Page 12 of Collateral Damage

“What are you hoping to get out of tonight, Carly?”

She expected him to ask her, and was ready with the most honest answer she had. “Clarity.”

Whitt eased closer, bringing one hand to her face. His touch was careful and soft. So different than she would expect given the circumstances. “I think I can do that.”

And then his mouth was on hers. At first just as careful and soft as his hand on her cheek.

But then everything shifted in an instant.

The line she’d been walking went from firmly between them, to so far behind her she might never find it again.

Because where he was gentle and sweet, Bess suddenly felt anything but.

He’d saved her life.

She could have freaking died a minute ago, and would have, if not for the man holding her like she meant something.

Which was impossible. They didn’t even know each other.

And maybe that made her like him more. The fact that even without knowing her, he still considered her valuable. It’s what told her this was the right thing to do. That tonight was going to tell her everything she needed to know. About her relationship with Chris. About herself.

Maybe already had.

Bess pushed closer to the man giving her more than she ever could have expected, gripping his shirt, his hair, holding on like he might disappear any second. He tasted like promise and need. The richness of the dark beer he barely touched lingered on his tongue, tempting her with the desire to taste more of him.

Bess broke the kiss but not her hold on him. “Where are you staying?”

His breathing was heavy, the sound of his ragged breaths filling the air between them. “Close.”

Thank God.

The feelings he stoked in her were like a drug, setting fires that had never burned before, lighting parts of her she didn’t know existed.

And Bess wanted more. Now.

Whitt tucked her under one arm and pulled her close, shielding her from the cooling night air as he led her down the sidewalk toward a small inn set back off the street. It’d been there as long as she could remember and a few years ago someone from out of town bought it and renovated the whole place, turning an old motor lodge into an expensive hotel with a Tuscan feel.

His room was at the back of the property, tucked away and out of sight thanks to a corner turning it from view. Whitt swiped his key card and opened the door, pulling her into the dark room.

“Are you thirsty? Do you need anyth—”

Bess’s lips on his cut off the rest of the question. She wasn’t thirsty. She didn’t want anything to eat.

All she wanted was more of this. Him. Them together.

His arms were around her, pulling her close and tight as they fell to the stupidly soft mattress of the bed dominating the room. Whitt caught his weight as they went down. He was still being careful, still treating her like she was more than a one-night woman.

Which made her want to feel like tonight was more than a one-night thing.

“This can’t be more than this.” She said it for herself. A reminder. Tonight was only about proving there was more out there.

Better.

Men who could give her what she hadn’t had.

Whitt had already done that. Technically she could go home now with the answers she sought.

But.