Ring of Lies (46 page)

She
couldn’t tear her gaze from his
face
.
T
he
sudden intensity in his eyes made her feel alive and sent heat chasing through her body.
Go
osebumps crawled over her skin—
they had nothing to do with t
he temperature of the water.

Powerless to stop, s
he rested one hand on
his shoulder, felt her thigh brush his
,
the gentle massage
sending currents of desire through her.

Without
thinking
,
sh
e
brushed her lips over his
.
The tension that had been building between them tumbled over into raw sexual desire.
Jack’s
arm wrap
ped
around her waist
and
pul
l
ed
her hard against him
,
mo
ulding
her soft curves
to the contours of his lean body.
She felt her knees weaken as his lips met hers.
The
ir
kiss went from tentative to
something primitive and demanding
in the space of a
heartbeat
.

Her breath hitched.
With a soft moan
,
she buried her hands in his hair
and kissed him
with a passion she didn’t know she possessed.
She wanted him.
She wanted
to feel him sink into her softness until she forgot where she was and why she was here.
Long forgotten sensations rippled through her
until
she was trembling
and whispering his
name with every broken breath.

Jack dragged his mouth from hers.

‘
Grace,
s
top it,
’
he said breathlessly.
He lowered his forehead to hers
.
‘
Go and get dressed
before I
throw my good intentions out of the pool and do
something both of us will regret.
’

The roughness in his voice almost broke her heart.
Her face burning, she
blew out a breath
,
too stunned to say anything.
Dear God, what
have I
done?

Humiliated, s
he turned
and
swam away
,
lest he see the tears in her eyes.
B
y the time she reached the other end of the pool
,
he’d
climbed out and
disappeared inside the house.

She
floated on her back and stared at the cloudless
,
blue
sky.
Her relationship with Daniel had been
easy. H
e’d been more like a friend than a lover.
Her relationship with Jack
, if she could call it
that
,
was anything but.
She felt confused, o
ne minute he was giving her sultry looks, the
next he was pushing her away.
Yet
t
hat one kiss stirred more emotion, more passion, than ten years of marriage to Daniel ever had.

The look in Jack’s eyes had reminded her of the night
she’d told him she was mar
ried.
Disappointment, or
was it
hatred
?
At
the time
,
she hadn’t been able to decide which
emotion she’d seen
.
But what she’d
witnessed
just now was something far more disturbing.
He
’d
physically responded
,
but it was clear he didn’t share her passion.
From now on,
she promised herself,
she’d guard her heart until they uncovered the truth.
The
n
she would turn away from him, close the wound, and think of him no more.

At least she would try.

Unsettled by t
he pulse beat
ing
in the pit of her
stomach
, s
he
tried
to relax.
When
her body
refused, s
he set off in a fast crawl, determined to
keep swimming until she forgot
the ache and se
xual hunger flooding her veins.

***
*

Upstairs,
Jack stripped off his trunks and stepped into the shower.
He reached for the faucet, turning it to its coldest setting.
The desire he’d fought so hard to contain all those months ago simmered and bubbled inside until the physical need
had
outweighed reas
on.
He lean
ed
against the tile
and allowed
the water
to
stream
over his neck and back
.

Grace
’s
kiss had taken him by surprise
.
He hadn’t thought of her as being impetuous, the one to take the lead in the sexual two-step.
She’d always resisted him, kept her distance, but today it
seemed as though
she
’
d finally acknowledged the bond between them.
His response had been so strong that he’d wanted to strip her naked and bury himself inside her until the sexual heat and need sent them both spiralling over the edge.
Hi
s feelings
for
her
went deeper
than simple lust.

He knew it.

They both knew it.

The pain in
her
eyes had almost been his undoing.
He hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but it was the only way he could think of to
stop from
following through on her invitation
.
But it didn’t
prevent
him
from
feeling like a first class heel.

He
turned
the faucet
to
hot.
He’d waited six months to taste her lips,
to
hold her
close.
He
could wait another
six
or however long it took him to
sort things out with Rosa
.
One thing was certain—he couldn’t leave Emilia in Rosa’s care, knowing that she cared so little for the child.
He’d fight for sole custody, and hope that Grace would accept that he and Emilia came as a package, and that she’d help him raise his daughter.

But r
aising another woman’s child was a big undertaking
.
W
hat if Grace wasn’t
willing to take on a ready-made family
?
What would he do?
He couldn’t abandon his daughter.
He closed his eyes, and pushed away the pain.
He was an idiot for allowing his th
oughts to race ahead like this.

He needed to sit down and talk t
o Grace, explain about Emilia.

But not yet.

H
e stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.
He wasn’t a
rookie
. H
e’d
worked with
confidential informant
s before
and
knew the rules.
Returning
Grace’s
kiss
was
downright stupid.
But leaving her with
another agent
,
someone s
he would have to learn to
trust
would be
insane
and
far
more dangerous than the situation she was in right now.

Through telling himself he was a fool for letting
things get out of hand
, h
e dressed quickly
in jeans and a T-shirt
,
the agent once more in control.
His priority was to find
Daniel’s killer
,
and keep Grace safe
,
not get her hot and hav
e
her come apart in his arms.

He
strode
out onto the veranda and looked down at the pool below.
It was empty.
His heart slammed into his ribs.
Where the hell was
she
?

He drew his gun and
crept
out of the bedroom.
He was halfway
down the stairs
when
the door to the kitchen
swung open
and
Grace
walked
into the hall
.
He took a deep breath and holstered the weapon.
He’d been so wrapped up in his own emotions he’
d not given a thought to
her
whereabouts.