Page 10 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

She’d only used it three times that I remembered, and at none of those times had she allowed me to escape the conversation without a full explanation.

The first time had been when I wouldn’t let her spend any of her trust money to buy a car.

The others had been similar. I was trying to keep her from making irresponsible decisions so her money would last.

My strategy had paid off when she had enough money to realize her dream and start her organizing business after college.

“Let’s hear it, Terrence,” she insisted. “Tell me why you’re so mean. Tell me what I did to you. I couldn’t have kicked your dog because you’ve never had one. Did I call you an evil name and forget it?”

Being accused of meanness hurt, though it was pretty easy to see why she’d feel that’s the way I treated her. “We need to go.” I started to lift her off me.

She fought. “Stop it. I’m not going anywhere until you explain it to me.” She poked me in the chest.

I relented and settled back.

Her eyes held fire. “And the truth this time.”

I was trapped, physically and emotionally. Her leg rubbed against my crotch, and my cock took notice. “I need to keep some distance between us. You’re my best friend’s little sister.”

“And why does that make you mean to me?” She rubbed against me again, on purpose no doubt.

I finished the explanation. “Don’t you get it? You’re off limits.”

Her head lifted, and her eyes went wide. “Because I’m Pete’s sister? That’s stupid.” I could feel her temper reaching the boiling point. “Off limits, so you act like you hate me so I’ll hate you back?”

Just asking that question meant she didn’t understand.

“That’s the way it is,” I told her.

She climbed me until we were eye to eye, nose to nose. “I’m a grown woman, and you don’t get to decide what’s right for me.” A second later, her mouth was on mine.

It was just as I knew it would be, irresistible, the entire reason I’d kept my distance for so long. She was temptation personified. I knew I was going to hell as I opened my mouth and joined her in the kiss, battling for control.

She slid her hand down to rub me through my jeans, and my cock went instantly hard.

I rolled us to the side and cupped her breast, toying with her nipple through the fabric of the tracksuit. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Quickly, I deepened the kiss, and she gave it back to me in full measure.

She tasted like pure temptation, and the intensity of her kiss was off the charts as each of us maneuvered for dominance. Yes, she wanted this just as much as I had on many lonely nights.

I had no idea how we’d gone from zero to Mach One as fast as we had, but I’ll be damned, I was in no mood to slow us down.

I pulled away enough to look into those baby blues. “You better be sure of this, because if we start, I’m not going to be able to hold back.”

“I’m sure,” she mumbled before taking my mouth.

Her phone rang again, with the opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and she broke the kiss. “I have to take that. It’s my evil assistant.”

Breathless, I helped her get up off the couch.

“Hold that thought,” she said, pointing at me before she rummaged through her purse for the insistent phone.

I scratched the back of my neck and gathered my senses.

As my big brain battled my little brain for control, I realized how bad this was.

What the hell was I doing? She was still Pete’s sister, and he’d kill me.

Rationalizing this by second-guessing whether he would make it back to us alive was tantamount to giving up on him.

That wasn’t a place I could go. This had happened so quickly…

I was lucky the call had interrupted us before the situation got more confusing.

I adjusted my aching cock, which had almost gotten me into deep shit.

Grace

When I located my phone, I punched the green button. “Hi, Peyton.” I kept my voice light.

“Where are you?” She sounded frantic.

“I got held up.” I didn’t mean it as a pun.

“Mrs. Eclestone won’t accept working with Paul,” she said. “She insisted it’s you or nobody, and I know how important you said her account is, so I convinced her to reschedule for later. But she’ll only talk with you.”

“I’ll be heading in shortly.” I glanced at the gorgeous hunk of man in the room and really wished I could have said I’d be there in an hour or two .

“Hurry. She’s due back now, and I won’t be able to stall her again. I’m good, but I’m not a miracle worker.”

“And so modest. I’m on the way.”

She laughed, and we ended the call. I didn’t know what I would do without her.

Terry approached with a glass of water and an open hand. “For the pain.”

I shook my head. “No thanks.” I tried to avoid painkillers after what I’d seen them do to my sophomore-year roommate, Denil, in college, and he knew that.

He shoved them at me. “It’s just Tylenol, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Promise to take them for two days and then you can stop if you want.”

“Okay.” I took the tablets and swallowed them, finishing off the glass of water. “Thanks.”

He moved behind me and kneaded my shoulders. “You need to slow down. You’ve been attacked twice in twenty-four hours, and you need to give me and the team some time to figure out what’s going on.”

“I can slow down later. You’ve heard of parallel tasking, right? You guys do whatever investigating it is you do, but right now, I have to get to work before we lose a big opportunity.”

Terry took a deep breath, clearly disappointed. “I’m coming with you, and you can tell me what the hell Elliot is into on the drive.”

“Fine, but only if you sit in the corner and don’t distract my employees.”

I knew that was too much to expect. He would draw all the female eyeballs, and the gossip about us would be immediate.

Rushing to change, I marveled that I had kissed Terry Goodwin, and he’d kissed me back with a passion I wasn’t used to. The kiss had been better than in my dreams, and feeling his hard cock through his jeans said one thing very clearly. We were on the same page about wanting each other.

If Mrs. Eclestone hadn’t represented my biggest opportunity in a while, I would have blown her off and focused on straddling Terry. I couldn’t remember being this turned on in forever.

Tonight I was going to indulge in all the naughty fantasies I’d pictured for Terry and me. The literal pain in my ass told me not all the positions could be on the menu, but certainly we’d find enough to keep us busy all night long.

Me and Terry Goodwin? Yesterday I never would have believed it. Well, at least before I got attacked. Him saving me had changed things. Now it seemed like fate demanded we explore the chemistry our kiss had revealed.

Changing quickly, I didn’t bother with makeup or my hair, opting for a natural look. As jazzed as I was, I probably would have messed it up anyway.