Page 1024 of One More Kiss

I wasn’t looking for a mate.

Yuck. Even the word sounded awful.

Permanent.

Animalistic.

Nope. Not looking for a mate or a fling.

And that was that.

Until Connor ducked his head, flashed that crooked grin, and gazed up at me through those lush eyelashes. “Can I borrow your shower?” He gestured down at his clothes, still stiff from their dunking in the makeshift tea. “I’ve got a change in my bag, but it won’t do any good unless I at least rinse off.”

An image of him naked flashed through my mind.

This is a bad idea, Harlowe. Really, really bad.

I took his hand and led him into the bathroom, which suddenly seemed much smaller than it ever had before. Connor didn’t say anything, simply watching me through those dark, thoughtful eyes of his.

I turned on the water, holding my hand under the spray as it warmed up.

At the last minute, I managed to stop myself from doing anything more. “Um. There you go. Towels are in the cabinet there.” I pointed, then started to edge past the shifter, who was suddenly taking up an awful lot of space.

As I turned sideways to slide past him, he caught my shoulders and stared intently into my eyes. “Join me?”

I swallowed, my mouth so dry the sound echoed in the space, even over the patter of the water.

He moved toward me, and I reached up to drag his lips down to mine until I was kissing him again. His mouth was hot, with a hint of tea underlying the taste of his raw shifter wildness—like the scent of a Texas prairie under a scorching summer sun.

Pulling me closer to him, Connor deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with mine.

Standing on my tiptoes, I ran my fingertips down the backs of his arms, tracing the sharply defined triceps and sliding my palms down to his elbows.

With a strangled noise in the back of his throat, Connor slid his own hands down my back until they cupped my ass, then pulled me up against him.

As we stepped apart to undress for the shower, Connor paused. “Now I have a question.”

“Shoot,” I said, echoing his earlier response.

“Now that I’m out of a job again, I was wondering—” He paused, chewing on his lower lip.

“Yes?” I prompted.

“How would you feel about taking on a partner in that P.I. business of yours? We work well together, and I think maybe you could use the backup.”

I tapped my lips with one finger as I considered. It might be a bad idea—hell, everything about this whole night might turn out to be a terrible idea—but…

I nodded slowly. “You know what? I think it’s definitely worth a try.”

Along with all the other things I was planning to try with him.

Just as soon as I could get him into that shower.

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