Jett bit back a moan.
Neither had she.
This man was going to be the death of her, but right now, she had to go see what trouble her beasts were causing.
She licked her tender mouth and regarded him with lust-hooded eyes.
“Hold that thought.”
CHAPTER 4
Dammit.
What the fuck had he just done?
Duh.
Kissed a woman he’d known for all of five minutes. And it had impacted him like nothing in his past that he could recall.
He should know better. But Trask felt like he’d been hit with a bolt of lightning.
Standing still like a dork, he knew he should go help Jett—whose dogs might be creating havoc—but his feet refused to move. It was as if the heat and shock of that kiss had seared his feet to the pavement.
Had he ever, in his entire life, lost control like that?
The easy answer was no.
The harder question was, why?
He’d recently vowed not to get involved with any woman whose history he didn’t researchreallywell.
Was his brain in such a turmoil from civilian life that he’d lost he’s frigging mind?
It wasn’t as if Jett was even his type. He’d always been attracted to women who were tidy, well organized, and methodical, like him. Jett was the antithesis of all that. From thelittle he’d seen of her, and from all that she’d cheerfully revealed—regaling him with her unfiltered diatribe—she was the polar opposite of, well, every woman who’d ever made it into his bed.
So, why had he kissed her?
He groaned to himself.
He knew.
Perhaps.
And it made him feel alittlebetter.
It was most likely because she’d saidshewas going to kisshim, and there were two things that yanked Trask’s chain faster than anything else. One, was being given a dare, and the other was not being in charge.
The former had been a result of his childhood, growing up with seven brothers. He and his sibs, once they’d reached an age of competitiveness, had always been testing each other to see who could perform better, run faster, think smarter. Being the oldest, Trask had pretty much always been top dog.
The latter caveat came from his years serving as a regimental commander. He’d been well known for his near perfection on the job. Nobody questioned his authority. No one. At least until he’d been blindsided. And that had one-hundred percent gone to his head. Not that he had minded his bossiness…until now. He almost wished he could have stepped back and seen whether she’d actually dared to kiss him.
But again, what the hell was he doing?
Currently, his life was upended. He was floundering. Trying to fit back in with his family. Attempting to carve out a niche for himself at Diver Downeast. Finding a place to live. And here bursts in one very incendiary ball of combustants who, without even trying, seemed intent on setting his every underpinning ablaze.
Not if I can help it.I can shut this down, he assured himself.
There’d never been something disturbing or out of place in his life that he’d failed to end up controlling until just recently and he wasn’t about to let that be a trend.
