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“Distraction.” He’s closer now, only a breath away.
My eyelids flutter closed, and I tilt my face further up as Ryker’s fingers grip my chin and tilts my face up the rest of the way.
“Dahlia,” he whispers. “We can’t. I can’t.” Ryker pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry.” He trembles beneath the hand I laid on his chest.
“It’s okay.” But the truth is that the rejection hurts. I pull away. “Thanks for catching me. Oh, I’m so sorry. Your shirt is all wet.” I resist the urge to meet his gaze. So I grab the towel from his arms and wrap it around me. But as I start to pull away, Ryker grips my arm and yanks me back against his chest.
His hand snakes around the back of my neck and his mouth claims mine.
The fire that’s been burning since we met explodes in my veins—an inferno that sets every single inch of my body ablaze. The scruffiness of his beard scrapes deliciously against my skin, and I groan as he pulls me closer and deepens the kiss.
Never.
Never have I been kissed like this.
Like the world is on fire and this is the final moment before we’re devoured.
I’m teetering on the edge of a cliff, and I don’t even care if I take the fall.
He releases me, breathing ragged, and steps back. Gaze full of all the attraction I feel burning in my own, he watches me.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“Don’t be. Please.”
“This is a risk, Dahlia.”
“Then it’s one we’ll take together.”
“I—”
“Stop, Ryker. Please. Don’t take away from what was seriously the best, most amazing kiss I have ever had in my life.”
The corners of his lips twitch. “The best, huh?”
I grin back at him. “You have no idea.”
“This is a risk, Dahlia,” he repeats, expression turning serious. “If what’s between us becomes a distraction—”
“Then we won’t let it become one.”
If you had told me a month ago that I would be sitting beside a muscled, tattooed, former Navy SEAL, whom I just shared the best kiss of my life with even though he’s operating as my bodyguard, I would have absolutely thought you were daydreaming on my behalf.
Yet, here I sit, Bible in my lap, right beside Ryker, who is working on his laptop. His thigh is brushing mine, and I’m as close as I can possibly get without actually climbing into his lap. Which, although tempting, would likely be an entirely awkward situation should his brother walk into the room.
After setting my Bible aside, I glance over and briefly look at the screen at images of the man he’s looking at. He’s rather ordinary looking, clean-cut, with a dark suit and a blue—
“My mind is made up.”
More ringing. My pulse quickens, and the fear grows. Why are they not answering?
“Then I guess it’s a good thing no one else knows, isn’t it? After tonight, the secret dies with you.”
I sprint forward, closing the distance to Mr. Prescott’s room in three long strides.
Two men stand just inside, one wearing a dark suit and a grey tie, the other a black button-down and black slacks. Both turn to me.
“I’m afraid I have to ask you both to leave,” I say, doing my best to keep my tone calm despite my shaking hands.
