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“Do you have flashlights and candles?” he asked, bringing his light back around but careful to keep it from shining in her eyes.
“I know where my candles are, but I’m not sure about the flashlights. I’ve only been here a few months. I haven’t actually unpacked everything, yet.” Zara removed her coat and hung it by the back door. “Let me hang your coat up since you’re staying.”
Braden removed his coat and started to hand it over when Zara reached out, her hand connecting with his cheek. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to punch you.”
Braden welcomed the impact, as her fist caused no damage but reminded him that he needed to focus. “I’m fine,” he stated as he maneuvered out of his coat while holding his light. “It’s hard to see, so I’d say we’ll be bumping into each other.”
Not that he was complaining about the prospect of randomly brushing against her. Braden actually welcomed the friction. So long as he kept his goal in the forefront of his mind, bumping into Zara was definitely not a hardship.
“I know I have a candle in here and one on the coffee table in the living room. The matches are in the drawer beside the sink.” She placed his coat on a hook beside hers. “I should try to figure out these gas logs in the living room first with the light of your phone.”
She eased past him, her feet shuffling along the floor. Braden held his light over to where she was heading. Pulling open a drawer, Zara grabbed a box of matches before coming back to him.
She started forward but stopped. “You better stay close so you don’t bump anything. I have several boxes in each room that are left from the move.”
Stay close? No problem at all. Braden slid his hand around the dip in her waist and gave her a light squeeze as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “How’s this?”
Beneath his touch, her body trembled. Just the reaction he’d wanted...except now he was on the verge of trembling, too, because damn, she smelled so amazingly good and her silky hair tickled his lips. Wait, wasn’t he the one who was supposed to be seducing? She wasn’t even trying, and she nearly had him begging.
“Well, maybe not that close,” she murmured as she attempted to put distance between them.
He moved with her, keeping their contact light so as not to freak her out right off the bat. Let her get used to his touch, his nearness. He planned on getting a whole lot closer.
“You realize this isn’t a good idea?” she asked.
“Lighting the logs is the best idea. It’s going to get colder in here if the electricity doesn’t come back on.”
Her soft laugh filled the darkness. “You know what I mean. I work for you.”
“I’m aware of your position.” With his hand on her waist, Braden held his phone toward the living room. “I know we need to get heat in here, and if it’s not with the logs, then we’ll have to use a more...primal method.”
Zara slowly started forward. “Acting on any desire because of the circumstances is a bad, bad idea for both of us.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing, Zara.” He allowed his body to move with hers, making sure to stay close. “Why don’t we work on keeping warm and finding more sources of light? Then we can discuss the circumstances and what’s going on between us.”
Zara threw him a look over her shoulder. “We can settle this right now. I need this job and even if I was attracted to you—”
“Which you are.”
“If I was,” she countered in a louder tone to cut him off. “I wouldn’t risk sleeping with you and damaging our working relationship.”
He could barely make out her face in the darkness, and his light was facing ahead. But the way her body slightly leaned against his, the way she continued to tremble beneath his touch told him that her little speech was as much for her as it was for him. A slight obstacle but nothing he couldn’t handle.
At first he’d been all about searching her home, and he still was, but there was no reason a little seducing couldn’t come into play. He was an expert multitasker, and having Zara plus finding his family’s heirlooms would be the icing on the proverbial cake.
After a fun romp and hopefully discovering his family’s scrolls, Braden would be on his way, and she’d never even have to know his true intentions. Nobody would get hurt, and everything about this situation was legal. See? He did have a moral side, after all.
She could deny wanting him, but he was a master at lying and recognized that trait in others. So, let her think what she wanted...he knew the truth, and he’d completely use her attraction to his advantage.
