Page 40 of Rogue Wave

“No.” His answer was straightforward and simple, but at the same time, it gave me nothing to go on.

After a moment, he took two steps in my direction with purposeful strides, bringing us so close that I could feel the heat from his body filling the space around me.

He lifted his hand to my hair, and I took in a sharp breath as he ran his fingers through the strands near my forehead.

Oh my God… Why did that turn me on?

I may have swooned.

“Do you…”

Do I what?

Want you to kiss me? Yes.

Want to make out with you for hours on end? Yes, please.

He pulled his fingers back and held up what appeared to be part of a shrimp tail. “Have a shrimp tail in your hair?”

Oh, God.

Nope, that definitely was not where I saw that going.

“Uh…sorry. That’s probably from when I was prepping food,” I explained, trying to hide my obvious disappointment that he wasn’t going to kiss me.

The connection was there, though, and I knew he felt it too.

Could he see my heart beating faster through my chest? It had to be obvious.

He nodded but didn’t say anything more. We stood there in silence that was filled with so much sexual tension, it was a wonder the air between us still existed and hadn’t burst into flames.

I bit my lip, trying to decide what to do or say, but a moment later that decision was made for me. Hank’s mouth crashed down onto mine, and the flood of sensations was almost too much.

The culmination of every stolen glance we’d had over the last two months exploded into this kiss, and I couldn’t help the moan that came from deep in my throat.

Unfortunately, that’s what caused him to pull back and release me from the greatest kiss I’d ever had.

We both took deep, shaky breaths as we filled our lungs back up with the oxygen needed to make our brains function again.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Hank said before walking away swiftly and leaving me standing there with my fingers to my lips and a big smile on my face.

I spent the next two hours thinking about Hank and that kiss.

Lately, I’d noticed a vibe shift from him, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought he would kiss me. And at work, no less!

Something had changed between us today, and my brain wouldn’t stop spinning as I tried to make sense of it.

The kiss had been amazing. I’d loved every second of the toe-curling, butterfly-inducing, incredible press of his lips to mine. But it still felt like it had come completely out of left field.

The same man who’d spent months brooding around me, writing me tickets, and acting like I was one poorly timed inconvenience away from ruining his day had now kissed me.

I usually considered myself quite a perceptive person, yet somehow, I’d missed something very important. Maybe I was losing my touch. Or maybe Hank was just exceptionally good at hiding his true emotions. He was a cop, after all. Keeping things close to the vest was practically part of his job description.

“Hey, Hazel,” Dr. Marcie said, interrupting my inner thoughts.

I turned to see her standing by the door to the equipment closet where I was standing, in search of supplies to use for our enrichment toys.

“Oh, hey, Dr. Marcie.” I smiled as I greeted her but moved my head back in the direction of the shelves with PVC piping.