Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,141

him wide-eyed. “And furthermore, you’re not going to bully her into not coming around.”

Kylie wasn’t going to wait for silence to build between her and Perry again. Especially with him standing so close she could feel the tiny hairs on her body standing at attention. Even with the words he had just stated ringing in her ears, she fought desperately to move the conversation over to something that wouldn’t cause her heart to race so fast she couldn’t breathe.

“Dani, would you tell me what happened last night? You were so upset I didn’t want to press, but I would love to hear the details.” She followed Dani with her eyes when she jumped off the couch and headed out of the living room.

Kylie started after her when Perry grabbed her arm. “Give her a minute; she doesn’t do well when embarrassed,” he said, almost whispering.

“Dani embarrassed?” Kylie said, hoping she wouldn’t blush when she offered him a sly grin. “I’m not the best at laying my feelings out on the table, either.”

“It was so hard for you to admit you like me?” He moved his rough fingertips over her pulse on her wrist.

“I guess not.” She straightened but didn’t have the strength to pull her hand from his. Worse yet, the urge to walk into his arms and stretch against that body of steel also made it impossible to move.

“What complications were you talking about?” he asked, keeping very little distance between them as he stared deep into her eyes, while continuing to brush his thumb over the inside of her wrist.

She swore she would break out in a sweat, start salivating or even panting with the close proximity between them. The distance she would need to clear to touch him was driving her crazy. Bad enough she could barely organize her thoughts to answer his question, it was on the tip of her tongue to deny any complications.

“You know what I was talking about,” she said, biding time and finally looking away from his face. Staring at his muscular chest didn’t help matters much, though. He didn’t say anything and she knew he was staring down at her. Something told her pulling out of his grip wouldn’t be as easy as it appeared. She sucked in a breath, filling her lungs with him, and fought for an answer that would sound relatively coherent. “I think we both like being employed,” she muttered.

He took her chin with his free hand and lifted her face so she was forced to look at his face again. Kylie closed her eyes, knowing it would be a hell of a lot easier taking on a mouthy teenager than it would be Perry.

“If you want to be with me, we can make this work.” He brushed his lips over hers.

Kylie melted right there on the spot. No man had ever suggested he would fight the system, not only local law enforcement but also the FBI, just to be with her. Perry’s statement scared the crap out of her and created an excitement inside her that had her floating in the air.

“Dani is going to come out here and throw a fit,” Kylie whispered, her voice cracking from too many emotions swirling around inside her.

“She needs to get accustomed to seeing me kiss you.” He pressed his lips to hers again, taking his time and tasting her.

Kylie couldn’t help feel that the kiss was a challenge. Not only was Perry staking claim, in his sister’s home, as to what would be allowed and tolerated from this moment forward, but he was also putting Kylie on the spot, giving her this one chance to accept the conditions or push him away and negate them. She hated ultimatums.

“This isn’t the time, or the place, to lay out the terms of our relationship,” she whispered, her lips moving against his while her lashes fluttered over her eyes. She couldn’t focus on him clearly with their noses damn near touching.

Perry straightened and let go of her hand, then backed up before turning to the couch. She stood there, watching him, feeling a sense of doom twist around her heart when she feared she’d just pissed him off. But damn it, there was too much at risk to just announce how it would be and believe it to be so. He sat slowly, taking his time stretching out his long, muscular legs, before crossing one cowboy boot over the other. Fire burned in his eyes, a mixture of lust and anger,