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“Sure it’s an answer,” Ryland went on. “You asked a question, and I answered. Therefore, it’s an answer.”
“You’re an impossible ass,” she snapped.
“But an impossible ass with your welfare at heart.”
Her breath caught, but she hoped Ryland didn’t notice. “If that were true, you’d get rid of me.”
“Like you said, Caroline. I need you here.”
Caroline stopped. Her whole body went still. “You need me here,” she repeated slowly. Maybe she’d misheard him.
Maybe he wanted more kisses too.
Ryland huffed out a breath and left the office. She followed him to the living room, where he poured himself another scotch. For a man who’d downed nearly the full bottle, he still had his wits. He had an intense tolerance, or maybe it was the scotch that lowered his inhibitions.
He settled on the couch and crossed his legs comfortably before downing half his drink. He winced at the taste and put the glass down. “You seem to know a lot about these vases, and I want to keep you close to run some of this stuff by you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. His change of mindhadto be because of the kisses. He’d gotten the wrong impression from her. “But I thought I was just an annoying podcaster with a knack for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong,” she said.
“That’s still true, but now, I see there is a benefit to being close to you.”
“Wow. You’re such a charmer,” she snorted. The fucker had betternotbe thinking about the kiss now.
“If you don’t want to stick around …” he began, reaching for his drink again.
“No! Of course, I do. I want to see this through.”
He grinned and abandoned his scotch before taking another gulp. “Good. You’ll stay here then.”
“You’ll have to be nice to me.”
“I’m always nice.”
She threw her head back with a laugh, something he kept doing. It drove her insane, and now she was going to give him a taste of his own medicine. How didhelike it when she laughed at him? “You’ve been nothing but a jerk to me since I walked off the plane. It’s like I stink or something.”
Ryland stiffened, and once again, he was on her before she could realize what was going on. This time,shewas backed against the wall until he was pressed against her. It was all too familiar, and Caroline could do nothing but wait. Wait and hope he kissed her. Or wait and hope hedidn’t. She no longer knew what she wanted. Ryland made it hard to breathe or be rational.
His hand cupped her cheek as he tilted her head up to look into her eyes. “You really need to stop saying silly things.”
She gulped audibly. She had the insane notion that he wanted to kiss her … again.
Even more insane?
She wanted to kiss him … again.
“Silly?”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “You’re gonna drive me insane before we resolve this, but I can’t let you out of my sight.”
“I won’t kiss you again,” she said. “If that’s why you want to keep me around.” She shook her head, making his hand fall from her face. “I won’t kiss you or touch you. I don’t know what came over me. I just wanted to shut you up.”
Ryland chuckled, but he took another step closer instead of backing away. “I told you. Stop saying silly things.”
He was gone before she could ask him just what in the hell he meant.
TWELVE
RYLAND
