Trevor grinned. Damn, he had a sexy smile.
“No problem,” he said. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to talk to me.”
She returned his smile, wondering exactly why she was able to talk to him so easily. They hadn’t been working together that long, but she felt like she could tell him anything.
“I don’t know why, but I’m more comfortable with you than anyone I’ve ever been around,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this close to a guy.”
That admission came out sounding a lot more serious than she’d intended, and in the silence that followed, she found herself gazing into Trevor’s eyes for what seemed like a really long time.
“Is it just me, or is there something more going on here than just the beginning of a really good working relationship?” he asked softly.
Not trusting herself to speak, Alina could only nod, ridiculously glad she wasn’t the only one having these thoughts. But was she ready to risk her partnership with Trevor simply because he made her feel all tingly when he looked at her?
“I’ve noticed that.” She wet her lips. “And if we’re being truthful, I suppose I should go ahead and admit I’ve been feeling something building between us for a while.”
His eyes glinted gold, another smile spreading across his face. “Since we kissed up in Baltimore?”
Her lips curved. “The kiss, and what came later at my apartment when I helped clean you up. That was…interesting.”
He chuckled. “Interesting is one word for it, though I probably would have gone with arousing.”
She liked the sound of that. “Arousing, huh?”
He nodded. “Especially your scent.”
She had no idea what that meant, and her confusion must have shown clearly on her face, because Trevor laughed again. Setting his bottle of water on the counter, he reached out and gently ran a finger down her arm. That simple touch made her skin tingle like a brush with electricity. Talk about arousing.
“You probably didn’t realize it, but my sense of smell is good enough to pick up any strong scent your body puts off,” he said.
“Strong scent?” she asked, still not sure what he was getting at but thinking she might be in trouble.
He nodded. “Sweat, fear…arousal. I can smell those and more.”
Alina was confused for all of a second, then remembered how excited she’d gotten that night while she’d been cleaning his wound and running her hands all over his well-muscled abs and chest. He’d smelled the scent of her body when she’d gotten wet.
She couldn’t have stopped the blush that crept onto her face if she’d tried. “Okay. That’s a bit awkward.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he said. “If it helps, I was turned on that night, too. If Kathy hadn’t come in when she did, I probably would have stripped you naked right here in your kitchen.”
His blunt admission surprised her. She hadn’t picked up on any interest on his part, other than the kiss, of course. She’d never considered messing around with a coworker, but that seemed to be where this was going. As crazy as it sounded, the idea was appealing. A little scary, too, but not nearly as terrifying as she would have thought. Maybe getting tossed through the air by that explosion had rattled her more than she’d realized.
“Is this going where I think it’s going?” she asked. “Are we seriously going to take a chance at blowing up our partnership for a roll in the hay every now and then?”
Trevor pushed away from the counter to stand in front of her, his expression serious. “I don’t want to go anywhere you’re not comfortable going, but we have to face the fact that if we keep going up against Thorn, worrying about how our partnership will handle a move into the bedroom is the least of our worries. You’ve seen what Wade is now, and Thorn may have a dozen more just like him. When you come right down to it, we may not make it out of this alive.”
Alina opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t going to base a decision to sleep with him on the probability of surviving their next encounter with Wade or one of Thorn’s other hybrids. But before she could get the words out, Trevor pressed a gentle finger to her lips, sending sparks of electricity dancing across her skin.
“Even if that wasn’t the case, if we weren’t facing any threat from Thorn at all and were assured of having a long, dull work relationship, I’d still rather take a chance at having something special and amazing with you instead of sitting around for the rest of my life wondering what could have been,” he said.
Though he moved his finger away, she couldn’t speak. He’d taken the words right out of her mouth…along with most of her breath.
“You know as well as I do—maybe better—that we aren’t guaranteed anything in this life,” he continued. “If we sit around and wait, telling ourselves that we should do the safe, mature thing, we’re going to miss out on something that might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I don’t know about you, but I’m more scared of wasting that chance than I am of what happens if we sleep together and find out we aren’t good in bed.”
Alina stood there in shock. She had a hard time processing that a man as rough and sexy as Trevor could be so damn romantic. Guys like him weren’t supposed to exist.
She was still trying to form a response when Trevor’s mouth quirked in a sexy little smile as he took a step closer.
“I’ll assume that silence implies concurrence,” he whispered.
