She looked over at him slowly, careful to keep her expression blank.
“Excuse me?” she said carefully, her body tensing at the implied insult in his voice.
He stared back at her, his gaze condemning.
“I saw you on the porch with him last night,” he sneered. “Getting a little close and personal weren’t you?”
“Getting a little nosy aren’t you?” she snapped back.
“I would say too nosy. ” Jared’s voice was dangerously soft as he walked into the room. “Should you have an opinion on how close I am or am not, with my stepsister?” he asked the bodyguard softly as he moved to the table.
Kimberly took one look at him and came to her feet quickly.
“Geez, is there enough testosterone in this room?” she growled irritably. “What the hell is with you guys?” She turned back to Tim Adams. “What I do is none of your damned business. And you,” she poked a finger in Jared’s chest demandingly, fighting to hold back a shiver as those steel-cold gray eyes turned on her, “are not my keeper. I don’t need anyone to defend my honor or whatever the hell you think it is you’re doing. ”
This was just great. She was pretty certain she knew who her father’s plant was. Tim Adams was as moralistic as they came. His views on women and what they should or shouldn’t do was as rigid as the Senator’s.
Jared’s expression didn’t change. It remained hard as stone and more dangerous for it as his gaze turned back to Adams.
“I’ll call your superior myself,” he said flatly. “Until then, stay the hell out of my sight, or you’ll regret it. ” He snagged Kimberly’s wrist as her eyes widened in surprise. “And you, I need to talk to. ”
Before she could stop him, he was pulling her along behind him, again. Dammit, she was getting tired of him dragging her along like medieval chattel.
“Jared, has anyone ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?” she snarled as he propelled her into the study and slammed the door behind them.
“Has anyone told you that you’d test the patience of a saint?” he retorted shortly. “You should have let me kill him. I would have enjoyed it. ”
She rolled her eyes at his bloodthirsty tone.
“He’s a moron. If you killed all of them, there wouldn’t be any men left to continue the species,” she informed him sarcastically. “What the hell is your problem anyway?”
“The bastard was sneaking around my house all night,” he snarled. “If I had caught him listening at either of our bedroom doors again I would have killed him. ”
Surprise widened her eyes as she stared back at him.
“Just what I need,” she sighed roughly. “Ignore him. It won’t do any good to have him taken off the assignment, because I suspect at least two of them were sent here deliberately to watch me. It’s the Senator’s favorite sport, having me spied upon. ”
His lip lifted derisively. “I won’t give you my opinion on the Senator,” he bit out. “I can’t believe my mother married that bastard. ”
Kimberly had a hard time believing it herself. Carolyn was a warm, caring person, besides being smart as hell. It was one of the most unlikely matches that she had ever seen.
“Is that why you’re so pissed this morning?” She moved over to the couch and sat down wearily. Damn, she needed a few more hours sleep, or a pot of coffee to herself.
“I’m not pissed,” he informed her rudely. “I’m pure mean mad. I don’t like people sneaking around my house listening at doors, Kimberly. I’ll take him apart the next time I catch him. ”
Kimberly sighed at his snarling voice, her fingers smoothing back the stray curls that had fallen from her thick braid.
“Take him apart then. ” She shrugged negligently. “It’s your house, not mine. ”
He grunted at that, moving to stand over her, staring down at her as his eyes went from cold steel to stormy gray.
“Take your hair down,” he ordered softly. “Slowly. ”
Her breath caught in her throat, her womb clenched with instant arousal. A quick glance to his thighs showed that he wasn’t in a bargaining mood. He was fully erect, his cock straining the zipper of his jeans as he watched her.
“What about the ears at the doors?” she asked him breathlessly.
“Let him listen,” he snapped. “I’m not going to take your virginity, but I’ll be damned if I’ll leave that sweet mouth of yours innocent much longer. Tell me, Kimberly, is it true you’ve never been taken there? Never felt the hunger to have a hard cock straining between your lips, pulsing with the need to fill your mouth?”