Page 29 of The Survivor
Rick sighed. “Blake—”
She interrupted angrily. “Do it and I’ll call a press conference telling the country how the FBI is bullying the only witness they’ve got!”
“Sam—” Rick began.
“I need a moment alone with her, Rick,” Blake snapped, the fire in his eyes now a raging inferno.
A short silence descended over the room. Finally, Rick nodded, looking both uncomfortable and annoyed. “Fine. I’ll call Knight and update him on this latest…development.”
After Rick left the room, Blake shifted in his chair so that they were face-to-face.
They eyed each other for a long moment. Her heart unwittingly did a flip-flop. The turbulent expression in his eyes reminded her of the way he’d looked when he’d kissed her last night.
She shook her head, wondering how they’d gotten from point A—passionately kissing last night—to point B—hurling threats at each other today.
She released a regretful breath. “I’m not going to call a press conference,” she finally murmured.
“I’m not going to arrest you,” he murmured back, a wry flicker in his eyes.
“So what are we going to do about this?”
He rubbed his chin and she found herself wishing it was her own hand stroking that well-defined jaw. Heat speared into her skin, catching her off guard. God, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about kissing him again.
“Sam, you can’t stay.”
His gaze rested on her mouth, and suddenly she knew he wasn’t talking about the case, or the danger she faced by sticking around.
Her reaction to his nearness couldn’t have been have been more clear if it were pasted on a billboard on Lakeshore Drive. Her nipples poked against the thin lace of her bra, that place between her thighs ached, and her cheeks were so warm she knew they must be flushed. She might have been embarrassed about the obvious arousal he brought out in her, if not for the same sense of awareness radiating from him. His pulse vibrating in his strong neck, his eyes darkening to smoky whiskey. He wanted her, the same way she wanted him.
The air between them hummed, and the tension hissing in the room only heightened her response. She hadn’t thought she could feel this way around a man again, but her body, reduced to its most basic, primal state, was practically singing for him to touch her.
* * *
Blake saw the arousal glimmering in Sam’s big gray eyes and his groin hardened. Dammit. Not now. Not this woman.
“Blake…” The soft word broke through the sexual tension sizzling between them. “I need to be here to see this thing through.”
“Don’t you care that you’ll be putting yourself in danger?” Frustration poured out of his voice, but he wasn’t sure if it was due to her determination to place herself in harm’s way, or because of the heat pulsing through his veins.
His mouth tingled with the need to kiss her again.
She folded her hands over her lap. “I’m not stupid, Blake. I won’t go charging through the city, yelling for the bastard to come and get me. I just want to help.”
Alarm trickled through him. “Help how?”
“Looking through mug shots, helping you talk through things as I did today. I can’t hide from him anymore.”
Her delicate chin lifted with fortitude and a strangled groan escaped from his lips. A part of him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and haul her out the door. Another part wanted to carry her into his bedroom and make love to her until neither of them could move.
She leaned forward, providing him with an eyeful of the delicious cleavage swelling from the neckline of her thin, green sweater. “Let me stay here with you, Blake.”
“Here?” he echoed.
His mouth grew so dry it felt like someone had stuffed a dozen cotton balls inside it. She wanted to stayhere?Withhim?And turn his cozy home into the Garden of Eden, forbidden fruit and all?
She must have seen the disinclination in his eyes, because she frowned. “I’m trying to compromise. I refuse to be carted off to Florida but I’m willing to accept protection, Blake. If I stay with you, you’ll keep me safe. You’ll protect me.”
Something hard and agonizing slammed into him.
