Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,140

not lose my uncle,” Dani cried out, jumping off the couch and trembling. She balled her hands into fists at her sides, obviously a lot more upset about this than Kylie originally thought.

Kylie hurried off the couch, pulling Dani into her arms, in spite of Dani stiffening at first. “You won’t lose your uncle, not ever.”

“You can’t swear to that,” Dani said, suddenly very quiet. She’d been traumatized and now was on house arrest. It made sense she would strike out in the only avenue that appeared safe.

“I can swear that you won’t because of me.”

“But you like him.”

Kylie sucked in a breath, all too aware of her backside tingling from Perry keeping an attentive watch on both of them yet remaining quiet and observing.

Kylie nodded, unable to lie to Dani any more than her job required her to. “Yes, I do,” she whispered.

Dani pulled out of Kylie’s arms, wiping her face and brushing her hair behind her shoulders as she straightened and stared Kylie in the eye. “If he got a girlfriend he wouldn’t be over here all the time. Mom couldn’t raise us without him. She wouldn’t ever admit it, but it’s true,” she whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I don’t have any family, not like you do,” Kylie said, the words spilling out of her before she gave them much thought. “If, someday, I committed to a relationship, having a guy with a ready-made family would be pretty cool.” She straightened, sucking in a breath and keeping her focus on Dani even though she felt the heat burning her alive from Perry watching intently behind her. “But there are complications,” she began, swallowing the lump in her throat. They were thoughts she would swear were on Perry’s mind as much as hers. And they needed to be voiced. She would take advantage of his niece’s outburst and say out loud what needed to be said. “So many complications they might not be able to be overcome.”

“Like what?” Dani’s face lit up.

Kylie stared at her for a moment, the silence in the room growing. Perry wasn’t going to jump in and help her here at all. Exhaling, Kylie decided she could go out on a limb fairly safely. She wouldn’t insult Dani’s intelligence but felt safe that her next comment wouldn’t jeopardize anything.

“The FBI have ordered me to stay away from your uncle,” she said quietly.

“What?” Dani howled, her milky green eyes growing as large as saucers as a slow smile spread over her face. “You’re breaking the law being here? And why would anyone care if you saw Uncle Perry?”

“I’m not technically breaking the law,” she conceded, just risking her entire future. That wasn’t something she would explain, though. “The FBI is involved with this case, too, apparently. And like you, I’ve been questioned. They believe the man who is kidnapping teenagers in town, Peter, might be a cop.”

“No way!” Dani jumped back as if Kylie just slapped her, and gawked at her and then her uncle. “My uncle isn’t guilty of shit!”

“Watch your mouth,” Perry growled, speaking for the first time.

Kylie jumped to the side, too, unaware that he’d moved off the couch and stood behind her.

“You’re right. I’m not,” Perry said, his voice still low and menacing-sounding.

Kylie risked looking into his face and lost her breath when she drowned in his smoldering gaze.

“I never would have pictured you as a bad girl, Kylie.” Dani was grinning from ear to ear now, no longer shaking and noticeably calmer. Painting herself as a rebel made her cool in the teenager’s eyes.

“I didn’t know he was here when I headed over here,” Kylie announced.

“Would you have stayed away if you knew?” Perry demanded, his baritone sending chills rushing over her flesh but at the same time creating a heat inside her she ached to have him take care of.

“Probably not,” she said truthfully, still staring at him.

“God, you don’t need to feed his ego.” Dani rolled her eyes and walked around her uncle, returning to the couch. “You know a guy gets off when a girl breaks rules to see him.”

“And how would you know that?” Perry was wound tighter than usual when he snapped his attention to Dani.

She seemed to notice that as quickly as Kylie, because she didn’t throw her usual smart-mouthed comment in his direction. “Everyone knows that, Uncle Perry,” she said softly.

“No rules are going to stop me from seeing Kylie,” Perry announced, facing Dani, who sat on the couch again staring at