Death was a strange way to start a conversation. She gulped. He walked toward the kitchen. She stared at his strong backside and then jumped to follow him. She leaned against the doorway as he fixed her a plate of fully cooked chicken marsala and linguini. "When did you have time to cook?"
He shrugged as he placed the plates on the table. "I had security drop off supplies and that included a hot meal for tonight."
She stepped closer and turned around in the kitchen. Once again the Morgan family took care of details that took time out of the day for mere mortals like her. She sighed. "Add a glass of white wine and I promise I'll be nice."
He winked. "Deal."
John opened a drawer, revealing a full wine rack with a large selection of white to red. "Any particular kind?"
A genuine smile broke free as she brushed her hip against his leg. "Moscato. I've been feeling sweet lately."
"It's because you are sweet."
She shook her head, but said with a smile, "No flirting."
His gaze went up and down her body as he took stock of her figure in the designer jeans and cotton tee. "Why not?"
She picked up the wineglass and stepped back. "'Cause you confuse me. My real life is much different than your reality."
"I've been shot at a few times in the past few years."
She winced. "I was trying not to think about that."
He poured a glass for himself and then added a cork to the bottle. He clinked glasses with her. "It's why I'm keeping you here."
She sipped her wine and her face heated. She licked her lips to get the taste off. "Let's not talk about it."
He leaned one hand against the kitchen counter. "Okay. So how is my life different from yours?"
Sipping from the glass she cupped in her hands, Alice said, "I expect to work. I don't choose a career as payback to my father. I have to look after myself."
John tilted his head. "You work for your parents."
She lowered the glass to the counter, her hands resting on the granite. "They need me. My dad's heart condition changed everything. When Colt comes home, he's going to manage the farm and land. I studied business in college so I could ensure our farm stayed profitable even if we lost your family's accounts. Somehow we have to make this work."
He licked a drop of wine from his lower lip and her body tingled. "If you didn't need to do that anymore for them, what would you do?"
He'd turned the tables on her. She shrugged and relaxed as she stepped back. "Get a job. Part of me wishes I worked in my own store, perhaps doing something crafty to sell online, but I don't know what I'd do."
He picked up their wineglasses and walked past her, gesturing for her to go into the living area. She passed him and he followed. "Don't be like my family."
She gazed over her shoulder. "We never could be."
He seemed to dissect every word, listening intently as he joined her on the couch. "I don't understand. So why would you go into business if not to make serious money?"
He'd probably had at-home lessons from his father on how to succeed no matter what, even if that meant destroying everyone else who got his way. Alice touched his hand and tried to make him understand her family's philosophy. "Business is to help us have a happy family life and give back to the community where we live. Plus everyone needs to work and then retire. We all grow old, John. We don't all want to be your dad."
He leaned his arms on his knees and stared out the dark windows toward the moon. "I quit the FBI."
She licked her lips. Part of her hoped to beg for a kiss, but he didn't even glance her way. "You said that. Why?"
He turned and his blue eyes had a fire inside them that burned. "I can't arrest a ghost."
She nodded and rubbed his knee. "What will you do then?"
He stared at her hand so she stopped. "I have some ideas, but I could use someone good with numbers on my team."
Her skin heated from his gaze. "Is that a job offer?"
His hand brushed against her leg, and she blushed. She knew what she must look like as he said, "Would you want that to be?"
She took his hand in hers. "You like pulling the rug out from underneath my feet, John."
His lips were so close to hers. She closed her eyes as he said, "I like to see you happy."
She'd be his if he took her. She had no control and wished he'd take everything she had. His lips came closer as she said, "You don't know me."
He took the glass from her hand. She opened her eyes as he placed both wineglasses on the coffee table. Then his lips came back to hers. "I know plenty."
The brush of his lips on hers sent a spark down her spine and into her soul. Her fingers curled around his coarse light brown hair as she turned her face to accept a deeper kiss.
John didn't disappoint. His tenderness was her undoing and she sighed his name.
She had a strong sense of her own heartbeat as he sat back.
Every nerve tingled as he handed her back the glass of wine. She lifted her chin and took another sip.
He stared hard at her but she couldn't read him. All around her was the smell of cedar and pine. The waves of the ocean lapped in the distance beyond the window, and she turned her gaze away. "How will you protect me if you quit your job and someone is after you?"
His dimples appeared as he scratched the back of his head. "You'll let me?"
If she stayed here, she'd be mush. Without her spine, she wouldn't last long against John's charm. She sipped the last bit of her wine. "I'm here for the night. This can't be long-term."
His hand went to her arm, but she brushed him off. He stayed still. "I have security here, but I don't want to let you go."
If that were true, she'd have no clothes on right now. Perhaps she wasn't thinking clearly at the moment. "Why?"
"You bring color into my life and I like it."
That was like a movie line where she'd moan over true love with her friends. Her body craved him. "So everything was black and white before now?"
"More like gray. I'd like to discover what makes you happy."
Alice swallowed hard. She ached with need for him, but she knew she'd never survive being one night's worth of fun with John, not if she had to see him day after day. "Tomorrow."
He stayed seated as she stood and smoothed her jeans. "Is that a promise?"
John got to his feet but kept his distance. Perhaps she shouldn't play with this much fire. "It's just a date, nothing more."
A date would play in her fantasies for years to come. His blue eyes seemed to swim with desire, but she dared not. She hugged her waist as he called for her to come back. "Alice…."
She jumped backwards. No. She wouldn't do anything else. She'd survive her crush and then move on with her life. She ran down the hall away from him as she called behind her, "Night, John."
Alice stopped at her bedroom door and watched him take the dishes into the kitchen. She closed it behind her and tried to breathe.
John Morgan was everything she'd never have.
Chapter Fourteen