“I’m upset because I can’t afford bail money. What are you doing?” she demanded, pushing her chair back and standing up quickly. Her, alone in a room with that bear and a bunch of honey? That was a dangerous combination. “I have to go get the kids.”
“I took the liberty of asking Imogen to come pick them up, because we need you to work late. She’ll watch them.” As she started to protest, he sat down on the desk next to where she was standing. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt today, and the T-shirt molded perfectly to his massive biceps. She tried not to stare.
There was a large bulge in the crotch area of his jeans. She tried not to stare, but it was difficult not to. Good lord, everything about him was oversized.
“We have these three new flavors of honey coming out. I need you to taste each one and write up the copy describing it.”
“Anyone could do that!” she protested.
“But we hired you.” He smiled winningly. “And we pay overtime.”
“Why do you need it done tonight? I could do it tomorrow,” she argued. She could feel her willpower fading fast.
“We’d like to get this new website up and running as soon as possible.”
Without waiting for an answer, he unscrewed the lid from a jar of honey. “This jar is mango honey.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “I do not trust you.”
“Smart girl.” He winked at her.
She tried again. “My sister says that you use women for sex, just like your brother.”
“Would that be your sister Sapphire? How are things working out with her?”
Clover shrugged and looked away, mumbling a noncommittal, “Family. What can you say?”
Sam nodded. “I thought so. And what she says is not true of my brother or me, ever. I have told the women that I’ve dated that I’m a very busy man, and I don’t have time for relationships, which has always been true up until now. If I’m not interested in anything serious, I’m always honest about it.”
“And what do you want with me?”
He stared into her eyes. “I want you in my bed right now, and every night for the rest of my life.”
Her heart leapt in her chest. Her knees suddenly went weak and she sank into her chair. “Excuse me, you what? You can’t possibly know that.”
“Ever heard of fated mates?”
She shook her head. “That’s a fairy tale. Modern shifters don’t believe that.”
“I do. I felt it the second that I saw you. It just took a little while for me to admit it to myself. The more I get to know you, the more I want to claim you forever.”
“But you…you’re just telling me this now.”
“Yes. I didn’t want to rush you. We have our entire lives.”
She struggled to find words, and failed. Arousal blazed through her body and she found herself thinking about what it would be like to wake up in bed next to him every morning. To see him walk in the door with that sexy grin on his face every night after work. To feel his hands on her body...
Was she about to let him make a huge fool of her? Would he lie to her like that? Fear mingled with desire and made her feel faint. Was that how Jeffrey had talked to Sapphire before he’d abandoned her?
She thought about Sam’s family. Every last one of them was wonderful to her, and they were wonderful to one another, and clearly loved one another, and she’d never heard a bad word about the McCoy family. Yeah, she knew that Sam and his cousin Flint both had reputations as players, but not as men who led women on. And word around town was that as soon as Flint met Coral, the wolf shifter he’d married, he was strictly a one-woman man.
Sam dipped the spoonful of honey into her mouth, and she swallowed the sweet, sticky liquid. She could taste the mango flavor, and it complemented the honey perfectly.
He slid the spoon out and set it down on the desk.
“I want to know what it tastes like,” he said, and, cupping her chin in his hand, bent down and kissed her hungrily. Her lips parted with a moan, and he kissed her long and hard. His tongue was hungry and probing and she swirled her tongue around his in an intimate duet.
“And now I’m going to prove your sister wrong,” he said. “I am not here to use you for sex. I am going to worship your glorious body, and then I’m going to walk you to your car, and then I’m going to do the same thing again tomorrow night.”
He gave her a crooked grin that had heat pooling low in her belly, making her feel restless and needy. He was so big, and so close. She could feel the heat emanating from his skin, and felt a blush rising over her throat and in her cheeks. His eyes sparkled.
He dipped the spoon into the second jar, coating it with the rich golden fluid.
“This one is clover honey,” he murmured. He brought the spoon to her lips and she obediently opened her mouth. He ran the sticky bowl of the spoon over her lower lip, a tacky drizzle of honey escaping to drip onto her collarbone, then popped the sweet treat into her mouth. She closed her mouth around the spoon and saw his pupils dilate as he slowly withdrew it, watching her lips slide over its surface.