“Beau, please, wait. I want—”
He lifted her off him and set her down on the bed, then jumped to his feet.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll talk tomorrow. About the case, about this—I don’t know—whatever is going on between us. People in forced proximity can think they’re attracted to each other when, in the normal day-to-day world, that might never happen between them.”
He headed for the door.
Sierra sat up again, wiping at the danged wetness running down her cheeks. “What is the real world, Beau? Is it yours? Or mine?”
He stopped, his arms gripping both sides of the doorframe, his back to her. Without turning around, he said, “Maybe a mixture of both.” His voice was quiet, strained.
She closed her eyes and wiped at the humiliating tears.
The bed dipped.
Her eyes flew open to see Beau sitting beside her, his gaze searching hers. “Why are you crying?”
“Oh, heck if I know. I hate crying. I’m just… It’s too much, you know? Everything going on. And this stupid attraction for you. It’s like…lava, in my veins. Every single time we get close I burn. And it’s not just tonight. It’s not because I was tired and fell asleep on the couch. It’s every dang minute since I saw your sweaty, incredible body chopping wood at your cabin. I knew you were a policeman then, and I still wanted you. I’ve wanted you ever since. And I thought, tonight, that maybe, just maybe, if we made love that would get you out of my system, you know? It’s danged inconvenient feeling this way. Like you said, different worlds. I just wanted to—”
“Get me out of your system?”
“Exactly. I assure you the way I’m feeling isn’t that forced proximity thing you mentioned. And I’m sure not sleepy. Not anymore. I know exactly what I’m doing.” She wiped at her cheeks again. “¡Ay, caramba!”
“Here. Let me.” He took the edge of his shirt and gently dried her tears. “Better?”
She let out a shaky breath.“Sí. Gracias.”She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go on. I’m embarrassed enough throwing myself at a man who doesn’t want me. Not with his mind anyway, even if his body has other ideas.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You really are something.”
“So I’ve been told. Go.”
He gently ran a finger down the side of her face. “I’ll go. If that’s what you want.”
She grew still. “And if it’s not what I want?”
“You’re wide awake?”
“Yes.”
“You really want to work me out of your system?”
“Boy, do I.”
He laughed. “Not the most flattering reaction I’ve ever heard.” His smile faded, and his expression turned serious, tense. “But it’s better than I ever hoped to get from one of the most interesting, smart and fascinating women I’ve ever met.”
He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. It wasn’t a soft, questioning kiss. It wasn’t tender or hesitant in any way. It was ravenous, consuming and so hot she was whimpering with pleasure and practically climbing him to get closer. When they finally broke apart, they were both panting, hearts racing, staring at each other in wonder.
“Wow,” she breathed.
He grinned.
“I hope you’re ready for a long night,” she whispered. “I think it might take quite a while to work through this inconvenient attraction of ours.”
“Sadly, kissing is all we can do. It didn’t occur to me to bring protection on this trip.”
“I noticed there was a, um, box in the top drawer of the nightstand. The cabin owner must have left it there.”
He blinked. “Are you kidding?”
