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She set down her chili bowl on the coffee table and drew her legs under her. The box caught her eye.Somehow, it gave her strength.You’re the one most like me.Gault wouldn’t hesitate to make a move. Any move.
“Granger…”
Catching the husky note in her voice, he looked up sharply. “Yeah?”
But she couldn’t speak. Instead she poured her question…or rather, her invitation…into her gaze.Would you like to take me to bed?
Or at least that was what she was trying to say. She had a certain expression all the photographers tried to tease out of her when they needed a sexy come-hither vibe. That was the one she used now.
But it didn’t seem to work on Earl Granger. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Are those beans hitting you wrong?”
As if on cue, a fart ripped out of her. Torn between humiliation and hilarity, she burst into laughter, and kept going until her sides ached.
Twelve
Granger scowled at the slim woman laughing her ass off across the living room. She looked like an elf, at least the movie version of such a thing, with her silvery blond hair and elongated build. But elves weren’t known for their sense of humor—at least the movie version—and Bliss was entirely consumed with her laughing fit.
“Don’t models ever fart?” he asked her.
“Not when…when they’re trying…to be seductive,” she gasped, one word at a time.
Seductive? Why hadn’t he picked up on that? Where had his mind been? Probably back on that dock with the fish and the kind blond girl.
The way his mother had cursed him out, as if it was his fault for striking up a friendship with the girl. He remembered rebelling—though silently.She’s only a kid. She didn’t know. She was trying to be nice.
And now that same girl was trying to be…seductive? Go figure. It wasn’t like she had to go out of her way to seduce him. He found her wildly attractive in a subtle way, like a song that kept playing in his head. But it was the little things that drew him—the way she hummed to herself on her way into the bathroom, her tenderness when she petted Moses, her extra-long toes that matched the rest of her long, slim build, the fact that only three of them still had any nail polish.
On the surface, she was completely different from anyone he’d ever dated. He tended to go for fellow law enforcement types, the tougher the better. He understood that type of woman, and they understood him. Sex was a release, a necessary detonation of tension. He made sure it was just as satisfying for them as for himself, of course. He also made sure that they both knew exactly what they were getting into. A good fuck, basically. No more.
Bliss was like another species entirely. She probably had men falling all over her, ready to kiss her feet and trail after her reciting poetry or some shit. What did she want from someone like him?
But she’d said it, not him—she’d been trying to be seductive.
“Why?” he asked bluntly.
“Why the fart? Like you said, it was probably the chili.”
“No.” He shook his head brusquely. “Why are you trying to be seductive?”
“Well…isn’t that obvious?” Pale pink washed across her cheeks. “The usual reason.”
“You want to seduce me?”
Looking nervous, she pulled her hair over one shoulder and ran her fingers through the ends. She probably wasn’t intending that to be seductive, but it was. The fact that she was nervous felt real to him, more real than the bean expression from before. “Never mind.”
“Never mind? Sorry, babe, it doesn’t work that way.”
She lifted her chin. “Sure it does. I’m under no obligation to explain myself.”
Her haughty manner might intimidate some men, but not him. He’d chased a slippery fish across a wooden dock with her, after all. Also, as an FBI agent, he was trained in catching the telltale signs of nerves in a target’s body language. Dilated pupils, sweaty palms, that sort of thing.
He chose a disarming approach. “No, but you don’t have to torture a guy, either.” He strolled to the couch and sat down next to her. She shifted away from him—but not too far. Enough to telegraph wariness, but not a wish to escape.
She watched him with cautious eyes. He imagined that someone like her had to be very careful about who she got intimate with. Slowly, very slowly, giving her plenty of time to react, he reached for her hand. She allowed him to take possession of it, turn it over, then skim a thumb across her wrist.
Her pulse was jumping.
Hell, so was his.
