Page 44 of S.O.S. Perk

The kiss seemed to go on and on, devastatingly hot, and exactly what Sloane needed to finish off a fraught day. Just when she contemplated clearing off her desk with one sweep of her arm to give them a platform where they could take things further, Perk backed off.

“Wow,” he said, easing her from his embrace to run a hand agitatedly back through his shaggy hair. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I was,” Sloane wasn’t afraid to admit. “It’s been building.”

“It has,” Perk agreed. “But still… Listen. I refuse to dance around things, here. That was epic, Sloane. By far, the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

She could see in his face that he was telling the truth, but he was still so young. How many women exactly had he been with?

She probably shouldn’t voice that opinion, but…

“You may not have kissed enough women to make a comparison,” she dared send back gruffly.

Perk sighed. “I told you before,” he stated a bit reluctantly. “I never lacked for hookups in the past.”

“But you also said you’ve been, uh, out of the dating scene for a couple years.”

Perk managed a chuckle.

“Just because I haven’t been on that particular bike for a while, doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to ride, Sloane.” He was eying her lips again, and a thrill chased up her spine. “You, however, make me feel things I’veneverexperienced before. It’s like I’ve been using training wheels all this time, and now they’ve suddenly been removed.” He reached for her again, urging her to come to him.

It hit Sloane that Perk wanted to continue, and that she’d been more than ready to strip them both naked prior to their little talking interlude. But her fellow agents were right the hell down the hall.

That was messed up. She backed away a step, and toned things down a notch.

“I’m, uh, not sure how flattered I should feel being compared to a bike, but if that’s what you’re going with, I’ll keep to the metaphor,” Sloane told him. “It’s past time I pedaled my ass home, before I find myself Evel Knievel-ing things up here.”

Perk got an amused look on his face, not at all put off. “Knievel’s thing was motorcycles, Sloane.”

“Pah. They still have two wheels, don’t they?Andthey’re dangerous as hell, so…” Sloane reluctantly went up on tiptoes and brushed a light kiss across Perk’s lips before easing around him toward the door. “I’ll see you on Saturday?”

Oh, yes.She wasn’t going to give up their planned tryst.

“Hell, yes,” Perk answered with enthusiasm.

Thankfully, he also took her “reinstating-distance” cue to heart; allowing her to circumnavigate his body without reaching to halt her progress.

To be honest, if he’d stopped her, she might have thrown caution to the wind and done what her quivering nether-regionswere demanding. Which was to jump his bones, nearby audience be damned. But thankfully he hadn’t. And she needed space from Perk right now to assess exactly what shedidwant from him.

Now that she knew how mind-blowing and life-altering his kisses could be, could she really get horizontal with him without involving anything but her libido? Was she in this for quick sex, like she’d earlier contemplated, or was Perk worth…more?

With him standing so close, smelling so good, and being so overwhelmingly hot, it was impossible to think straight.

“Are you okay, Sloane?” Perk asked, finally reaching out a hand, clearly concerned that she’d been staring off into space.

She dodged his touch. “Yeah. Fine. I’m just…conflicted.”

His entire countenance dropped. “I get it. You didn’t expect anything more from me than a little bit of fun, did you?” he asked flatly. “And you didn’t like that our kiss redefined things in your head.”

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” Sloane whined, which was totally unlike her. “You confuse the hell out of me, Perk. And I’m trying to protect both of us here. The last thing I want to do is add myself to the list of bitchy women who’ve used you for your body. That’s not me. Which means I have to think about this because if things proceed, like I told you before, I’m not exactly…relationship material.”

“Because of the husband who was a prick to you,” he finished astutely, remembering their previous conversation. “But Sloane. I assure you, I’m not him.”

“I know you’re not. But still,” she pleaded her case, “he destroyed my trust.” Sloane shook her head. “Having lived with that, and having witnessed how my own parents screwed each other over, then how my sisters had their marriages end so badly, I’m not sure if I can do anything with youotherthan sex.”

Instead of storming out, as she almost expected him to at her declaration, he took a long, cleansing breath instead.

“How about we don’t make predictions,” he offered. “We just move forward as our feelings dictate, and see where things go.”

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