Page 76 of Contentious

He reached for her and held her close. “It won’t. Kaidan’s guy is outside, and the LAPD is on the lookout for him. He’d be a fool to come anywhere near here.”

“Thank you for being here. I feel safer with you around.”

“It seems that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, and I’m still trying to figure out how you did that to me.” The scent of her hair and her soft skin brushing against his cheek were driving him mad.

Laughing, she said, “Let me know when you figure it out.”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

“Is your family mad for punching out of work?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t checked my messages, but I’m sure they’ve had some things to say about it.”

“Because it’s out of character for you.”

“Dramatically.”

“Kind of like it was out of character for Julian to take Isla to her ex-husband’s wake?”

“Just like that.”

“Are you beginning to understand how these things happen?”

“Not at all. We should have some control over ourselves, shouldn’t we?”

She pulled back to look at him, placing her hand on his face. “Control is highly overrated.”

“So I’m discovering.”

“Will you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you listening to yourself?”

He grinned at her. “Not really. What do you want me to do?”

“If you really, really, really don’t want this, will you…” She looked up at him, seeming to force herself to make eye contact and finish her thought.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked softly.

“Go. Go now, before it’s too late.”

She was giving him an exit ramp, one he ought to take before it became impossible to disentangle himself from her. But the thing was, he couldn’t bring himself to move or do anything other than stare into her bottomless blue eyes and want her.

“Carson.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not going.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

She nodded. “You really should. You said this isn’t what you want.”

“I know,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her. “It’s not at all what I want.” Another kiss that drew a sigh from her. “And yet… I can’t seem to…”

She arched her neck to give him access. “What can’t you seem to do?”