He narrowed his gaze. “I agree with you about Catherine. As for me, I was still on a case.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Sleeping with me was work-related?”
“Don’t twist my words,” he said with a wry smile.
“Then let the guilt go.” Kayla couldn’t reach him if he hid behind his job and sense of duty. “Look, when you were a teenager, did you ever get in an argument with your mother, then storm out into the street?”
He met her question with a vacant stare.
Curious, she pushed on. “At that point, there wasn’t anything she could do to stop you from getting into trouble.”
“There wasn’t a damn thing she could have done about anything. She was dead.” His voice sounded distant. As if a robot were speaking.
Her mouth opened and closed again just as fast. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for her. She killed herself. Took herself out of the game.”
Leaving her child behind. Kayla knew better than to voice pity for the boy he’d been. She was grateful enough for the revelations. She wasn’t about to discourage them by suffocating him in emotion. “And your father?” she asked.
His shoulders grew stiff. “Took a hike when I was five. Is there a point to all this?”
A smile tipped the edges of her mouth. “There was, but you’ve cut off every one I was about to make.”
Kane let the tension ease. She didn’t treat him with the sad look or pitying expression his friends, teachers, and the authorities had used in his youth. He hadn’t voiced his story again until now, but wasn’t surprised he’d confided in Kayla.
He’d known many women. None affected him on any level other than physical. None attempted to challenge him. He’d met his match, and he respected her for it. Respected her far more than women who played the weak heroine to get his attention and into his bed.
He’d begun having sex early in his teens—too often, he’d come to realize. Later he’d become smarter, more discriminating. Only one thing remained constant. He came and went with no thought to looking back or revealing himself. Not so with Kayla. After all she’d been through—thanks to him—she deserved a little honesty.
But that wasn’t the sole reason for his confidences now. He didn’t want to think about why he wanted to share the most painful parts of his life with this woman.
She shifted, the movement revealing pale skin and an expanse of thigh that aroused him in an instant.
“My point is you aren’t responsible for me,” she said, meeting his gaze.
Primitive possession flooded his system. “The hell I’m not.”
In the face of his roar, she didn’t blink.
He admired her spunk. “You’re my responsibility at least until this case is over, so let’s drop that part of the conversation now.”
“Okay.”
He blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to give in without an argument. “So you aren’t angry?”
“Not about the initial investigation, no.”
“And what came after?” He’d slept with her and lied while doing it.
“Pheromones,” she explained.
“What?”
“Two people attracted to each other by stimuli they can’t control.” She took her smart explanation seriously and he’d forgotten the intellectual side of this beautiful woman. “A chemical reaction,” she went on. “So if you’re still blaming yourself for losing focus, don’t. I’m equally at fault.”
“Meaning?”
“I wanted you, too.” She fiddled with the hem on her jersey without meeting his gaze.
This was the Kayla he’d first met. The innocent who threatened to chip away at his heart, if he let her.
Which he wouldn’t. But he couldn’t let her last statement go unchallenged. He had to know. Wanted, as in past tense?” he asked.
She shrugged and leaned back into the pillows. “Why ask? You’re a man of your word. You said it won’t happen again. Does what I want really matter?”
He could drown in emotion, in her. “Everything you want matters.”
Her expression grew still, then a tear spilled from the corner of one eye. “No one’s ever said that to me. I’m thankful for you, Kane.”
A low growl escaped from his throat. “I don’t want your gratitude.”
“Then what do you want?” She did her best to hold in her frustration.
“That’s a loaded question.”
“I know. That’s why I asked.” An impish smile played around her mouth, even as she wiped away a tear.
Kane knew what he wanted. Kayla, soft and giving beneath him. But she was right. He’d laid down the law. It wouldn’t happen again. But he knew what she needed—to be reassured that she counted. It was the only thing he could offer her.
He looked into her eyes—eyes that displayed her soul and mirrored his need. He braced his hands on either side of her face.
He caressed her cheek, careful to keep her head steady. “Are you sure you want to know what I want?”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” She touched a hand to the stubble on his face and ran two delicate fingers down his cheek. “You count, too, Kane. I wonder if anyone’s ever told you that before.”
No one had. No one would again. He leaned over and covered her mouth with his. To block out the truth…and to accept it at the same time. Her lips opened and her tongue sought his, not hesitant but eager. She licked his lips, ran her tongue over his teeth, learning and growing bolder with each taste.
He craved her. She was a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He threaded his fingers through her still-damp hair, then eased his lower body over hers. His arms shook with exertion, from the need to keep a safe distance between them, before he lost control and hurt her more.
Her hips jerked upward without warning. She brushed his erection with nothing more than the flimsy cotton he’d found in her drawer. He exhaled a harsh groan and eased himself on top of
