Legs, right.She thanked goodness for her flexibility as she planted one foot on the ground, then brought the other up to hook around his side and yanked him backward.
The whoosh of his air leaving him screamed that the move had surprised him. He’d probably expected her to keep trying to knock him off, so he’d braced himself not to fall forward or to the side, but he hadn’t expected her to pull himback.
He toppled, and Kat twisted while he tried to right himself. She was quicker, though. Smaller bodies were a lot easier to move than larger ones, and the speed gave her another boost of confidence. She brought her foot back and tapped his side, a grin on her face before she set the foot on his chest.
Olin didn’t look mad as he lay in the dirt beneath her—hell, he looked proud.
And more than a little turned on if the heat in his gaze meant anything.
“Nicely done,” he said.
“Maybe I’ll find someone to give me a better challenge next time—” Kat’s smart-ass remark was cut off with a yelp when he grabbed her foot and yanked.
Kat fell forward, but she didn’t hit the ground. She ended up on top of Olin for only a moment before he rolled them again, pinning her beneath him in a way that feltnothinglike what had happened before.
He stared down at her, the gaze of a man who knew exactly what he wanted. And, given the way his hard cock pressed against her through his jeans, she’d guess it was on board with the plan.
“That was a good job,” he said as he slid his fingers into her hair to hold tight, to keep her gaze on his. “I knew you had it in you.”
His praise warmed her, made her walk that line between behaving to hear more of it and being a brat.
As usual, the brat won out. “Well, when you make it so easy…”
His grin widened, his chest rising and falling quickly as if he were out of breath. “That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”
“From you? I doubt it.”
“You think? Because I could easily turn you over right here and spank that ass of yours until you can’t come up with a single quip.”
She wanted to act unaffected, but the moan she let out at that gave her away. Still… “So do it.”
His eyes widened, as if he’d just realized what had come out of his mouth—and that she was on board. “What?”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you think you can get me to behave, try it.” She wanted the words to sound like a threat, like a challenge, but she was pretty sure they came out a plea.
He blinked slowly then moved his gaze to where his fingers wrapped in her hair. He yanked backward, then moved off her.
“Wait!” Kat called out, sure he was going to turn around and walk away, and she didn’t want things to sit like this.
“Ican’t,”he said without turning around.
“Why not? You’re here, you’re taking care of me, you said you were too close to me to work the case, so why not?”
“I’m not like this.”
“The way you were just grinding against me says that’s not true. You want this, too. Just admit it!”
He let out a growl of frustration then turned back toward her. “OfcourseI want you! Wanting things doesn’t make them possible, though.”
“Who’s the coward, now? What are you hiding behind? What are you so afraid of?”
“I almost losteverythingthe last time I did this!”
That made her frown as she sat up. “What are you talking about?”
Olin rubbed his hands over his face then all but collapsed to a sitting position in front of her, the dust flying up around them. “You know I used to go to Sanctuary. Well, let’s just say that my boss found out. The idea that one of their detectives was tying girls up in a sex club and leaving marks didn’t go over well.”
“What? That’s crazy…”