Those beautiful amber eyes drilled a confused look his way. “What are we waiting for?” She kissed his jaw. The alluring scent of her nearly drove his fortitude into the ground. She obviously didn’t want to stop, which made him like her even more.
“For my sanity to return,” he responded. “I am not about to fuck you here on my desk.”
“You’re not?” she asked in that breathy, ball-tightening voice she possessed. “Are you certain?” She glanced back at the surface, perhaps looking for what stopped him from ravishing her there. “It looks solid enough to me. What’s the hold-up?”
He nodded once toward the entry. “My office door isn’t locked. Even though it is the end of the day, it’s entirely possible someone might still come in here. Plus, it’s not very professional of me—nor does it set a good example—to be banging a stranger on my desk blotter during office hours.”
She stiffened, slid her legs down to the floor, and disengaged from him completely. She hurriedly covered those marvelous legs, shoving her skirt back into place. A crying shame.
“A stranger? Is that what I am to you?” Her expression sharpened into beautiful fury. “Is that all I am?” He couldn’t blame her. No. You’re so much more.
Warrick cleared his throat, not liking her sudden tone or the questions she asked. Because he didn’t have an answer. He hadn’t categorized her yet.
Was he intrigued? Yes. Would he eventually want to fuck her on his desk? Yes. But not until he was more in control of the situation. And she understood the rules he and Colton lived by.
Before she took off and he got off on even more of a wrong foot, Warrick hugged her to him once more. “Please understand,” he whispered against her hair.
“Please understand what?”
“Clearly, you aren’t a complete stranger. But we’ve yet to be introduced officially.” Which was lame, but he struggled for any reasonable excuse.
She huffed. “Well, we aren’t nineteenth century British royalty either. I didn’t realize we needed a formal introduction in the wilds of Montana.”
Her tone sounded so affronted, but what she said was funny and so he laughed, which made it worse.
“Are you laughing at me?” He thought she was angry, but when she turned he saw her grin.
He relaxed a bit. “No. Not exactly.”
“What exactly?”
“Maybe I’m laughing because what you said was funny.”
“Well. I do have a good sense of humor. What else do you know about me? Or perhaps the better question is, what do you need to know about me to proceed?” I need to know that you won’t get too attached.
Warrick sobered, remembering the first time he’d seen her from afar. He’d stared at her like a lovesick fool for way too long because he’d also seen Duke watching him with an amused expression a few moments later. The Enclave sheriff had also been the one to fill him in on Isabelle and most of what Warrick knew about her came from that single source.
“I know your name is Isabelle Anderson. I know you work at Old West Town in the new hotel recently built. I know you’re very good friends with Jessica Campbell-Dawson, and that she recruited you for your job. I also know that I’ve wanted to meet you since the first time I saw you from a distance.”
A smile suddenly shaped her lips. “Really? What else?”
Warrick inhaled deeply and shrugged. “Only that Duke mentioned he spoke to you about me. So…what do you know?”
She smiled. Good Lord above, she was gorgeous. “Your name is Warrick Harper. You’re the Enclave prosecutor, and a pretty good one by all accounts. Duke told me your best friend’s name is Colton Landry. And I know what that ‘really’ means because all my friends here in town are married to two men, and living a very happy ménage lifestyle.” Her eyes widened appreciably with her last statement.
A while back, Duke had mentioned the conversation and something about Isabelle saying she thought Colton was pretty. Later Duke had said she might have been a bit tipsy at the time.
“Duke told you that?” he asked, figuring that the Enclave sheriff was taking a turn at matchmaking. He’d certainly gotten his fair share from everyone in town once upon a time before he married his wife Victoria, the OWT candy maker.
Unfortunately, Warrick wasn’t planning to get married like all of her friends or even his friends for that matter. If Isabelle expected him to sweep her off her feet and head down any wedding aisle, she’d be sorely disappointed. But all of a sudden, Warrick didn’t relish either the idea of making her disillusioned or of letting her go.