he caught the sweet smell of strawberries coming from her hair. A perfect scent for her. Like a field full of summer sunshine.
It made him want to pull her closer. Take her in his arms and kiss her until they both lost track of their senses. Until the smell of strawberries surrounded them in a cloud of lust.
Ahem. The mission always comes first.
Straightening up, he went over the things bothering him about this assignment—in addition to his unusual physical reactions to the target. The target—Mary. He’d never met anyone quite as guileless as she seemed. Like a naive teen, she appeared incapable of holding back or fudging the truth. Was it all an act? To his trained lawman’s eye she looked about as old as the twenty-nine that was listed as her age. Those minor laugh wrinkles at the corners of her eyes gave her away.
If she was putting on a gullible act for some reason, she sure as hell had him suckered in. But he was supposed to be a pro. This was his twelfth mission in ten years. Not his first.
Still, this mission marked the first time that he had actually given out his own background during an undercover operation. Not a smart move. Once a covert agent started mixing up his cover story with his own life history, the whole backstory he’d constructed might come crumbling down around him. He understood that well.
But she had been completely open with him about her relationship to her father. Open and embarrassed about letting him see that the murdered man was not someone she was sorry to see dead. Mark Walsh must’ve been difficult for her to deal with during their years together.
Jake thought about how a good covert agent twisted with the wind. Went with the flow. The truth about his own father had come tumbling from his lips in an effort to gain her sympathy. Then he’d had a hell of a time recovering when she’d asked him why he’d chosen to go into real estate.
Real estate. Why had he ever allowed Jim to talk him into that crazy cover? Yeah, yeah. Jake understood how real estate would be the perfect occupation, allowing a man on a mission to gain information. Real estate gave him plenty of excuses for snooping around. Just looking for potential property acquisitions.
But now, hell.
“We’re almost there.”
They were. A few more doors down the hall. And they had yet to say two words to each other on the way here.
Jake checked over his shoulder, still concerned that the earlier attack on him had some connection to his mission. But the hotel hallway was quiet. Not one soul in sight. His gut told him they were as isolated out in the hall as they would be inside her room.
Mary pulled the key card from her purse and stopped. She turned to him with the most hopeful expression on her face.
“This is it.”
She was beautiful. Her eyes sparkled with youthful anticipation. Her long, full hair dared him to run his hands through it—to lose himself in the satiny texture and heavenly scent. But could he stoop to taking improper advantage of her inebriated state? It wouldn’t be fair.
The mission always comes first.
It had been eons since she’d let a man kiss her, and in Mary’s memory those previous times had been…stressful. She’d wondered why she had ever thought to give it a second try.
But wasn’t that why she’d come to Bozeman in the first place?
She gazed up into Jake’s piercing blue eyes and saw a sizzle in them that made her all antsy and suddenly filled with unbearable longing. Oh, yeah. She was going to try kissing a man again. Now. Right now.
He bent his head, came within a whisper of her mouth and hesitated. It seemed as if he was giving her a chance to back out. Not a prayer of that happening.
Mary closed the gap between them and fell into heaven. Instead of his mouth being mashed to hers as had happened in her previous experiences, Jake toyed with her lips. He nipped at them, then licked his tongue across her bottom lip to soothe any small pain. The tip of his tongue touched the middle of her closed mouth tentatively as if he wanted her to open up for him.
She parted her lips, let his tongue enter and experienced pure bliss. He dug his fingers through her thick hair and pulled her closer. All of a sudden, the languorousness that had begun in her chest and tummy widened to encompass her limbs. Her fingers grew warm and limp. Her legs became weak and shaky.
As he tightened his hold she felt every inch of his hard body pressed against her softness. His erection pushed into her belly. A jolt zapped through her when she came to the amazing realization that she was the one making him hot. Outstanding.
Their tongues tangled again and the sensual awareness inside her grew to impossible heights. Her whole body began tingling. This was how a kiss was supposed to be. She’d read all about kisses and knew that at least some people liked the feelings that went along with a really good kiss. But she’d never imagined it could be like this.
Letting herself revel in the sensations, she noted the changes in her body’s temperature. From somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that sweat was starting to form at her temples. Her palms were becoming damp. Her panties were getting wet between her thighs.
The key card slipped from her fingers and hit the carpet.
“Oh.” She pulled her head back and then bent to pick up the key, but her knees refused to hold her up. “Oh.”
Crumbling to the floor, she felt flushed with embarrassment and regret. Surely no other woman had ever collapsed after their very best kiss ever and before they’d even made it to the bed. How ridiculous that she could be this much of a newbie at her age.
“You okay?” He reached out his hand to help her up.
“Um. I guess so.” If okay meant having the most amazing kiss of her whole life.
She tried to stand, but found her legs wouldn’t hold her up. “I can’t… I can’t…” Down she went again, landing on her backside.
When she began to laugh and cry at the same time, Jake took pity on her and reached down to haul her up in his arms. After all, it was his fault that she’d had too much to drink. He’d wanted her talking and in a good mood—not too drunk to stand up.
But he would never in a million years regret that kiss.
“The key card,” she said through giggles and tears.
His knees were almost too old for this kind of move, but he managed to hang on to her and at the same time bend to pick up the card.
“I’ve got it.” He opened the door and brushed them both inside.
Once inside he was at a loss for what to do with her. He didn’t figure she was in any shape to stand on her own two feet again. Her room was small. One queen-size bed. One nightstand and one dresser with a TV sitting on top. The lone chair in the room was shoved into a far corner under a minuscule desk. Straight-backed with no cushions, he couldn’t figure a way to place her upright in that chair without her sliding back to the floor.
Sighing, Jake walked to the bed and lowered her gently to a sitting position on the mattress. Steadying her, he stepped back and watched, making sure she didn’t hit the floor again.
She
