And confusing.
Andveryinconvenient.
But then…when had she ever let a little inconvenience stop her? She’d sailed across an ocean in search of a stolen ring, for goodness’ sake. Surely winning the affection of a bookishly handsome (albeit emotionally aloof) private investigator couldn’t bethatdifficult. After all, she was, if nothing else, a problem solver.
And this was just another problem.
“Miss Thorncroft,” Kincaid said warily. “What are youdoing?”
“Testing a theory.” Never taking her eyes away from his, she slowly traced a path from his elbow to the blue and purple veins on the inside of his wrist. He wore only a linen shirt with the sleeves rolled partially up, exposing his forearms to her inquisitive fingertips. “I’ve a very scientific mind, Kincaid. And I have always enjoyed…experiments.”
He expelled a ragged breath when she lightly circled her thumb around the throb of his pulse. His pupils dilated, amber eyes darkening to aged cognac. The muscles in his arm tightened, and when he spoke it was not with the tone of a man unaffected by pleasure, but one trying not to drown in it.
“This—this is not proper, Miss Thorncroft,” he rasped.
A smile teased her lips. “You forget I am an American, Kincaid. We’ve never been overly fond of British propriety.” She lifted his hand and lowered her lashes to conceal the glint of sensual mischief in her gaze as she pressed her lips to the heel of his palm.
A growl tore itself loose from the depths of his throat, and her heart thrummed wildly in response.
She’d never made a mangrowlbefore.
It was all quite wolfish…and wicked. She was tempted to do more. Todemandmore. But having gotten an irrefutable answer to her question of whether Kincaid felt something for her or not (it was clear that he did), perhaps it was time for a tactful retreat.
“I should go see about that list,” she murmured, turning away.
His stare burned a hole in the small of her back as she sauntered out of the room, her uncharacteristically lascivious gait empowered by the passion running hot and heavy through her veins. She closed the door then sagged against it, wondering what she’d started…and how it would end.
Chapter Ten
When Joanna returnedfrom her errand an hour later, Kincaid was gone and his office was empty.
She’d intended to be quicker, but there had been too many books to look at. She could have easily spent half a day browsing through the shelves, particularly since the majority of the novels were by authors unfamiliar to her, but she hadn’t wanted to give Kincaid an excuse to fire her off. Despite their undeniable physical attraction, it was obvious her presence unsettled him, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he used the tiniest excuse to end their agreement and let her go.
Leaving the items he’d requested in a neat pile beside his desk, she considered poking around, but how would she explain herself if Kincaid suddenly showed up and she was elbow deep in a drawer searching for his inner-most secrets?
Better to curb her curiosity and return tomorrow. At least, thatwasthe plan until she saw James on top of the bookshelf. Naturally, she couldn’t leave without coaxing him down for a nuzzle. That would just be rude. And when he leapt off the shelf and accidentally knocked over a stack of papers, she couldn’tnotpick them up. And when she saw how woefully disorganized Kincaid’s books were, she couldn’thelpbut sort them in alphabetical order by title. And when she finished categorizing the books, she couldn’t very well leave before she’d cleaned up the rest of the shelves, could she?
“Miss Thorncroft, what thehellare you doing up there?”
Joanna froze halfway up the bookshelf. She’d been trying to reach the top, and with no ladder to be found, she had decided to simply climb, arranging things as she went. But it seemed she had lost track of time…and if the sharp bite of annoyance in Kincaid’s tone was any indication, he wasnotpleased she was still in his office.
“My job?” she said innocently, swiveling her head. Unfortunately, she’d allowed herself to become distracted by Kincaid’s return and the slight movement caused her to lose her balance. The flat soles of her ankle boots slid off the shelf. Her fingers started to slip. With a shriek, she fell backwards…and landed right in Kincaid’s arms.
He had moved across the room with lightning quickness to scoop her out of the air. Cradling her against his chest, he glared down at her, his eyes nearly black with fury.
“You little fool,” he snarled, his face inches from her own. “You could have broken your neck! What were you thinking?”
Joanna’s heart pounded like a drum inside her chest. “I was only trying to—”
“You willnotput yourself in peril again!” His grip tightened. “Do you understand me?”
In the blink of an eye, he’d once again transformed into the dangerous, deadly rogue she’d first glimpsed in the pleasure gardens. A rogue who wouldn’t hesitate to slay the dragon with his bare hands and then rescue the damsel in distress.
Except Joanna was no damsel.
She was the dragon.
And it was time Kincaid tasted some of her fire.
