“He didn’t. And he hasn’t been hoarding me. Trust me, I haven’t seen him in years. I think I was still in high school the last time we met.” Surprise flashed across Luc’s dark, sensual features. “So out of the blue, you decide to surprise a man who, unless I’m totally off base here, you aren’t really fond of. Anything wrong?”
Kimber paled. Damn, he’d figured that out quick. “I—I just need to talk to Deke.
It’s…urgent.”
Deke hovered just outside the kitchen, jaw clenched. Damn, he’d know that sweet, little-girl voice anywhere. High-pitched, lilting, usually delivered with a hint of mischief. Kimber Edgington. She made his dick itch for action. Always had. Every day he’d worked for the Colonel, he’d seen her. Just the sound of her voice had been enough to send a mad rush of blood straight to his cock. One glance from those sweet hazel eyes made him as ready as a jackhammer.
Adjusting himself, Deke grimaced. Damn it, she still had that power. At least she wasn’t seventeen anymore, tempting a man who was old enough to know better and nearly too horny to care. Five years ago, he’d quit working for her father before he’d done something stupid. Something he was sure he’d regret every bit as much as she would. But why the f**k was she here now? Hell, only one way to find out…
She gasped as he stepped into the kitchen. Deke leaned against the kitchen island to hide his raging hard on. By Luc’s amused smile, he knew he wasn’t fooling his cousin. But it was Kimber’s face he focused on. More mature lines. Fuller lips. The freckles had faded. She wore a hint of makeup. The air of innocence remained, still begging corruption.
Deke would bet every last medal he’d ever earned that she was still a virgin.
Crazy. The girl had to be twenty-two, twenty-three. In his gut, though, Deke knew he was right. Shit! He had to get her the f**k out of here. Fast. Head-spinning desire and virginity were a bad combination.
“Kimber.” His voice sounded like ground-up gravel. He resisted the urge to wince.
“Deke.”
His name fell from her glossy, rosy lips. The husky sound only made him harder.
Then she bit her cushy lower lip, and all he could think about was watching his dick slide over that lip, then deep inside the wet silk of her mouth while she looked up at him with those innocent eyes.
If he didn’t stop thinking like this, he was going to have to go into the bathroom and jack off before he could have a decent conversation with the girl so he could send her on her way.
“Hi,” she breathed into the awkward silence.
“It’s been a while.”
She nodded. It was jerky, nervous. He hadn’t heard much of Luc’s conversation with Kimber, just enough to know his cousin had some whacked-out imagining that he’d been keeping the beauty to himself. And that Kimber thought she had an urgent reason to be here. Since they only had one acquaintance in common, this had to be about the Colonel.
“Is everything all right with your dad?”
“He—he’s fine. Thanks.” She pasted on a smile. “He says some psycho ex-convict he helped bring in for a client is out now and threatening him, but that’s nothing new.”
In their line of work? “No, it’s not.”
Finally, his erection abated enough for him to cross the room and plant himself at the fussy Italian table. A smile still tugged at the corner of his cousin’s mouth, and Deke sent him a warning glare.
“I heard you tell Luc you had something urgent to talk to me about. It’s not about the Colonel?”
“No. It’s…” Kimber’s lashes swept toward her cheeks as she looked down, bit her lip again.
Damn it, her unconscious, innocent flirtations were making him hard all over.
Her gaze bounced back up, and he saw fortitude there.
Interesting…
“It’s personal.”
Personal? Deke had no idea what to say. She’d come to him for something personal? He’d done his best to be an ass to her when he’d worked for her father.
Not too difficult when he’d been knotted up by sexual frustration on a daily basis.
A moment passed in silence. A pause.
Luc rose and approached Kimber. “I’ll give you kids a few minutes alone. I have to make a phone call, anyway. There’s more raspberry tea in the fridge. Don’t let Mr.