Fast Burn

The oven dinged and she turned away. “Thirty minutes.”

He watched as she got everything in the oven. She ate another cookie while putting together a salad, and then she set the table, leaning close to him, brushing against him.

She was really feeling frisky tonight—or was it something more?

When she started to move away, Brand caught her arm. Her skin was soft and warm, her bones delicate, but the woman had iron in her blood and a will made of titanium.

Brushing his thumb over the silken skin inside her elbow, he asked, “Is this your way of reacting to the evening?”

A flash of uncertainty filled her blue eyes, then cleared behind a big grin. She put a hand to his chest. “One of the most appealing men I’ve ever known is in my kitchen, and you want to dissect my mood?”

That evasive nonanswer only made him more determined. “Yeah, I think I do.” He tugged.

Of course she resisted his efforts.

And of course he won the small battle.

She either overestimated her strength, or underestimated his.

Sahara ended up sprawled in his lap, a sexy, squirming armful. As he worked to contain her, he asked, “Easy or hard, Sahara?”

Her eyes flared wide and her lips parted.

Cursing himself over his unfortunate wording, Brand briefly looked away. When she again tried to scramble free, he locked his arms around her and pinned her with his gaze.

Being so close, he saw the thickness of her lashes, how her pupils dilated—he even felt the warmth of her faster breaths.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth.

Fighting his way out of the cage with the number one heavyweight would have been easier, but he managed not to kiss her. “We’re going to talk about what happened tonight, especially what happened while you were alone with them.”

“We are?”

He saw no reason to repeat himself, so he merely waited.

Proving she wasn’t on her A game right now, she cracked. “There’s nothing much to tell. They said Scott owed them money and they were getting it back by ransoming me.”

That sounded true—but no way was it the whole story. “You said someone put you over his shoulder?” Even though he’d done the same thing, it infuriated him to imagine it.

“The boss man,” she confirmed with an indignant nod. “The one in charge. He warned the others not to bother me, and they didn’t. Shoot, they hardly spoke to me. But he explained a few things.”

“About Scott?”

“No, just...the rules.”

Something in her expression, in the way her voice dropped, alerted him. Opening his hand on her back, he soothed a path up and down her rigid spine. “What rules, honey?”

She stared at him. “You’re comforting me?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh.” Suddenly she tucked herself closer, her cheek against his shoulder, her hand sliding up his chest. “This is nice.”

Drawing out her name like a warning, he said, “Sahara.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it. Nothing happened, I promise.”

Brand tunneled his fingers into her hair, then tugged her head back. “I know you better than that.” He wanted her trust. He needed her to know that she didn’t have to be the boss every minute of every day, not with him.

Her searching gaze bounced back and forth over his. “You have really thick, dark eyelashes, Brand. Did you know that?”

“Sahara—”

“And all this sexy stubble,” she said, reaching for his face.

“Enough.” Brand tilted out of reach. “You’re going to tell me what happened to you, so stop trying to distract me.”

Groaning, she whacked his shoulder. “You’re not normal, damn it! Why can’t you just take what I’m offering—”

His mouth covered hers in the most expedient way to silence her annoyance. She immediately sank against him, all the vibrating agitation draining from her slim body.

Perfect.

Too perfect.

Bordering on dangerous...and wasn’t that absurd given the situation they’d just escaped?

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