He studied her, his face half in shadow, expression unreadable, and took a long swig of Dr. Pepper from a can before answering. “Giving you and Alan some privacy.”
“It wasn’t like that,” she said, crossing her arms so she wouldn’t rub them. The sweatshirt Scott had loaned her was no longer enough to keep her warm. Her pulse pounded in her neck, insistent and almost painful, a mismatch to the faint beat of country music that floated from the tiny bar at the front of the motel. “He’s just a friend.”
“Okay.” Scott tipped the can to his lips, his gaze never leaving her face.
“He’s like the big brother I never had,” she said. “There’s nothing romantic between us. I was just thanking him for helping me. And you.”
“Great.” Scott continued to stare, his blue eyes colorless under the yellow parking lot lights, but no less intense.
Heat rushed through her veins, driving away the chill. “Why don’t you believe me?”
His stoic facade cracked, a hairline fracture, but a breakthrough nonetheless. “What do you want from me, Valerie?”
“For once, I’d like to know what you’re really thinking.” The words poured out of her, hot and messy and irresponsible. “I can’t read you at all. I’m sure you like it that way, but it’s so damned maddening.” She barely had the wherewithal to keep her voice from rising. “I can’t tell if you trust me or think every word out of my mouth is a lie. I don’t even know if you actually like me, or if you’re just here because you need my help to clear your name.”
Moving close, he crumpled the can and dropped it, and then raised both arms to cage her against the rough wall. “I like you.” He practically growled the words, his face just inches from hers and hidden in the shadows. “But I don’t do relationships.”
“I’m pretty sure we have a relationship of some kind.”
He let out an impatient breath that caressed her cheek.
“But I understand,” she said, feeling bold and a bit reckless, drugged by his nearness. “You mean we don’t have the kind where I’d do this.” She arched and rubbed her breasts slowly across his chest, creating a delicious friction that made her head spin.
He kissed her hard, scrambling her thoughts, stealing her breath. His mouth was warm and he tasted like syrup. She lapped him up.
And then he was gone, taking his heat and his soft lips with him. When she opened her eyes, he had rolled away next to her with his back against the wall, hands fisted at his sides. “I can’t.”
She frowned as his words slipped past her lustful stupor. “Why not?” Her stomach went into a freefall. “Wait, do you have a girlfriend…or a wife?” Seemed like that would have come up sooner, but who knew?
“No.” Back to Mr. Stoic, despite their recent full body contact, he said, “I told you, I don’t…get involved.”
She couldn’t help herself, she laughed. He was actually the kind of guy who gave that speech and meant it. “You’re seriously overthinking this. We like each other, we’re sticking together for now, and our lives are shit. Where’s the harm in finding a little joy in that scenario?” If she wanted to spin stupid fantasies about happily-ever-afters and sunsets, that was her problem. She’d been disappointed before. She knew how to deal.
“It may have slipped your mind,” he said, his voice pitched low as he watched her, wary, “but I’m a killer, Valerie.”
Something in the way he said it gave her pause.I’m a killer.Was that really how he saw himself?
She swallowed to ease her dry throat. “Technically, maybe, but it’s not like you’re some kind of hired assassin.” She burrowed into his oversized sweatshirt to ward off a chill. “You protect people.”
He scanned their surroundings. “You can pretty it up, but it doesn’t change anything.” His jaw clenched tight and he gave a sharp head shake.
She pushed away from the wall so she could face him. “Look, I’m not getting on my knees to beg for sex or anything, but…”
His body stilled. A classic reaction when trying to hide a response.
Interesting.Was that what he wanted? Her on her knees?
A delicious heat curled through her as she took a step closer, energized by the revelation of her feminine power. “What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing.” He crossed his arms.
Lord only knew where this side of her was coming from. She could do almost anything for a role, but she wasn’t acting this time. Maybe it was that she had nothing to lose. Or, maybe she was tired of reacting to events, tired of feeling like she had no control over what happened next in her life.
She wanted to take charge of something.
She wanted Scott.
Dropping to her knees, she looked up and caught his startled expression.
