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He flicked it and a glow burst between them, illuminating her face. Her full pink lips held anything but the smile she’d worn on the patio. Her high cheekbones bore a tantalizing blush. Whether it was natural or from their kiss it didn’t matter. Still fucking gorgeous.

Her dark eyebrows lowered and her gaze homed in on him. “Really, Dallas. What are you doing here in Cali? This can’t be a coincidence. Did you—”

“Come looking for you? Hell no.”

Anger swathed his body in a second layer of heat. Sweat moistened his brow. The closet was hotter than hell with very little airflow. He lifted his arm and wiped his forehead.

She folded her arms in front of her chest, and the two-inch gap between their bodies felt as enormous as a canyon.

He swallowed the rest of his injured pride. The fact that she thought he was so hung up he’d follow her across the world was more than a little insulting.

The fact that she always showed up at his house on a random day of the year—only one—and he obliged, hitting the sheets and banging her sweet pussy like a man starved, was evidence enough that he had it bad. Real fucking bad.

Their random sexual encounters had started five years ago. He had no contact number for her. No address. She was a ghost who waltzed in and out of his life freely, spilling his sanity on the floor in a pathetic mess of lust, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Sure, he could tell her to take a hike. Find another dude to keep her warm. But that’s not what he wanted. He’d fucked her only a handful of times and it was a million times too few.

She huffed a breath through her nose. Her shoulders were high and rigid, her eyes distant and, dammit, fearful.

“You have to get out of here, okay?” She glanced at the door as if she expected it to spring open.

He drew his head back. “I’m on a job. I can’t go anywhere.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes at the same time. “Leave the hotel. Please.”

Spotting a ledge just above her head, he set the lighter down, the flame still lit. Turning his attention back to her, he pressed his palms into her biceps. “Gemma. What’s going on?”

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “I don’t have time to talk. It’s dangerous here.”

Angst punched the wall of his stomach. Now he really couldn’t leave. “For you?”

“Look, I can’t tell you anything. I’m staying in the city tonight. Give me your number and I’ll call you.” The gentle cadence of her voice carried sincerity.

Nah. He’d been down that road before. He’d given her his number more than once and never had she called. It’d been fourteen months since she last showed up at his door, and before today, he’d thought something had happened to her or she’d moved on.

He caressed her skin with his thumbs, and the motion seemed to erase some of the tension in her body. She brought her cheek to his chest for a beat then pulled away.

“Come with me right now.” The words blurted from his mouth. There were a dozen reasons why he couldn’t—no, shouldn’t—make this offer, and one very important reason why he should. While not ideal, he could delay his meeting a few hours to get Gemma to safety.

“I can get you a plane—”

She pressed her fingertips to his lips. A smile eased the strain on her face. Her smooth, pearly teeth called his tongue once again.

Goddamn, if she’d asked him to jump into a burning building he would.

“I appreciate the offer,” she whispered, and dragged her knuckles along his jaw. “I’m glad I saw you here. It’ll help.”

A sense of regret surrounded her, softening her usually tough exterior. For the hundredth time he ached to ask the questions that burned his lips, but he forced them down. The more Gemma was pushed, the farther she’d run. Someone had a firm grip on her.

He shifted his hand from her arm to her hip, cradling her. She blinked heavily and tilted her head to the side, an indication she wanted more.

He lowered his lips to her neck and tasted her warm skin. Her scent coated his tongue. Need fissured him.

A soft moan caressed his ear. “Dallas,” she gasped. “We can’t. I—I need to get out there.”

He slid his hand beneath the hem of her dress. Wiggling it between her ass cheeks, he brought his fingertips to the hot sex between her legs.

“I have to—oh, god.” Her little gasps became heavy pants.

“I need you,” he said into her ear. Every word came from a deep chamber inside him. A place he wouldn’t examine today and probably not ever.

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