Page 20 of Fury

Her face softened at his words, the worry creases across her forehead relaxing. He’d been right to tell her honestly how he felt. There were many more words he could get into that would have gone too far. For once in his life he’d chosen well.

Or fate had chosen well.

The urge to move a fraction closer and kiss her began to overwhelm him. Heat flooded through him, spurring him on. Not to mention the longing he recognized in her eyes. She may not understand their attraction or even necessarily want it yet, but it resided in her nonetheless.

They weren’t helpless against it, he could resist if he wanted to…

“Here you go.” Mack interrupted from behind him.

Sawyer growled low.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t realize. How about I leave these plates here on the table. It’s time for me to take a break anyway. You watch the place for me?”

“Sure.” He would agree to anything if that meant he got to spend time with Penelope alone.

Unfortunately, the clatter of the plates hitting the table, pulled Ms. Bishop from the moment and drew her attention to the food Mack had delivered.

“Holy cow on a cracker. I thought you said snacks.”

Sawyer turned to the table and nodded. “I did. If you don’t think it will be enough I’m sure Mack will make more. That’s what he does.”

Penny pointed at the assortment of bar food that included hamburger sliders, nachos, cheese sticks and his favorite white queso dip with a basket of corn chips. “That is not a snack. That is a feast. Who the heck is going to eat all of that?”

Sawyer sank down in the chair next to her, well aware that his chance to taste her was gone for the moment. “Well, you go first and then I’ll eat whatever is left over. And since I didn’t know exactly what you liked, I figured you’d appreciate a few choices.”

She shook her head. “That’s an insane amount of food. Do you have the metabolism of a twelve-year-old? I mean if I ate even a fraction of that, my hips would balloon to the point of bursting.”

Sawyer frowned. He didn’t like her talking about her curves as if they were a bad thing. “I like curves,” he said. “I’ll need more than skin and bones when I have you underneath me.”

Her eyes widened and she started to say something, but only managed a sputter. To her credit, she closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath. He’d thought for sure that statement would get him slapped or worse.

“Your ego is as big as your stomach. However, since I have a job to do here that doesn’t include flaying you alive, I’m going to let that little nugget slide.” She leaned forward, holding his gaze. “For now.”

Sawyer couldn’t hold back his grin. That feistiness she barely kept in check with a chokehold wanted to come out to play and he was damned sure determined to set it free. The sooner she let go of her tightly fisted barriers the better.

“That almost feels like a threat, Agent Bishop,” he said with a grin. “Or maybe it’s a challenge. If so, you should probably know that I love a challenge.”

She huffed out a breath. “You can keep trying to push my buttons if you want. But it’s not going to get you anywhere. This is what we in the Bureau call an impossible situation. So whatever it is you are hoping to accomplish with this charm you’re oozing, you might as well shove it back in its box and let it go. I have.”

Sawyer bit back a laugh. She might think this attraction between them was impossible, and it probably was, but impossible had become his specialty. Fate had decided to deliver him a sliver of hope in the shittiest time of his life. In the past, he may have done some pretty stupid shit, but as he settled back in his seat to watch, he knew without a doubt that letting this woman slip through his fingers would not be one of them.

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