Oh gosh, why did his sweat smell so good? So clean and male andTanner. “I want theotherkisses,” she whispered. “Like the one before we went to your mom’s house.”
His brown eyes darkened, and his hand slid down to wrap around her waist, pulling her against him.
Every single part of her insides seemed to clench.Yes.This was what she wanted.
But before his lips touched hers, he seemed to withdraw back into himself. His fingers that had been grasping her waist with an almost bruising force a moment ago loosened.
He stepped back, rubbing his hand over his eyes. “Bree—”
She sighed. She’d become used to the distance between them. “I know. You’re upset about what’s happening, and doing romance with me is the last thing on your mind. That’s okay. I—”
His mouth was on hers and she was backed up against the car—just like she’d been against the wall—before she knew what was going on. She gasped, and he took full advantage of it, thrusting deeply into her mouth with his tongue before withdrawing and coaxing hers to play. She sank into the kiss, her mind going blank as his lips ravished hers.
When he finally backed away, all she could do was stare at him.
“Doing romance, and doing a hell of a lot more, is always on my mind when it comes to you,” he whispered. “Don’t ever think I don’t want to be around you any way I can get you, no matter what is going on with my job.”
“O-okay.”
They both stood there for many moments, breathing unsteadily.
“But I know how much your job means to you,” she finally said. “And Risk Peak needs you back. So I want to help. Please let me help.”
“What did you have in mind?”
She slid over and opened the car door, grabbing her laptop.
“You know I have a computer, right?” he asked. “You don’t have to bring yours.”
She shrugged. “This one is...better.”
He shook his head, a half smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not even going to ask.”
“Probably a good idea.”
He led her inside, and she sat down at the kitchen table, staring at her laptop.
Tanner stayed next to her as she breathed through her anxiety. Opening it up was tough. Her history with computers in a serious way—beyond researching puppy facts—was tied to being physically and emotionally tortured. She had to remind herself that the computer itself couldn’t hurt her in any way.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I used it a few months ago when I helped bring down the Organization. This should be quite a bit easier than that.”
He crouched down next to her so they were eye to eye. “You had to do that in order to save the world. You don’thaveto do this. I’ll be just fine, you know.Whitaker will eventually crack who really killed those two guys.”
“No, I’m okay. I want to do this. The computer can’t hurt me. Jeter can’t hurt me anymore, either.”
He reached over and kissed her knee. “That’s the damn truth.”
He straightened, and she opened the laptop, allowing it to boot. The first few keystrokes into her search were the most difficult, but then her brain let go of its fear and she dived in.
This was what she was most gifted at in the world.
Gaining access to the Colorado state system to find out more information about Peter Anders and Joshua Newkirk didn’t take her long at all.
“I’m going to shower while you work. It’s probably better if I don’t know too much about what’s going on here.”
Her fingers continued to fly over the keyboard. “I’m not breaking any laws.”Yet.“Have you been cutting wood since I left this morning?”
