LITMIR.BIZ

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      Whatever it was it made Callie’s head explode. “Sure.”

      “Tell me something.”

      No way was she agreeing to that without more information. Hand this man an opening and he’d steer a submarine through it.

      He kept talking anyway. Looked pretty relaxed in his slouch as his smile inched up on his lips. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

      If he wanted to shock her…well, he did. “How is that relevant?”

      “Call me curious.”

      “Are you allowed to ask me about that?”

      “You think there’s a law against it?”

      “There should be.”

      “So, you’re not going to answer?”

      Not until she knew where this was going. “What does the state of my love life have to do with anything?”

      “You know all about me. Only seems fair I get some background on you.”

      “I need to know about your life in order to do my job.” At least that was the excuse she used when she ventured outside the file Mark gave her. She’d lost her clearance when she walked away from her job at the FBI, but she still had friends of the computer-hacker variety. In just a few hours she had all the paperwork that existed on Ben.

      She had to admit her little search mission turned out to be a huge disappointment. His background was so clean it squeaked. If he hadn’t passed through screening committees and all sorts of interviews to get his current judicial position she would have thought someone manufactured his past. No arrests. No trouble. Great grades. Always within the law. For some reason she expected to find a smart guy with a bad-boy past. That sounded good in the fantasy she created in her head but looked as if it wasn’t true.

      “So, you’re not poking around in my life just because you’re nosy?” he asked.

      No way could he know about her travels through his personal history. She’d been careful and cleaned up behind her. “I don’t poke.”

      “Tell me what you want to know.”

      She smelled a con. “Anything?”

      “You get one question.”

      She thought about his decision to leave the military and about the scarce information on his parents. She skipped all that and went with the issue at the front of her mind. “What’s going on between you and Emma?”

      “I’ve already answered that. We’re friends.”

      Callie snorted just to let him know what she thought of his fake deals. “I don’t climb all over my friends when the door shuts.”

      “Really? When do you climb on them then?”

      “Huh?”

      He closed in. One minute he shot her a lazy smile. The next he stood up straight and hovered over her with his cheek right next to hers. “What do you do with your friends?”

      Heat thrummed off him, surrounding her and filling her with a tingly sensation from shoulders to toes. “I don’t—”

      “Do you touch them?” Ben trailed the back of his hand down her cheek. Dragged his thumb across her lips.

      “I…”

      “Smell them?” He leaned down and nuzzled her ear. “Do they smell as good as you?”

      His mouth traveled down her neck, nipping and kissing. Hot breath tickled her skin as his fingers caressed her waist. The double whammy of touching slammed her breath to a halt in her chest. Her body strained to get closer to him as her palms skimmed up his back.

      Holy crap. “This isn’t a good idea,” she said.

      “Probably not, but I’ve been wanting to do it all day.”

      “I thought you were mad at me.”

      “Be quiet for a second,” he said.

      Then his mouth covered hers. His lips pressed deep and strong and his tongue brushed against hers. There was nothing teasing about this kiss. It shot through her hot and wet, electrifying every cell inside her. She fell into the sensation of being overpowered and claimed. Her stomach tumbled and her knees dipped. Muscles relaxed as her brain shifted into neutral.

      “God, yes,” he mumbled when their mouths lifted on gasps of harsh breaths.

      He dove back in. His lips met hers over and over again in a kiss that had her winding her arms around his neck and pulling him close.

      Him. Her. Touching. Nothing else mattered. Pleasure crashed over her, drowning out everything around them. Fingers searched and sculpted. Her hands swept into his hair while his pushed against her lower back, easing her closer to the juncture between his thighs. She heard the grumbling moan in his chest and the deep breaths from her own.

      She lifted her head in an attempt to get some air. “Ben…that…”

      “You taste so good.”

      His mouth found that sensitive spot right at the slope of her chin. Her kryptonite. A few nibbling kisses and she wanted to strip that conservative shirt and tie right off him.

      She dropped her head back to give him greater access. “Right there.”

      When his mouth found hers again, lights exploded in her brain. He kissed like he worked, with an intensity that sent her common sense screaming in wild defeat. The touch of his lips was all she dreamed about and everything she feared.

      But her mind shouted out a red-light warning through the sensual haze. She had a job and he had a girlfriend.

      Callie pulled her mouth away, letting her forehead rest against his cheek as she struggled to breathe without wheezing. “We have to stop.”

      “God, why?” He mumbled the question into her hair.

      “Emma.” Callie now hated that name.

      With the gentle touch of his palms, he lifted her head and stared down at her. The gaze from deep brown eyes searched her face. The rapid beating in his chest thumped against her as his eyes grew soft.

      “I don’t cheat,” he said in a husky whisper. “If I were with Emma I wouldn’t be kissing you.”

      Callie knew she should pull back, but she rubbed her hands up his back instead. “But, I saw—”

      “Evidence of a lifelong friendship.” He traced her cheekbones with his thumbs. “That’s it.”

      “You’re not—”

      “No.”

      “Does Emma know that?”

      His chuckle vibrated against her from everywhere their bodies touched. “Definitely.”

      Relief washed through Callie. She balanced her head on his chin as she tried to figure out what it all meant. “Now what?”

      “You invite me to your house.”

      “That crosses a line.” She could recognize that over her misfiring brain waves and damp panties.

      “I’d carry you to mine right this second, but Mark will be there eventually to screw everything up.” Ben dropped a quick kiss on her mouth.

      “Oh, yeah. Your brother.” And her boss.

      “And we’re going to need hours of privacy.”

      She debated the pros and cons for all of two seconds. The temptation proved too great. “Well, as you keep telling me, you’re the one in charge.”

      Ben’s smile lit up his face. “About time you admitted that.”

      Chapter Six

      Emma

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