Page 36 of Sirens
As they reached the bottom of the hill, McGarvey removed his hand from her back, leaving her skin tingling from the loss of contact.
“Listen,” he began, hesitating for a moment as if choosing his words carefully. “You need to be careful with Mayor Stewart. He may be an insufferable prick of the first order, but he’s a well-connected one.”
“Are you worried about me?” she asked, poking him playfully in the shoulder.
The moment they stepped out of the line of sight of the mayor’s gawking staff, McGarvey spun her around and pressed her against the car, hovering a breath away from her.
“Tell me,” he said, his voice rough and low. “When are you planning on going back to the Palace Hotel?”
Maggie’s heart stuttered as she stared up at McGarvey, eyes wide, swallowing hard. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “Give me a little credit,Margaret.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and heat flared in her belly. “I know you better than that.”
Maggie pressed her palms against his biceps, but the gesture backfired magnificently. Rather than creating the space she’d hoped for, the feel of his mounded muscle in her grip made her stomach flip. “I don’t have any plans to go back there. I got what I needed.”
“Really?” he challenged, raising an eyebrow. “Because I could always call in a request for surveillance on the place. You know, just to make sure.”
“Okay, fine!” she snapped, her resolve crumbling under the weight of his scrutinizing gaze. “I was thinking of going back tomorrow night. But if you think the fact that we tongue wrestled gives you the right to try to stop me?—”
“Stop you?” he scoffed. “Hell no. I’m coming with you.”
“The fuck you are,” she said, sinking to the soles of her boots. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“How about a bodyguard?” he asked.
“With all due respect, Deputy McGarvey,” she purred, looking at him from beneath her lashes, “your body seems to be the one I need guarding against.”
His eyes softened as they took on a sexy, sleepy, hooded look that Maggie found irresistible. “Tell that to your nipples.”
But Maggie didn’t have to glance downward to know that he was correct. She could feel the achingly stiff peaks brushing against her Judas of a bra.
She licked her lips, acutely aware of his hand still resting on her lower back, his touch burning through the thin layer of her dress. “I can take care of myself,” she said, her protest somewhat lacking in conviction.
“Really?” he asked, his voice firm but gentle. “Because judging by your record, you’re an absolute embarrassment as a thief.”
Maggie stared at him, torn between arousal and exasperation. “It’s like I told you?—”
“Now I’m tellingyou,” he said, his breath fanning warm over her cheek as he leaned in. “You’ve got a better shot of getting what you’re looking for with me watching your six.”
A delicious shiver ran down her spine at the implication in his tone. She swallowed hard, torn between suspicion at his sudden interest in her work and the desire coiling hot in her core. “What’s in it for you?”
A low groan rumbled in his chest. His hands snaked down her back to cup her ass, dragging her flush against him. She sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of his arousal, hard and unmistakable, pressed to her belly. “Watching your six.”
He flexed his fingers against her ass as his lips descended on hers, hard and hungry, stealing her breath and what was left of her resistance. Maggie melted into him with a soft sigh, her reservations burning away in the fire of their merged mouths.
She pulled back, breathless, and gazed up at him with a dazed smile. “All right, deputy. You’ve convinced me.”
“Good.” He chuckled, a low rumble that vibrated through her. His eyes darkened as he studied her kiss-swollen mouth. “Though honestly, I’m a little disappointed. I was hoping to have to persuade you a little harder.”
Heat flooded her cheeks at the implication, and an answering ache coiled low in her belly. “Maybe I’m being agreeable for my own nefarious purposes. You don’t know.”
McGarvey’s smile turned wicked. He slid a hand into her hair and tilted her head back, baring the line of her throat.
“Yes, I do.” His lips brushed her pulse point, and she shivered.
Maggie sucked in a sharp breath at the scrape of his teeth over her skin. She clutched at his shoulders, her nails biting into the fabric of his shirt. “Well, when you put it like that…” Her words momentarily evaporated as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. “But you better not get in my way.”
“Relax, Michaels,” he said, pulling back enough to aim his perfect grin into her upturned face. “I’m just trying to keep you from adding a felony to your illustrious record.”
