Page 10 of Threatened

“Japanese?” Gage looked back at her over his shoulder, scowling. “Weird coincidence, since that’s where you just came from, huh?” Someone reading an Asian newspaper wasn’t that unusual in Southern California where the population was diverse, but that detail struck him as suspicious.

“Exactly what I thought. Has to be just chance though.” She sliced off thick hunks of bread and put them on the plate he’d set out. “I’m sure lots of people in LA read that newspaper.”

“True.” Nevertheless, Gage filed the information away for later. They were both tired and it was too late in the day to go poking around now, even if all his instincts were screaming at him to go check out the scene himself. He’d let the cops do their thing. If they found something, then he’d go ahead and check into it more. “Once you’re done cutting the bread, the container of garlic butter’s in the fridge. I’ve got the oven preheated, so it’s ready to go as soon as you’re done.”

“Great.” She set the bread knife aside and sidled past him to get to the fridge. As they worked, things fell into a nice, easy routine. He’d noticed over the past few days that that could happen. When they weren’t at odds with each other, it could be almost comfortable as if they were in sync.

“The twins should be up soon, right?” she asked as she spread a thick layer of butter onto a slice of bread before putting it onto a cookie sheet he’d handed her.

“Yeah.” Gage looked at the clock. Nearly six now. The babies should be up any minute for dinner and a diaper change. Food,playtime, baths, and, if they were lucky, back to bed by nine. “I’m hoping to get this ready to go before they wake up.”

Kylie made quick work of the rest of the bread before she nudged him aside so she could slip the cookie sheet into the oven. The side of her breast brushed against his arm as she leaned past him to set the timer. The contact sent a frisson of awareness through him. “Okay. That’s done. What’s next? Want me to set the table?”

“Sure. That would be great,” he said, tamping down the sizzles coursing through his bloodstream as best he could. With an effort, he tried not to notice how her shirt rode up each time she stretched on tiptoe to reach plates, revealing a sliver of her creamy skin to his view.

It had been too long since he’d gotten laid. That had to be it. It wasn’t a true attraction between them. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. He was doing all right with that until she moved in beside him to grab some glasses from the cupboard, and his breath caught in his throat. Being six-foot-plus himself, he never gave much thought to keeping stuff on the top shelves since he could reach everything easily. But now, as Kylie teetered precariously on her tiptoes to grab the glasses above her, he realized he needed to rethink things, as long as she was staying here.

“Here, let me help,” Gage said, reaching for a tumbler at the same time she did. Their hands met around the glass, and time seemed to slow as heat shimmered through his body from their point of contact. Kylie turned her head, her startled gaze meeting his, and he knew she felt the connection as strongly as he did, considering how her dilated pupils nearly obliterated the blue of her irises.

They lowered the glass to the counter together, their fingers still touching. Only a few inches separated them. Their breath synchronized, and his gaze flickered from her eyes to her parted pink lips then back again.

“Thanks,” she murmured, her voice reedy and dream-like.

“You’re welcome,” Gage said, inching even closer to her as if drawn by a tractor beam.

Closer, closer, so close her warm breath fanned his face and her sweet scent surrounded him. Suddenly kissing her seemed like the most necessary thing in the world. Never mind the warning bells going off inside the rational part of his mind. Those were quickly drowned out by lust and longing.

One kiss. Just one. Then she’d be out of his system, and he’d be back to normal.

Just one…

His lips brushed hers once, twice. She didn’t push him away or stop him. In fact, she leaned into him. Gage was just about to kiss her again, deeper this time, when a wail sounded from down the hall.

Kylie jerked as if electrocuted and stepped back, her eyes wide. “I, uh, I should go check on them.”

In a blink she was gone, and Gage was left to stare after her, wondering when in the hell he’d lost his damned mind. Worse than that, how in the hell was he going to make it through the next couple of days with Kylie so near and yet definitely out of his reach?

6

Kylie got the twins changed while Gage stayed in the kitchen to finish making dinner, which was a relief. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact she’d kissed him. Or maybe he’d kissed her. However it happened, it must have been the residual stress of the attack earlier at the park. It was just leftover adrenaline looking for a way out of her system. Had to be.

As she finished securing a clean diaper on Brennan, she continued to turn over in her mind the moment when Gage’s lips had brushed hers—the way he’d tasted of mint with a touch of garlic from the sauce he’d been tasting; the way his breath had hitched ever so slightly, just the same as hers; the way his fingers had caressed her jaw, soft as butterflies.

With a sigh, she tugged a new outfit up over the squirming little boy’s legs then fed his arms through the sleeves before snapping the front of the blue garment and snuggling him into the crook of one of her arms.

“Whelp, no matter how nice it was, it’s not going to happen again, is it?” she said, staring down into Brennan’s astonished blue eyes. From the look on her nephew’s face, she’d just spouted the most brilliant thing in the world. He laughed and grinned up at her, all toothless wonder and drool. She couldn’t help grinning herself, bending down to kiss his head before scooping up his sister in her other arm and carrying both kids back to the kitchen for a feeding.

Grateful for something to keep her busy and alleviate the awkwardness now settling between her and Gage, Kylie put the twins in their high chairs and added a few Cheerios to the trays. They seemed to enjoy chasing around the little o’s with their chubby fingers and gobbling them up. She opened two jars of baby food—apricots and green beans. The dinner Gage was making smelled way better. She glanced behind her. He looked good making it, too.

She spooned apricots into Maya’s mouth, taking her time. Maybe the twins would eat super slow so she could avoid more alone time with Mr. Sex-On-Legs. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Brennan and Maya went through the jars of food in record time. She was debating opening another, but they seemed content with what they’d had, and she didn’t want to overfeed them. That could get messy—a lesson she’d already learned. By the time she put them in their play pen with a selection of toys, Gage had their food on the table and was waiting for her to join him.

She took the seat across from him, any appetite she’d had earlier gone in the face of her stupidity. Yes, the guy was hot. Yes, she felt a stronger attraction to him than any man in a long time. No, she should not act on that attraction in any way, shape or form—regardless of whether he kissed like a dream or watched her now with those fathomless, sinful dark eyes of his.

Desperately searching for something intelligent to say, Kylie’s eyes caught on the bowl of pasta on the table. “Looks good.”

Yeah. Not exactly Einstein-level conversation.

“Thanks,” Gage said, taking a long swallow of water before exhaling slow. “Listen, Kylie. About that kiss…”

---