Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,118
back,” he said, speaking before Kylie could think of what to say. Then as if to seal his words, he pulled Kylie to him, wrapping his arm around her.
The intimate contact, which he held on to when he walked the two of them to the door, would make it damn impossible to convince Megan they were only friends. Granted, Megan didn’t know anything about Kylie, but what she believed now brought a smile to her face.
“I’ll feel a lot better when you have this guy arrested,” Megan said, following them outside but remaining in her doorway. “And Kylie, stop by anytime. I know tonight wasn’t proof, but my girls love you.”
“Thank you,” Kylie said, although it was hard to turn when Perry kept a firm grip on her.
“You won’t have long to wait,” Perry said, finally stopping and facing his sister when they were halfway down the sidewalk. “I’ll let you know the moment the asshole is behind bars.”
“Good.” Megan shifted her attention between both of them, her fatigue apparent but her expression definitely showing approval when Perry kept his arm around Kylie. “Good night, you two.”
Chapter 20
Perry couldn’t kick his foul mood, so he didn’t say much as they drove in silence. After he had spent the last hour or so talking to teenagers and their parents and listening while the Simolis again addressed the press and warned everyone to keep their daughters under lock and key, it had been all he could do not to toss Dani across the room until he knocked some sense into her head. He would tear through her computer and phone, regardless of what Megan thought, if it came down to it. Dani could be pissed all she wanted, but she would be alive.
“Perry, where are you going?” Kylie pulled him out of his thoughts.
He turned into his driveway. “Home,” he grunted.
“What about me?” She didn’t take off her seat belt when he put the Jeep in park and then cut the engine. “No way, Perry. You’ve got to take me home.”
He wasn’t in the mood to argue. Opening his car door, he stepped out into the muggy night. Another storm was heading their way. “I will soon.”
She hurried out her side and trailed him into his home. “I can’t stay here. It better be really soon.”
“Why can’t you?” he asked, turning in the darkness and pulling her to him, then reaching over her and pushing his back door closed. “Your car isn’t outside. No one will know.”
“But they will know if I’m not at my house all night. And if I’m not, they will know where to look for me.”
“Good.” He liked believing his house would be the first place they would search for Kylie if she went missing. It meant all those down at the FBI field office believed she was his woman. “We’d hate to have them worrying about you.”
“Perry,” she said, uttering his name with a soft whisper. She implored him to be reasonable, but her eyes were like a midnight sky, large and sultry and slightly hooded with her thick lashes. “We’ve both been ordered not to see each other.”
“They can all go to hell.” He didn’t care if he sounded irritated.
“You would lose your job over me?”
“Do you really think you’d lose your job because of me?”
She chewed her lower lip and he hardened to stone. Her silence was answer enough. They both might endure more humiliating reprimands, although he didn’t doubt for a moment if Rad tried lecturing him that he’d walk out before he could get started.
He wasn’t Peter. The only reason Kylie would need to stay away from him was if she suspected him to be their perp.
He’d help her through her indecision. “Am I your perp?” That sultry gaze of hers faded quickly as she made a face. “Good grief, Perry.”
That was answer enough. He grabbed her arms, dragging her to him. “Then stay with me,” he demanded, his voice a vulgar growl but the best he could master.
He wasn’t used to his emotions being so exposed. But kissing her, not hearing her hesitate but feeling her hot body relax against his, protected the vulnerability that threatened to rise too close to the surface.
Perry ran his hands down the curve of her back, cupping her soft ass, and lifted her against him. He had his arms under hers, encouraging her to run her fingers up his arms. She opened up to him, deepening the kiss as her fingernails scraped his shoulders.