Caught

“I already told you.”

Unsettled by his stare, she pivoted around and headed to the small study, crossing all the way to the back of the room, determined to pretend to be engrossed in the sight of her old home from the arched window. She was sure that a man like Cody—a cynic by nature and a detective by trade—did not buy her tale in the least.

But then again, maybe he did. Because he wanted to.

For years, Cody Nordstrom had been chasing killers.

His focus generally was aimed toward evil motivations, revenge and jealousy, the kind that inspired people to kill. He was not focused on the good emotions so much, like how and why someone sought out happiness and comfort. She was sure that if he had any inkling of how she felt for him, he would sto

p tormenting her and either buy a one-way ticket to Mars, or buy a roundtrip for two for their honeymoon. And yet, evidence pointed to the fact that he couldn’t see, didn’t realize that Megan wanted him … beyond bearing.

“You know,” she began tentatively, “I think Ivan was trying on your suits while hiding in your closet. That’s why the closet door burst open; there was some movement going on inside.”

Cody didn’t seem surprised, but he also seemed preoccupied.

Wondering what he wasn’t telling her, Megan went fishing for information. “You’d make lieutenant if you weren’t so blind to what’s right before you sometimes. I bet you hadn’t noticed he messed with your closet, huh?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Trust me, I noticed.”

She could tell by his amused tone that he knew he was being baited, and that he didn’t plan to fall any further than that.

Plus being that he was surveying the place like a hellhound, she suddenly felt a little stupid for telling him he was missing a point, because he was definitely being very thorough. But then hadn’t Paige said she needed to do something because he never would?

Yes, she had. So Megan let her top slip from one of her shoulders, low enough so that when she baited him a little more and he finally glanced at her, he would notice that her bra was falling off one shoulder as well as her shirt, and he would see the top of the creamy globe. “So you never miss a thing, Nordstrom? Ever?”

He straightened and stiffened when he saw, then seemed to have trouble finding the right words to say: “Meg, can’t help but notice.… your shirt’s falling off.”

She met his glimmering blue gaze head on, and just smiled at him, not bothering to fix it, issuing him a silent dare …

* * *

Okay, maybe he’d failed to say it loud enough. Heck, maybe, he was so wired-up he’d only thought it.

“Your shirt’s falling off,” Cody repeated.

His voice faltered, so he cleared his throat and then, when Megan remained motionless, leaning against the wall and looking like a lovely pinup girl, he pointed a shaky hand down at her … beautiful, almost exposed, perfectly shaped wet-dream of a boob.

“Your shirt—Meg.”

Eyes widening in surprise, Megan looked down at that perfect half-exposed breast, then innocently up at him, her eyes so green he could get lost in them, like in a rainforest. His hands itched at his sides. His whole body itched under his suit. He wanted to tear off his tie and curl it around her rump and use it to pull her up against him.

He could imagine her … Wanna take her upstairs, in my old room, my old bed, where I thought of her so many times … No, dammit! He’d come here to think, but instead she was driving him crazy, and this was not the time to indulge in teen fantasies. He’d stopped being a teen at sixteen, when his parents had been murdered.

In this very house!

He gritted his teeth and pointed once again at her cotton top draped over that creamy shoulder almost all the way down to what he was sure would be the pinkest, perkiest little nipple he’d ever seen.

His eyes fastened to it, and suddenly he knew he would not be able to pull his gaze free if she didn’t pull that damned top in place.

But Megan did nothing to fix the problem, to remove the temptation.

Instead, she made a slight sound, like a sigh, leaned back, further back against the wall, and aroused the fucking daylights out of him when she closed her eyes and pushed her breasts out like she was taking the sun outside.

“I could really use some coffee later,” she murmured sleepily, her eyes still closed. “Mind if I wait here while you do your thinking?”

Like hell. Like he could think about anything with her here, almost naked.

He wanted to pounce on her. He wanted to warn her to run, but then that would only make him want to chase her. And what would he do when he caught her? Fuck I’m going to lick her calves like an ice cream cone … suckle her breasts till there’s no tomorrow … taste her honey and suck every last drop …