“I’m sorry if he said somethin’ to piss you off.”
Archer pulled his arm from Atticus’s grip.“He didn’t.”
“No?Then why’re you stompin’ around out here?”
There was so much accusation in Atticus’s tone, Archer couldn’t help but respond to it.He turned, this time staring down at Atticus, pinning him in place with a stern glare.
“You wanna know what my problem is?”
Atticus frowned, but he didn’t step back even as Archer moved closer.“Yeah.Enlighten me.”
“You are,” he said, his voice low.
He took another step forward, and this time Atticus stepped back.Archer took another and another until they were hidden from view of the barn.
“I’m your problem?Why?”
“Because you fucking kissed me,” he said in a harsh whisper.“You fucking kissed me, Atticus, and it’s all I can fucking think about.”
He’d never been one to use curse words to punctuate his sentences, but it seemed he was more upset than he’d thought.
Sighing heavily, he looked up, relaxing his neck, forcing himself to calm down.“Sorry.That was uncalled for.”
“Look at me,” Atticus insisted.
He kept his head tipped back.“I can’t.”
“Archer.”
Jesus.He should not like the way Atticus said his name.He shouldn’t.
“Please.”
And fuck if he didn’t like that, too.
When he was able to stop grinding his teeth, he brought his head to level and looked at Atticus again.
“I can’t stop thinkin’ about it either,” Atticus said, his green eyes glittering.“But we can’t.”
Archer wanted to argue, but he had no defense.Atticus was right.As partners, they owed it to one another to refrain.
“I can’t help myself,” he admitted.“I fantasize about…” Archer let the sentence hang, knowing it was wrong to go down that road.
“What?”Atticus whispered, his eyes imploring.
“It doesn’t matter,” he huffed.
Atticus grabbed his shirt, pulled him closer.“Tell me.”
Archer held his stare, leaning in until Atticus was pinned between him and the house.God, this was so fucking wrong, but he couldn’t stop it.
“I fantasize about stripping you, then running my tongue over every inch of your body.”
Atticus shuddered.
“But I’m not lookin’ for a one-and-done deal, Atticus.And you’ve already said partners are off limits.”
Atticus nodded.“I did say that.”
“And you meant it.”
Atticus’s throat worked as he swallowed hard.Archer expected him to agree, but he didn’t.When he didn’t say anything at all, Archer forced himself to move back, to eliminate the temptation.
He started back down the driveway, needing to put distance between them so he could focus on the case.They had definitive proof that Kylie Walker’s death had been staged.Now it was a matter of determining whether she was still alive.And if she was, finding her and bringing her home.
Until that happened, he had no business fantasizing about anything.Least of all his fucking partner.
