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But as he kissed her, his conscience screamed at him. And although he had to force himself to let her go, he broke the kiss and leaned away. His lips burning, his hands itching to touch her again, he took a step back. Another.
More than he’d ever wanted anything, he wanted to linger. Wanted to explore the taste and feel of her mouth. Shape her curves with his hands.
Whoa, idiot. Rein it in!
He was supposed to be protecting her. Not seducing her.
Julia had frozen when his mouth descended on hers. But as he put space between them, she tightened her fists on his shirt and drew him back. Pushed up on her toes and fastened her mouth to his.
Desire pumped through his veins, hot and sharp. Every cell of his body was aware of Julia. Wanted her. Needed her. He dug his fingers into her hair, and it flowed like water against his palms. When he opened his mouth, she welcomed him in.
Their tongues tangled and danced, giving and accepting invitations. He realized his palms were cupping her ass, molding her body against his. He wanted to lay her on her desk. Strip off those tight black jeans that fitted her so perfectly. Spread her out and taste her, until he was completely lost in her.
And she was completely lost in him.
When he found himself easing her toward the desk, he froze. Tightened his hands on her ass one last time, then let her go. Set her away from him.
“We can’t do this, Jules,” he said, using Zoe’s nickname for her. It suited her, more than Julia did. “I’m responsible for your safety. I need to be paying attention to our surroundings every single second. If I’m thinking about how much I want to make love with you, how I want to taste you and touch you, I’m not doing my job.”
Hurt flickered over her expression for a moment, then vanished. It was replaced by an expression that was impossible to read. “Yeah. You’re right.” She untangled herself from his arms and backed away. “What were we thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” he said, grabbing her hands before she was too far away to touch. He needed to be connected to her. “You and I? We’d be amazing together.” He tightened his hands on hers. Felt her fingers curl around his in response. “I noticed you back at the compound when you arrived. You walked past the gym with Dev, and my mouth went dry. I dropped a weight while I was watching you. Put a serious dent in the wood floor.” His mouth curled into a smile at the shock and surprise in her expression. “Jules, I wanted you from the first time I saw you. Even more since I’ve gotten to know you.
“But I have a job to do -- keeping you safe. Making sure you’re not harmed. Figuring out where the threat is coming from. And I can’t do that if I’m thinking about how you taste. How you feel against me. Anticipating when I can have you again.” He tightened his hands on hers. Couldn’t stop himself from pulling her a little bit closer. “You understand, Jules?”
She studied his eyes. Her mouth trembled, but she nodded slowly. “Yeah,” she said. “I do. Your job is as consuming as mine is.”
She swallowed, and he wanted to put his mouth over that ripple of muscle in her throat. Feel her tiny gasp when he tasted her skin.
Julia ran her fingers down his face, and the rasp of her skin against his scruff was loud in the silent office. “I’ll behave myself,” she whispered.
“That’s the last thing I want,” he said. “But it has to be. Nothing can happen between us. Your life might depend on it.”
She searched his expression. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she must have found it, because she nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know.” She palmed his cheek one last time, then let her hand drop. “Your life could depend on it, too,” she murmured.
Nico shook his head. “Your life is my focus. I haven’t lost a protectee yet, and you’re damn well not going to be my first. I won’t allow that to happen. I promise you.”
Julia tilted her head. “I think you really mean that.”
“I do.”
“You can’t prevent everything,” she whispered.
“I will, or I’ll die trying,” he vowed.
* * *
The next morning, Julia and Nico picked up bagels, cream cheese and lox, then brought them back to her house for breakfast. Julia cut up an avocado and a tomato to put on the bagels, then drained some capers to add to the toppings. Nico looked over his shoulder from where he was making coffee. “Have you talked to Zoe today? Is she meeting us at Madeline’s?”
“She hasn’t called yet,” Julia said, frowning as she sucked a green smudge of avocado off her finger. “But we still have an hour or so before we need to get to the restaurant. It sounded as though Zoe thought she could install her program pretty quickly.”
“Okay,” he said, spreading cream cheese on his bagel, then smearing avocado on top of it. He added the capers and a tomato slice. Then he folded a piece of lox over the top. “This looks amazing.”
“One of my classmates used to put her bagels together that way. Jamie called it Chicago breakfast. Her Donovan cousins in Chicago would fix it for them when they visited.”
“It’s delicious,” Nico said after he swallowed his first mouthful. He lifted his bagel in a toast. “To Chicago Jamie.”
Just then his phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Smiled. “Hey, Mel. What’s happening?”
