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“We could also do the interview there, if you want. Or maybe not. I don’t want to push you about doing it if you feel weird about it.” I shook my head.

“I don’t feel weird. I think we should still do it.” Plus, it might keep my mind off thinking about kissing her.

“Only if you’re sure,” she said, saving her work and then shutting down her computer.

“I am.”

Four

I was right about Lacey getting the best room at the Violet Hill Inn. She’d even managed to get herself the suite that had its own entrance. They didn’t accept cats, so she’d left Murder at the studio.

“Pretty nice,” I said, as she let me in.

“Yeah, it’s not too bad. Much nicer than the last place I stayed. I kind of hate hotels, so I was glad there wasn’t one here.” Yeah, there wasn’t much around here. The closest chain hotel was probably forty minutes away.

The place was cozy and had new furniture since I’d been here last.

“Sorry about the mess.” It was a little cluttered with photography equipment, a couple suitcases and some clothes thrown here and there on chairs. No underwear though. I wasn’t sure who would be more embarrassed by that, her or me.

“It’s nice,” I said as she cleared off a little loveseat.

“Do you want anything? I have a microwave, a minifridge, and a coffeemaker. It’s a pretty nice setup.”

“Some tea would be great,” I said.

“I have that too.” She walked over and got out a mug to heat up some water for tea and I looked around the rest of the room. There were things everywhere and it felt intimate. Like I was seeing a side of her that I shouldn’t be seeing yet.

“Here you go,” she said, handing me my tea. “So, do you want to do the interview first or maybe do something else? And I don’t mean kissing.” I laughed a little.

“I’m trying not to kiss you right now, and talking about kissing just makes me think even more about it. So.” She sipped from her steaming mug.

“Yeah, I’m having some issues too. We probably should have done the interview before the kissing.” Yeah, probably. Oops.

“I’ve never been good at doing things in the right order.” Lacey smiled and I set my tea down.

“Sorry,” I said as I leaned over and kissed her again.

“Don’t be,” she said into my mouth. We kissed and kissed until I didn’t know why I hadn’t spent most my time kissing Lacey Cole. There were goosebumps all over my skin and I didn’t have any blood running to my brain anymore. I was so fucking turned on that I was nearly shaking.

“Are you okay?” she asked, pulling back and putting her hand on my cheek. God, her eyes were so beautiful.

“Yeah. I just . . . I want you. A lot.” I wasn’t going to lie. She was so damn sexy. Just . . . everything about her got to me.

“Mmm, I want you too,” she said, closing her eyes briefly and making a little sound of desire. Why did she have to do that? It just made things worse.

“Well,” I said. “What are you going to do about it?” I bit my bottom lip and she groaned and rested her forehead on my shoulder.

“Why are you doing this to me? It’s like you were thrown in my path to destroy all my focus and turn my brain into a lust monster.” I giggled a little bit at the use of “lust monster.” I’d never thought of it that way, but it was an apt description.

“I’m sorry?” I said, and she just raised her face and grinned at me.

“You’re not sorry. Not even a little bit.”

I giggled. “Not really. Because you’re doing the same thing to me.” Lacey put some space between us and leaned back.

“Yeah, I think we should do the interview. Maybe if I get myself in professional mode, I’ll stop thinking about taking your clothes off.” She was trying to kill me. Seriously.

But I nodded and moved to other end of the couch.