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He felt the shudder that ran through her, heard her smothered cry, tasted the salt of her tears and he groaned, slid his hands into her hair and kissed her as if this were not just her first kiss but his.
He kissed her tenderly. Softly. Kissed her and kissed her until her trembling stopped, until her lips softened. Until she sighed and opened her mouth to his and he tasted her sweetness.
Her innocence.
Let go of her, he told himself. Damn it, Ramirez, let go.
But he didn’t. Instead he drew her closer. Catarina raised her arms, wrapped them around his neck, leaned into him and whispered something against his mouth, something his brain couldn’t understand but his body—God, his body understood it completely.
Jake forgot her innocence.
Forgot everything but the feel of her in his arms.
“Cat,” he murmured. “Cat.” And he ran his hands down her back, cupped her buttocks, lifted her to him, moved against her, let her feel how much he wanted her, how powerful his desire was, and…
And what in hell was he doing?
He jerked back. Let go of Catarina. Stared down at her face, still raised to his, saw her parted lips, the pulse beating in her throat, the dark curve of her lashes against her cheeks.
Then she opened her eyes and he knew that her stunned expression would haunt him long after fate finally let them go their separate ways.
“You see?” he said calmly, as if his ears weren’t filled with the thundering beat of his own heart. “You’re a child after all.”
He opened the door, picked up the luggage once more and stepped into the corridor. He didn’t look back. He didn’t have to. The kiss had changed the rules of the game. If her stubborn pride had been important to Catarina before, it had to be the only thing she could cling to now.
He was counting on it to make her follow him.
Damned if he wasn’t right.
CHAPTER SIX
GETTING tough worked.
Or maybe it was the kiss.
That was why he’d kissed her, after all. Why he’d turned the kiss into something
she’d remember. Just to rattle Catarina’s cage. Make her see he was serious.
There wasn’t any other reason.
When the elevator doors opened on the lobby, Jake headed straight for the exit. No backward glances, no clamping his hand around Cat’s wrist and hauling her alongside him.
He acted as if he were sure she’d follow him.
The truth was, he was sure of absolutely nothing.
Would she bolt and run? Would she start screaming? Would he end up explaining how he’d gotten into this mess to the local cops as well as to the guys in white coats?
The prospect was not appealing. Explaining that a full-grown woman was, in all ways that mattered, his legal ward wasn’t something he looked forward to, but if he had to do it he would.
The skin on the back of his neck prickled as he strode out the door. Was she still following him? Yeah. She was. He stopped short as the parking valet trotted over. Catarina barreled into him. Jake took advantage of the moment to slip an arm around her shoulders and draw her forward.
No sense in pushing his luck out here on the street.
The valet wasn’t the one who’d parked Jake’s rental car the prior night, but judging by the look the boy gave them word about the North American and his crazy niece must have spread. 76
“Bom dia, senhor.”
