She’d experienced need. She knew firsthand desire could be a powerful emotion and more addicting than the drugs she worked to keep off the streets. She hadn’t expected to be swamped with both by such a breath-stealing kiss that made her insides melt and her senses spin.
She slid her hands from his neck, over his wide shoulders and down the smooth cotton polo shirt to his firm, thick biceps, exploring the rough, male texture of his skin. She never wanted the kiss to end.
She pulled back anyway, silently cursing not only the instant loss of heat, but the fact that she desperately wanted nothing more than to slip back into his arms and finish what they’d started.
“Convincing enough for you…Blake?” she asked, surprised by the strength in her voice when the rest of her was trembling, as though she were a kitten facing down a Saint Bernard.
Slowly, his hands dropped to his sides. “Yeah,” he muttered with a roughness in his tone. “Plenty convincing.”
“Good.” She lifted her chin a notch and hoped for a satisfied expression. Stepping around him, she headed toward the condo, feeling anything but pleased, but hot and achy instead…and wishing like the devil for an icy shower.
BLAKE WAS CONVINCED all right. Convinced he’d been lured into the lioness’s den and had just been served up as the main course.
He followed Ronnie back to his place at a more sedate pace, needing time to rein in his runaway libido before he made another stupid mistake that had him sliding his hands over her lush curves and tasting the sweet perfection of her mouth. Instead of maintaining a keen awareness of their surroundings, he’d been consumed by her, something he couldn’t allow to happen again. Mistakes of any kind were unacceptable, and often met with fatal results. Losing control definitely qualified as a drastic error, and it had nothing to do with the case and everything to do with the woman who’d just turned him inside out with need.
The kiss had been far from gentle, and filled with enough sizzling heat to scorch them both. He dreaded the thought of what could’ve happened if she hadn’t ended the kiss. Making love to Ronnie was a temptation tough to resist, but was about as smart as stepping onto the ledge of a high-rise during an ice storm.
Not a smart move, he thought watching the provocative sway of her hips as she climbed the wooden stairs. For the second time in a short period, he’d lost control of a situation, and that bothered him. First, the suspect he’d been ready to pulverize, and now his reaction to Ronnie when she’d pressed her delectable body intimately against his.
He needed more than a vacation. He needed a reality check. A cold shower wouldn’t hurt, either.
By the time he stepped inside the condo, he’d managed to regain a semblance of composure, until he saw her bend over to place something inside her briefcase. He let out a long, slow breath that did little to cool the resumed height of his temperature. Best to avoid the situation completely, he thought, and walked into the kitchen to place a call to the local deli for a couple of meatball sandwiches.
Thankfully, she kept her distance while he made himself scarce under the guise of slicing vegetables for a salad. They had a job to do, and he had no business blurring the lines because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. The department’s non-fraternization rules were in place for a reason. Sex was one monster of a distraction and had no business on the job.
Ten minutes later his prime distraction sauntered into the kitchen with a smile pasted on her sexy mouth. A mouth he wanted to taste again and to hell with policy.
“Can I help?” she asked, her sweet accent breaking into his thoughts.
He considered telling her she could help by getting herself removed from the case and letting the LAPD handle it, or better yet, find herself another partner.
“No, thanks,” he lied.
He didn’t like the idea of Ronnie spending two weeks alone with another man any more than he welcomed the twisting in his gut the image evoked. He shoved the thought aside and attempted to concentrate on the mushrooms he’d been slicing, until she eased up beside him and braced her elbows on the counter. He glanced down as she reached into the glass bowl and filched a halved cherry tomato, his gaze drawn to the way her cotton top dipped, revealing the gentle slope of her breasts.
He let out another long rush of air that had little effect on his simmering lust.
She snagged another cherry tomato and smiled up at him. “I used to get my hand smacked for doing this as a kid,” she admitted.
“Improper behavior for a Southern lady?” He pushed the bowl closer to her.
She laughed, a light sound that made him smile. “How ever did you guess?”
He finished with the mushrooms and started on the cucumber. “So is being a DEA agent.”
She shrugged her slender shoulders. “Like I said, it’s a family legacy.”
He knew about legacies. He had his own he was determined not to fulfill, no matter how attracted he was to Ronnie. “So what do your prophetic instincts have to say about designer drugs being smuggled in and out of Catalina Island?” he asked, changing the subject…for now.
“We’re supposed to gather evidence to determine who is involved, confirm the smugglers are using the resort, and if Seaport Manor is knowingly involved.” She straightened and turned, resting her curvy bottom against the cabinet. Crossing her arms, she added, “From what I’ve studied so far, I’m seriously doubting there’s any knowledge on the part of the resort.”
“I called my lieutenant this afternoon,” he said, despite his curiosity about Ronnie’s past. “You know the resort’s a joint venture, right?”
“Right,” she said, looking suitably impressed that he’d done his homework. “But we’ve turned up nothing on any of the shareholders involved. They’re so clean they squeak.”
“Maybe all of them are legit,” he said, rinsing a handful of radishes. “Or one or two of the so-called partners could be buried so deep, unless you knew what you were looking for, you’d never find it.”
“Not a chance. The computers would have found something. Some link.”
He flashed her a grin and shrugged, clearly not buying her explanation.
Her lips twitched as she pushed off the counter. “You’re so doubting.”
“Doubt has nothing to do with it.”
She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of iced tea. “No,” she said, refilling their glasses. “Then what does?”
“Experience.” He dumped the last of the vegetables in the bowl and set the knife aside. “Do you know how many of these corporations are local? Not just California-based, but L.A.-based? All of them,” he supplied without waiting for an answer.
“That’s not unusual. Big resorts are owned by major corporations all around the world.”
“Bingo.”
She slipped the pitcher back into the fridge. “You lost me.”
“The joint venture is a fake,” he said turning to face her. “One, maybe two or three individuals tops are connected to Seaport, and he, or they, are deeply buried beneath a series of dummy corporations.”
“That’s impossible,” she argued, shaking her head. “We’ve run each of those corporations through the computer systems and they all checked out. Believe me, if there were any links whatsoever, the system would have picked it up. The only connection is the joint-venture ownership of Seaport Manor. Period.”
“You’ll have to trust me on this one,” he said as the doorbell rang. “I can feel it. We’re looking for one person.”
He left her alone in the kitchen and went to the door, returning a few seconds later with their meal.
“You’re