Page 176 of Bound By Fire
His mouth is warm. He tastes good. He tastes like more. His hands come up to my waist, and for a beat or two, he kisses me back. His lips move over mine. His chest is solid under my palms.
Then he goes rigid.
He pulls back. “Robyn.” His voice is rough. “Stop. Please.”
I drop back onto my heels. My hands fall from his neck.
“What…?”
“I need to speak with you.” He looks past me into the apartment, then back at my face.
He steps in, turns, and closes the door behind him.
“Actually, I want to talk to you too,” I say. “I was going to do it later, but if you want to do it now?—”
Maybe it’s the same talk I want to have with him. Maybe…
No! I’m not going to get my hopes up.
I look up at him, noting that his jaw is hard. There is something in his eyes. Whatever it is, I don’t like it.
I frown. “Ridge. What is it?”
He doesn’t answer. He takes my hand in his, his fingers warm and a little too tight, and he leads me through to the living room, and we sit.
“You’re scaring me a little.” I try for a small laugh, but it doesn’t come out right. “Is everything okay? You’re acting weird.”
“I’m so damned sorry,” he says.
I blink up at him. “Sorry for what? You keep apologizing to me. What is going on?”
He doesn’t answer for a long stretch. A man on the television is now sobbing about his ravioli. I turn it off.
“I’m listening,” I tell him. “Just say it. It can’t be that bad.”
“In a couple of minutes,” Ridge finally says, “guards are going to walk through that door. They’re going to arrest you.”
Okay, then.
I was wrong. Clearly, it can be that bad.
I frown.
“What are you talking about? Why would I be arrested? I haven’t…”
And then the pieces start to click into place.
“You’ve been investigating me,” I say. “Haven’t you?”
Slowly, his face bleak, he nods.
“Did you find something?” I frown.
“I found a burner phone.” His voice has gone flat, all the warmth I’ve ever heard in it stripped out. “As well as classified documentation in a pouch. The texts on the burner have been made to look like you’ve been messaging the Mainland with sensitive information.”
“I would never do that.” It comes out fast, my voice hard. “Never!”
“I know.”
