Page 18 of Cruel Ice

He shrugged. “You kissed me back just as fiercely as I kissed you…and you haven’t been drugged. What excuse are you going to use?”

“Excuse?”

“Um. Yes. For the attraction we feel for each other. Off-the-charts, isn’t it? Or do you normally respond that way to a first kiss with a man?”

It hadn’t been their first kiss. It had been their second. Not that she was counting. “Your driver is waiting outside.” She peeked toward the window. They were in front of her small rental house. “We should get moving.”

“It’s okay. Andy is paid a ridiculous amount of money to wait.” His fingers tapped along his thigh. “Answer my question.”

“Which one?” A quick reply. “You’ve asked several.”

“Do you normally respond that way when you’re kissed?”

Respond that way?Did he mean…did her nipples normally get so tight and sensitive, did her panties get damp, and did she want to crawl all over the man kissing her? “No. I, ah, can’t say that my response is typically so strong.” Understatement of the century. Marley hoped that she sounded suitably cool and nonchalant.

His eyelids flickered. “Good to know. Because I don’t normally go from zero tofuck-her-nowquite so quickly, either.”

She had to try twice in order to swallow the lump that rose in her throat. “Good, ah, to know.”

“The other question you didn’t answer…what excuse are you going to use?”

“Adrenaline.” It was the first thing that popped into her mind.

His lips began to curl.

Do not dare laugh again, Declan Flynn.“It’s been a very stressful night. You slept for hours, but I’m still riding the adrenaline wave.” And an exhaustion wave because she’d been afraid to sleep at the hospital. Afraid that if she closed her eyes, something would happen to him.

“You kissed me like your life depended on it…because of adrenaline?”

She’d never been a fan of lies. Her shoulders slumped. “I kissed you that way because…I don’t know why. My body responds to you. I want you.” There. Stark. Bold. “I am coming off an adrenaline surge, but I also had about twenty minutes of sleep last night. I’m not thinking clearly so my control isn’t what it probably should be.”Wait. Does this make it sound like I can’t handle the job?Marley immediately straightened the shoulders she’d slumped. “You can trust me to find the people who took you. I’ll sleep and be back to one hundred percent, I promise.”

His face had become an unreadable mask. “And what are your promises worth?”

“Everything.” A whisper. “Sometimes, all you have is your word. I like to think that when I make a promise to a client, it’s as binding as a contract.”

A slow nod from Declan. Then he extended his hand toward her. “Then let’s shake on that contract.”

It’s happening. Declan Flynn is hiring me.But she hesitated. “The attraction—it has nothing to do with my work as your PI.”

“Sex is separate. If it happens, it’s because you can’t go another moment without having me inside you.” His hand remained extended.

She tried to close her mouth. “You say outrageous things.”

“I’m trying to be clear with you.” His hand never lowered. “I want you. I want to fuck you. But that is separate from my case. I want you as my PI. I want you staying close to me. At all times.”

Her hand lifted, but didn’t touch his. Not yet. “I have a few stipulations.” Though she needed to hurry with them because she didn’t like the idea of poor Andy just standing by the car. “First, we are not telling the world that we’re engaged.”

“And why not?”

Because her brothers would lose their minds. “We can say that we’re involved. But I’m not sporting a ring, so I don’t think we need to go with the full-on engagement story. I can just be your current girlfriend. The fling of the moment.”

His jaw tensed. “What other stipulations do you have?”

“Honesty.” There. Done. “It’s very important. You’re holding back info from the cops.” Something that was very dangerous considering what had happened last night. “Don’t hold back from me. Tell me everything.”

“Any other stipulations?”

“Not at the moment.”

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