Taken by Tuesday

Rick was handing her the last of the dishes to dry while she put them away.

“How about some coffee?” he asked once he dried his hands.

“Inviting yourself again?”

He leaned a hip against the counter. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I need to stick around until after dark to check the outside cameras.”

“It’s hard to take you seriously with that smile on your face.”

He winked. “I’ve heard that before.”

His dimples were perfectly lethal, not that she’d tell him that.

“Fine.” She went through the effort of brewing a pot of coffee, secretly happy he wasn’t running off. You’re flirting with fire, Judy.

She was removing coffee cups from the cupboard when he asked, “So, are you avoiding dating altogether while you’re here, or just dating me?”

She hesitated, then said the first thing that came to her head. “You’re dangerous.”

“Only to an enemy.”

“The first time we met you were swinging a gun around.”

“Again, an enemy was involved.”

That’s true. “You’re too cocky for me.”

“Confident,” he corrected her. “And so are you. I think it’s sexy.”

Judy squeezed her eyes shut and released a sigh when the coffeemaker beeped. “Something tells me you think a lot of things are sexy.” She poured two cups of coffee, sugared hers up.

“I think meatloaf is sexy.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s sad.” She brought her coffee to her lips and turned toward him.

“Most of my home-cooked meals are heated-up frozen food from a microwave.”

She blew over the hot java. “I don’t think a microwave means home cooked.”

Rick stepped close, reached to her side, and took the cup she’d poured but failed to hand him.

She looked over his massive chest and thick shoulders as he loomed over her. She grasped her cup with both hands to avoid the temptation of touching him. Because damn if he wasn’t sexy.

Rick left his hand next to the coffee cup on the counter and stared down at her.

She squirmed under his stare, didn’t trust herself to call him on it. Only when he reached for her coffee did she look into his eyes. Her nose flared and her breath caught in her throat. The smile he always wore wasn’t there, in its place was something much more intense.

“W-what are you doing?”

He set her cup beside his and boxed her in, one hand resting on each side of her.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he said over her lips. “Taste you.”

Her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her brain . . . the short circuit could bring the grid down. “I . . . I—”

“You want to taste me, too.”

She licked her lips . . . knew he was right and reached for the words to prove he wasn’t.

“There’s been chemistry between us from the day we met.” He voiced the thoughts in her head. He kept moving his gaze to her lips, his body so close but not actually touching hers. So many parts of her started to tingle she couldn’t catalog them fast enough. “Don’t you want to see if we fit, Judy?”

“You’re dangerous.” But she wasn’t pushing him away. She was imagining that spark, and wondering at the same time what he would taste like.

“I am,” he told her.

She licked her lips, knew he wasn’t thinking of the same danger she was. Hooking up with Rick and lingering in his life could threaten everything she’d worked hard to achieve. “I-I don’t do danger.”

He slid both hands to her hips, the contact made her actually jump. “I disagree. You like danger, uncertainty, crave it even.”

“No . . . I don’t.”

Without any effort, he lifted her onto the counter, left his hands on her waist. His strong fingers branded her, made her feel small . . . made her feel protected.

He smelled of pine soap and something so unique she thought it must be pheromones. The same scent filled her when she closed her eyes at night. Rick dipped his head closer to hers, but didn’t touch her. Her breathing came fast now, his kiss so close.

His lips nipped at hers, the shock so complete she gasped and his contagious smile transferred to her. She leaned forward, tempting danger to touch her again. He did, this time lingering until her eyes drifted closed and his tongue licked the edges of her lips, seeking entrance.

Danger came in the form of a man, one so skilled at seduction she didn’t even realize when he wedged between her thighs and pulled her body next to his. Rick left no part of her mouth untouched. The depth of his kiss stole her breath and shot stars into her head. His hands spread over her back and into her hair. There wasn’t room to think . . . only to feel and taste.

Noise behind them made her freeze.

“Dude, sorry . . .”

Devon.

Rick pulled back but didn’t leave her personal space.

Judy opened her eyes to see Devon retreating from the kitchen.

“Oh, boy.” She sighed, looked into the laughing eyes of danger’s son.

“We’re not going to talk about this,” he said against her lips.

She could still taste him, wanted more. “We’re not?”

He shook his head. “We’re not.”

Rick backed away a couple of inches and Judy actually leaned forward.

“I’m going to finish my work and then I’m going to go home.”

Disappointment resulted in a frustrated sigh. “You are?”

“I am. Because if I walk back into this house and see you looking at me like this again, I’m going to show you just how dangerous I really am. And I don’t want to scare you, Judy.”

She squeezed her hands, which had managed to grasp his waist at some point during their kiss.

Rick gave a throaty laugh. “I’m not going to call, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about you.”

“You kiss me crazy and you won’t call?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because.” He leaned closer, placed his lips next to her ear. His hot breath brought every needy nerve in her body on alert. “I’m not giving you a chance to blow me off over the phone. And in person, I’ll remind you of this moment.” She closed her eyes, felt the featherlight touch of his tongue on the lobe of her ear, and moaned.

Then Rick walked out of the room.

Chapter Seven

“He hasn’t called.”