Page 14 of The Agent
Moving away from the patio door, Marley nodded. “I’ll walk you—” She tripped over one of the paint cans on the floor, letting out an unladylike curse as she stumbled forward.
Snapping to action, Caleb reached out to steady her.
And regretted it the second his palms made contact with her hips. Her tank top had ridden up, and he was touching skin. Bare, warm skin, so soft that he hissed in a breath.
“I…” Marley’s voice drifted and her mouth fell open when she caught sight of the obvious desire in his eyes.
He could do nothing to hide the swift response. Her flesh felt like heaven under his hands, and that sweet scent wafting into his nose was far too intoxicating.
He coughed ever so slightly. “You all right?”
She nodded wordlessly, then glanced down at his hands, which were still on her waist. God help him, but he couldn’t seem to let her go.
And she wasn’t complaining. Rather, she shifted so they were face to face. Her liquid brown eyes searched his. “I’m…a klutz,” she murmured without breaking the eye contact.
Caleb swallowed, his mouth in desperate need of moisture, his lips in desperate need ofher.Before he could stop himself, he moved his hand over her hip in a fleeting caress. An unsteady breath slid out of her throat.
Insanity. This was freaking insanity, and he was helpless to stop it. He’d been watching Marley Kincaid for seven days, watching and yearning and fighting the arousal he knew he shouldn’t be feeling.
But he couldn’t fight it now. Not when she was this close.
As his pulse drummed in his ears, he finally gave up. Screw it. Kissing her was wrong on so many levels, but at this point he didn’t care. He wanted her so badly his bones ached.
So he took her.
CHAPTER 4
MARLEY LET OUTa little gasp as he captured her mouth with his, but the second their lips met, she melted in his arms. He thrust his fingers into her hair, angling her head for better access, while he slid his other hand to her waist and drew her body to his.
She made a gentle, keening sound against his mouth, and then lifted her arms to his shoulders, pulling him closer. Her lips parted, her tongue darted out to toy with his and Caleb nearly keeled over from the jolt of desire that shot through him.
She tasted incredible. Like coffee, cinnamon and heaven and he couldn’t get enough of her. He deepened the kiss, drowning in her scent. Damn it, he hadn’t known it would be so uncontrollable.
A muffled thud sounded from outside. Marley must have heard it, too, because her eyelids fluttered open at the same time as his.
And then she was out of his arms.
His arms felt empty without her warm supple body in them, his mouth going dry when seconds before it had been moist from the tip of Marley’s tongue teasing his lips. Even as his body tried to recover from that unbelievable kiss, his brain went back to business, directing his line of vision to the now-empty yard. Relief coursed through him. AJ had managed The Great Escape.
“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I…” She tucked an errant blond strand behind her ear. “It’s fine. Just unexpected.”
Understatement of the year. What had he been thinking, kissing her? He’d wanted to distract her, and instead, he’dopened Pandora’s damn box, because now that he’d tasted Marley, he wanted nothing more than to do it again.
Information. You just need information from her.
Drawing in a breath, Caleb willed his desire away. “I should go,” he said.
Something flickered in her eyes. Finally, she just nodded, and they stepped out of the kitchen. He saw her wringing her hands together as she walked. “So you’re a writer, huh?”
He almost laughed. It seemed ridiculous making small talk now, after the explosive kiss they’d just shared. “Yeah, I’m, uh, working on my first novel.”
“That’s cool.”
When they reached the front hall, he glanced down at the two-by-fours on the floor, then the gutted closet. “You sure this isn’t a safety hazard?” he asked in a dry voice.
She sighed. “My brother keeps promising to finish it, but he never seems to get around to it.”
