Dangerous Tease (The Layton Family 3)

He moved in close enough for her to feel the heat pulsing off of his flushed cheeks. Or maybe it was the heat moving up from her wet pussy that caused the breathless jittering in her stomach. Her entire being focused on him as her nipples hardened in anticipation of the electric flash that would explode inside her the moment they touched.

She should say something, do something but the golden flecks in his hazel eyes held her mesmerized. Josie hung on the edge of a sheer cliff of need—not wanting to pull back, but unable to take that final step forward into the oblivion of passion.

“I have a boring life in a small town where nothing ever happens. My plans for the future involve putting fifteen percent of my salary into my 401K and publishing papers in dry history journals that no one reads. There is no room on my calendar for adventure or treasure hunting with a woman who stands out in the room like a shiny new penny.”

His lips were only millimeters from hers, his breath pushing against her parted lips like a heated caress. Josie's body vibrated from toes to eyebrows. If he didn't touch her soon, she would have to pounce on him.

“You probably don't even eat leftovers,” he grumbled.

“No.”

“Or drive the exact same route to work every day.” He drew a gloved finger down the zipper of her leather coat, frustratingly close to her breasts but not touching them.

“Uh-uh.” So much of her brain had evaporated she couldn't even form words anymore.

“We're nothing alike.” He grabbed her shoulders, squeezing the tender flesh. “I am content with my routine. I don't want to change anything about it. Do you understand me?”

Josie could only blink in response to his growled pronouncement as her heart raced and her body cried out for him.

Sam dropped his hands from her as if she'd burned him and stepped back. “So why do you make me think that I'm missing out on something extraordinary?”

He spun around on one heel and strode to the locked gate, his shoulders slumped. The chain rattled as he shook it in a half-assed attempt to open it. He leaned his forearms against the top railing and looked out at McPherson's Bluff. The rock stood alone in opposition to the rest of the topography, refusing to bow to the winds pushing against it.

“Because maybe deep inside you know you are missing something.” She moved to his side, wanting to wrap him in her arms but knowing he'd rebel if she attempted to comfort him. “Give yourself permission to take a leap of faith—like those people who traveled across the country. Like Rebecca.”

“Leap of faith.” He spit out the words as if they were a curse. “I'm trying to save you the heartache of pinning everything on a longshot and coming up a loser, and you want me to take a leap of faith?”

“Yes.”

“Look at it. McPherson's bluff is covered in a foot of snow. Half the landmarks on the map are buried. If you have to take a leap of faith, at least be sensible about it and come back in the spring.”

The muscles between her shoulder and spine clenched in a stress death grip. “Spring is too late.”

“Why, for God's sake?”

“I have to find Rebecca's Bounty or else Snips is going to hurt my parents.” Just saying the words out loud for the first time made the whole process seem hopelessly overwhelming.

He turned, a wary interest flickering in his tawny eyes. “Keep talking.”

“Cy is working with some sort of hush-hush security group. The Callandriello family is after the governor's daughter and Cy is keeping her safe.”

“What in the hell does that have to do with Rebecca's Bounty?”

Snow crunched under her boots as she paced in front of the gate. “Snips works for the Callandriellos and wants to move up the food chain by offering Cy up on a silver platter. He thought the best way to do that was to use me as bait, by telling me Cy owed him forty thousand and that I had to pay up since he couldn't find Cy. He figured I'd freak out, bring in Cy, and bam, he'd have his man. Instead, Cy moved our parents out of Vegas and I hightailed it to Dry Creek. But Snips tracked me and my parents down. I have to produce the treasure—the whole treasure. If I don't, my parents pay the price.” Heart kicking against her ribs, Josie came to a stop in front Sam and fought to control the tremble in her voice. “Please, I can't save them without you.”

Her panting breath came out in puffs of air, surrounding them like clouds of desperation-tinged hope. She searched his unresponsive face for some sign in his hazel eyes that all wasn't lost, that her faith in him was well placed. That he’d forgive her lies.

The jingle of his phone cut through the tension-filled silence. Without looking away from her, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. “Yeah?”

The neutral mask slid away and anger drew his eyebrows together and sent the vein in his temple pulsing wildly. “I'll be there in twenty minutes.” He shoved the phone in his coat and marched to the car. “We have to go. Now.”

“What happened?”

“Someone trashed my office and left Uncle Harlan beaten and bleeding on the floor.”

Chapter Twelve

Someone—probably Linc—had done a hell of a job on Sam's office at Cather College, setting off a chaos bomb in what had been the capital of Order Natio