Page 11 of Montana Manhunt

Immediately, her mouth softened, giving him the chance to deepen the kiss. Noah’s pulse skyrocketed as his kiss grew more demanding. This was what he’d been longing for. Violet’s kiss. He’d gone weeks without this addictive pleasure. Too long.

A long minute later, he broke the kiss and eased away from her. Noah’s lips curved as he took in the dazed look in her eyes.

He circled the hood to climb behind the wheel. She still hadn’t moved. Amused, he took the seatbelt from her hand and strapped her in.

As Noah followed Grant from the parking lot, Violet blew out a breath. “You have serious skills, Mr. Mann.”

He chuckled. “So do you. My heart rate is still in the stratosphere.”

“What did that kiss mean?”

Noah sobered, glancing at her before returning his gaze to the road. “What do you want it to mean?”

“Don’t, Noah. Just spell it out for me. Please. I’m too tired and sad to guess and get it wrong, perhaps ruining something magical and precious.”

His hand released the steering wheel and gripped hers. He jumped into the deep end of the emotional pool. “I want an exclusive dating relationship with you. The question is, do you want the same thing?”

“Yes.” Her answer was immediate.

He blinked. “You don’t want to think about it first?”

“No.”

Thank God. “Good. Fair warning, sweetheart. I’ll do my best to convince you to keep me.”

Violet squeezed his hand. “Same here.” She twisted in her seat to look at him. “You’re not worried that this is a reaction to the undercover mission two months ago?”

“Nope. I know the difference between an actual relationship and a fake one.” He glanced at her again. “It was never fake for me, Violet.”

“Nor for me,” she murmured. “Our timing could be better.”

“Do you want to wait until we return home to make it official?” Man, he hoped not. Just the idea of her wanting to delay officially claiming him caused his gut to twist into a knot.

“After that kiss? No way.”

He chuckled as the knot slowly untangled itself.

Minutes later, Grant turned into the parking lot of the Willow Hotel and parked near the entrance.

Noah pulled into the space next to his teammate and turned off the engine. After exiting the SUV, he opened Violet’s door, held out his hand, and assisted her to the asphalt. Hand in hand, they walked toward Grant and Rayne. “Let’s check in first, then you and I can bring the bags to our suite,” he said to Grant.

Grant shrugged. “Works for me.”

Noah escorted Violet into the hotel lobby and walked to the front desk.

“May I help you?” the clerk asked.

“We have reservations. The name is Mann.”

Within minutes, they were in the elevator, heading to the fifth floor. Using his key card, Noah unlocked the door to room 502.

He glanced around, impressed. While he would have been satisfied with anything as long as it was clean, Zane had secured a reservation in a classy hotel. For Violet’s sake, Noah was glad she had a place to decompress away from the prying eyes of her townspeople. He turned to Violet. “Will this work for you?”

“Are you kidding? This suite is amazing.”

“It’s a long way from the jungle,” Grant said.

“I feel like we’re in the lap of luxury,” Rayne said. “Plush carpet, gorgeous furniture I’m almost afraid to sit on, and a pleasant kitchen. Too bad I’m not much of a cook. If the kitchen in my apartment was that nice, I’d try my hand at cooking, anyway.”

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