One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,55

it all at the same time. She had no idea how Clayton managed to accomplish that with just a kiss, but he did it.

And then pulled back.

Lenora was so wound up in his arms that she nearly staggered when he stepped away. That wasn’t her only reaction, either. Every part of her began to protest that she was no longer body to body with the man who made her burn.

With that fire roaring through her, he didn’t just head for the door. He opened it and said the rest of what he had to say from over his shoulder.

“Just think about the proposal,” he mumbled. “And let me know your decision.”

* * *

CLAYTON SANK DOWN onto the foot of his bed and cursed a blue streak. Well, his proposal certainly hadn’t gone as planned. Not that he’d planned it very well, but he’d figured that Lenora would at least be more receptive to the idea of marriage so they could raise their child.

Apparently not, though.

Because only seconds after he’d suggested that she think about it, she had been the one to hurry past him and head to the guest room. And she’d shut the door, too. He knew that because it was directly across the hall from his; he’d also heard her lock it.

And turn off the lights.

He supposed it was a good sign that she was getting some much-needed rest. Something he wouldn’t get much of tonight. But he had a sinking feeling that he’d insulted Lenora. Definitely not his intention. Yeah, they weren’t in love, but he’d thought she would be able to see past that and do what was best for the baby.

Clayton mentally repeated that.

Groaned.

Yep, he’d blown it, all right. Lenora wasn’t the sort of woman to lean on a man, any man, even if he happened to be the father of her child.

Cursing his suddenly sour mood, their situation and anything else he could think of to curse, Clayton waited a few seconds for his temper to die down, then called Cutter to make sure everything was still secure.

“Thought you’d be getting some rest,” Cutter greeted him.

“I’m about to.” Well, he was about to go to bed, anyway. Clayton doubted that rest would come, with so much on his mind. “I’ll keep my phone right next to me. Call me if there’s any trouble.”

“Will do,” Cutter assured him.

“I’ll be out to relieve you at midnight,” Clayton added, and he hung up.

He considered calling Harlan next, just in case there’d been some kind of breakthrough with the recording, but it would only interrupt whatever his brother was doing. Calling Declan was out, too, because hopefully both he and Wyatt were resting so they could also do relief duty at midnight.

It was going to be a long night.

Clayton cursed that as well, and he dropped back on the bed. His head had barely touched the mattress, however, when there was a sharp knock at the door. Just one rap, and it flew open. He automatically reached for his gun, but stopped when he saw it was Lenora.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, getting up. He hurried to the door and looked out into the hall. Empty. “Did you hear something?”

She shook her head. “My answer is no.”

It took him a moment to realize which question she was answering, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t did you hear something?

Nope.

This was about the badly worded, ill-timed marriage proposal. Clayton took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to fix things, but he didn’t get the chance. Lenora shut the door, and in the same motion she wound her arms around his neck and she kissed him.

Whoa.

He sure hadn’t seen that coming, but Clayton went right along with it. He pulled her to him and he kissed her right back.

The taste of her roared through him. Instant heat. And it got significantly hotter when they tried to get closer to each other. Body to body. Every part of her touching every part of him. Well, the important parts, anyway.

“This doesn’t feel like a no,” he mumbled against her mouth.

“No to the marriage proposal,” she clarified. “Yes to this.” But then she stopped, pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes. “You do want this, right?”

“More than my next breath.” And he snapped her back to him to continue, and deepen, the kiss.

He forced himself to remember to stay gentle. Not easy to do with the heat boiling into a fierce need that his body was already demanding he satisfy.