They only had a couple hours until daylight, but Valerie wasn’t in the mood for sleep anymore. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, grabbing onto the front of his T-shirt and curling the soft fabric into her fist. “Please, don’t.”
CHAPTER NINE
Azusa, CA
Monday, 4:30 a.m.
SCOTT WAS LOST THE MINUTE Valerie’s lips met his. He’d used up every ounce of willpower he had backing away from her the first time. Now, he couldn’t even remember why he’d wanted to.
Her hands curled into his hair, the light scratch of her fingernails at the base of his neck making his knees weak. Sitting back on his heels, he tugged her onto his lap and explored her sweet mouth. Slowly, slowly, torturing both of them, he slid his hand down to cup her left breast, to gently caress the heavy softness in his palm.
He stroked a thumb across her rock-hard nipple and she arched back.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered in a groan, nipping at her lips.
Valerie moaned in response, a plea that went straight to his groin.
Her fingers slid beneath the hem of his shirt, trailing over his abs, up his chest and across his collarbone, her touch lighting him up like an incendiary grenade. She ground her hips against him, and he nearly exploded.Jesus.
Cradling her around the shoulders and hips, he lay her down without breaking the kiss, stretching out above her, aligning their bodies from head to toe.
A small voice at the back of his mind whispered a warning.You can’t just walk away from this one.
Fuck off, he answered back.
Propping himself with one arm, he tugged the bottom of her shirt with his free hand, wishing he could risk opening a curtain to let in more light. He wanted nothing more than to see her in all her bronze glory. Then again, he wasn’t necessarily ready for her to see all of his not-so-glorious parts. Maybe darker was better.
“Wait.” She stopped his progress with her hand over his, something odd in her voice.
He froze. “What’s wrong?” Had she heard something? Christ, he was so caught up in her that he’d lost his sense of situational awareness. He dropped his hand and started to push away.
“No, don’t,” she said, grabbing the waistband of his shorts, her smooth fingers tantalizing against his bare stomach.
Come on, baby, move that hand a little lower.
“But, um, I’d like to leave my shirt on,” she said, without meeting his gaze.
“Why?” The fear and vulnerability on her face drove him up onto his knees, dislodging her hand from his pants as his brain flashed neon red warning signs.
“I…” She absently rubbed a hand across her ribs.
“You know what? You don’t need to tell me.” This whole episode was veering dangerously close to relationship-forming territory. Assuming they survived this nightmare, he needed to be able to move on when it was over. Physical intimacy was one thing, but emotional? That was something else altogether.
He cared enough to spare them both.
A slice of white light flashed under the driver’s side window shade, illuminating the front seat and dashboard, drawing Scott’s attention away from the gorgeous woman laid out before him. Something hard rapped against the glass.
“Anyone in there?” a man asked from outside.
Shit.What the hell had he been thinking letting down his guard? Bad enough that he was ready to break his own rules to sleep with Valerie, but now he’d let his libido put them in danger.
Her eyes widened, and he put a finger to his lips. “Don’t move,” he mouthed.
Shaking her head, she slid out from under him, tugging her shirt down to her hips. He grabbed her arm. “Trust me,” she whispered, gesturing him out of sight as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.
He let go. She was the mistress of the con, right? Time to let her prove herself.
“Hel-lo.” The man outside rapped on the window again. “Valley Security.”
