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“I saw you in your garb last night only a couple of blocks away from here,” he said. “As you can see, accidents do happen.”
She was surprised, not realizing she’d been recognized. “You were the one in the car?”
He nodded.
“I couldn’t see inside it,” she said. “But what made you think it was me?”
“It’s not important. Suffice it to say I became suspicious as a result of what I saw.”
“What did you see?”
“It’s not relevant to the discussion.”
The more he refused to answer, the more she wanted to know. “It’s relevant to me. I can’t have people recognizing me out there.”
“They wouldn’t.”
“That makes no sense. You knew it was me, but no one else could?”
He blew out a breath. “Fine. I recognized your butt.”
Phae’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t be serious, but she could see that he was. She didn’t know if she should be flattered or offended. She opted for flattered and smiled, mostly because he’d been embarrassed to admit it.
“You got your answer,” he said brusquely. “Now answer one of mine. Why did you allow me to follow you?”
“I knew if we kept seeing each other, I’d have to tell you about Captain Nice Guy eventually. You simply rushed the process. A lot.”
He looked skeptical.
“Honestly. I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know when. Everything has moved so fast between us, and I didn’t know if I could trust you to keep my secret.”
“Uh-huh. Go on.”
She tried not to let his ongoing skepticism distract her. “Anyway, when I saw you standing out there tonight, I figured you must have been trying to tail me because you were curious about what I do. I mean, you could have confronted me the second I stepped foot out of my apartment, but you didn’t. You followed me and I took that to be a good sign.”
“You shouldn’t have,” Kent said with a frown.
“Obviously. Regardless, I decided the best way to explain what I do was to show you. That’s it.”
“So you didn’t set out to make a fool of me?” he asked, a furrow between his brows.
“No! Why would you think I’d do something like that?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I took quite a beating tonight, Phae.”
“You did well,” she said softly. “I was being honest when I told you that earlier. And you’re not used to the humidity around here, either.”
He sipped his water and studied her.
“I know,” she continued. “I was a little flippant in the woods. I made a couple of jabs and I’m sorry about that. I was so pumped up, though. My plan at the bar worked perfectly. I was afraid I’d get there too late to sabotage Uncle Leon’s truck. That’s why I cut through the woods. Everything took longer than I expected tonight.”
Kent’s mouth formed in the tiniest hint of a smile. “What you mean to say is that I slowed you down.”
She returned his smile. “Yeah, but I wasn’t going to say it.”
“I know you weren’t.” He slowly shook his head. “Tonight didn’t turn out the way I had planned in San Diego. Right now, we should be in bed, sipping wine. Instead, I’m sitting on your couch drinking water.”
In a tiny towel, Phae added silently. He was sitting on her couch, drinking water while wearing a very tiny towel and nothing else. That salient detail made all the difference, in her opinion.
“Are you still mad at me?” she dared to ask.
He exhaled. “I’m not sure. I need some time to think about all this.”
She hopped up from her chair. “You stay there and think. I’ll go check the laundry.”
She took her time as she removed the wet clothes from the washing machine and tossed them into the dryer. She couldn’t understand how Kent thought she might want to make a fool out of him, but at least it explained why he’d been so upset.
After starting the dryer, she waited in the shop for a few moments to give Kent a little more time to think. She hoped that he’d seen how important her work was.
Tonight, she’d been happier going about her tasks than she’d been in a long time. Knowing Kent was behind her pleased her immensely. She’d longed to have someone to talk with about her work.
Kent was confused, but he’d come around eventually. What was the big deal, anyway? So she liked to help people. He shouldn’t have a problem with that, should he?
She took a deep breath and walked back into her apartment. When she entered the living room, Kent looked at her with a wistful expression.
“You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen, Phae Jones,” he said, “even in sweatpants and a t-shirt.”
Chapter 14
PHAE HALTED IN THE MIDDLE of the room. Being called sexy was the last thing she’d expected.
Kent patted the cushion beside him. “Come sit by me.”
And that quickly, tendrils of sensual fog came wafting in from nowhere and wrapped themselves around Phae, pulling her onto the couch beside the handsome man. One minute she wanted to smack him and the next she wanted to kiss him.
He lifted her hand, lightly stroking her palm. “I want you,” he said, almost formally.
A sense of relief washed over her, loosening a tightness in her chest she hadn’t realized was there. He was okay. Everything was okay. He’d thought it out and seen that her being Captain Nice Guy was no big deal. He still wanted her.
She looked into his bright blue eyes. “I want you, too.”
“We have … issues to work out.”
She nodded and trembled when his fingertips passed over the sensitive skin of her inner wrist.
He continued, his voice gone rough, deep. “And I have confidence we’ll work them out. Do you?”
She nodded again, entranced by the passion in his gaze as he looked into her eyes. Right at the moment, she was rapidly losing sight of what those issues might be.
“Good,” he said. “But we’ll do it later, Phae, because I can’t wait another instant to be with you.”
She sighed in pleasure. “It’s about time.”
Phae wasn’t a shy type, and this proved to be no exception. She reached out and pulled at the towel that was hardly masking the unmistakable bulge between his legs.
He inhaled sharply as she tossed one end aside and finally exposed what she needed so badly to see.
She licked her lips as she took in all that silky, solid length. His cock sprung out, smooth, with a perfectly-shaped swollen head, pointing at the ceiling, growing longer and harder as she studied it.
“Oh …” she sucked in a breath as she realized how large Kent actually was. She ran her fingers down the length of his cock, ticking off inch after inch.
She glanced back up at his face and her insides twisted when she saw the intensity there. Gone was the playful, joking man and the surly, sour man. He’d been replaced by a sex-fueled alpha who was about to take everything he wanted.
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Lose the shirt,” he demanded.
She didn’t know this voice, this commanding, demanding side. She liked it. No, she more than liked it even when a small part of her thought she shouldn’t. She swallowed hard. And pulled off her shirt.
He took it from her and dropped it on the floor. “Now the bra.”
Again, she swallowed hard. She reached back, hyper-aware of how the movement thrust her breasts out. She unclasped the bra and let the straps fall down her shoulders, then let the whole thing slide off her arms.
Kent took the bra and dropped it on the floor after the shirt. His gaze burned on her flesh. “Come here,” he said.
He lifted her around the waist and pulled her over until she straddled his lap. His rod was hot and hard against the juncture of her thighs. He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her head down for a kiss.
It wasn’t any old kiss. It was like in the park. It was a claim, a you’re-mine-and-you-re-not-going-anywhere kind of
kiss. She dug her fingers into his damp hair and opened her mouth. She breathed in deeply, inhaling his essence of clean soap and aroused male.
Their tongues tangled together and Phae did some claiming of her own. They kissed until she was breathless, until she was writhing her hips over his, until their hearts were pounding in shared rhythm.
He broke the kiss and pulled her up higher. She balanced on her knees while he kissed her breasts and sucked her nipples.
She arched her back while his wet, warm mouth worked wonders over her sensitive, tender skin. His teeth raked her nipples and his tongue bathed her.
She throbbed inside, a deep, aching need that threatened to swamp her.
“Oh, Kent,” she said, and moaned.
She reached down and stroked his cock, thrilling at the way it jerked in her hand. She ran her thumb over the satiny head and around the edge. He was big, so big.
