her. A mouth he wanted to explore all over again, in a variety of different ways.
“Querida, I could have robbed you blind anytime I wanted.” His voice dropped. “I walked away before things got complicated.”
“Now I’m supposed to be grateful for the way you left? Gee, what a gentleman you are. Thanks, Sullivan.”
A smile curled his mouth. His breath brushed her ear-lobe. “I don’t remember anyone saying no as the night progressed.”
“Bad judgment on my part,” she said with the slightest quiver in her voice.
The woman was all about control. Some small part of him couldn’t help admiring that quality. It only heightened his desire.
“You couldn’t stop it any more than I could.” He trailed his finger down the long, sexy line of her neck. Smiled wider as she shuddered at his touch. “Then or now.”
“I don’t get involved with people I’m working with, Slick.”
Her skin was soft, like silk beneath his palms. He wanted to taste that delectable neck, work his way down her body, savor every square inch of her.
“I hate to break this to you, querida, but I think we’re already involved.”
She stiffened. Then turned and looked up, those emeralds shifting from soft green pools to rock-hard stones in the length of time it took for his words to register. But lurking just behind the shield, he saw the desire brewing deep inside.
She wanted him, dammit. She couldn’t hide it any more than he could. She was just a lot better at fighting it.
“We’re partners now, Sullivan. You made that choice all on your own. And I have strict rules about colleagues. Those rules don’t bend for anyone. Especially you.”
He braced his hands on the counter, trapping her between his body and the cupboards as he leaned closer. She tensed. That heady scent of hers made the blood rush to his head.
“Never?” He knew that was a lie. Hell, he’d seen it for a fact himself. His lips curled as his gaze ran over her face and hovered on that oh-so-scrumptious mouth.
Doubt flashed in those shining green pools. She looked from his eyes to his lips, the suggestive move raising his body temperature ten degrees. Indecision ran across her face. He could see she was contemplating her options, that she was wavering.
God, he wanted her. And he knew he could break her with one swift kiss. She was teetering on the edge of an adrenaline rush, despite all her sanctimonious words and ideas. One brush of his lips and he could rock her right to her knees. One taste and she could take him with her.
But would that do it for him? If that was all he’d wanted, he could have had his way with her in Italy. Reality hit him as he stood there, waiting. He didn’t want to be the one doing the taking. He wanted her to come to him, to prove that after everything he’d done, she wanted him as much as she had in Milan.
More than she had in Milan.
That need was so strong, so overwhelming, he let go of the counter and stepped back before he changed his mind and took her right there against the cabinets in her brother’s kitchen. Cool air washed over his skin, replacing the sultry heat radiating from her centerfold curves.
Shimmering gems laced with more than a hint of disappointment and confusion lifted toward his.
No. If this happened—when this happened—she’d be the one to make the first move. She’d be the one begging.
He’d make sure of it.
In the meantime, he’d wait. And suffer. And pray she wasn’t as stubborn as she looked.
“Go to bed, Lisa.” He forcibly softened his voice. “It’s been a long night, and you need to sleep. I’ll take the couch.”
She was toast.
She sure felt like it, anyway.
Lisa flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling in Shane’s extra bedroom. She’d slept all of about two hours last night. Partly because she’d still been anxious over the accident, partly because she’d spent way too much time fantasizing about the sexy Puerto Rican asleep on the couch on the other side of the door.
What the hell was she doing? She was in way over her head with this guy. She’d almost jumped him last night. Probably would have, if he hadn’t shuffled her off to bed like a recalcitrant two-year-old.
Thank God one of them had been thinking clearly, because it sure as hell hadn’t been her. As soon as he’d touched her she’d almost gone off like a firecracker, every muscle in her