“Okay,” she said, but with great reluctance.
He moved behind her and warned himself to be gentle at first then gauge how much pressure to apply. She leaned forward and planted her hands on the island.
She’d clipped her hair up and her bare neck tempted him to plant a kiss there, not his hands.
Focus.
He gently began to massage, deepening it.
She groaned.
He paused. “Sorry, did I hurt you?”
“Sort of, but it’s that pain that feels good because you know it’s doing something to help alleviate your problem.”
He continued on, finding the tight muscle and pressing his thumb into it. Her neck continued to scream out for a kiss. Or maybe his hands screamed to turn her to face him and tell her that he’d developed more than just a few feelings for her.
“Thank you,” she said while his mind was busy waffling.
She turned, her back against the island, her face not more than two feet from his. A section of hair had escaped the clip, and he tucked it back in. She took in a sharp breath.
He locked gazes with her. “You don’t like me touching you, do you?”
“It’s just the opposite. I like it, but know it’s not a good time for either one of us to get involved.”
“Yeah, I have my mom to think about.”
“Dev said you’d be thinking something like that.”
He took a step back. “You and Dev were talking about me.”
“Actually, Dev was telling me about you, and I was listening.”
“I can only imagine what he said.” He had to fight frowning and letting her know how much this impacted him. “We’re kind of opposites, and he wouldn’t just be standing here. He’d probably be kissing you right now.”
“He has a fun personality, no doubt, but it’s you I’m interested in.” She took his hand. “Even if it’s not a good idea, could you be more like Dev for just a minute and be kissing me right now?”
Surprised, it took him a moment to respond. Before he could, she’d reached up to touch the side of his face, setting off a sharp laser of emotions, firing off all the nerve endings in his skin.
He reached for her hand to stop her, but she slid it up to his face and behind his head, lowering it as she rose up on tiptoes. He tried to back away, but only in his brain. He wrapped an arm around her slender waist and drew her closer, tight against him, and crushed his lips onto hers, the shock of contact taking his breath.
He could hardly think. But one thought made it through his daze. If kissing her was wrong, he never wanted to be right.
16
Brooklyn wished breakfast hadn’t been so tense. But the kiss lingered in her mind. On her lips. Colin’s touch was still a vivid memory in her brain, and she couldn’t think of anything else. She should never have been so bold, but she didn’t regret finding out if they would be well-matched. They were. For the brief moment he let go and let his emotions take him, she knew what being in a relationship with him would feel like.
She thought maybe the kiss would get these feelings out and she could forget all about any romantic feelings for him. Thought that he was a forbidden guy, so of course she wanted to kiss him all the more. But that wasn’t it at all. The opposite had occurred. The kiss cemented in her mind that she wanted that relationship as badly as she wanted Kane brought to justice.
“Brooklyn, did you hear me?” Dev asked from the other side of the island. “Are you ready?”
“Oh, yeah. Ready.” She pushed the counter stool back and stood.
Dev shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on with the two of you this morning, but you’re both out of it. Something you want to share?”
“Blake is waiting at the door,” Colin said. “Let’s go.”
She jumped up and raced for the door. She was all for moving on as she wouldn’t tell Dev about the kiss, and the tension with Colin was too much for her to handle right now. She soon found herself in the elevator with four men discussing the investigation, one guy less familiar than the other three, but she hadn’t known any of them for more than a few days. Just a few days. Hard to believe when she had such strong feelings for Colin.
