* * *
He pulled up in front of Kate’s building. She held out her hand and it connected with his chest.
She snatched it away as if she’d burned it. “There’s no need for you to walk me up. You must be exhausted.”
“I’m the one who slept on the couch while you were working, and I insist on walking you up to your apartment.”
She sighed and got out of the car, and he followed her into the building and up to her door.
She fitted the key in the lock and turned to him. “Thanks.”
“Aren’t you going to let me in for a moment, Kate?”
She bit her lip and asked, “Why?”
“I’d like to talk to you, and I don’t want to do it in the hall.”
She reluctantly moved inside. He followed her into the apartment.
He reached out and with his thumb very lightly brushed her bottom lip. Such hot desire gripped him that he had to close his eyes to control himself before he could speak again.
With his voice thick and husky, he asked, “How long are you going to be mad at me?” He brushed at her hair with the back of his hand.
“I don’t know,” she said breathlessly.
He looked away. “It wasn’t personal, Kate. It was because we worked together.” His voice wasn’t convincing. Even he could hear it.
She gazed up at him, her eyes such a clear blue-gray glistening with skepticism. He wanted those eyes full of desire for him, knowing himself to be insane, but he was tired of fighting himself.
“What’s the other reason?”
Working with her day in and day out was like walking a tightrope with no net. Then having to face her in her newfound sexuality was wearing at his self-control. It was harder and harder for him to keep his hands off her. His body wanted her, craved intimate contact with that soft, velvet skin.
“I’m afraid that if I start touching you, wanting you, I won’t be able to stop,” he murmured.
She blinked up at him, a fire igniting in her eyes.
He leaned toward her, his thumb moving across her jaw with deliberate slowness, savoring the way she felt against his skin. “Like silk,” he whispered against her ear before his eyes lowered to her mouth. He just stood there, his thumb brushing against her jawbone.
His other hand came up, his thumb gently sliding across the back of her hand and around to her wrist.
She swayed toward him, and he breathed deeply. Discovering how much Kate wanted him hadn’t been a good thing. Although the wild side of him howled at the thought, the rational part was convinced that he would have taken her against his desk long ago if he’d realized the extent of her passion.
“Tell me,” he coaxed. “Tell me how much you want me.”
She made a small sound in her throat and shook her head.
“Come on, Katie.”
Somehow his shirt studs had come undone. With his foot, he shut the apartment door.
The silence stretched out as he pulled her toward him, very deliberately pressing her palm to his bare chest. “Tell me what you want to do to me,” he sighed raggedly.
She leaned into him, placing her cheek against his chest, and refusing to speak. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I want. It’s you. You tantalize me. I wonder things, things that make me hard with desire.”
She slid her palm along the sleek muscles, making a small, heated sound. The sweet husky noise teemed with need and excitement.
He closed his eyes against the small murmur. His fingers tightened on her wrist, stopping her exploration, just holding her hand against him.