mouth uncensored. His subconscious was an uncivilized beast.
His dinner companion gaped. Her mouth snapped shut as hot color reddened her cheeks. “What is it about men?” she muttered, the question apparently rhetorical.
Now he had her measure. If he wanted to keep Mellie off balance and not the other way around, all he had to do was give her the unvarnished truth about what he wanted from her. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “You’re barely able to stand, and still you obsess about sex.”
“It’s in our DNA. We can’t help it. Especially when a beautiful woman brings us dinner and plays nurse.”
“I wasn’t playing last night. You were sick.”
“I’m only sorry I wasn’t able to enjoy it.”
“Case!”
Now it was out in the open. He wanted her. And he was almost certain she wanted him, too. But he needed confirmation before he went any further. He would never pursue a woman who wasn’t interested.
“There’s a strong spark between us. But tell me you don’t feel it, and I’ll leave you alone. Am I wrong?”
He saw the muscles in her throat work as she sputtered and looked anywhere but at him. “You’re not wrong.”
Three words. Three damn words, and he was hard as granite. He studied her, unable to come up with a response. She wasn’t wearing her uniform. Instead, soft denim jeans outlined long legs and a narrow waist. In deference to the weather, she wore a pale green pullover sweater. The V-neck exposed a long porcelain-skinned throat and fragile collarbone.
A man could get lost nibbling his way across that territory.
Under other circumstances, he would have stripped her naked and taken her on this kitchen table. Tonight, however, he had to accept his limitations. “Sadly, I don’t have the stamina at the moment to follow up on that interesting admission.”
“There’s no reason you should.” She appeared entirely, frustratingly calm...until one noticed the way her lips trembled the tiniest bit.
“We’re dancing around this, aren’t we?” The woman who almost certainly didn’t have casual sex and the man who wanted more than he was able to give at the moment.
Mellie stood, resting her hands on the back of her chair. “I’ll come back tomorrow...with more food.”
“Don’t be afraid of me, Mellie.” He meant it. He couldn’t bear the notion she might think he was blasé about this. The level of his fascination with her, the depth of his hunger, made no sense. But he wasn’t a man to walk away from something he wanted. Even when having her and protecting her seemed to be two diametrically opposed behaviors.
And that wasn’t even considering the fact that his actions might spark the wrath of Amanda Battle...or worse, her sheriff husband.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Mellie said, her beautiful eyes grave. “Or even afraid of the possibility of us. But I’ve never started a physical relationship with a man, knowing up front that it had an expiration date.”
Her words made sense. He even understood her caution. The feminine hesitation, though, only made his libido fight all the more to be heard. “It’s not necessary to plan every turn in the road in advance...is it?”
Temper sparked in her expressive eyes. “Do me the favor of not pretending, Case. If I have sex with you, we both know it will be a physical thing only. No hearts and flowers. No pledges of undying love.”
“That’s pretty cynical.”
“But accurate.”
He wanted to argue, but he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Mellie had pegged him pretty well. “So that’s a no?” Never in a million years would he admit that her harsh assessment of his motives stung. Most women in this situation would be all over him.
But he was rapidly learning that Mellie Winslow was not most women.
She shrugged. “Let’s take it a day at a time. This flu isn’t going to go away overnight. Maybe you’ll have the opportunity to rethink your invitation.”
“Don’t go,” he said gruffly. He wanted her here...under his roof. In a way he hadn’t wanted anything in a very long time. “It’s not like I can seduce you. I can barely hold my head up.”
* * *
Mellie shivered, though the kitchen was warm. He was doing it again. Winnowing away her good intentions. Trying to pretend that he wasn’t the Big Bad Wolf and Mellie a wretchedly willing Red Riding Hood.
“I can’t stay the night.” That was a lie. She could. But she wouldn’t.
“A movie, then. I’m sick of lying in bed.”
“Such a touching offer. I’m better than boredom.”
“You have a smart mouth.”
She took pity on him. Beneath his masculine swagger, he was the color of milk. “I’ll stay for a while.”
“Good.”
When he got to his feet, she moved closer and slipped an arm around his waist, inhaling the smell of warm male. “I don’t want to scrape you off the floor again.”
He chuckled, the low sound making her catch her breath. “Is that how I got the knot on my skull?”
“Let’s just say that you were not the best patient last night.”
He kissed the top of her head casually, as if they were an old married couple wandering down the hall to watch a favorite TV program. “You’re more than I deserve.”
“Damn straight.” Making Case Baxter laugh was fast becoming her life’s work. But it was either that or give in to the urge to join the handsome, bad-to-the-bone cowboy in his bed.
They had their next argument in the den. Case collapsed on the expensive leather sofa and crooked an arrogant finger. “Come sit with me, Mellie.”
“I’ll be fine right here.” She snagged a spot on the matching love seat, a safe distance away from the heavy-eyed male. “Have you taken your medicine?”
He scowled at her. “Is that all you can talk about? You’re a broken record.”
“I’ll get it,” she said wryly. Clearly, he was feeling like roadkill and didn’t want to admit it.
When she returned after gathering what she needed from his bedroom and the bathroom, Case was holding the remote, his expression moody as he channel surfed. She put a hand on his forehead, not surprised to find it ferociously hot.
“Take these.” She shook a couple of caplets into her palm and held out a glass of water.
“I feel fine.”
His big body radiated tension. They had entered dangerous territory.
