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few more minutes so God and anybody else on shift at the station wouldn’t see her getting felt up by their man in charge.
“I never said I was a gentleman, Harper. You of all people should know that.” His amused tone was undeniable. As in, she couldn’t deny that she found every word that fell from his lips charming. Each way that he touched her, she wanted to find another way, and yet another way, again and again, in order to keep him keep on touching her.
“Why did you kiss me that night?” she asked just as he started running his lips along the side of her neck.
West lifted his head to look at her, his gaze full of confusion. “What night are you talking about?” His tone was casual. Too casual. He knew exactly what night she was referring to.
“The night before you packed your bags and escaped Wildwood supposedly for good,” she reminded him, poking his chest with her index finger.
His expression went from neutral to miserable in a split second. “I was a jackass that night.”
“Totally.” Well. She’d had the time of her life that night. It was the next morning when she’d gotten so angry, when she discovered that he’d left without a good-bye. Kiss and run, that was West’s specialty.
“You were just so pretty and sweet and looking at me with those big eyes of yours and . . . ” His voice drifted.
“And?” she asked when he remained silent for too long.
“And I couldn’t resist you. I wanted just one taste.” He tried to kiss her again, but she dodged him. “Once I had a taste, I wanted another. And another. You never protested.”
She couldn’t protest, not when it came to West.
“I’ve always felt like shit for ditching you like that,” he admitted.
Dropping her gaze from his, she traced her index finger over his badge, trying her best to keep her composure. “It hurt, how you left. You never tried to contact me. Ever.”
“I was an asshole.” He blew out a ragged breath. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re still an asshole.” A sexy asshole. She curled her hand into a fist and lightly pounded the center of his chest. “But I forgive you.”
He slipped his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her face up so her gaze met his. “Really?”
Harper nodded but remained silent. Her throat was suddenly clogged with all the words she couldn’t say.
“Thank Christ,” he muttered just before he kissed her. Soft and slow and deliberate. He used his lips like weapons to obliterate all of her thoughts, her every possible protest.
Whatever they were experiencing, this particular encounter—all of their encounters, really—couldn’t go any further. Nothing beyond the casual, oh let’s screw around and get it out of our system type of thing.
And she definitely wasn’t going to let anything happen between them tonight. There were people who worked for him inside the barracks and he could get a call at any minute. She refused to let him feel her up or try to take her clothes off while they were outside pressed up against her car like two horny teenagers ready to go at it whatever chance they got.
They were older now and more mature. They had homes. Careers. Lives.
Well, not really, at least not in your case. You’re crashing at your grandma’s and West is paying rent on your old condo.
Huh.
And your so-called career is in the toilet. What do you plan on doing once you’re done cleaning out the office at the BFD? Do you even know?
Harper frowned. Maybe she didn’t know. And who cared? She certainly didn’t. Not that she wanted to become dependent on a man and sweep his floors barefoot while a baby rested on her hip. No freaking way was she looking for something like that.
She needed a man who believed in modern things, who used his brain for good and not for evil, who wanted nothing more but to take care of her, all the while believing in her to go out into the world and kick its ass.
Could West be that man?
Nah. Probably not. He said so himself that he wasn’t relationship material. But did he still think that way though? Besides, didn’t it sort of hurt, that she couldn’t have something . . . real with him?
No. She wanted easy and casual, and that’s what she was getting. There was no need to raise her expectations. Lowering them was smarter. For once, she needed to guard her heart.
Not lay it all out only for it to get smashed to bits.
