“Grace.” Her name came out so garbled, she hardly recognized it. “I do not want to kiss Emma Jane.”
“Could have fooled me. And her. She definitely had the impression you were into her. Maybe because you were telling her jokes and letting her put her hands all over you.”
“And maybe I let her because I knew you were watching.”
“I— What?” All the air vanished from her lungs instantly. And then she found it again. “It was on purpose? Flirting with Emma Jane. You did that on purpose?” She was screeching. Dang near high enough to call dogs from another county. “Oh, that’s...”
She couldn’t think of a filthy enough word to describe it. He’d been playing her. Kyle Wade had picked her up and played her like a violin. Of course he had. She might as well have Bad Judge of Character tattooed on her forehead so people could get busy right away with pulling one over on her. And she’d waltzed to his tune with nary a peep.
And speaking of no peeps, Kyle was standing there watching her without saying a word, the big jerk.
“It was all a lie?” she asked rhetorically, because he’d just said it was, though why he’d done it, she couldn’t fathom. “What were you trying to accomplish, anyway?”
His grin slipped as he pinned her in place with nothing more than his gaze. He swayed forward, just a bit, but his heat reached out and slid along her skin as if he’d actually brushed her torso with his.
She couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move. The play of expression across his face fascinated her. The heat called to her.
“No lies. See this,” he murmured and wagged a finger between them, drawing her eye as he nearly touched her but didn’t. “Just what you ordered. Space. Anytime you feel inclined to make it disappear, I’ll be the one over here minding my own business.”
Oh! Of all the sneaky, underhanded, completely accurate things to say.
Mute, she stared at him and he stared right back. He’d been giving her exactly what she asked for. Never mind that she’d rather drink paint thinner than admit he might have a point. And the solution was rather well spelled out, too.
She didn’t want him to flirt with other women? Then close the gap.
There was no more running, no more hiding. This was it, right here. He wanted her. But he wasn’t going to act on it.
They shared a fierce attraction and the past was in the past. She’d held him at bay in order to get her feet under her, to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt her again. It was the same tactic she employed with her cases. If she wanted to be sure she wasn’t letting her emotions get the best of her, wanted to be sure she was making an unbiased decision, she stepped back. Assessed from afar with impersonal attention.
This wasn’t one of her cases. This was Kyle. As personal as it got. And the only way she could fully assess what they could have now was to dive into that pool. Wading in an inch at a time wasn’t working.
Rock solid, not moving a muscle, he watched her. This was her show and he was subtly telling her he’d let her run it. Except he was also saying she couldn’t keep talking out of both sides of her mouth.
Either she could act like a full-grown woman and do something about the man she wanted or keep letting their interaction devolve into an amateurish high school game.
She picked doing something.
Going on instinct alone, she reached out with both hands and pressed them to Kyle’s bare chest, her gaze on his as she did it, gauging his reaction. His eyes darkened as her fingers spread and she flattened both palms across his pectoral muscles. Damp. Hot. Hard.
One muscle flexed under her touch and she almost yanked her hands back. But she didn’t. He hadn’t felt like this before. He was all man and it was a serious turn-on, especially because it was still Kyle underneath. When he was looking at her the way he was right then, as if the center of the universe had been deposited in his palm, it was easy to remember why she’d fallen for him. All the emotion of being in love with this man rushed back.
“There you go,” she said breathlessly. “No more space.”
“Grace,” he growled, and she felt the vibrations under her fingers. “You better mean it. I’m only human.”
Her touch was affecting him. She was affecting him. It was something she hadn’t fully contemplated, but she did get that it wasn’t fair to lead him on and keep dancing back and forth between yes and no.
“I mean it. If you want to kiss me, it’s fine.”
“Fine.” There came that slow smile. “That’s almost as bad a word as nice. I think it’s time to fix your vocabulary.”