“No.” He closed in, reached up and over the serving shelf, grabbing her hand in his. Squeezing her tightly he shook his head, as if to make sure she felt the weight of his denial.
She eased her hand from his, still not sure.
“Come out here. I can’t talk to you properly over this bloody counter.”
Sky’s heart beat fast and hard, her arousal levels soaring. She glanced at her two co-workers. They were both busy but the queue wasn’t long.
A moment later she was outside the wagon and Rory strode over to her and took her into his arms.
The way he held her made her weak and vulnerable and yet, against all her better judgment, she wanted to feel all those things. He looked so intense, so bloody hot, it was impossible to ignore him.
“It’s not you or me. I have something I must take care of.” He dropped his chin, lifting his brows and staring at her meaningfully. “I need to dispose of the USB properly. I’m going to do as you suggested and I need to do it quickly.”
Even though it made sense, she couldn’t help reacting badly. What if it was a cover story and he was meeting a girlfriend? It was pretty convenient to mention the USB again. “Okay.”
“I’ll call you later this evening, we’ll rearrange.”
She shrugged, not trusting herself to say anything in case she embarrassed herself.
“Sky,” he whispered, stroking her hand. “You know I have to do this, right?”
Emotions tangled her thoughts. “Why now? We had a date.”
“We still do.”
“You said as much on the tube,” she blurted, “and you were going to walk away. If I hadn’t taken your bag I never would’ve seen you again.”
His eyebrows lifted. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“That’s what it felt like!”
Frowning heavily, he shook his head. “I would’ve walked away to keep you safe. That was the only reason, and it’s the reason I’m doing it now.”
Suddenly embarrassed at her outburst, she folded her arms across her chest.
“I’d like to cook you a meal, tomorrow night. Something that’s not pizza. I’m concerned about you.”
“Playing the concerned big brother now?” It came out as a knee-jerk reaction and she regretted it immediately
He glared at her. “Maybe, maybe I am.”
Her mood dipped again. The last thing she wanted was to play happy families. They’d had to do it for far too long already. She stared at the floor. She knew she was being childish but she couldn’t help herself. The thing she wanted most in the world was to impress him as a woman, an independent woman, and he had her in such a state she couldn’t even do that.
Rory shifted. Suddenly his hand was around the back of her neck and his thumb was under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
Shocked and dizzy with arousal, her lips parted.
“Believe me, there’s nothing I want to do more than take you home and bang you all night long.”
Gasping, she sucked breath in to her lungs.
“There’s something I have to take care of first though.” He stared into her eyes.
The promise she saw there made her melt. “Yeah, yeah. Trashing the USB with an audience.”
He almost cracked a smile.
Mustering herse