Tags:
Fiction,
General,
Romance,
Contemporary,
Contemporary Romance,
Entangled,
brazen,
diane alberts,
Stealing His Heart,
Jennifer McLaughlin,
Shilling Agency
get too close to the windows as you fix it. It’ll set the alarm off.”
Her lips twitched as if she held back a smile. “But my chakra—”
He didn’t know what the hell a chakra was, but unless it involved her naked in bed, he didn’t want to know anything else. “Fix. It.”
Closing the door behind him, he went down the hall. She was going to be the death of him. He should call Cooper and tell him he wanted off this case. If she was going to be changing things around and wearing skimpy clothes the whole time she was here, then this was going to be hell. He needed to get her help and then get her out of his house…
And his life, too.
After taking the stairs two at a time, he went into the kitchen and set about brewing some coffee. He was halfway finished with his first mug when she came downstairs. She rounded the corner in a pair of tiny black shorts and a curve-hugging tank top. Her long, tan legs begged to be stroked, and she’d let her hair cascade over her shoulders. He liked the way it looked, tumbling down her bare shoulders.
But she couldn’t go out like that .
She paused in the doorway and studied herself with a frown. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like I peed in your coffee?”
“Half of your outfit is missing.” He gripped his mug tighter. “That’s what’s wrong.”
She stared at him for a second, then came into the kitchen and grabbed a raspberry out of the bowl he’d been eating from. After popping it into her luscious mouth, she chewed slowly, her gaze on him the whole time. When she finished, she sucked on her forefinger seductively and glanced down at her clothes again.
“Shorts and a tank top.” She released her finger with a sucking noise. “Nope. It’s definitely all there.”
He forced his attention off of her mouth. “Huh?”
“My outfit,” she said slowly, her blue eyes sparkling. “It’s all there.”
He gritted his teeth and turned to glance out the window. It was a hell of a lot safer than looking at her. She was trying to play him, and he wasn’t going to cooperate. “There’s coffee over there, as long as if doesn’t threaten your chakra, of course.”
She laughed. “Did you make a joke?”
“I don’t know. Did I?”
She smiled and nudged him. “Maybe that stick up your ass isn’t stuck as far in as I thought. The Jake I used to know might still be alive and kicking beneath that serious facade.”
“Doubtful,” he said, grabbing his raspberries off the counter. She hadn’t asked him if she could have any. Just took . How typical of her. “War does weird things to a man. It changes him.”
She fell silent, her attention on his Keurig as it brewed her coffee. He couldn’t help but notice she went for the flavored crap instead of the plain. He’d have to remember she liked it, and get some more at the store for her. As he ate a raspberry, she took another one, popping it in her mouth and doing the same slow, torturous chew she’d done before.
Fuck, he could watch her eat the sweet berries all day long. He almost reached for her. Almost kissed her, right there in the kitchen.
But he didn’t.
He gave her the rest of the berries, since she obviously planned on helping herself anyway, and busied himself with washing the dishes. “Have you thought about the code at all?”
She set the bowl down hard. “Nope. That’s not what I was thinking about while I was all alone in my bed late last night.”
Yeah. He hadn’t been, either.
“Well, you need to focus on work instead of daydreams.” He scrubbed the plate in the sink a hell of a lot harder than needed. “This isn’t some game you can laugh off. We have two days to figure this all out, or you’ll be in jail.”
She hopped on the counter, swinging her legs in the air. Her heel kept hitting the cabinet, making a constant knocking sound. “I know, I know. Help you or go to jail. Blah, blah, blah.” She wiggled her fingers and made a scared face. “I get it. It’s