Probably like red wine and a whole lot of regret.
Reid had been acting weird since after dinner, during which he watched me like a hawk and all but ordered me to clean my plate. If it hadn’t been so good, I might have argued.
For the remainder of the evening, it was obvious he was trying to rein himself in. He didn’t want to get too close and give me the wrong impression. I could see him fighting it. But there was no denying the connection between us. The magnetic pull. And there was no denying the way he was looking at me right now. His impressive heat radiated from nearby, luring me in anytime he was within reaching distance, but when those eyes were on me, the intensity behind them made me squirm. I found myself wanting to be completely open with him in ways I never allowed myself to be with anyone else.
As the elevator came to a stop, Reid’s large hand found my lower back and ushered me into the hall, his keen eyes scanning the entire time.
I liked that, too. He did it a lot. He liked touching me. When he kissed my hand earlier, giving that little nudge of reassurance I needed to face his family, I nearly melted right there on the floor. But then at dinner, when I lost his arm on the back of my chair and never got it back, I knew he was retreating. Just like he always had when the pull had been too strong.
“I had a nice time tonight. Your family is really great,” I said as we walked down the hall to our room. I swallowed nervously, remembering that we would be sharing that room together.
Alone.
“And I’m so happy for your parents. Forty years. That’s incredible.”
He nodded silently, coming to a halt when we arrived at the door. He pulled the key card from his wallet and slipped it into the slot, stepping aside for me to walk through first. But I only made it a few steps before his large fingers gently curled around my upper arm and I was pressed against the closed door.
Oh God.
My breath became trapped in my throat as he lowered his head, bringing his delicious smell with him.
Was he going to kiss me?
I wish the hell he would. I was dying to know what his lips would feel like on mine. How they would taste.
“Do it,” I pleaded, the sound of my voice low and needy, revealing all of my desire.
“I can’t.” His voice was hoarse with agony.
“Why?”
“Because it’s wrong. I shouldn’t want you this much.”
I reached for his right hand, still clinging to my arm, and brought it to my chest. “Do you feel that?” My heart pounded like thunder, desperate to be one with his. “There is nothingwrongabout that.”
His forehead fell to mine. “I have to protect you.”
My other hand lifted to his jaw, the scruff there tickling my palm, sending a surge of heat between my thighs. “I’ve never felt safer.”
“I have to keep you safe from me.”
“You won’t hurt me,” I reassured him. “I won’t let you.”
I watched in utter fascination as he lowered his shield. The armor that he used so valiantly to protect himself, to protect me from him, fell. I felt it in his gaze. The way his eyes roamed my face, as if seeing me for the first time. Then his eyes focused on my mouth, the hunger residing there was enough to bring me to my knees.
The shrill sound of his phone ringing shoved my leaping heart into my stomach.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he let go of an angry curse before fishing his phone from his pocket.
“Cunningham,” he barked down the line, his eyes holding mine for another moment before he resurrected that wall between us again. “Jameson, I’ve been expecting your call.”
Ihated that look of disappointment in her eyes. It gutted me to take the call, but I had no choice. Part of me was thankful for the interruption but the other part, the larger part, was still thinking about the ways I wanted to ravage her mouth.
And put my hands on other places besides her pounding heart.
Fuck, what is this woman doing to me?
She grabbed a few things from her bag and went into the bathroom. I heard the water running as I spoke with Special Agent Ryder Jameson.
