“It’s not...” I stopped, something hollow in me, something I couldn’t explain without sounding like I was accusing her of something. “I’m beginning to learn how that head of yours works, Carly. You had more in mind than that. You kissed me because the cameras were there. Why?”

“No,” she corrected. She crossed her arms over her chest and again, my libido roared, telling me to screw talking and take what she was offering. “I wanted to kiss you.” She ran her fingers through her curls. “But I wasn’t playing to the cameras.”

“You were using me because of that Hank guy.”

Her cheeks flushed and I knew I’d hit on something.

“He’s a lecherous ass who’s always pawing at me, so yes, I leaned into you when you put your arm around me because I wanted him to leave me alone.”

“If he touches you...” I started to say.

She cut me off. “I don’t want to talk about him, Bobby.” Her eyes darkened. “Because he wasn’t the reason I kissed you. I kissed you because the truth is, I’ve been wanting to kiss you, do all sorts of other things to you, ever since you had me pinned under you on the sidewalk.”

She swayed closer, her breasts brushing against my chest. Reflexively, I reached out and caught her waist. Fuck. She felt so good against me.

“I started hitting you because if I hadn’t, I would’ve been throwing myself at you,” she said against my lips. “It was just embarrassing. And then I kissed you. Just that brief little kiss, and it did things to me...you’re turning me into a mess, Bobby.”

She caught my lower lip between her teeth and tugged. I felt the possessiveness and heat of it all the way down to my cock. I was still clutching her waist when she eased back so she could see my face.

“So I kissed you because I wanted to, but the fact that cameras were around?” She shrugged.

I made myself listen to what came next, made myself focus on her words and not on the naked skin under that thin veil of silk.

“I was just fine with it. Because that son of a bitch cop had the nerve to insinuate that I was paying you for sex...” Her voice started to heat. “He had the nerve to insult both of us and he’s jerking you around like a dog on a leash. It pissed me off.”

She slid a hand up my chest, all fire and heat now, the lazy sensuality gone from her eyes, replaced by something ravenous. It twisted primal things deep inside me.

“He called you a whore, but money has nothing to do with it. The truth is, the two of us want each other bad enough to keep us up at night.”

The look on her face dared me to argue. I stared down at her, heart racing in my chest, blood pounding hard and hot in my veins. I couldn’t argue with her. It was the truth. I wouldn’t have cared if she’d had no money, if she hadn’t offered me a job. Hell, if she told me I had to choose between the money and her, I wasn’t sure which one I’d take.

She arched an eyebrow, the look sly, almost taunting.

“Fuck this,” I muttered.

This was insane. This was stupid. But it was also real, and it had been too long since I’d had something real.

I grabbed the back of her neck and hauled her to me.

Chapter 8

The door to her bedroom slammed behind us with a bang that neither of us really noticed.

I spun her around and boosted her up, her back up against the door, my hands full of the curve of her ass. She moaned as she rocked against me. I was so ready to bury myself inside her, my body hurt.

When she shoved a hand between us and dragged her palm up and down over my cock, I had to catch her wrist and pull her hand away. She just went for me with the other hand, and a noise that was a pitiful mix between a laugh and groan rumbled out of me.

“Stop,” I said, all but ready to beg. “Just...just stop, okay?”

“Why?” she asked, a sexy little pout twisting her lips.

I bit the full lower one before I answered. “Because for the last few months, the only time I’ve come, it’s been me, my shower and my hand. If you keep that up, this is going to be short and not very sweet.”

She gave me a wicked grin and stroked me again. “Sorry, sugar, but I can feel what you’ve got in your pocket. It’s definitely not short, and I don’t need sweet.”

I would have laughed, if I hadn’t needed the oxygen. I pushed my hips against her caress and then a warning pulse raced down my spine and I caught her other hand.

“You could drive a man insane,” I told her, drawing both of her hands over her head. I stared down at her in the dim light. “You’ve been doing it to me pretty much from the second you tried to kill me with that damn purse of yours.”

A feline smile curled her lips as she stared up at me. “Is that a fact?”

“Hmmm.” I dipped my head and caught her lip between my teeth, tugged on it.

She shuddered. So I did it again as I pushed my knee between her thighs.

She whimpered this time and I increased the pressure. Through my thin workout pants, I could feel the heat of her. She was soft, already wet.

Abruptly, I went to my knees, and grabbed her hips. “I want to taste you.”

I barely heard her harsh intake of breath before I brushed my nose against the inside of her thigh. Fuck, she smelled amazing. She caught my hair and tugged, but I ignored it, leaning in to lick across the front of the skimpy underwear she was wearing.

She jolted. I sensed the surprise, but I didn’t care. I needed to have my mouth on her. A ragged noise escaped her.

She started to squeeze her thighs together, and I caught her behind one thigh, lifting it until her knee rested on my shoulder. It threw her balance off, and I steadied her, murmuring to her absently as I leaned in closer, fully intending to get to skin this time.

Then I heard a choked noise. It might have been my name. Whatever it was, it got my attention. Slowly, I lifted my head and stared up at her. She was watching me with a mix of hesitation, nerves and...reluctance. Without her saying a word, I knew she didn’t want me to go down on her.

I pressed a kiss to her hipbone, the silk of her nightgown almost as soft as her skin. As I got back to my feet, her hands raked through my hair and, for a moment, I wished I hadn’t let them cut my hair so short. Then her nails scraped against my scalp in the next second, and that made me forget about my hair, and just about everything else.

She muttered something against my lips.

“Huh?”

Her husky laugh made my heart stutter, and then she said it again. This time, it made sense. “Condom.”

I stilled. Shit. “I don’t have one.”

“I do.” Carly smiled, her mouth soft against my cheek. “Table next to my bed...handy, huh?”

“Handy...that pretty much covers it.” I boosted her up and the silk nightshirt she wore rode up over her hips. The only barriers were the thin pants I wore, and a pair of impossible sheer panties. The feel of her rubbing against me through my pants was the sweetest torture ever. The skin beneath my hands was impossibly smooth, the muscles firm.

The walk from the bed was nothing but a blur, and I tumbled down onto it, twisting as I fell so that she came down on top of me. She pressed kisses to my mouth, chin and neck, her hands moving up and down my arms, touching every part of me that she could reach. All the right parts, yet not enough of them.

“Off.” I pulled at her nightgown, unable to articulate anything more than that single word.

She grinned as she arched back, pulling the nightgown over her head. I caught my breath as she exposed her full breasts, and then it was her turn to gasp as my fingers teased at her already-hard nipples. I sat up, catching a nipple between my lips. She swore as I sucked on her sensitive flesh, and then she was tugging at my shirt.

“Want to see you.” She ground down against me until I was almost ready to explode right there.