Page 8 of Softer Than Stone (Fangs & Felons)

“Careful,” I said, my voice a little hoarse. “Keep talking like that, and I might have to cook for you every day.”

His grin was wicked and utterly irresistible. “Promise?”

The laugh that bubbled out of me felt lighter than it had in years. Maybe, just maybe, I could get used to this. “We’ll see. At the moment it’s a tentative yes.”

He quirked his brow at that but didn’t push.

The truth was, we were in a bubble of chemistry and passion, and yesterday had pushed my limits, making me feel briefly untethered, not only with what went down but with what could have been.

What was it that Sandra Bullock said to the hot-as-sin Keanu Reeves? “Relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.” I wanted to flip Sandy’s character off that those words skipped around my brain. Hell, in Speed 2 , Jack was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s got you looking all tentative?” Chris’s smile faded a little. “It’s a look you usually wear when you’re pissed off or overthinking.”

My brows jumped high. “Is that right?”

“SICB agent, remember. I’m paid to know this shit.”

I snorted when he grinned, my shoulders relaxing when he hooked his foot around my ankle.

I contemplated coming up with some sort of bullshit, but yesterday we’d had bullets whizz by us, trying to take us out.

I figured that meant we owed each other honesty or something.

“I was thinking about that movie Speed .”

Chris nodded. “I know the one.” He eyed me, a picture of calm patience.

When I didn’t say anything, sure if I did and shared the quote I’d sound like a dick, he reached out and smoothed his fingers over mine until I turned my hand palm up to hold his hand. My heart flipped at the gesture.

Chris’s lips curved into a slow, knowing smile, the kind that made my stomach do strange flips. “Let me guess. You’re hung up on the part where Sandra Bullock says relationships that start under intense circumstances don’t last?”

My mouth parted, but no sound came out. Damn it, he did know what I was thinking.

He chuckled, his thumb brushing over my knuckles. “You’re forgetting something important about that quote.”

“Oh, yeah?” I managed, my voice catching.

“Yeah.” He leaned in just a little, close enough that his voice was a low rumble I could feel more than hear. “She said it. But she also kissed him at the end of the movie. That says something, don’t you think?”

I blinked at him. “And what exactly does it say?”

“It says she was willing to take the risk. And if a movie star can risk it for a fictional cop who, let’s be honest, probably wasn’t half as charming as me, you can risk it for the real deal.”

Fuck, he was smooth. I also didn’t bother to challenge him that it was actually the character Annie, not the actress, who said those words.

There was no holding back my grin, not with so much cheesy perfection.

He parted his lips to speak but was cut off from my ringing mobile.

“Shit, I better get that. It’s probably Yayi checking I’m alive and kicking as I didn’t turn up on her doorstep this morning for a visit.” I stood, feeling guilty that I hadn’t even thought to call her. It went to show how blissfully distracting a big dick and multiple orgasms could be.

I frowned when I picked up my phone and read the name on the caller display. “Hello,” I answered, my gut already dropping. The security firm hired to alert me about my restaurant’s alarm going off could never be a good thing.

“Mr Munro, it’s Alfie from SecureSite Alarms. We’ve received an alert from Kurranba. The alarm indicated a window was tampered with. We’re sending a SecureSite unit around now to check. Can you confirm you’re not on site?”

“No. I’m at home.” I cast a glance at Chris, who was out of his seat, his phone already to his ear. Undoubtedly he could hear both sides of the conversation.

“And should there be anyone else on the premises?”

I checked the time. It was late. Tan had gone in to finalise the stock take, but that was hours ago. They’d messaged me just as they left with a final question. And that was about three hours back. “No. None of my staff are there. My manager was the last person on site.”

“That was Tanya Rollerston, correct?” Only Tan and I had alarm access, and each number was unique.

“Tan,” I corrected. “They go by they and them, but yes, that’s their current legal name.” I jerked my attention to Chris as he held my shoes out to me. I glanced down, seeing he’d already put on his black boots and had tugged on his black tee.

I focussed on putting my running shoes on while still listening to Alfie explaining the next steps. As soon as my feet were wedged in, I allowed Chris to pull me to my car and didn’t hesitate to get into the passenger seat.

“…ETA eight minutes,” Alfie explained. “Our concern is that the camera is down, but the alert signalling a fault or it being turned off didn’t enter our system.”

“Okay. Well, I’m en route now,” I said breathily, my heartbeat accelerating. “I’m six minutes away,” I said, feeling the need to be oddly specific.

“Four,” Chris said at my side, accelerating with a heavy foot the moment my seatbelt was clicked in.

“We don’t advise owners to be on the scene until we receive the?—”

“I’m with my… an SICB agent,” I rushed to say, keeping my eyes on the road ahead, ignoring the tendril of mortification over my hesitation. What even I was about to say was beyond me. It didn’t stop me from hiding my wince.

On the line, Alfie hesitated. “Uhm… okay. I’ll let Samantha, who’s on her way to Kurranba, know to expect you and a SICB agent.”

“Three SICB agents.” Chris cut in. “Two more are on their way.”

My brows shot high, heat swelling in my chest, completely flustered.

“O-kay,” Alfie responded, apparently hearing Chris’s deep voice down the line. “We’ll be in touch if we discover any information between now and then. We’ll start looking into the video feed and what went wrong.”

I swallowed hard, nodding despite being on the phone. “I’d appreciate that. Thank you.” I ended the call and gripped the “oh fuck” handle as Chris took a corner at a speed I didn’t know my car was capable of.

“You good?” he asked, keeping his gaze on the road ahead. We were just a couple of blocks away.

“Yeah.” I huffed out a breath, surprised I wasn’t bullshitting. Why wouldn’t I be okay when I apparently had a team of agents at my back? My lips twitched, despite my franticly beating pulse.

“What’s that smile for?”

I angled his way, appreciating his strong cheekbones and the day-old scruff I’d been enjoying feeling between my legs and scraping across my cheek all day. “Just starting to think you may be on to something.”

“Yeah? What exactly?”

“That a relationship away from work, even with all the high-octane bullshit, just might be the start of something incredible.”

His brows shot high, and pink filled his cheeks. Huh. Looked like Mr. Kick-Arse Agent wasn’t immune to being taken by surprise. And from his hard swallow and the way he darted his tongue over his bottom lip, I had zero doubt that he liked what I said.

He screeched to a halt outside of Kurranba, the speed we were going and the sound of brakes doing nothing to hide our presence. Apparently we weren’t in stealth mode.

Chris turned quickly, face angling close to mine.

“You stay here and keep safe.” He pressed his lips to mine, barely a whisper of a kiss before he pulled back.

“And you’ll find that I’m absolutely fucking right.

” One more kiss and I was alone. He raced out of the car before I could respond, let alone catch my breath.

Holy fuck, why the hell was that so hot? Competence and badassery were one hell of an aphrodisiac. But first, I gripped my seatbelt and leaned forwards to peer out of the window as I waited while Chris did his thing.