Page 44 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

“Excuse me?” Elise asked as she came around the end of the vehicle.

“Nothing,” he mumbled. He took her by the elbow and led her deeper into the trees, no more than a dozen yards from the Jeep, but completely out of sight of its dark silhouette.

He turned to face her and she took an immediate step back, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

“Don’t you think it’s time we had a frank conversation with each other?” he asked quietly.

“Not at all. I’ve got nothing to be frank about, thank you very much.”

“Perhaps you’d like to explain to me why you’re pretending to be a nun?”

“Pretending…why, I…how dare—”

He cut her off. “Give it up. There’s no way a nun would kiss me like you did. Twice.”

“The first time was your fault. The second time was merely…overflowing relief.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that our kisses had no effect on you? That you don’t want to do it again and you’re willing to walk away from whatever this is between us?”

“I—” She ground to a halt.

He had to give her credit for not being comfortable with lying. She was trying to be as honest as she could within the confines of her disguise. And hey. At least she was hesitating at the idea of walking away from him. That was good news—

Wait a minute. What the hell was he thinking? That wasn’t good at all! He was a Special Forces operator in the middle of an incredibly dangerous and sensitive mission. Brady Hathaway would have his head on a platter if he screwed this up because of a woman, no matter how flaming a do-gooder she was.

“…fine,” she was saying. “You caught me. I confess I’m guilty of having impure thoughts. I’ll go to confession when I get home and will no doubt do penance for the next twenty years. But that’s between me and my priest.”

He chuckled. “Impure thoughts? Honey, you kiss like you were made for sin.”

It was too dark to see much, but she looked a bit overheated all of a sudden. She spoke calmly enough when she replied, though. “We’ve been over this before. In spite of my profession, I am in fact a female and human, and subject to the same…urges…as any other woman.”

“So you deny that you find me as irresistible as I find you?”

“Irresistible?” she echoed faintly.

“That’s right,” he answered firmly. “Admit it. You’re no more a nun than I am.”

“How dare you—”

He held up a hand, cutting off her protest. “Enough with the flimsy disguise, already.” Time was growing short, and he wasn’t getting back in the car until they’d cut through all the crap and gotten to the truth.

“But—”

“Care to kiss me again and prove that you don’t feel a thing when we do it?” Her eyes blazed. But with lust or fury, he couldn’t tell. “Go on, Elise. I dare you. Kiss me.”

“And then you’ll drop this line of questioning once and for all?”

“What the heck. Sure.”

She stepped forward, a determined glint in her eyes. Desire leaped in his gut all of a sudden. This should be interesting. She put a hand on his chest, incinerating the spot over his heart with her soft touch. He watched her with predatory eyes as she stood on tiptoe and pecked him on the mouth with tightly pursed lips so quickly he barely felt it.

She stumbled back as if he’d burned her and he grinned. “That wasn’t a kiss, darlin’, and you know it.”

She huffed. “You’re enjoying torturing me, aren’t you? People go to hell for less, you know.”

His grin widened. “I’m waiting.”

“You are insufferable.”

---