Shane leaned back and scooped food out of his pouch. “When we find it. Besides, Ireallydon’t like being shot at.”
Kinley huffed out a laugh. “Thank you. For the ride, for saving me—both times—for doing all this. I won’t ever be able to repay you or Oakley or Ghost or Paige for everything you’ve done. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t fallen on you.”
Maybe even falling for him. Wouldn’t that be monumentally stupid?
“I think you would have figured it out,” he said.
“Do you do this a lot?” she asked
“Camp out with beautiful women?” He grinned. “No. You’re much better looking than my normal travel companions.”
She smiled, despite the blush she felt on her cheeks. “No. This kind of…mission, I guess.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes. Not as much as I did when I was active duty. Now I mostly do personal security. Leonidas will sometimes get a subcontract with the military, but we haven’t had any since I started working for them.”
“You mentioned Leonidas before—what is that?”
“The Leonidas Corporation. It’s the company I work for. Paige is one of the owners. She’s the Chief Operations Officer. She and my other boss, Graham, run the company.”
“Do you like it?” she asked. “I don’t know too many companies that would go to all this trouble for someone, especially a complete stranger.”
“TLC is the closest I’ve come to feeling like part of a team since I got out.” He put his spoon in the empty food pouch and stuck it in the trash. “It’s more than just a business for Graham and Paige. They built the company from the ground up, hand selected everyone that works there. We all have some kind of connection to one another.”
Shane stopped and blinked, frowned a little. He looked like someone who’d just realized something that had been staring him in the face.
Kinley slid her hand over the top of his. “It sounds like a really great place to work.”
He nodded. “It is. And you’re right. None of the other companies I worked for before Leonidas would have been down with this. They sure as hell wouldn’t have supported it.”
“Well, I for one am glad you’re working for them and not one of those other companies,” she said.
“Me too.”
Her gaze dropped to his mouth again, his firm lips tipped up at the corners giving him a boyish, devil-may-care charm. He turned his hand over so her palm rested against his and his thumb rubbed back and forth across her wrist. The moment stretched on, each of them silently waiting for the other to…what? Make a move? Break the spell they seemed to be under?
Kinley had a feeling she was too far out of her depth with a man like Shane Ivers. His easygoing, surfer-next-door look hid an intensity she’d never experienced. He was completely still except for his thumb, brushing gently across the sensitive skin of her wrist. But she knew it was a façade. If she gave any indication that she was willing or uneasy, he’d react in a heartbeat. The problem was, she didn’t know if she wanted him to let her go so she could swim to shore, or pull her under and devour her.
Her own indecision decided for her and he eased his hand out from under hers. “There’s a small bathroom off the bedroom. You should grab a shower and get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
“Right. Of course.” She pushed away from the table and gathered up the trash from their dinner.
Shane took it from her. “Don’t worry about this, I’ve got it.”
“No. I helped make the mess, I should help clean it up.” She wanted to hide her embarrassment without making it look like she was trying to escape to the bathroom.
“It’s not a lot,” he said.
He was right. He had most of the trash in a small bag before she finished her argument. “Okay. I just need my—” She stepped left and forward as he stepped to the right and their bodies knocked into each other.
Kinley didn’t know who moved first. All she knew was his back under her hands was as wide and hard as it looked and his hands grasping the back of her head were strong and demanding. And his lips… Dear god, his lips were lush and firm and warm against hers. His tongue brushed the seam of her mouth and she opened under him, tangling her tongue with his.
Waves of desire coursed through her body. She’d never been so affected by a kiss. She wanted more. Like an alcoholic teased with a sip of whiskey, she wanted the whole damn bottle. She ran her hands down his back and found the edge of his shirt, sliding her hands back up the hot expanse of skin. He groaned and she flexed the tips of her fingers into his back.
His hands traced either side of her spine until they reached her hips and he pulled her even closer, nestling his erection against her stomach.
Emboldened, her hands skimmed down his back to his firm ass and squeezed.
His fingers dug into the flesh on her sides and he groaned. “We should stop,” he said, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers.
