Elle James - Clandestine Christmas

“Do what you can.” Kate ended the call and stared out at the snowcapped mountains and clamped her teeth together.

Chase placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. He stared into her eyes, the starlight reflected in his blue eyes. “Are you leaving us?”

Kate sighed and faced the man. Though her first instinct was to run as far and as fast as she could, she had to say, “I’m staying. For now.” She had no choice, other than to quit. And Chuck Rivers didn’t raise a quitter.

Hank’s offer had been the only one she’d gotten in the past six months. Who else wanted to hire a broken former Texas Ranger?

Chase let out an abrupt sigh. “Good. With Sadie in the hospital, I could use all the help I can get. Jake lost his mother not long ago. He needs to know he has people who aren’t going to leave him.”

Guilt settled like sour milk in the pit of her belly. “I said I’m staying,” she snapped, angrier at herself for her desire to leave Chase and the boy behind.

“Thanks.” Chase tugged her hand, bringing her closer.

Kate staggered forward frowning. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll call it a night.”

“Not yet.” Chase reached up and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I’d give anything to know why you were crying.”

She froze. The touch of his thumb on her cheek and the warmth of his hand surrounding hers sent a rush of heat all the way through her body and out to the very tips of her ears and toes.

His cool blue eyes seemed to burn a hole through the wall she’d so carefully constructed around her emotions. The same wall that had taken a direct hit when a little boy asked her to kiss him good-night. A moan rose up her throat and out her parted lips before she could stop it. She tugged at the hand held tight in his.

He refused to let go. “Tell me. What made you sad, please.” His rich baritone wrapped around her like a lush, sexy blanket warming her in the chill night air.

Her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips and a new fire burned from the inside. Chase Marsden was a good-looking man with full, sensuous lips that begged to be kissed.

“Let me help you.”

“I’m supposed to be here to help you ,” she whispered, feeling herself fall into the man’s eyes.

He bent and lightly swept his lips across hers, the touch so soft, at first Kate thought she’d imagined it. Then he crushed her to him, his arms clamping around her waist pressing her body against his, his mouth coming down over hers.

The second time his lips touched hers, she had no doubt she was being kissed.

When his tongue slipped between her lips, she opened to him, allowing him to delve into her mouth and caress her in a long, warm, wet glide.

Kate leaned into him, her knees suddenly too weak to hold her steady. Her arms rose to lace behind his neck as the hard evidence of his desire nudged her belly.

For a moment she lost herself in a kiss that should never have happened.

Eventually, they surfaced to breathe. At that point, a rush of awareness slammed her feet back to the cold hard earth and she tugged against his grip. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” he breathed against her mouth and traced her lips with his tongue.

She wavered, her body swaying toward him. “I can’t. Do. This.” Finally, she planted the teddy bear against his chest and pushed back. “This is wrong.”

He let her step back, but retained his hold on her wrists. “Please. Don’t go. I promise not to ask you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. All I ask is that you stay and help protect my friends. They need you.” His gaze burned into hers and she could feel herself melting.

“I told you I’d stay.” She finally pulled free of his hold, and pressed the teddy bear to her chest, holding it like a shield to guard her from a man who had heartbreak written all over his face. “Now, if you have a blanket, I can sleep on the couch.”

“As far as my housekeeper and foreman are concerned, you’re my fiancée and my guest. I have plenty of bedrooms. You can sleep in one of them. I’ll have Mrs. Quaid prepare one for you. Shall we step inside before we freeze out here?”

Feeling the cold for the first time since she stepped outside, Kate preceded Chase into the house. His hand rested on the small of her back, reminding her of how dangerous it would be to like this man. He was a job, nothing more.

Even if his touch sent tingles across her skin and filled her chest with a sense of anticipation.

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