Page 70 of Deep Tide

“This is all conjecture,” he said. “The guy Amelia dated could be anyone.”

“Yes, because we have so many Seattle tech CEOs hanging around Lost Beach. They’re everywhere.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Leyla...” His voice was full of warning now.

“Fine. Let’s talk about something else.”

The room fell silent except for the low hum of the refrigerator. She reached over and tapped her phone to switch her music to speaker mode. Latin jazz drifted from the phone, and she resumed her piping. She focused on her work and tried to ignore the sudden tension in the room. It was the tension more than anything that told her that her instincts were right, and Sean had more than a passing interest in whether Amelia had had a boyfriend. Well, Leyla had gotten an answer for him, and now he wanted her to kindly butt out.

That wasn’t happening. Leyla was interested now and determined to learn more. She had contacts Sean didn’t. Just because he was some hotshot FBI agent didn’t mean he couldn’t use her help.

He walked up beside her, and she felt a shiver of excitement. She ignored it. He smelled like that cologne or bodywash she remembered from last night, and she ignored that, too. Obviously, he was trying to distract her from their conversation.

“How do you get those so perfect?” he asked, leaning his hand on the counter.

“Practice.” She finished another blossom and added it to the baking sheet. “Would you like me to teach you?”

“I’m not artistic.”

“Everyone’s at least a little artistic.”

“Not me.”

“Want to try one?”

“Sure.”

She peeled a flower from a parchment square and turned to face him, lifting it up. He held her wrist and licked it off her fingertip.

She turned around.

“That’s good,” he said.

“Yep.”

“It just dissolves.”

His hands settled on her waist, and she turned to face him again.

“I can’t concentrate when you do that.”

“I know.” He gazed down at her, giving her a chance to push him away. When she didn’t, he dipped his head down.

His mouth was warm, and she tasted her icing on his tongue. Nerves shot through her as he leaned into her, pinning her against the counter with his hips. She tossed the piping bag aside and slid her hands into his thick hair.

Desire surged through her, and she thought about how much time she’d wasted today thinking about last night’s kiss on the beach and how hard it had been driving home alone afterward. She’d thought she’d made progress today shaking this off. But now she knew she hadn’t made any at all. She was right back where she’d been last night, wanting to throw caution to the wind for once. His hand slid up her side and grazed her breast.

“Damn it.” She kissed his mouth, his jaw, his neck. “I wasn’t going to do this tonight.”

“Why not?”

She pulled back and looked up at him, and the intensity in his eyes sent a jolt of yearning through her. She was so ridiculously attracted to this man, even when he ticked her off, like he was doing right now.

She kissed him again, pulling his head down as she pressed against him, probably getting sugar and butter all over the front of his clothes.

“Leyla.”

She didn’t stop, afraid if she let him talk, she’d remember why this was a bad idea.

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