Page 71 of Lethal Game

His questioning gaze caught hers. "I don't know what I believe, but I'm pretty sure that when my mother hears aboutmy dad's past, she'll probably think he's even more of a hero than she thought before."

"But you don't think he's a hero?"

"It sounds like he did something heroic way back when, but I don't know about now. He still left my mom and me to fend for ourselves."

"That's true."

She blew out a frustrated breath. "Okay. What about Henry? Do you know anything about his condition?"

"He's out of surgery, but he's been placed in a medically induced coma. He's lost a lot of blood, and there's swelling in his brain. Henry fought hard to protect your dad's secret."

"A secret he should have never known, and now he might die because of it." She paused, thinking about Lauren. "I wonder if Henry told Lauren my dad's secret."

"That's a good question," Jason said. "She said Tatiana's name with a sense of familiarity. I'd like to find out more about that relationship. But that's on the back burner. The priority is tracking the vehicle that took your father from the motel."

"Is that what you're working on?"

"Along with many other people," he said.

"You should get back to it. I'll just watch a movie or something. Although it feels like I should be doing something more important."

"It's been a long day. You could go to bed."

"I'm not ready to sleep yet."

He gave her a conflicted look. "Well, I should work. That's what I do best, you know. I work. My life is my job—there's no room for anything else."

"You've said that before." She met his gaze. "I get it, Jason. Message received."

"I wasn't trying to send you a message," he denied.

"Yes, you were. You think I want something from you that you can't give me, but you're wrong."

"I'm wrong?" He gave her a doubtful look. "I don't think I am, Alisa."

"You have no idea what I want from you, because I have no idea. I'll admit that I'm attracted to you. I like you. But everything in my life is completely messed up, and acting on that attraction wouldn't be smart. But…"

"But?" he asked.

His blue eyes glittered with a question she probably shouldn't answer, but she couldn't help herself.

"But…I don't feel like being smart," she admitted, feeling reckless and impulsive. "Or doing the right thing. Or worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow might not come. I've been a planner all my life. Thinking I could control everything by looking ahead, but I never saw any of this coming." She swallowed hard. "But you should do what you want to do, and if that's work, that's fine. I respect that. I appreciate it. I shouldn't even be tempting you to do anything else." She got to her feet and took her plate to the sink. As she turned around to clear the table, she ran right into him, and he pulled her into his arms.

"I've changed my mind," he said, his voice husky and filled with desire. "Can I do that?"

"You can do anything you want."

"I want you, Alisa. But all I can offer you is tonight, and you have to be sure you don't want more. Because I don't want to hurt you."

"I want tonight," she said with a certainty that took her by surprise. Because that really was all she wanted.

"Then let's start with this," he said, crushing her mouth under his.

The sparks that had been simmering between them since they'd first met caught fire with their kiss, and everything else fell away.

Kissing Jason was nothing but pure pleasure, a heady mix of excitement and comfort, danger and security. The trust they'dbuilt and the bond they'd forged through fire and fear, created an emotional connection as well as a physical one.

She'd wanted to feel swept away, and that's exactly how she felt now. There was nothing but the two of them: kissing, touching, and taking off their clothes on the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

---