Page 50 of Missile Strike

Fair enough. “I agree.”

He could be reasonable. Generous even.

“Rule number one.” Her attention fixed on something over his right shoulder. “I think, given our history, it would be appropriate to set some boundaries.” A flush crept up her neck. “Professional boundaries. If you’re going to stay here, there shouldn’t be anything between us that’s…” The color deepened. “…too personal.”

Keeping his expression neutral took work as she stumbled through shutting down any possibility of sharing a bed before this assignment was over.

But if she changes her mind… the devil on his shoulder whispered. The past was just that. Anything they did now would be very much the present.

Just the two of them.

No family.

No teenage expectations.

No strings.

He gave a mental shrug. So sue him—he still remembered what it felt like to touch her. Calloused hands on smooth, warm skin. Wide black pupils rimmed in amber that threatened to pull him into the undertow. The sounds she made as she clung to him—sand beneath them, water lapping at their feet like some damned movie in black and white.

She had more curves now. His fingers flexed at the memory of pulling her close in the backyard, damp from Trip’s bath.

Well, hell. This trip down memory lane was going to end with a hard-on if he didn’t yank his focus back to the subject at hand.

Which was boundaries.

Prudent.

Necessary.

Didn’t mean, however, that he wouldn’t poke at the control Bella wore like armor. She needed to loosen up a bit before life passed her by.

They didn’t call him Chaos for nothing.

He smothered a grin and deployed his best wounded look. “Does that mean we can’t have dinner conversations and get to know each other? No sitting on the couch, watching TV? No—”

Her eyes narrowed. Again. “You know what I mean.” He’d swear she was two seconds away from stomping a dainty foot and throwing out her finger like a dagger, ready to skewer him in the face.

Danny pressed his lips together to contain the laughter.

Bella was damn cute all riled up.

“On my honor, I will not do anything you don’t explicitly ask me to do.”

That only earned him attitude.

Arms crossed, hip jutting out, she tilted her head with a glare. “Why can’t you just say you won’t try to get me to have sex with you, like a normal person?”

Normal? Not in his DNA.

“Because if I make that promise, I’d have to keep it, and if you change your mind…” His stare held hers. “I don’t want the moral dilemma of whether I should break it to keep my hands—and every other part of me—off you.”

Her eyes flared.

Danny’s entire body went rigid.

Rapid, shallow breaths.

Dilated pupils