One hell of a time for him to finally ask.

“No, I’m not,” I replied. Which was absolutely true—I had no such affiliation.

He narrowed his pretty blue eyes at me. “It’s entrapment if you lie about it and say you’re not when you really are, you know.”

I smiled at him. I wasn’t a cop, and I couldn’t arrest him. That didn’t mean I wasn’t there to take him back home. I was going to take him into my custody in my capacity as a recovery officer, aka bounty hunter, and I was going to transport him back to Atlanta to hand him over to his brother. But I had no plans to arrest him, so technically, it wasn’t that much of a lie.

“I have no interest in taking you to jail.”

He seemed to think about it for a minute and then he lifted one shoulder. “Okay then.” He looked around the room. “This is nice. Are you rich?”

“No.”

He put his hand on his hip and gazed at me like he was trying to decide if I was lying or not.

Finally, he nodded. “Okay. Cool.”

I loosened my tie and took off my jacket to drape it around a chair. He watched every move I made like a little hawk. He made himself comfortable too, shrugging off his jacket and slipping off his shoes to tuck his feet underneath him as he lounged back on the couch.

“Why does a guy who looks like you,” he said, looking me up and down, “need to pick up someone in a bar to hook up with?”

“Who said I did?”

He held out his arms and wrinkled up his straight little nose. He was very cute. “Here I am. Isn’t that why you asked me here?”

“What if it was?”

“Then I’d ask you what you wanted. Why don’t you sit over here next to me and tell me all about it. I won’t bite.” He flashed me a flirty look. “Not unless you want me to.” Damn it, I’d thought my cock couldn’t get any harder but here we were.

I sighed, shook my head and took his hand in mine. “I can’t, Kitt. I’m here because your brother Jazz sent me to bring you back to Atlanta. Hopefully, you’ll cooperate, and this time will go by quickly for both of us. Can I count on your cooperation?”

It took a second or two for what I said to register, but when it did, his reaction was sudden and violent. He twisted away and jumped to his feet, turning on me like an outraged cat, his voice raspy and hoarse. “I need to get out of here!”

He squirmed away when I grabbed for him, snatched up his jacket and ran for the door. I was there before him, pulling his jacket from his hand and tossing it across the room. “No. I’m sorry, Kitt, but I can’t let you leave.” He blanched with alarm and gasped, and I could see the fear and panic in his eyes.

I backed away a step and raised my hands in the air to try to show him I wasn’t going to hurt him, but he wasn’t convinced and hell, who could blame him after the way I’d tricked him to get him here to my room.

Kitt stared at me furiously for a moment, but there was fear in his eyes too, and I hated myself for putting it there. He started wringing his hands a little. Then his face changed, and he straightened his back and gave me a shaky smile. He reached up to touch my jaw.

“I-I think we’ve got off on the wrong foot. If you want a blow job, I’ll be glad to oblige you. Just don’t get rough, okay? I’ll give you whatever you want.”

I felt like the worst kind of fraud as I reached for him, wanting to apologize and reassure him again that I wouldn’t hurt him, would never hurt him.

I told him that and when he smiled seductively, I said, “I just have to take you back to Atlanta.”

He flinched quickly away from me, as if from a wild animal, his eyes darting around the room, looking for a way to escape. He kept backing up until he hit the wall. I stopped and tried to make my voice gentle and calm.

“Kitt, listen to me, please. I’m sorry about all this. I’m not here to harm you or take advantage of you. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Despite all evidence to the contrary, huh?”

Moving in slowly again, I just wanted to comfort him and let him know I didn’t mean him harm. He glanced up at me from under those thick eyelashes with a fearful expression in his dark eyes. “I’m really sorry,” I whispered and drew him carefully, gently into my arms. “Please sit back down. It’s going to be all right.”

Instead, he closed his eyes and lifted his lips to mine, though he was still trembling. Surprised and charmed by his actions, I couldn’t help myself. I lowered my head to kiss him. When he didn’t push me away, I deepened the kiss, sweeping my tongue over his and tasting him. He tasted sweet. I moved my hands down to cup his ass and gently draw him even closer. I felt him whimper softly under my lips, and I made my kiss sweeter and even more gentle, teasing his tongue a little. I could feel his response in his rock-hard cock, which was now pressed upagainst my stomach, and I pulled his body closer, wanting to consume him, to own him.

He smiled up into my eyes and put a hand to the back of my neck to pull my head down to his. I leaned in, mesmerized by his beautiful dark eyes and noticed irrelevantly again the golden flecks radiating out from his pupils. When our faces were inches apart, and I could feel his hot breath on my lips, Kitt whispered up to me.

“Fuck you.”