Page 27 of Hot to Trot

He felt a burning heat through his groin. He stepped closer. Couldn't help himself. He inhaled, breathing in her scent. “Maybe so, but I wasn’t the one who broke the law.”

"Kiss me."

He jerked his head. "What?"

"Kiss me.”

He grabbed the bars on either side of where she stood. "I can't kiss you. That would be-"

"Unprofessional?"

"Yeah, something like that.” He hadn't expected her to be so forthright. Sure, she was a smooth talker, not plainspoken. But why the devil had she asked such a thing? "Why do you want me to kiss you?"

"BecauseIcan't very well kissyouwith these bars in the way. And I want to see what kissing you is like.” Her words were matter-of-fact, but her attitude was not so light.

He sensed she was testing him. Honestly, he wanted to taste her on his lips. To delve into the sweetness that beguiled him, but the angel on his shoulder said, "Step away. Now.”

He needed to listen to the angel and not the devil who whispered, "Unlock that cell and tap that ass."

His devil was a bit crude.

“You know I can’t do that.”

She slumped against the bars. "And I was so close."

"To what? Seeing if you could reach my keys while I tangled in the bars with you?" He said it half-jokingly, but a little piece of him wondered if she would actually try something that silly. She was an actress. No doubt she'd seen-or starred in-some caper that showed a seductress using her wiles to trick a stupid man to coming close enough to be hoodwinked into giving up his keys.

But she looked strangely serious. “I wouldn’t do that.”

He didn't say anything. Simply watched her as she ran a greenish-blue painted nail up and down the steel bar, makinga screeching sound. “Really, it was following a hunch. An experiment, if you will. To see if what I felt wasn’t a fluke.” She'd nearly whispered the words.

Adam stiffened. “A fluke?”

Scarlet's head dropped forward so it was braced on a bar. She looked so not herself. Nothing kittenish about her. No sexy vixen. Not even a smirk or grin. She looked... depressed. "Never mind. I think the sun got to me. Or maybe it’s I’ve been sitting in a jail cell. Probably already stir-crazy."

He glanced at the clock. “I don't think a person goes stir-crazy after only two hours, twelve minutes and thirteen seconds."

She raised her head to meet his gaze. ‘’Maybe I was crazy to begin with."

"That's more likely."

She didn't smile at his teasing words. Just lowered her gaze with a sigh.

What was the matter with her? He liked her moxie, her snippy comebacks, her energy. This woman had deflated in front of his eyes.

"Hey," he said.

"What?"The shiny curtain of red hair hid her face.

"What did you mean bywhat you felt?”

"Nothing."

"Okay, I know how this works. I'll have to pull it out of you. Women love this game."

She looked up. "I'm not playing a game."

"I think you live to play games."

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