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Slowly, she reached up and pressed a light kiss against the corner of his mouth. He made a strangled sound in his throat but didn’t release her. Emboldened, she brushed her lips gently against his. For a brief instant, there was no response, and then he gave a groan of defeat and his arms tightened around her. His hand slid up between her shoulder blades to pull her closer, and he slanted his mouth hard over hers.
The kiss was so deep and so carnal that Caroline’s legs went a little weak. She melted into him, welcoming the hot, slick slide of his tongue against hers. He reached up, released her hair clip and dropped it onto the floor, then fisted his hand in her hair and tugged her head to one side. Pulling his mouth away, he trailed his lips along the line of her jaw, to the tender spot just beneath her ear. Caroline took in big gulps of air and shivered with pleasure. When he skated his mouth along the length of her neck, she gave a faint moan and clutched him closer, her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his back.
As he bent her slightly back over his arm and feasted on the sensitive skin of her throat, Caroline forgot almost everything except the way he made her feel. In that moment, she realized that her life wasn’t the only thing at risk.
4
JASON DIDN’T KNOW if he’d have had the ability to do the right thing and push Caroline away.
Again.
Thankfully, a knock sounded on the door, dragging him back to his senses, and he reluctantly released her. Looking a little dazed, she moistened her lips and pressed her hands against her flushed cheeks. Drawing in a deep breath, he retrieved his weapon from the table and strode to the door. Peering through the peephole, he saw Colton standing in the corridor with a rolling tray of food. With a quick glance at Caroline, who had turned away, he shoved the gun into the back of his waistband and opened the door.
“I’ve checked everything,” Colton said, indicating the tray. “Looks good.”
“Order something for yourself and Deputy Mitchell,” Jason told him.
“Will do, boss. Oh, one more thing. I spoke with Judge Banks’s assistant, Steven Anderson, and he’s bringing over copies of the case files that the judge was working on. Everything for the past year.”
Jason nodded. “Okay, thanks. Does the FBI have any leads?”
“They found a partial footprint in the flower bed beside the front porch and sent it over to the lab for processing.” The other man paused, his eyes sharpening on Jason. “Everything okay?”
He wondered how the other man would react if he told him that he’d just had Judge Banks’s daughter—the woman he was sworn to protect—in a steamy lip-lock. Or that he’d likely be in bed with her right now if Colton hadn’t chosen that moment to knock on the door. On the other hand, the deputy would probably find the whole thing highly entertaining. After all, he’d met his fiancée, Maddie, after she’d taken him hostage, stolen his truck and his service revolver and then led him on a chase through the Sierra Nevada mountains to Reno. Even after he’d caught her, Colton hadn’t been able to actually arrest her. Instead, he’d fallen in love with her and asked her to marry him. Of course, there had been extenuating circumstances, and even Jason had found himself drawn into helping them.
But he couldn’t see a happy ending for himself and Caroline, not when they came from such different backgrounds. Not when he owed her father so much. Not when he’d bruised her young heart twelve years ago.
He should never have asked for this protective detail. But the thought of letting anyone else take responsibility for her safety had been unthinkable. Quite simply, he didn’t trust anyone to watch over her the way that he would.
“Is something amusing, sir?”
Colton’s words snapped Jason out of his reverie, and he shook his head. “No, nothing about this situation is amusing. I’m just seeing the irony, that’s all.”
“What do you mean?”
That having him watch over Caroline Banks was a little like having the wolf guard the lamb. But he couldn’t say that to his deputy marshal.
“Order yourself some supper, Deputy, and I’ll see you around midnight.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jason drew the food into the room and closed the door, securing the chain and the dead bolt despite the fact that both Deputy Black and Deputy Mitchell sat directly outside. He was acutely conscious of Caroline watching him from the far side of the room. He exhaled roughly, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“About what happened,” he began, not looking at her. “That was a mistake.”
