Page 14 of Sweet and Salty

He kisses me harder at the sound of his name on my tongue, making my head spin with desire. I shift off the barstool without breaking our kiss, and he immediately mimics the move, so insync with me we barely separate. His hands fall to my hips as he brings our bodies flush, still kissing me with that dominating, protective edge that I can’t get enough of.

I arch against him, clinging to him, matching his intensity.

“Kitten,” he growls, drawing back enough to look down at me. His blue eyes are molten. “We have to stop.”

He looks like he has no desire to stop at all.

And I don’t either.

Which brings reality crashing right over me.

“Right,” I say, breathless, even as I make no move to shift away from him. “We agreed to just a kiss.”

But we’ve slept together before…would it be so bad to do that again?

My body is sayinghell yes please.

My heart is worried about how attached I’ve grown to him over the past two months, and that’s before I even knew his name.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he says, smoothing his thumb over my bottom lip. “I want more. I want you with no masks between us. But I’m also going to respect the boundaries you’ve set. I’m not crossing that line until you’ve told me you want this without a rash decision pushing you.”

My heart warms at his words, and it’s hard not to smile up at him. “So, you’re saying if I asked you now?—”

“Don’t,” he cuts over me, a pleading look on his face. “Kitten, I’m finding it very hard to say no to you. But you wanted a kiss, not a repeat. And I can’t let you make a quick decision.”

I blow out a breath. “Like we did that night?”

He nods, slowly backing away from me, bumping into a barstool and nearly tripping on it because his eyes are still on me. “Fuck, this is hard,” he groans as he backs toward the door.

I laugh, smiling at him.

“Yeah…I need to leave. Immediately.” He shakes his head. “You’re in for the night, right?”

I nod, the switch back to professional ground giving me whiplash.

“Good. I’ll be out here a minute waiting on a Lyft,” he says, opening the door. “Lock this behind me. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Will do,” I say, still trembling from his kiss.

I lock the door behind him, leaning against it.

Kissing him had been the worst idea ever…

Because now I knew I didn’t want to go another day without doing it again.

CHAPTER 5

Owen

It's been a week, and I can't stop thinking about Zoe’s mouth. The way she tipped her head back and parted those luscious lips for me. The way she'd felt in my arms with no masks between us.

I'm trying to keep things as professional as I possibly can, and her safety is my top priority, but there’s no stopping the thoughts every single time I see her.

There hasn't been another letter or sighting since last week, but the fear the last letter caused still clings to Zoe like a second skin.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me in a way that isn’t strictly professional.

Of course, every case I workbothersme because of their nature, but this isZoe. This is the kitten who blew my mind on the roof of my club, and then had me absolutely wild about her from every text we've exchanged since.

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