Page 107 of Crash Course
Yes, she’d screw his lights out tonight. No doubt about that.
Apparently reading her mind, a slick smile eased across his face.Naughty boy.How she loved it.
Reaching the car, he swung the door open. "Welcome back."
"Thank you." She grabbed her purse and tote from the passenger seat and slid out of the car. "Are you thinking dirty thoughts?"
"When it comes to you? Always."
"Excellent. Me too."
The two of them burst out laughing and that? After the last few days? A gift.
If he broke her heart, she’d have to kill him. That’s all there was to it.
Apparently not caring who might watch, Cruz leaned in, brushing his lips against hers, back and forth, back and forth, in what might be the softest kiss she’d ever experienced. And, yet, raging heat shot from her core. It’d be a miracle if her clothes didn’t burn clear off.
She reached up and touched his cheek, her fingers caressing the short hair of his beard. Her mind went back to the last two nights and all the places he’d explored with his mouth and the sensation of that prickly yet enticing beard on her skin.
A low moan came from her throat, and she pulled back. "We have to stop," she said. "Or I’m taking you to your room and having my way with you. Right now."
"And the problem is?"
"Aside from your entire family being here for a barbecue?"
He winced. "Good point."
"Don’t I know it?" She pointed to the Mercedes. "Who does this baby belong to?"
"Kayla Crowne."
Phin’s boss.
"She’s here?"
"She is. Phin invited her."
These Blackwells. They knew how to get things done. Phin had promised her he’d set up a meeting and he’d done it in expeditious fashion.
"She’s inside," Cruz said. "We figured we could talk before dinner."
"Sounds like a plan."
Cruz escorted her into the building where, for the first time, no one sat at the conference table. "It’s quiet."
"Yeah. Zeke and Ro are out back with Liv, Maddy and Lena. Phin is in his office with Kayla."
"I hope Maddy isn’t upset with me for stealing Phin away."
"Nah. She loves you. She’s excited to see you, though. No dawdling. Her words. Not mine."
The feeling was mutual. Months earlier, Maddy had been wrongly accused of stealing priceless jewels. The two of them had gone to war and cleared her name and Cilla considered Maddy a friend.
Cruz led her around the conference table to an office wedged between two others with closed doors. Voices drifted into the hallway.
"Knock-knock," Cruz called, alerting Phin and Kayla of their presence.
"Come in," Phin called.
