Page 19 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

She gulped again. Her mouth went dry, and she could barely stand to meet his penetrating gaze. She licked her lips and shakily said, “That’s disgusting.”

He seemed amused by her response. “Why? Because it might get a little messy?”

“Yes! Obviously!”

Steve slowly dragged his thumb along her lower lip. “The best sex is a little messy.”

“Steve,” she practically whimpered his name. “I can’t.Wecan’t.”

“Why not?”

In that moment, she couldn’t think of a single reason why. Every atom in her body craved him. She desperately wanted him again and again and again. She wanted to drag him into her shower and let him do wicked, filthy things. She wanted—.

Jasper snorted and sighed, his signal that he was out for good. It broke the heady spell that Steve had spun over her, and she pulled away from his caressing hand.

“I should take him to bed.” She carefully retrieved her nephew, ignoring Steve’s intoxicating scent and body heat. “Thank you for helping me get him to sleep.” She took an anxious step backward. “And for helping me find Camila.”

Before he could draw her back in with his seductive voice, she fled the library with Jasper clutched tightly in her arms. She ignored that dangerous voice in her head that begged her to turn around and go back, to invite him upstairs to her bedroom.

You can’t have him.

You can’t lose focus on what matters most—Camila.

As tempting as Steve was, he could never get in the way of keeping her daughter safe. Camila was her only priority.

Even if that meant sacrificing a chance at happiness.

Chapter Six

Go after her.

Chase after her and apologize.

Steve ignored that urge to follow and stayed rooted to the spot. Part of that reluctance to follow was borne of shame. He never should have made that crass attempt at seduction while her baby nephew was right there. Mostly, it was because he sensed she needed space.

As much as he wanted to try to win her heart, Steve understood this wasn’t the time. She was a single mother trying to keep her wild daughter from trouble, her family protected and a billion-dollar business running. Romance was probably the last thing on her list of priorities.

And it should be last on mine, too.

He was already skating on thin ice with his superiors. He’d been sent down here to do jobs—setup a liaison agreement with the Mexican government and interrogate the kid. He’d doneboth, and he should have been back in Dallas, ready to follow up on his open cases.

Instead, he was here, using PTO for an illness he didn’t have and trying to lay low and stay off the radar. Not that he was succeeding at that...

“Do you need a ride back to the hotel?” Beto asked when Steve emerged from the library shortly after Dina disappeared. He looked tired, same as everyone else in the house, and had on the rattiest t-shirt and stained jeans Steve had ever seen. The scent of the sea clung to him along with a hint of cigarettes and some kind of paint.

“If you don’t mind?” Steve replied, not really keen on the idea of getting an Uber this far out from the city.

“I don’t mind.” Beto had a gleam in his eye, the kind that warned Steve there was an ulterior motive to his offer. Had he overheard that conversation? Had he been lurking outside, listening to Steve proposition his sister in that awful way?

“Thanks.” Steve had never been one to shy away from trouble so he fell into step with Beto.

“You’re staying in town a while longer?” Beto asked as they traversed the impressive mansion.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“How so?”

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