Page 28 of Too Lethal to Love

A tall Christmas tree with heavy boughs that jutted out at odd angles stood in the corner. Fragile-looking ornaments nestled alongside homemade treasures hung from the boughs. Piled logs in the fireplace hearth waited for a match.

Beth flipped a switch by the door. Just like in her townhome, hundreds of tiny white lights lit the room like a winter wonderland. The scent of pine and the warm, cozy glow whisked him away on a bittersweet sleigh ride back to his parents’ house when he was a kid. His mother used to go all out with decorations too. In the days leading up to Christmas, she’d hide Gran’s sugarplums around the kitchen for Livvie and him to find when they came home from school. Even as a churlish teenager, he’d appreciated her efforts right until the year her enthusiasm for anything, including him and Livvie, died along with his father.

Were Nic’s buddy’s kids enjoying Christmas in the wake of their mother being gunned down and their father too grief-stricken to care for them? Kane shook his head at the stupid question.

For years,he’dhated Christmas. Hated seeing his mother’s decorations intermingled with Grans. But on a snowy December 24th, while he was home on leave, his father’s mare gave birth to Holly Jolly. While Kane thought Gran’s sixth-sense claims were ridiculous, he sometimes allowed himself to believe that the horse was a gift from his dad.Maybe a message to stop being a surly Scrooge and enjoy the holidays with his family. Sometimes, he got angry his mom hadn’t received a sign to help deal with her loss. Most of the time he didn’t believe in gifts or signs at all. When someone was gone, they were gone with no way to comfort the living.

He looked at Beth, mumbling to herself about the ornaments being in the wrong place. An ache to be the family she enjoyed Christmas with thumped in the broken part of his heart.

“Stay here while I check the rest of the house.” He didn’t wait for a snarky remark as he ignored the surprising desire he wasn’t ready to act on. With efficiency born from years of training, he checked the spacious kitchen in the rear of the house that he and Gran could cook in without bumping into each other, the small office, and the neat garage. All were clear, as were the three bedrooms on the upper level. He hadn’t needed clarification about which one was Beth’s.

As he jogged down the stairs, he spotted her on her knees in front of the coffee table, eyeing a shoebox-sized gift wrapped in shiny purple paper.

“What’s that?”

“I told you my family didn’t always celebrate holidays on the exact day because of my dad’s schedule, but my mom always had special presents waiting for me on Christmas morning.” She picked up the box and shook it. “Purple presents.”

Skirting the low table, he sat on the couch across from Beth. “Open it.”

Beth bit her lip. “I should wait until Christmas, but…”

“You won’t.”

“No. I won’t.” She giggled as she tore into the paper. As she opened the box, she squealed.

One by one, she pulled out bottles of lotions and gels, tubes of cream and lip gloss, and flower-shaped soap. “Imentioned to my mom I was almost out of my favorite shampoo, and she got me more.”

“Looks like she got you the whole drugstore.” He picked up a round container and read the label.

Lilac after-shower moisturizer. For use all over your body.

He dropped the container like it was on fire. Visions of burying his face between her lilac-scented breasts, her legs, and every other place on her body threatened his resolve to keep his hands off the forbidden scientist. A quick taste wouldn’t mean he was ready to settle down. It would only mean his enhanced strength wasn’t enough to stop himself from taking this gift thing a step further.

He pulled one of the tins from the bag he’d placed on the table and opened it. “I’ve got something purple for you too.”

Her eyes widened as she dropped the gloss she’d just dabbed on her lips. “Are those sugarplums?”

“Straight from Gran’s kitchen.”

She clapped her hands together. “I’ve never had one.”

Me neither.Well, not the kind he’d been dreaming about since they’d met. He plucked a treat from the pile in the tin and held it out. “Taste.”

Leaning over, she opened her lips. Her tongue darted out and touched the purple sugar crystals. Kane swallowed, imagining howhissugarplum would taste.

His sugarplum?

His stomach plummeted to the couch cushions. Thinking about a future with Beth and recognizing it couldn’t happen was one thing. Thoughts popping into his head like an ambush he didn’t have time to battle was another. Beth wasn’t his. Gran’s predictions could not be coming true. He may have gotten himself in deeper with the disarming scientist than he’d intended, but he wasn’t scheduled to meet the woman he’d settle down with until years from now.

Beth leaned closer. The scent of lilacs mingled with the nutty aroma of the sugarplum as she bit into it. He couldn’t pull away, even if he’d tried, from her sultry groan and the ravenous look on her face.

The rest of the treat disappeared through her glossy lips. He watched her swallow, his eyes following the column of her neck down to the swell of her breasts peeking from theVof her sweater.

“More.” She licked her lips. “Please.”

Instead of picking another treat from the box, he held up his sugarcoated finger.

She eyed the offering and hesitated. Holding his breath, his pulse pounding with every millisecond that passed, he waited for her to decide how far she would take this moment. He knew how far he shouldn’t take it. He should give her the tin, get their bags from the car, and lock himself and his laptop in a room and search for Chavez.

---