Page 209 of Hot Cops

He tapped his glass against hers. “To garlic bread and double-parking.”

She added to the toast. “To handcuffs and sex.”

His eyes darkened and he shook his head. “You’re insatiable.” He paused for a moment before adding, “And irresistible.”

She frowned. He didn’t appear to have much trouble resisting her lately. He turned and walked to the living room, setting down his wine.

For a moment, she thought he was going to leave. She felt disappointed and somewhat desperate. Putting her glass next to his, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her.

“Jarod,” she whispered, rising up to kiss him. She gripped the back of his neck, determined to keep him close.

He returned her kiss, his hands resting lightly on her waist. It wasn’t enough. She missed his hard, hungry touches, the way he pulled her against him as if he needed her body pressed to his. She tried to drag him into the web of seduction he’d securely wrapped her in, but he still managed to remain aloof.

She took a step away. She’d never met a man she couldn’t seduce, but Jarod wasn’t biting despite the fact she knew he wanted to. One glance below his waist proved he wasn’t as disinterested as he pretended. Goddamn reverse psychology. The more he resisted her sexual advances, the more she wanted him.

What really bugged her wasn’t the lack of sex, though. It was his reason for abstaining. It all centered on that fucking leap of faith Jayne mentioned. Jarod had taken it. Now he was waiting for her to follow him, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

He caught her wayward glance and for the briefest moment, she thought she saw genuine pain in his gaze. Then he placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for dinner.”

“Don’t leave.”

He gave her a funny look at her abruptly spoken plea. “That wasn’t a prequel to good night. I wasn’t planning to go home right away.”

“I mean, don’t leave tonight.”

His face sobered. “Steph, there’s nothing on earth I want more than to spend the night with you. You must know that.”

She glanced at his erection again, her fingers itching to touch it. She held back, something telling her it was the wrong thing to do. “Then stay.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you.”

She frowned.Bullshit. It was a lie his body wasn’t backing up. She was fully prepared to call him to task. “Jarod?—”

He didn’t give her a chance. “I want to make love to you, Stephanie.”

The Stephanie she’d been before she knew Jarod would have laughed at a line like that. The cynical bitch residing inside would have ridiculed the words and the idea.

She dug deep, looking for that response. It wasn’t there.

For several moments, they simply looked at each other, and then the truth came crashing down around her—the secret, the key to getting what she wanted.

Would it be so bad to bend on this one little thing? After all, it was just semantics. He could call it whatever he wanted. The end result was the same.

“I want the same thing.”

Jarod smiled, his face overflowing with undeniable happiness. He looked at her as if she’d just offered him the world on a platter.

Shit. Maybe she was wrong.

What had she just done?

Jarod’s handshook a little as he took hers in his. The foolish part of him knew he should ask more questions, pin her down, but he was dying. The last month had been one of the best—and worst—of his life. As he spent more and more time with Stephanie, his belief that she was the perfect woman for him had been confirmed. Since her power play in the storage room, he’d vowed to refrain from sex, entirely aware that Stephanie would continue to use that act to justify them seeing each other, declaring their attraction based on lust and nothing more.

“Where’s your bedroom?”

She led the way, neither of them racing through this night like the hounds of hell were chasing them as they had on previous occasions. When they reached her bed, Jarod turned her, taking her face in his hands. “You’re so beautiful.”

She smiled and, for a moment, he thought he saw the slightest trace of tears in her eyes. Bending forward, he kissed her.

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