A warm flush spread over my entire body. I ignored the little voice in the back of my head that screamed this is dangerous. Because God, I knew this was dangerous, but I felt myself completely falling. And I was still on that precipice where it might be safe enough that if I torqued my body just so, I would be able to grip the ledge and not fall over, and I would be safe. But I was in that breath between thinking I could recover and feeling myself falling, and if anyone didn't say that was the scariest part of any ride, just at that point where you knew you were going to make the tumble away from safety, they'd be lying.
"Hey." He stopped me, holding my hand and then wrapping his arms around me, cocooning me in his heat and his scent, and my knees felt like a puddle. But it was instant relaxation, and I felt safe. When I inhaled deeply, he laughed. "Are you sniffing me, Agent Kinkade?"
"Yes, I am. You smell amazing. What is that? It's like pine and something."
"Honestly, I don't know. It's some fancy French shit Jessa got me for my birthday."
"You're telling me you don't even know what you're wearing?"
"I have a lot of cologne."
I took another whiff. "I don't think that's the cologne. I think that's you."
His chuckle was low, and it sort of felt like he was vibrating. It felt amazing.
Stop it. Stop it, stop it. You will fall over. Fall deep, no climbing back out of this one.
But even though I was fighting, I knew it was too late. I knew because I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone in my life. "Right. All right, firing squad."
"You know, you don't have to do this."
I sighed. "Well, yes, I do, actually. Because if I don't do this, it says I'm afraid. And while I am afraid, I'm not going to let him know that. I'm not going to sit in my flat too cowed to do anything. He stepped over the line, and I'm going to face him. I love my job. I need my job. But I don't need this. I won’t hide. I won’t be afraid. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
He kissed my forehead. "That's right. And don't forget I'm here for you."
"Yes, you are. You recognize that when we walk in there, it’ll be like I'm waving a red cape in front of him, right?"
East grinned then. "Oh, I know. I'm counting on it."
He rang the doorbell, and Hazel answered with a bright smile. Honestly, there was no reason to hate her except that she was just so damned exuberant and seemingly warm. And even I recognized that I should tell her run, girl, run. Run as far and as fast as you can. Not that she would listen, because I hadn't listened to that voice, and she looked like she was in love. Even though I knew that she was not to blame, there was a part of me that just couldn't like her. But still, I plastered a smile on my face. "Hazel, hi. Thanks for having us."
"Oh, I'm so glad you could come."
She pulled me in and gave me two kisses on my cheek, and I stiffened. I didn’t like being touched by people I didn’t really know. But East was there, smoothing the edges of my discomfort. With his charm and his smile, he introduced himself. Hazel just blinked up at him, jaw slightly agape. Would I get used to that? Women staring at him like he was a giant, lickable ice cream cone on a hot summer day? I wasn't generally jealous. But the way she looked at him made me want to scream, go get your own man. I felt East's fingers press into my lower back, and Hazel led the way into the house.
Past the foyer, the living room was to the left. It was dark, but warm. Fireplace, neat and tidy. Books stacked evenly on the bookshelf. I knew Denning well enough to know that they would be categorized by author last name and each shelf would be different. My bookshelves were haphazard, disorganized, tossed together. But I liked reading to be an adventure. I liked not knowing what I was going to pull off the shelf. At any rate, past the living room, further to the right, was a staircase leading to the second floor, and then down the hall, I could hear chattering voices from the dining room. When we entered, my father stood. "Nyla. You're here."
"Yep. Guess I am."
Dad frowned when he saw East. "You brought a guest."
I sighed. "Yes, dad. This is East Hale."
East was completely at ease. He shook my father's hand. "We've met before.”
My father coughed then. "Yes, sorry. Guess I'd forgotten our interaction."
East grinned. "I'm sure you did. It's all right though. Nice to see you again."
Something in the set of my father's jaw made me frown. Why was he being an ass? East kept his hand around my waist, but it didn't feel like a brand; it felt like support. What the hell was going on with my father? Amelia came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Holy hell. He's even more gorgeous up close."
I smiled at her. "I know."
"I'm going to need details."
I flushed then. "Um, not all the details."
"Well, some of them. Because, wow."
We were whispering, but I could knew East could hear us because his fingers trailed just past my waist over my hip, and was that… Did he just grab my ass?
The two other members of our team, Kyle and Jacinda, came over, and introductions were made. Tony and Ayalla were on assignment, so they weren't joining. Denning hadn't bothered to greet East. He stayed seated. Not that it bothered East one bit. When we took
