Page 54 of Unlikely Guardian

She kept staring at him and unfortunately got a little distracted by his face. His mouth, in particular. And she nearly lost her train of thought. That mouth certainly had her hormonal number.

“So, when we were on the floor by the front door, were we just kissing, lusting…or were we doing something else?” Lilly asked.

He stared at her. Deadpan face. No expression other than maybe slight bewilderment. Then he laughed. Only then did she realize just how suggestive that last part must have sounded.

“I think it falls in the ‘something else’ category,” he said.

Mercy. That sounded suggestive, too. Better yet, his eyes had filled with a warmth that softened the angles of his face. It softened her, too. The man was magic. He could improve her mood with just a look.

“That ‘something else’ category is a little broad,” she stated. “And scary.”

Jason nodded, looped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “I’m trying to take things slow. Slower,” he amended.

He no longer had that soft, amused look in his eyes. Subtle. But she noticed them, all right. She was aware of everything about him. The edginess that now tightened his mouth. His nostrils flared slightly. He brushed against her.

“Slow can be good, I suppose,” she heard herself say. But she had no idea if that was true.

“I suppose,” he repeated. More changes. She felt the muscles in his arms tense. The pulse on his throat raced. “Even though I’ve considered us just having sex to see if it’ll burn this energy from us.”

Her breath vanished. Just like that. It was gone. And just like that, she was his for the taking.

“That’s an interesting theory.” Lilly tried to keep her voice level. And failed. “You think that’ll work?”

“No. But my body keeps suggesting it just to give my mind some kind of rationalization for wanting you.”

She nearly laughed. “And you need a rationalization…why?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. She spilled what had been gnawing away at her for hours. “Because of something I said about Greg while I was under hypnosis?”

Jason loosened his grip a little so he could inch back and meet her gaze. “You don’t remember?”

“No, and believe me, that’s not a good feeling because I’m afraid I said something that hurt you.”

“You said you didn’t love Greg.”

“I didn’t love him,” she added cautiously.

He paused. And paused. It went on so long that Lilly started to squirm, both literally and figuratively. “When you told Greg that, you said the two of you argued and that he accused you of not loving him because you were attracted to…well, me.”

Oh. She’d really turned chatty during that hypnosis. Chatty about things she’d barely admitted to herself.

“Is it true?” Jason asked.

Well, at least she didn’t have to think about the answer. “It’s true.”

And she braced herself for the fallout. What he must think of her. Sleep with one brother while being attracted to the other. Not exactly the start to a long-term relationship—if that’s what either of them wanted, that is.

Was it?

Lilly didn’t get an answer to her question. Nor did she get any fallout from her chatty revelation during hypnosis. There was a knock at the door; Detective Albright waited for Jason to tell her to come in before she opened it. Jason and Lilly had plenty of time to move away from each other. However, she figured they both looked guilty of something. She certainly felt guilty, anyway.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Detective Albright said. “But I just got a call from the security guard at the gate. Your former nanny, Erica, just tried to use her access code to get inside the gate.”

“The security company changed the codes,” Jason advised.

Albright nodded. “Don’t worry. Erica didn’t get in, but she says it’s urgent and that she’s not leaving until she speaks to you.”

But the detective wasn’t looking in Jason’s direction when she said that. She aimed the you right at Lilly.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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