Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,32

want to kiss you...I really need you to kiss me.”

“It’s definitely not a good idea,” he replied even as he reached to bring her body tight against his. She melted into him, all warm curves and fragrant softness. “In fact, it’s probably the worst thing we could do,” he said as his lips touched hers. With that simple touch, he knew he was in trouble.

She leaned into him and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck as she opened her mouth to him. As he followed her lead and swirled his tongue against hers, igniting a new fire of desire inside him, he knew he was taking advantage of her, of her vulnerable state, but at the moment he couldn’t summon the strength to stop.

Instead he reached up and tangled his hand in her long silky hair and momentarily lost himself in the sweet pleasure of the heat of her mouth, the overwhelming presence of her so intimately against him.

He wanted nothing more than to carry her into the guest bedroom and make love to her. He wanted to see her naked against the sheets, wanted to move his own naked body against hers, into hers.

And that would be a huge mistake. This was a huge mistake. Although he didn’t want it to stop, reluctantly he broke the kiss and stepped back from her, his heart beating more quickly than it should.

She stared up at him, her eyes slightly glazed and midnight-blue. Just by looking at her his desire heightened and his resolve to stop anything else that might transpire between them wavered.

She reached a hand up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and he couldn’t help but notice that her hand trembled. She wanted him. And he wanted her. And the situation they found themselves in couldn’t be far more removed from real life.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Tamara.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, as if afraid of what they might do if left to their own volition. “I find you ridiculously attractive and there’s nothing I’d like better than to take you to bed and make love to you all night long. But it wouldn’t be fair to either of us. When this is all over we both have lives to return to. I don’t want to see either one of us get hurt.”

“Logically I agree,” she said and her voice held a huskiness of barely suppressed emotions. “But emotionally and physically I want you, Seth.”

Although it was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done, he stepped toward her, kissed her on the forehead and grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face the direction of the hallway.

“Go to bed, Tamara. I think that’s the best thing for both of us, to go to bed alone and get a good night’s sleep.”

She looked back at him one last time, her beautiful eyes filled with the longing that he felt deep in his soul. He kept his features set and stern, refusing to give in to her, in to his own base needs.

“Good night, Tamara.”

She released a small sigh of obvious dissatisfaction.

“Good night, Seth.” As he released his hold on her shoulders, she walked down the hallway toward the guest bedroom.

She paused at the door and gazed back at him one last time and he fought the need to sprint down the hallway to her door. Instead he turned his back and walked to the hall closet where the top shelf held the sheet and pillow he’d been using to sleep on the sofa.

By the time he’d gotten his bed linens, she was gone and her bedroom door was closed. He was grateful for he knew another minute of seeing her in that clingy little black dress, another moment of thinking about the lush warm welcome of her lips against his and he’d lose all resolve to be smart.

Within minutes he was on the sofa, his gun within reach on the coffee table and his thoughts a mass of chaos that let him know sleep would be a long time coming.

Trying to keep his thoughts away from Tamara, he focused on the three guys he’d interviewed that day. They were just kids, trying to find their way through life, but that didn’t mean that one of them wasn’t a killer. Although he’d told Tamara that Sam was simply a person of interest, the truth of the matter was that all three of the kids