Part 13 (1/2)

”And you didn't have to try to talk me down from that emotional ledge I was standing on.”

”I thought you came from a family of cops, not drama queens.”

In response, she merely gave him a smile. A crooked smile that went straight to his gut. This was a bad idea, he thought, letting her come in here. He should have stood his ground by the door.

Too late now.

Hands in her pockets, Teri slowly scanned the small s.p.a.ce, all of which could have been nestled into any one of the rooms in her father's house. Except that this represented Hawk's entire apartment. A bed, a table and chair, a combination refrigerator/stove/sink, a television set sharing s.p.a.ce with a pile of books and one love seat because there was no room for a sofa. For a big man, he didn't seem to need much s.p.a.ce.

She turned around to face him again. ”So this is where you live.”

He leaned against the counter, watching her. ”You already knew that or you wouldn't be here.”

”From the outside,” she corrected. ”I knew your address, not what the place looked like.” She flashed a smile at him. ”So, want to give me the grand tour?”

With a resigned, less-than-patient sigh, Hawk swung his hand from one end of the room to the other. ”There, you've had the grand tour.”

She slid her hands into her pockets. ”It's kind of small.”

Hawk shrugged. He'd never needed anything fancy. And it was his, which was all that mattered. Growing up, he would have killed to have something like this. ”It's got everything I need.”

In this day and age of excess, it was unusual to meet someone who was satisfied with so little. The home invaders would have turned right around at the door had they targeted his place. ”Don't need much, do you?”

”Nope.” He pinned her with a long, penetrating look. Wanting her to leave before he made a misstep they were both going to regret. ”What are you really doing here, Cavanaugh?”

So it was Cavanaugh again, not Teri, she thought. He was retreating. ”Hanging out with my partner?” she offered cheerfully.

He wasn't the kind to kick back with in front of the TV with a couple of beers and they both knew it. The longer she stayed, the more dangerous the situation became. ”What does it take to get rid of you?”

”I don't know.” She drew closer to him. ”A silver bullet?” Her eyes teased him as she lifted her chin up in an unconscious show of defiance. ”What have you got?”

What he had was an overwhelming craving to kiss her. To have her.

It was all wrong and he knew it.

She was crowding him, just by standing there, by breathing. He wanted her to go before he asked her to stay. What was it that he'd once heard her say? ”You're messing with the universe.”

She grinned. Broadly. And he had this urge to wipe the grin from her mouth with his own. ”You do listen to me when I talk,” she said.

He did, a lot more than he wanted to, but he didn't want her making a big deal of it. By now, he knew her. She could make bouquets out of a single daisy. ”It's like water on tile. A little of it always manages to seep through eventually no matter how good the seal is.”

”Poetic and utilitarian,” she observed. ”There're no end to your talents, is there?”

When she breathed, he could almost feel her b.r.e.a.s.t.s brus.h.i.+ng against his rib cage. ”There's an end, all right, and it should be here.”

Should be, but wasn't.

She was getting to him again, getting to him with the force of a ten-ton bomb. Maybe it was the small s.p.a.ce. She seemed to fill it just as she did the inside of the car at times. Filled it with her exuberance, with the zest that seemed to vibrate all around her.

He could feel the pull between them, drawing him in. Tempting him to cross over a line that shouldn't be crossed. He tried again. ”Look, maybe you'd better go.”

She made no move. ”I just got here.” Her voice was innocent. Tempting. ”Your hosting skills need a little polis.h.i.+ng.”

”I'm not playing host.” He moved a lock of her hair back, exposing her neck. Wondering what it would be like to taste the skin there. ”Maybe I'm still playing your protector.”

She could feel her heart hammering again, far harder than when she'd raced after the home invaders the other day. ”What are you protecting me from?”

”Me.”

His breath danced along her face. She felt her body tightening. Waiting. ”I don't think I need any protection from you.”

”Think again,” he advised. He took her chin in his hand, framing her face. Desire moved in, setting up homesteading.

There was little s.p.a.ce between them. So little s.p.a.ce that a speck would have trouble pa.s.sing through.

He knew he should step back.

One of them should hang on to good sense and it looked as if the mantle fell to him. She wasn't the kind to be warned off. But she could be frightened off.

He pulled her to him and brought his mouth down to hers-hard. For one moment, he unchained his desire. Kissed her as savagely as he could, hoping to scare her away before he wouldn't let her go.

He succeeded in scaring himself instead. Scaring himself by the way his head seemed to spin when he kissed her, by the way his blood warmed in his veins, roared in his ears.

The hunger he felt threw him. He had all the normal male urges, but this, this was different. This was something he wasn't sure if he could control.

With effort, Hawk drew his head away. She looked dazed, as if she were sh.e.l.l-shocked.

Run.

He didn't know if the thought applied to her, or to him.

Teri pressed her lips together, tasting him. Her heart wouldn't stop hammering.

Bewilderment filled her eyes as she looked at him. ”Why did you stop?” she wanted to know. ”You were just getting to the good part.”

For just a moment longer, he held himself in check. ”Last chance.”

He was warning her. But she didn't want to be warned. Her emotions were all over the chart and she wanted to focus them. To give them a place to gather. The tension between them felt as if it would erupt at any minute and she didn't want to wait any longer.

The sides of his s.h.i.+rt hung open, inviting her. She didn't turn a deaf ear. Teri spread her fingers along his chest. ”I'm not going anywhere.”

He laced his fingers through her hair. She felt fragile, as if he could break her into pieces if he tried. If she knew what was good for her, she'd run out of here and keep on running.

”Maybe you should.”

Teri raised her chin. ”You don't scare me, Jack Hawkins.” Her feet were firmly planted on the floor, her body language all but daring him to make her leave. ”I'm not afraid of you.”