Page 90 of A Step You Shouldn't Take

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me again before I go. And also pinch me because I’m not sure whether I’m dreaming.”

I smacked her on the ass instead, which only made her yelp and press tighter against me. Fuck, how did I get this lucky? The scent of her arousal drifted up as our lips met, and this time, it was my turn to pull away.

“If you don’t leave now, you’ll be naked underneath me in five minutes.”

She hesitated. She actually hesitated. But then she untwined her limbs and slid to the floor.

“You’d better take a key in case I fall asleep.”

She padded across to the drawer beside the stove and fished one out, attached to a large pink tassel that I’d be removing right away.

“What have I told you about keeping important stuff in the kitchen?”

“As soon as this case is over, you can rearrange things however you want.”

She was planning on me staying here after that? I figured it was too soon to discuss the future, but I liked the direction her thoughts were going.

“Deal. I’ll call you at lunch, sweetheart. Don’t get too drunk with Maria. I want you sentient tonight.”

“That’s why I’m taking Annie. She gives me a lecture if I start slurring.”

“You know you’re meant to spit the wine out after you’ve tasted it?”

“I don’t like spitting.”

I couldn’t help grinning. “Duly noted.”

“You filthy pig. Just leave.”

But she was smiling as she said it, and I knew that tonight, Kimberly Jennings was mine.

***

“Looks like the gym’s a bust tonight,” Wyatt said. “Where do you think they’re going?”

“Shared cars? Union Jack balloons? Gift boxes? I’d say someone’s having a going away party.”

“Stay or go?”

“If they’re heading for a restaurant or a club and it gets warm in there, there’s a good chance of some of those shirtsleeves getting rolled up.”

Wyatt started his truck and pulled out after the last car. We’d parked my SUV with its camera outside the embassy before retiring to watch the video feed from Wyatt’s vehicle, parked in a less conspicuous position a half mile down the road. By my calculations, four of our six remaining suspects were in the five cars currently inching along Embassy Row. If we could eliminate them, that would only leave two. And if one of the quartet had the tattoo we were looking for…

“You seem happy considering all our plans just got screwed,” Wyatt said, steering around a Honda going ten miles an hour under the limit. “Something happen with Kim?”

Times like this, I wished Wyatt didn’t know me quite so well. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

“Bullshit. You’re not a gentleman, and you always kiss and tell.”

“Not this time.”

“So something did happen?”

“A kiss. That’s it.”

“But you want more?”

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