Page 28 of Fast Kill

The living room was sparse but functional, just the sofa, chair, coffee and end tables, and of course his big flat screen mounted on the wall. The walls were the same neutral beige they’d been when he’d bought the place, because what the hell did he care what color they were? He wasn’t home all that much, and when he was in this room all he cared about was the TV anyway.

Taylor crossed her shapely legs at the ankle and started to lift her fork, but paused, her gaze on the short stack of books he had on the coffee table. They were crooked. She seemed to wrestle with herself a moment, then darted a hand out to straighten the books with a fingertip before easing back into the sofa and cutting a bite of pie with her fork. He hid a smile. She was so cute with her little neat nick tendencies.

Her eyes swung toward him. “So? How is it?”

“Mmmmhmmmm,” he groaned around a mouthful. The chocolate ganache was just stiff enough to give a bit of a snap when he bit into it, then immediately melted in his mouth. The peanut butter mousse was smooth and creamy, heavy on the peanut butter, and the graham crust gave a crunch to the mouthful.

Taylor smiled a little as she took her first bite. “Oh yeah.” She closed her eyes, her profile to him, and a sexy moan of pleasure came from the back of her throat. “Oh, that’s good.”

Logan’s mouth suddenly went dry, the peanut butter sticking to his tongue. His hand froze around his fork, mid-way through carving off another chunk of pie. That sound she made was so damn sexy, and made him wonder if she’d make that exact same sound when he found one of her sweet spots with his hands or mouth.

He swallowed the bite and washed it down with a sip of sparkling water. She kept herself so tightly contained all the time, so guarded, but there was an innate sensuality about her that he wasn’t sure even she recognized. If a mouthful of pie put that look on her face and got that kind of sound out of her, he could only imagine how she’d react to the things he would do to her in bed.

As if sensing his stare, she opened her eyes and met his gaze. He hurriedly shoved another bite of pie into his mouth and got busy chewing, not wanting to make her uneasy. If his size or nearness tended to make her stiffen up, ogling her like a sex-starved maniac definitely wasn’t going to help his cause.

And that cause was to get past Special Agent Kennedy’s defenses. If she’d ever let him.

Taylor shifted and lowered her gaze, took her time cutting her next bite. “So I’m um, I’m really sorry about last night. I must have seemed like a bitch after the talk we had at Jamie and Charlie’s place.”

Yeah, her coldness had confused the hell out of him. He’d chalked it up to her being uncomfortable with him showing up at her door uninvited, and wouldn’t hold it against her. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“No, it’s…” She sighed, set her plate in her lap and seemed to consider her words carefully before continuing. “It wasn’t anything personal. I was just caught off guard by you showing up at my place like that.”

Her explanation confirmed his theory, but she didn’t look at him as she said it. It was driving him nuts, trying to figure out why she was so closed-up around him, and why he made her nervous. It wasn’t a good or exciting butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of nervousness, either.

Something bad had happened to her in the past, he just knew it. He wanted to know what it was, and then he wanted to beat the asshole who had hurt her.

“I get it. No big deal.” If he found out some dude had either threatened or physically hurt her, he’d be so pissed.

She glanced at him, opened her mouth as though she was about to say more, then stopped. Nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

What had she been about to say?

“Wow, you polished that off pretty quick,” she said in a brighter voice, nodding at his empty plate. “Want another piece?”

“Do I want one? Yes. Should I have one considering I’m off duty and sitting around on my keister all day? No.”

She laughed at that, and the sound made him smile. He’d noticed that Taylor didn’t laugh easily. She was always so serious. He wanted her to have more things to laugh about in her life. “Please, look at you. You probably burn off a piece of pie just sitting there, with all that muscle mass. Unlike me, who would have to do I don’t even want to think about how many miles on the treadmill to level out the caloric balance sheet.”

This time it sounded like she was noticing his size in a non-threatening, and maybe even appreciative way. That was progress, and he’d take it. “Maybe you’re just not doing the right kind of exercise.” His words dripped with innuendo, and she caught it. She looked away, her cheeks turning pink. It was charming as hell.

“Maybe not.”

Okay, he needed to tone it down a little before he made her really uncomfortable. “You ever been married? I never even asked you.” She didn’t wear a ring, though he knew plenty of married agents who didn’t.

Surprise flashed in her eyes. “No. You?” She forked up another neat bite, those big hazel eyes watching him.

“Divorced. Three years ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “No, believe me, it’s for the best. We’re both happier now, and we’re better people apart.”

She only nodded, still watching him. It wasn’t like him to sit and blab about himself or his personal life, but Taylor wasn’t going to divulge anything about herself and if he wanted to gain her trust then he felt like he had to keep going.

“We met in college, then I went straight into a job with the agency. I worked undercover as soon as I became an agent, long hours and lots of secrets, and that didn’t help matters. We’d been together long enough by then that our families were pressuring us both to get married. I was dumb and naïve, felt like I owed it to her, and part of me stupidly thought that maybe once we tied the knot, it would prove to her that I was committed and she wouldn’t be insecure anymore.”

“But that didn’t happen.”

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