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The feeling of dread that had been building in Sean dissipated like a cold sweat. He should’ve known Delaney wouldn’t care about that kind of thing. “Thanks,” he said, hoping that Delaney didn’t think he’d been presumptuous about what was going on between them. He didn’t want to act like he was anything special, even though he also secretly hoped he meantsomething. Sean cleared his throat. “I hope that didn’t come off wrong.”
“I don’t see how.”
“I wasn’t presuming you’d care about my past just because...” Sean shrugged. “I didn’t want you to think that I was...”Shut up, Sean.
Delaney grinned. “This is kind of cute. What you’re doing right now.”
Sean’s neck got hot again. He decided to change the subject. “I should let you get to bed. Everything is locked downstairs. You’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be okay. I’m used to taking care of myself.”
“I know. But it’s literally my job to protect you, and I always do my job to the best of my ability.”
Instead of being offended that Sean might be hinting at her weakness or need for a male presence, Delaney’s smile and posture softened, as if his words had created the opposite effect. “I know you do.”
Sean really, really wanted to kiss her good-night. She was all smooth bare shoulders and tough girl vibes, wrapped up in a bouquet of shampoo coming from her damp, dark hair.
“Was there something else?” Her posture softened even more, her skin sun-kissed against the white top. “You look uncertain.”
“No,” Sean said, unable to move for some reason. This was the part where he should check out the apartment, like he’d said he was going to.
“You sure?” She stepped closer, erasing the space between them, and turned her face up. Her whiskey eyes sparkled in the dim light. “You seem...unsure. Kind of like—” one of her hands lit on his hip, the barest of touches “—you’re trying to decide whether or not to kiss me now. Since we didn’t really finish the other night.”
A wave of desire rolled through Sean’s body. It would be so easy to wrap an arm around her waist and crush her against him. Kiss her. Slowly remove those soft, flowery pajamas. Sean wanted to know what she looked like, head to toe, with nothing to hide an inch of that strong, supple body. He grew hard picturing her, and even though he hadn’t moved a muscle Delaney slid her arms around his waist and pressed right up into him, making him groan reflexively.
“Something tells me I’m right.” The rasp in her voice purred through her words. It felt like that purr melted from her body into his, rolling through him, vibrating softly. The feeling kept him trapped, unwilling to move, in case he accidentally made it stop.
“Am I wrong?” Her voice was a whisper now, her breath against his neck. Her lips kissed softly over his throat. Sean’s eyes closed. Delaney had literally paralyzed him with the soft pressure of her lips, which trailed upward, along his jaw, until he tipped his head down, forcing her to find his mouth. She brushed her lips along his, but denied him the kiss he craved, instead passing over, to the other side of his jaw, where she planted little kisses that were like maddening drops of pure torture.
Sean’s hand fisted at the back of her tank top, but he let her have control, resisting the urge to take over the kiss like he’d wanted to the other night. When she finally found his lips with hers, taking him in slowly like a dessert that she savored, it was worth the wait. She wound him up with increasing pressure, her lips, her tongue, teasing and plying against his until it was all he could do to not lift her in his arms and carry her to the couch. She drew back carefully and looked up at him, her irises bloomed with desire. “Well, Detective?” Her voice was low and sweet. “You promised to check out my apartment.”
Sean drew a deep, calming breath. “Right.”Damn. Castillo’s words echoed through his mind:That chick is a badass. Like, a flat-out, serious badass. She will eat you for dinner, Callahan.Then he shoved that thought away as quickly as possible because he definitely didn’t want to be thinking about Castillo while his dick was hard.
Delaney stepped back, her nipples peaked beneath the white tank top and a huge distraction to Sean’s attempt to cool down and focus. As soon as he felt like his legs would work, he took steps toward the only other rooms up here. The bathroom smelled the same as her hair. The towels and accents were a soft pink. The bedroom was small, with a queen-size bed in the far corner, next to a double window. A bedside lamp that looked like a glowing pink rock revealed another pink-and-green-patchwork quilt. The closet was neat, had very few clothes and zero intruders. “Everything looks good,” Sean said, bumping into her on the way out of the bedroom.
“I’m not surprised,” Delaney said. “I have a Glock in my drawer over there. I already checked everything out before I showered.”
Sean laughed at her sneaky grin. “Then why’d you let me up here?”
“So you’d kiss me good-night. I’m surprised you didn’t figure that out, Detective.”
“We didn’t have to come up here to do that. You could’ve kissed me in your shop,” Sean said. “You can kiss me anywhere.”
Delaney’s eyebrows rose. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“But I should go now.” Whoa. Had he really just said that?
“Should you?” She hooked a finger in his waistband and tugged him a little closer.
Sean let out a soft, low laugh. “Damn, you are making this hard.” And now, he was going to make a decision that he couldn’t believe he was making. He’d made a complete fool out of himself on more than one occasion chasing after this woman, and now that she’d basically left it open to him whether or not he wanted to stay—for at least a little longer—he wasn’t going to. “Look, I have a tendency to...” He searched for words while she crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently. “To take things too fast. I get an idea in my head and then I just run with it, like a hound. I rushed into the Marine Corps. I rushed into marriage. Even when I dated Sunny—which wasn’t long after my separation—I rushed into that. Rushing never works out well for me. I just want to...” He pressed his palms together, hoping he chose the right words. “To be careful with you.”
Delaney’s smile fell, but the expression left on her face was more like surprise than disappointment. “I don’t think anybody has ever said that about me.”
Idiot, Sean thought.What the hell is wrong with you?
But the smile returned to Delaney’s lips. “It’s okay. I totally respect your wishes.” She stretched her arms over her head and groaned. “I’m whipped, anyway.”
Sean didn’t think it’d been deliberate, but that stretch made her top tighten enticingly across her chest. Her nipples were no longer hard but he could still see the faintest outline of the darker skin. Sean’s urge to lift her top and run his thumbs over that tender skin was almost overwhelming, especially since that might’ve been an option if he’d taken her up on her offer to stay. Instead, something strange had happened and he was acting like a scared teenager. With no other recourse, Sean headed for the stairs, wishing his blood would go back to all the places it belonged. He probably needed to be completely out of her presence for that to happen. “Hey, I was wondering.” Sean paused halfway down the staircase and looked up at her slender figure. “When you said you would date Sunny, were you being facetious? Or would you really date Sunny?”
