Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (interesting books to read for teens TXT) 📕

When she saw his lids lower, she reached for him, needing to get to his lips before he did hers again. He had to know she wanted this, no matter what she said. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers digging into his nape. His curls, curls that she knew so well, wound around her fingers as she pulled him in. He cupped her face with exquisite gentleness as he moved in. Their lips met with zero curiosity, as they were already intimately acquainted. The brief kiss in his apartment had confirmed that.

It was the force of her emotions that took her by surprise. All in a simple touch.

Nothing is simple with Stanton.

All of today’s pain, yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s worries blew away. Nothing was stronger than this—the bond she shared with Stanton. His hands left her face and his arms went around her waist, his chest surged across the bucket seats and pressed against hers, the friction against her breasts the sexiest sensation she recalled in her thirty years, ever. Stanton’s tongue didn’t barge into her mouth, or make tentative strokes on her lips, but seemed to join with hers as if they’d never parted, as if being joined together in any way possible was the sole purpose of their existence.

The kiss went on and on, and their hands roamed and roamed. Each caress raised her arousal, and when he gently squeezed her breast she moaned against his lips. How had she survived the last two years without this?

“Dom.” His breath, hot against her throat, healing what had been so broken just minutes before, further stoked her need.

“I know.” She forced her hands off his neck, allowed them to grasp his shoulders, wander down across his chest. His arms held her, cradled her, and she knew she was safe, secure. Stanton had always been her safe harbor. “I want it, too, Stanton.”

His body stilled and she fought to not cry in protest as he lifted his head, his gaze locked on hers.

What had she done?

* * *

Dominique had said she wanted it. Not him, not Stanton, not them as a couple, but it.

Dang it all to Hades and back. He couldn’t break their eye contact, needing the connection, the reassurance that his attraction, his need, wasn’t one-way. Desire made her pupils wide and he felt the strength of her arousal under his fingers as he caressed her collarbone, the way her blood pounded under his fingertips at her pulse points.

“This is what we can’t risk, Dominique.” He moved away, careful to go slow enough to not hurt her or touch her bruises. He’d been so caught up in the kiss, in her, that he’d forgotten her injuries. He sucked in air, lots of air. “We can’t fall back into our physical attraction in front of my parents. It’ll get their hopes up too high.”

“Is that why you kissed me, to test it out? To see if I still gave you the same thrill?”

Her words drove through him as hard as his lust had, and he rubbed his forehead. “No. I kissed you because, well, it was important we cleared the air.” Had he just said that? Did he sound like the biggest jerk to her, too?

“That’s fair enough.” Her lack of reaction stilled something deep inside him. She straightened her clothing, readjusted her position in the passenger seat. Darkness had fallen and he couldn’t see anything through the fogged windows. He started the engine.

At her quick glance he shrugged. “It’s getting chilly.” It was. Spring was evident in the buds on the trees during the day, but winter held on tight to the night.

“Whatever you need me to do, to keep all of us safe, I’ll do it. Maybe we need to look at this, this kiss, like a bad experiment. We tried it—it’s only a path to certain disaster between us, and we won’t go there again. I’ll go along with your story for your parents. I always liked them, you know.” Her countenance was so matter-of-fact it grated on him as he struggled to contain his emotions.

“As they did you.” He replied before his grudging admission would stir up more memories. “I’m glad we’re in agreement, then.”

“Wait, there’s one more thing.” She put her hand on his forearm, stopped him from shifting into gear. “If we’re really clearing the air, let me say this. I didn’t thank you for today. Thank you, Stanton. You saved my life. I admit I thought it was only an attempt to scare me, to warn me. But after getting shot at in the parking garage, I realize you’re right. Pablo Jimenez has to be behind it all, and he wants me dead. Thank you for seeing what I couldn’t. And for saving me a second time.”

Her eyes, pools of sincerity, tugged at that same spot in his chest that he was doing his best to keep under wraps, far from the reach of any silly dreams about the two of them. He glanced away before he did something stupid like kiss her again. “It’s my job, Dominique. One your father is paying me handsomely for.”

If only he could remember this. Before he let his guard down and Dominique got hurt, or worse.

* * *

The lake house came into view only on the last turn of the driveway, emerging from the tall maples and pines as if from a dream. Her stomach flipped. She’d missed this so much, what had once become her retreat from the often harsh pace of her career. Had she been naive to think it could last forever? Or had she confused her feelings for Stanton with convenience?

Her severe self-examination would have to wait. As she got out of the car and joined Stanton for the short walk to the front door, she breathed in the lake air, let it soothe her agitation. The scent of wet grass and early spring filled her with a sense of peace, if only for