Page 14 of Winters Heat

He coughed, interrupting her self-diagnosing pity-party. “Thatwasmore than a kiss. You’re right.”

More than a kiss.She didn’t expect him to bring it up after his understandable reaction. They were driving down the highway at breakneck speeds, and he bobbed through traffic like a man with something meaningful to prove. Tough guys like him don’t get stressed?Bullshit.

He glanced at her, his eyes dipped down, and she felt the hot caress of his scrutiny. His foot hit the gas pedal, and the engine revved before he maneuvered to a steadier speed along the straightaway.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Winters. I understand, in your line of work, stress would be considered a fatal flaw.” The jab came out as a snicker before she realized her mouth was moving.

“My line of work?” This time, he turned his head to do the once-over. His smile was hitched on one side and made his eye crinkle at the corners. Even at night, in the dimmed cabin of his truck, his steely dark eyes shined bright.

“Yeah. Whatever it is that you do.” Mia flipped her wrist and rolled her eyes to the darkened passing landscape. It was useless when all she wanted to do was watch him.

“What about your line of work? A therapist, huh?” He stretched back in his seat, readjusted his long legs, and rolled his broad shoulders. Would he not do that? It was distracting.“You’ve been psychoanalyzing me?”

“There’s always the chance.” She sucked on the side of her bottom lip. Did he know his muscles flexed when he stretched?

“And the verdict?”

His timbre was so bottom-of-a-canyon deep that she wanted to slide into his lap, closing the minute space that vibrated between them. That couldn’t have been less acceptable. She shook her head to clear away her distraction.

“Mia?”

Oh, right. Her verdict. Where to begin?

“You’re less dangerous than you initially seemed.” She tried to sound unaffected. Didn’t work.

“That’s your professional assessment? I seem less dangerous?” He bunched his forehead. Yup, her softball judgment was a big, fat fail. “That’s like saying your trip to the airport was a nuisance, or your visit to the motel was unplanned. You can do better than that. Come on, girl. Give it to me.”

He was trying to tempt her. She was sure of it. She narrowed her eyes.If that’s what he wants.

“My professional assessment is… Well, other than your propensity to fight, your behavior doesn’t deviate from normal culture. Nothing appears to be pervasive or inflexible about you. That’s if you discount when you kidnapped me.” She smirked. “I assume you’re former military. It’s obvious you’re trained. And despite this save-the-day type action, you aren’t narcissistic, avoidant, or paranoid.” Mia took in a deep breath. It all came out so fast, who knew if it even made sense. “How’s that work for you? Professionally speaking?”

He gave a curt nod. But she wasn’t going to let him off that easy. Not when she wanted a reaction from him as much as she hated needing it.

“But that kiss. I don’t know if you want me analyzing that. Do you?”

He grimaced. The tough guy couldn’t stand the metaphoric heat. But then again, maybe she didn’t want to think about it either. Because when she did, she longed to taste his perfect lips again, though she was well aware of why he kissed her. He might not call it stress, but it was a reaction based entirely on their day of bullets and bruises.

“So, Winters, what’s the deal with you anyway? Who does Mister Save-The-Day Hero work for?”

He concentrated on driving and strummed his fingers across the steering wheel. His hands were rough, fingertips calloused, but they reminded her of the careful touch at the motel when he offered her a bag of ice. She jumped when he had caressed her cheek, both panic and anticipation coursed through her. It was an immediate assault to her senses. He stayed on her skin, and she…liked it.

“Should I revise and add avoidant to my assessment?” Mia struggled to keep the smile to herself.

“I’m not avoiding anything. But it’s not something I normally share. That’s all.”

“I’m supposed to trust you. And you haven’t shared a single thing.”Other than that kiss.

“All right, already. I was a SEAL. My last deployment was Afghanistan.” Winters’s jaw set hard, ending the conversation.

That wasn’t going to happen. She had questions. She needed to know something more about him. She needed to keep the conversation going. Otherwise, her mind had its own agenda.

“Bet you saw brutal stuff over there.”

“Yeah. Guess you could say that.” He shifted again and ran his hand across his face.

“So what did you do overseas?”

“Strategic and operational targets.”

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