She saw his eyes widen in response and went on before he could speak. “But I’m not going to let that happen.” She touched his arm lightly. “I don’t need a man who’s afraid to be a friend as well as a lover.”
He glanced away from her to check on the dog crossing the road ahead. When their gazes met again it ignited in him a smile so slow and tender it lit up his eyes long before his mouth began to cooperate with the feeling. He reached out and snagged the strap of her cami and slipped it back down her arm. “You don’t think I’m your friend?”
Every nerve ending in her body urged Cole to agree with him. But this was about making him come her way, at least a few steps. She leaned toward him, as far as the seat belt would allow. “Are you my friend, Scott?”
When he reached out an arm to pull her closer she put up a hand to halt him. “Because right now you’re acting like a jerk.”
She pushed away from him and moved back to her side of the seat. “I’m talking friendship and you’re trying to use seduction to avoid the discussion.”
Scott felt something like a wasp sting begin at the back of his neck and rise into his cheeks. Well shit! She’d made him blush. And she was right.
He pulled the truck off the road under a canopy of trees that shaded this section of road, killed the engine, and turned to her. “Okay, let’s talk.”
She shrugged, arms crossed.
Unhooking his seat belt he turned to her, stretching a long arm on the back of the seat until his fingers could tangle in her hair. “You want honesty? I’m glad there’s no Doc Rob. Because I’d have to call him out or something. This time I will fight for you. I’m not sure what we’ve got but it’s good, Cole. It’s so damn good.”
She couldn’t call him a liar. But … “Damn good is not a relationship. It’s a feeling. We ran out of good feelings the first time.” She stole a look at his expression. He seemed to be listening very hard. “I need more. I need to share lives. Some things you want and some I want, and lots and lots of things we both want. That’s what I mean about friendship. When we’re not in bed, what do we have?”
He reached out and cupped her cheek in his broad hand. “For the moment, we’ve still got a job to do. The fact that we were both thinking about lying to Lattimore in order to keep being together a little longer shows you just how far this situation has taken us.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
Two fat dimples popped into his cheeks. “I didn’t know know but I was hoping like hell that it was true.”
She shook her head. “You’re talking work. This task force won’t last long. And then there will be no reason for us to ever see each other again.”
“So then we need to do something about that.”
He ran his thumb over her lower lip. The look he slid over her was pure heat and need. “What can I do to convince you how much I want to be your friend?”
The blood began to pound in her temples, her stomach, and her womb. Her nipples budded, eager for his hands. He had barely touched her, and she didn’t plan for him to get any closer.
He had dazzled and overwhelmed her senses and emotions the first time. Now she had memories to remind her that all the heat and lust in the world wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship. She needed much more. He needed to understand that.
She unbuckled her seat belt, arched her back in invitation, and leaned in to whisper against his lips as she dipped a hand between his thighs. “What do you want, Scott? This? Is this enough for you?”
He didn’t answer directly. He slid across the seat and took her in his arms.
He kissed her soft and slow, as if pressure wasn’t about to leave permanent imprints in his erection from his zipper. She tasted of the orange she’d eaten for breakfast as they drove in to meet Lattimore, and her own unique taste.
When he lifted his head, his voice was almost strangled by his full arousal. “I want everything you got!”
“I feel it, too.” And she did, literally. She had moved her hand over the bulge in his jeans. “But we can’t just screw around like a couple of rabbits. We’re adults with a job to complete. So, for now, you must understand how there can’t be any more of this.” She squeezed. “Or this.” She reached up with her free hand and began unbuttoning his button-down shirt. “And especially not this.” She took his lower lip between her teeth and tugged.
His lips parted with a little pop. Mercy. She knew how to turn him on.
She slid into him, her hands moving over the contours of his bare chest. “We need to behave like professionals.”
Scott had the wild thought that he shouldn’t be trying to guess what kind of professional she was thinking of because she had just climbed into his lap. He reached down and backed his seat up to give her as much space as possible between him and the wheel.
His eyeballs seemed to sweat because his vision was blurring as he gazed at her. To hold on, his hands went to her waist.