down the dimly lit hall, all passed in a blur caused by near panic. Then she found herself alone with Kane in his hotel room. For a woman with limited experience, she wondered what had possessed her. She swung around, taking in the clutter. An open briefcase sat on the table, clothes lay scattered around and an unzipped suitcase had been shoved into the corner. The mess was so unfeminine, so like a man…so like Kane.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re trembling.”

  She glanced at her surroundings once more. The king-size mattress in the center of the room drew her focus. What awaited her in that bed sent her imagination soaring. Kayla, Kane, hot bodies, tangled sheets…To her shock, her case of nerves calmed as she realized this was exactly where she wanted to be.

  She looked at him. “I’m okay now.”

  “Kayla…”

  “Yes?”

  He cleared his throat. “Have you ever done this before?”

  She raised her chin at the doubt in his tone. “Lots of times.”

  “Bull.”

  “Fine.” She made for the door before his embarrassing, on-target questions humiliated her further. If her inexperience showed now, how disappointed would he be later?

  She didn’t get far. Two steps and he stopped her departure with a firm arm around her waist, drawing her close against his lean, hard body. His masculine scent pummeled her nerve endings, enticing her physically, assaulting her already raw senses. Her breasts tingled, her skin sizzled with fire and that wasn’t the worst part. This man had the power to affect her emotions, too.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “My mama always said if you can’t do something right, don’t bother doing it at all.”

  “Did I say you did anything wrong?”

  She rolled her eyes and threw the blame squarely on him. “Not me, you.”

  “I did something wrong. What?”

  “You questioned my experience. Not exactly the way to endear yourself to a woman, McDermott.” She forced herself to remain stiff and unyielding in his arms, even though she wanted to curl into him and feel his strength flow through her.

  His heated breath fanned her neck. His cologne threatened to seduce her and make her forget common sense. She struggled against the seductive pull. “Let me go.”

  “Not until you answer the question I asked a minute ago and then I’ll explain. If you don’t like what you hear, I’ll take you home myself. Have you done this before?” he asked again.

  “A one-night stand in a stranger’s hotel room? No. Happy now?”

  “Not by a long shot. And that wasn’t the question I was asking and you know it.”

  “Okay,” she said, resigned. “Once in my senior year of high school and once more a few years ago.” The first time she’d been young and inexperienced, scared but seduced into believing the guy had wanted her, not just a quickie in the backseat of his car. He’d gone to great lengths to convince her, and she’d bought his act. Then he’d gone bragging to his friends, and she’d never heard from him again. The second time had been years later. Another mistake, a futile effort to relieve the loneliness in her life.

  She resented being forced to relive either time. “You want names and dates, too, Officer, or are the sketchy details enough?”

  He jerked back, but kept his hand firmly around her waist.

  “Well?” she asked when he remained silent. “Are you going to keep grilling me like some cop or let me go home?”

  “Neither.”

  His long exhale took her by surprise. Had he been as tense as she was about this encounter? Impossible. Men didn’t get nervous.

  Kayla straightened as best she could, trying to ignore that her behind now snuggled firmly against him. She didn’t have to look back to know what male organ pressed hard and insistently against her. She gritted her teeth.

  “Why is this so important?” she asked him.

  “You said years.” His hand brushed her hair off her face and he lay a warm, comforting cheek next to hers. “I want you so badly I can barely stand.” His rough voice shook her body. The truth shook her soul. “If I didn’t ask, if I didn’t know, I’d have hurt you.”

  Her cheek remained cushioned next to his. He felt so right. Her stiff muscles relaxed, even as her body remained strung tight and begged for sexual release.

  Kane loosened his hold, apparently assured she wouldn’t run. She turned, crossing her arms in front of her and clutching her stomach in a death grip as she asked her next question. “And if you had…hurt me, I mean…you’d have cared?”

  He swallowed so hard she saw his throat muscles at work. “Is that so hard to believe?”

  “About a man, yes. About you, after this…no. I…” Her next words were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  He held her gaze for a long second with a hot look that pulled his features taut and put sparks of need in his eyes. Need she inspired. The notion awed her.

  “I’ve got it.” He opened the door and waited as a man placed a room service cart with what looked like a thermos of coffee on the only free counterspace available in the room. “Fast work. I guess money does talk.”

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “Payment.” She raised one eyebrow in question. “For what’s to come,” he explained. Lifting the silver tray off the plate, he revealed two packages of instant hot cocoa mix.

  “You remembered,” she said, both pleased and impressed. This caring man had amazed her yet again.

  “When an intelligent woman speaks, I listen. Besides how could I deny such a simple request? Especially when it will get me everything I want.” His seductive smile caused her insides to twist into delicious knots only he could undo.

  “Had for a cup of hot chocolate.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess I’m easy,” she murmured, rubbing her still-chilled hands against her jean-clad thighs for warmth. His gaze followed the movement, his eyes darkening with unmistakable sexual heat.

  “Are you?” He walked to her slowly. His eyes never left hers as his hands went to the zipper on her jacket.

  His knuckles grazed her chin as he made quick work of opening the zipper, his large hands brushing the sides open and off her shoulders. The jacket slid to the floor in a heap while his hands lingered. He gripped her upper arms hard, yet his fingers were shockingly gentle as they molded to her flesh beneath the constricting turtleneck.

  His next maneuver surprised her. Strong hands slid through her hair, gliding and touching in a soft whisper of movement. Her headband joined the jacket on the floor, creating a pile of clothing destined to grow. Strong hands combed through her tangled hair. The tugging at her scalp felt erotically wicked. Without warning, a violent tremor took hold. Heat pounded between her thighs and a trickling liquid wa
rmth followed in its wake.

  Being with this man wouldn’t be slow and easy. It wouldn’t be controlled and simple to understand. She didn’t want it to be. Her first step toward recognizing herself as a woman meant accepting what she’d believed impossible. A wild abandon existed in her soul, waiting for the opportunity to be set free.

  Other men had touched—and they’d turned her ice-cold. No one else had inspired such gut-wrenching need. But Kane had seen beyond the packaging to the woman inside, and because he had, Kayla came together at last—body, heart and soul. She didn’t care if she’d only know him one night, she felt so much more. She wanted him and she wouldn’t, couldn’t restrain the gnawing hunger any longer.

  She recalled his last question. Was she easy? “For you I guess I am,” she murmured and stood on her tiptoes to place a full, openmouthed kiss on his lips.

  His body shook and the tremors vibrated through her as he grabbed her waist and pulled her roughly against him. “Lady, do you have any idea what you do to me?”

  Kayla gathered her courage and repeated his words of earlier that night. “No, but you could show me.”

  KANE EXPELLED A HARSH breath. In her playful innocence, she obviously had no idea she’d brought him too close, too fast. He hadn’t held back tonight and looking into her clear gaze, he couldn’t start now. He grabbed for her hand and placed it on the front placket of his jeans.

  “Oh.” Her gasp of surprise was telling.

  If she were as smart as she was supposed to be, she’d pull back before things got out of hand. The rational part of him hoped she would. Instead she cupped him firmly in her palm and molded her fingers to the faded denim, tracing the weight of his arousal pushing restlessly against the restricting denim.

  He closed his eyes and tried to think…of sports. Tonight’s game, that ought to keep his mind off sex while her hand explored and his body contracted. Last thing he needed was to embarrass himself before things even got started. The weight and pressure of her fingers was driving him mad. And then she went to the button on his jeans. Baseball, he reminded himself. Bats, balls, stolen bases and home runs…Damn this was a bad idea.