Hot in Here: Uncovered / Tailspin / An Honorable Man

Instead, he leaned down until his mouth just touched hers. “Can I show you my ideas on the differences between horny and antsy?”

He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and all that sleek bare skin was against her. He smelled like a man should, like something that could be bottled and sold to make a fortune. And she could feel his hard, hair-roughened thighs on the tender insides of her legs. “Yes.” Her heart threatened to punch out of her chest. “You can show me.”

“I love a good sport.”

Her breath caught at the word love, and then Harris murmured, “Here’s horny.”

His mouth settled over hers, moving hotly, urging her lips to part so his tongue could sink inside. At the same time, he gently rocked his pelvis against hers, teased her nipples with the pressure of his chest. His breath was hot on her cheek, fast and low.

Wow. When he lifted away, Clair had to struggle to get her eyes open. “Lust,” she whispered in complete agreement.

“Right. And here’s antsy.” He released her hands to cup her face, holding her still as he kissed her deeply again. Clair groaned. Kissing Harris was a revelation. She now realized that among his other accolades, she’d have to add “awesome kisser.”

He eased away. “So what do you think?”

Her head was spinning, her heart beating too fast. “They were the same.”

“Right, because there isn’t a difference.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “It’s just preference, Clair. Sometimes I like it hard and fast.”

She groaned again.

“But sometimes,” he said, drawing it out and searing her with a look, “I like to make it last all night.”

Clair wasn’t sure she could take an all-nighter. But then he kissed her temple, and when he spoke, his voice was a rough whisper.

“For you, I’d make it last.”

Okay, so maybe she could take it. Clair started to wrap her arms around him, but Harris held her off. His smile looked pained, and his muscles were taut with restraint. He kissed her nose again—and sat up.

“But since you’re playing some strange game here and I can’t quite figure out the rules yet, I think I better call it a night.”

She didn’t want him to go now, darn it. She wanted...

Harris touched her cheek, smoothed her hair. “When we sleep together, Clair—and we will, so don’t deny it—I don’t want any miscommunication or regrets. We’ll both be in agreement, and we’ll both enjoy it. Okay?”

A little numb, Clair nodded.

When Harris pushed to his feet, she sat up and quickly located her glasses. She felt more self-assured with the visual barrier in place. “Harris?”

He smiled down at her, giving her a sense of déjà vu, but with her in the wrong position. In the park, she’d done this to him—led him on, then walked away.

He tipped his head toward her.

“Thank you.”

A smile warmed his expression. “For waiting?”

“And for understanding. I...I guess I’m not a hundred percent sure what I want yet.”

“Between us?”

“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think you are either.”

“Now there’s where you’re wrong. I know what I want—and I know I’ll get it. That’s the only reason I can be so patient now.”

Clair blinked hard. Had she finally made some serious progress?

“Good night, Clair,” Harris said, and his expression was warm, intimate. “Sweet dreams.”

CHAPTER FOUR

EVEN WHILE HE HOVERED next to Dane, waiting to see the results from the information he’d supplied, Harris kept listening for Clair to get to work. He was curious about the mystery woman still, no two ways about that. When he’d seen a dark-haired woman flirting with him, all his senses had gone on alert. He’d made note of her license plates, and now he waited to see if she could be the one. He hoped so. The suspense was killing him.

But even while he waited in tense silence, more than half his attention was on the door, anticipating Clair’s arrival. The way that girl kissed... Hell, she was so hot, he probably should stay in uniform when with her. He needed the fireproof protection.

She was the same Clair he enjoyed so much, but she acted different with him now. He liked the changes, the feminine layers to her personality. The teasing. Like refined foreplay, Clair’s advance and retreat kept his excitement very close to the surface, ready to explode with little provocation.

“Her name is Melody Miles.” Dane, with his hand over the receiver of the phone, glanced up at Harris. “Miss Melody Miles—so she’s single.”

Somehow, that didn’t thrill Harris as much as he’d thought it might.

“Alec says up close, she doesn’t look the same to him.”

“None of the photos show her face.”

“He didn’t mention her face.” Dane shrugged. “He was talking about her body. She’s a little heavier than she seemed in the snapshots, but that could be due to a time difference between when the pictures were taken and now.”

The door opened and Clair strolled in. She was smiling—until she saw Harris. Then she snapped to a standstill; her back slowly straightened.

Harris barely heard Dane still talking. Today Clair wore narrow, rectangular glasses that added an air of supreme intelligence to her appearance. Her dark glossy hair was a little windblown, proving she’d ridden to work with her car window down. Beneath the short hem of a navy-blue jumper, her long legs were bare. White sandals matched her white T-shirt. She looked adorable.

He was so glad to see her again. “Clair.”

Her mouth flattened. “What are you doing here, Harris?”

Dane hung up and stepped out from behind her desk. “He thought he might have found the mystery lady.”

Clair crossed her arms and thrust out a hip in an arrogant pose. “Do tell.”

Clearing his throat, very unsure of her mood, Harris said, “Yeah, well. She was flirting with me at this coffee shop where I stopped this morning. I realized I stop there a lot, and that could be the connection. You know, where she knew me from and everything.”

“Have you ever met her?”

“No.” Clair sounded so...accusatory. “But she could have heard my name from someone. I’ve been in there with the guys a few times too. Occasionally in uniform, so she’d know I was a firefighter.”

“Assuming she hangs out there as well.”

“Yeah. Assuming that.” Harris wished Dane would offer a little help. He’d acted enthusiastic about the possibility of the woman being “the one,” yet now he just stood there and grinned, enjoying Harris’s plight.