“Nah, I’ll get that punch in when you least expect it, buddy.” He brushed a kiss over Lora’s cheek. “You’re lucky because Lora’s bothering to give you the time of day. Usually, she just tells guys to piss off.”
Ah, well, yeah.
“Guess that means you’re coming back, huh, Lora?” His voice softened when he said her name.
She sucked in a deep breath because Ryan knew her so well. And yes, she was coming back. She was pushing the past away and trying to get a life again.
With a man she wanted.
“I guess so,” she murmured.
His stare turned back to Kenton. “So for that, I won’t shove your dick down your throat, yet.” He turned away and took a few quick steps toward his car. “But if you hurt her, I won’t give a shit about assaulting a federal officer.”
“Good to know,” Kenton said.
Then Ryan was gone. His Corvette’s engine roared to life, and his tires squealed as he shot down the street.
She glanced at Kenton, but his eyes were on the road. “Ah, sorry about that. I didn’t know you were coming—”
“I should have called first.” He paused. “Next time, I will.”
“Thursday is spaghetti night. They always come over.” Their ritual. Their way of keeping the family together since their mom had died two years ago. A heart attack had stolen her away. God, that had hurt.
“Your brothers are very protective.”
That was an understatement. “They’ve always been like that. If you think tonight was bad, you should have seen what they did to Johnny Went.”
His eyes cut toward her.
A grin stretched her lips. “My high school prom date. Johnny thought we’d be going back to the hotel room he’d booked and having a quiet night, just the two of us.”
Kenton’s brows rose.
“My brothers found out.” She shook her head, remembering. “I have never seen a guy run so fast, buck-naked.”
Laughter broke from Kenton. The deep, rolling laughter had her smile widening. “Come on, let’s go inside.” Because she wanted to be alone with him. To get him buck-naked, sure. But also, just to talk to him. To find out more about him. His family. His life.
“By the way, I liked those flowers.” Her eyes dropped to the porch and to the petals that had fallen due to the death-grip he’d had on them. “Roses are my favorites.” Not that the flowers were looking all that good right now. But she’d put them in a vase and maybe they’d rally.
His hand caught her shoulder. “What are you doing to me?” No more laughter. The dimples that had flashed with his smile were gone.
Her head turned, and Lora met his stare over her shoulder. “I don’t know—”
“I think about you…” His head shook. “All day. I can smell you when you’re gone. Can taste you.”
She licked her lips because she’d been tasting him too.
“When I saw that guy standing right here.” The boards creaked beneath his shifting feet. “I wanted to go after him.”
“Um, you did.” Lora turned to face him fully.
His hand caught her jaw, tipping her head back. “I think you’re making me crazy.”
Not the overwhelming sweet words that a woman liked to hear. “Thanks.”
“No—look, I just… want you.”
She wanted him.
“I don’t know what the hell we have going on here—”
Hot sex. A need that wouldn’t subside.
“I didn’t count on this, on you.”
Ditto.
“But I’m damned glad you pulled my ass out of that fire.”
Her hands curled against his chest. “Me, too.”
His mouth took hers, but not hard or demanding this time. A light and easy caress of his lips. A swipe of his tongue to savor and enjoy.
She rose higher on her toes, and her hands curled around his neck. The crickets chirped around them. The humid summer air pressed on her skin, and she pushed her body against him. Nice. Very, very nice.
The man was a good kisser. He knew just how to work that tongue. How to make her knees tremble and her toes want to curl.
He also knew how to make her wet. He was very, very good at that.
Kenton’s head rose slowly as he let the kiss linger. Their eyes held.
She could see so much in those eyes. The desire, the lust, yes, but more. A need that went soul deep. A hunger…
What does he see in my eyes?
Her breath caught when a car door slammed.
Kenton pulled back and whirled around to see a man hurrying down the sidewalk as he rushed to Lora’s house.
“Kenton…” She grabbed his arm. She didn’t know this guy. A quick spike of fear had her straightening fast.
“Yo, Lake! We’ve got to go!” The man came closer. The light that Ryan had installed near the corner of her house fell on him, revealing dark hair, dark eyes, and rumpled pants and shirt.
His arm shifted, and she saw the flash of his badge.
“Hell.” Kenton stiffened against her. “Another one?”
But then Kenton’s hip started to vibrate against her. His phone.
“Told Davenport you were busy.” The guy shook his head. “That woman is impatient.”
Kenton yanked out his phone. “Lake.”
Lora eased away from him and kept her eyes on the stranger. “Who are you?”
He flashed a smile, lots of white teeth in the shadows. “Name’s Jon Ramirez, ma’am.”
“What? What the f**k?” Kenton’s voice blasted.
Oh, that couldn’t be good. Her eyes narrowed as Kenton turned away and began to pace the length of the porch. “So you were just… outside my house, all evening?” Lora asked Ramirez.
His shoulders rose, then dropped in a careless shrug. “Keeping an eye on Lake can be a real pain in the ass.”
Uh, okay. “Why are you watching Kent?”
“They promised to put the f**ker on the air?”
She winced at Kenton’s snarl.
Ramirez just shrugged. “Because pretty boy made himself a target, and we watch our own at the SSD.”
Anger had her tensing. “That interview.”
Ramirez gave a nod, and his eyes cut to Kenton.
“Stop them. Pull the whole show off the air if you have to,” Kenton barked into the phone. His gaze landed on her, and she saw the barely controlled fury lurking in his eyes. “I’ll be there, ten minutes. Do not let them go live. Do whatever you have to in order to stop them, Monica, but, stop them.”