“I get it. You think I’ll be disappointed that the kiss meant nothing to you?” Her pride flared, her words sharp as flint. She trembled with rage and embarrassment as she snatched her hand from his and jumped down from the boulder. “What? Do you think I spent the past three years reliving that kiss and hoping for achance to explore what it could mean?” She would never admit the real answer to that question. “Seriously? Like I was pining after you like some dumb teenager." She felt like a dumb teenager for all the times she couldn’t get Rocco out of her mind. But now was not the time to admit to that weakness.
Rocco's chuckle was a low rumble, self-deprecating and rueful. "So I was acting like a dumb teenager. Okay. Good to know." He leaped from the boulder and stepped right into her personal space.
"What are you talking about?" Jemma demanded.
"I spent the last three years thinking about the kiss. I thought about it way fucking more than I should’ve."
Her heart skipped a beat. "You did?"
Rocco leaned forward, his intensity bridging the gap between them. "Don’t try to deny that a connection formed between us. Sure, we said all the right things and did the right things by not exploring it, but we can’t hide the fact that it was there."
The confession hit her like a wave, leaving her unsteady. "That’s not what I was expecting you to say."
He searched her face for something she wasn’t sure she could give.
"But is it what you wanted me to say?"
"I don’t know how to answer that."
"Why?" His question was soft but insistent.
She’d never felt so vulnerable, so exposed. "Because I’m your handler now. I can’t afford to make any missteps. Thinking about whether something intimate could develop between us is a distraction we can’t afford.”
“Because we need to focus on the op …”
"Right," she affirmed, though her heart wasn't in it.
“Look, my entire life here is a lie. My handler was the one relationship where I could be myself. I didn’t have to pretend with Tank.”
“And you won’t have to pretend with me either.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Rocco said, then rested his hands on her shoulders. “Because if this is going to be a successful partnership, you need to know what I’m dealing with.”
Jemma didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Her mind was struggling to process everything Rocco was saying. He wasn’t holding back. That scared her and excited her at the same time.
“That connection and pull I felt for you three years ago, the one that made me kiss you knowing that I shouldn’t,” Rocco said, “I still feel it. It’s stronger than ever. It was hard as hell to resist you back then. It’s going to be infinitely harder now. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to do the right thing with you as my handler. So don’t fucking tempt me.”
“I understand,” Jemma said, reeling from what awaited her. Resisting him would be challenging, but she was the Group Supervisor of Proteus. Her job was to ensure the handler-undercover-agent relationship didn’t cross any lines.
“Good,” Rocco said. His arms snaked around her and jerked her forward. Before she could resist or protest, Rocco’s lips seized hers in an electrifying kiss that left no room for confusion.
A surge of long-suppressed feelings, raw and unfiltered, were unleashed.
Jemma's world narrowed to the feeling of his lips on hers, and the cliffside, the sea, and the farmers' market faded away.
Chapter 23
In his defense, the kiss hadn’t been planned.
In fact, it was the last thing he wanted to do after warning Jemma to keep their interactions professional. No late-night conversations. No riveting debates. No drinks at sunset. And for heaven’s sake, no short dresses that showed off those gorgeous thick thighs.
Yet here he was with his tongue sucking on hers, devouring those luscious lips as her hands threaded through his hair, pulling him closer.
Had he expected her to resist his kiss?
No.
But it surprised him.
