She scowled. She hadn’t even been tempted, but she wasn’t about to reveal that and create a challenge he couldn’t resist. “Every weekend.”

“You’re lying.”

“Either way, it’s none of your business. I’m not getting involved in the family feud.”

“We both want you. That means you’re already involved.”

We both want you. Those words made her heart pound until she could feel every beat in her fingertips. On a very primal level, she wanted him, too. Somehow, the uncomfortable feeling he’d given her fourteen years ago had transformed into a powerful attraction.

“You don’t want me,” she clarified. “You want to punish Stuart and anyone else you blame for how miserable your life was when you lived here.”

“And you’re the weapon. Is that what you think?”

“That’s what I think.”

As he gazed down at her, she had to acknowledge that he was even more attractive up close.

“Poor beautiful Sophia,” he murmured, and when she didn’t pull away, he lowered his lips to hers.

Sophia told herself to stop him. This kiss wasn’t motivated by anything as tender as his “beautiful” compliment sounded. Deeply angry, he was trying to see if he could get more than she’d give Stuart. And once she accommodated him, he’d no longer be interested. Chances were he’d brag about the conquest tomorrow.

She wouldn’t allow him to make her look like a desperate idiot. She’d rather survive the rest of this difficult year without that kind of humiliation. But daring to kiss a wildly handsome man who was, in some ways, a stranger, made the experience all the more alluring.

“What, are you hoping Stuart will walk back in and see this?” she muttered against his warm lips.

“Hell, no. Then I’d have no chance of rounding first base.”

He was teasing her; she could hear the humor in his voice, but there was enough underlying tension to let her know he was at least half-serious.

“You have no chance now,” she said, but she didn’t balk when he drew her up against him. She slid the fingers of the hand not holding the keys into his thick hair and closed her eyes as he parted her lips.

When he touched her tongue with his, she felt her knees go weak. This was a dangerous indulgence, but one that was too welcome to refuse. When was the last time she’d been kissed? It’d been more than a year—before she’d found out about Dick’s underage lover. It seemed even longer because Dick’s kiss couldn’t compare to Rod’s. The strength Rod held in check, the contours of his firm body, even the way he moved his lips, threatened to drown her in bone-melting desire….

Only when she accidentally dropped the keys and they clattered on the floor did she realize she was getting too carried away. Summoning what resistance she had left, she let go of him and, under the guise of reclaiming the keys, stepped back. “I’ll take you back to your motel.”

The pupils of his eyes had nearly swallowed the colored irises—and he’d lost the teasing quality of a moment earlier. “As long as you bring your handcuffs.”

He shouldn’t have touched her. He’d thought getting her to assent to his kiss would finally douse the hunger that’d been burning in his gut since he was fifteen. Instead, feeling Sophia’s lips yield beneath his had whetted his appetite for deeper intimacy. He knew now that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d made love to her. Maybe that was because he wanted to best his white half brothers, as she said, but she was also the culmination of his boyhood fantasies, the prize he’d been denied. And he was pretty sure if he could have her just once, he’d be able to close that terrible chapter of his life.

That alone was worth the trip to Bordertown. Worth facing Bruce, Patrick, even Stuart. Especially Stuart. If Rod had his guess, Stuart hadn’t been able to get anywhere with Sophia. Her reaction to him would’ve been very different if they’d been intimate.

“So will you let me help with the investigation?” he asked as she drove.

“Will I really hear from the governor if I don’t?”

“It’s a distinct possibility.”

Her radio crackled; she turned down the volume. “So even if I say no, you won’t leave.”

“Nope.”

“Great.”

He pretended to be insulted. “That’s harsh.”

“You’re surprised I’m not happy about it?”

“Confused. Now that we’ve made nice, I can’t see why you’d be so eager to get rid of me. You seemed to like me well enough a few minutes ago. After the Taser part, of course. I liked you better after that part, too.”

They entered the western section of town, which was Rod’s favorite, even as a boy. “I like your body,” she admitted. “I don’t know about the rest of you.”

She was trying to offend him, to put him off, so he merely smiled. “I can accept that.”

“You’re kidding,” she said with a laugh. “Only a guy would be willing to settle for so little.”

“I admire your honesty. Besides, I’m not asking for a commitment.”

She stopped at a traffic light. “One night is enough to get me in trouble. I’ve made too many mistakes in my life already. I don’t need you to be another one.”

“You’re looking at this too seriously. Starkey was a mistake. I’d be a…temporary fling. You wouldn’t even have to take me home to meet your parents.”

His words strengthened rather than lessened her resolve. Before this moment, she hadn’t actually thought it out, hadn’t decided that she was searching for the love of her life. But his offer made her realize that she was tired of all the Mr. Wrongs and, as much as she longed for an all-consuming escape, she wasn’t really interested in a cheap fling. She wanted to find someone she could bring home to her parents—if she had the type of relationship with her parents where that would be expected, of course. “Thanks for the offer, but…I’m not sleeping with you.”

“We’ll see,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s your response?” she asked, incredulous.

He conjured up an innocent expression. “You don’t like it?”

“You don’t find it a bit cocky?”

“We’re being honest, remember?” He motioned toward the light. “It’s green.”




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