Page 28 of Hot to Trot

"You don't know me at all. You can't look at this-" she waved one hand up and down her splendidly curvy body "-and think it defines me."

“True. I don't know you. I only know what I've seen. I've seen a woman use her body and her fame to get the results she wants. If you dance the tune, you have to pay the fiddler."

She frowned, but didn't say anything. Silence sat between them, fat and stifling.

After a moment, he broke it, offering the only explanation he could. “So mine is a logical assumption. You asking for a kiss feels like a way to manipulate the situation."

Her expression looked fierce but tinged with sadness. He wondered if he now saw beneath the shiny veneer she wore so well. "You really aren't a good judge of a woman's character, are you?"

It was his turn to frown.

"You wanna know why I wanted you to kiss me? Fine. The only guy I ever loved dumped me thirteen months, one week, three days ago. For the past year, I've felt absolutely nothing for any other guy I’ve dated. Zip. Zero. Nada. I'm completely frozen.”

He didn't know what in the hell to say to that. Hadn't expected that much honesty from anyone, especially not a flamboyant actress who seemed to enjoy pulling on various masks to suit any given situation. What could he say to those very honest words?

He couldn't think of a damned thing.

"Right." She sighed, obviously seeing his total loss for how to deal with what she'd laid on him. “It’s just I felt a little different with you. Like a slight buzz or stirring. I wanted to see if it was something more than irritation or the damn Texas heat. I thought maybe, just maybe, I'm capable of feeling again. That I could get back on a bicycle and ignore my bleeding knees and scraped palms. I thought maybe you could help me find out if I survived heartbreak …if I’m finally on the other side.”

Her words pierced him. Her sincerity stung. She wanted to use him, but not in the way he’d thought. “Well, I can't really. What I mean to say is there is protocol and I'm responsible for representing myself as the... " He trailed off.

There was nothing he could say to make her feel any better. Nothing he could do but-

He stepped toward her and reached both hands through the bars, effectively trapping her head.

Her eyes flew open and she reflexively pulled back.

But he didn't let her. Instead he drew her toward the bars, that beautiful mouth right between the two iron bars. Her hair felt like angel wings. Not that he knew what angel wings felt like. But he could imagine.

He lowered his head and caught her gasp of breath with his lips.

And the crack in his control became a chasm.

He tumbled through it without compunction.

He had no choice.

He had a mission. To protect and serve. And at that moment he needed to serve the queen of the vampires.

SCARLET CLASPED THESTEEL bars in front of her. Adam kissed her like a thirsty man, clasping her head with both of his big hands. For a moment she felt absolutely nothing.

Her heart sank.

Then something changed.

His tongue dragged across her bottom lip, direct, bold and very, very sexy.

Liquid heat poured into her belly, swirling, bathing her in a wonderful, sweet pool of desire. She closed her eyes and kissed Adam back, sliding her own tongue against his, tasting him,drinking him in as though he was sweet tea. Or full-bodied wine. As though he was life-giving elixir.

He tasted so good.

She moved her hands to his shoulders, sliding them up to the rasp of his jaw then to the nape of his neck. His hair had been trimmed short, yet it was fine against her fingertips.

Like a tidal wave, desire crashed over her. She climbed onto it and rode it, opening her mouth even more, pressing her forehead against the unyielding bars, wanting to press her body to his. Adam stroked her jaw with the pads of his thumbs, drawing a hum from deep inside her.

He answered her with his own groan.

"Hey, Chief." The voice came from the front of the station. And sounded so far away. But it grew closer. "Chief?"

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