Elle Kennedy - Witness Seduction

“A little of both, probably.”

Before she could press for details, he glanced around the room, taking in the paint supplies scattered on the tiled floor. “So you’re starting with the painting first?” When she nodded, he said, “What else are you planning to do?”

Considering the grief Gwen had given her about these renovations yesterday, it was nice talking to someone who actually seemed interested. Before she could stop herself, she launched into a recitation of everything she planned to fix up. She was vaguely aware that she’d gone into babbling mode, but hey, at least it helped her ignore the rampant flames of sexual attraction threatening to burn down her kitchen.

CALEB WAS HAVING a very tough time keeping his eyes off Marley. Leaning against the counter in her faded jeans and curve-hugging tank top, with her golden hair up in a messy ponytail and her bare feet, she made a seriously alluring picture.

Her mere proximity made his body burn. Despite the odor of paint fumes lingering in the air, he could also make out a more subtle fragrance. Strawberries. The feminine aroma drove him wild. So did her legs, encased in that stretchy denim, and damn but she had cute feet—small and dainty with bright-pink toenails.

He imagined those legs wrapped around him, her heels digging into his buttocks, and fought back a moan.

It had been a mistake coming here. He was pretty good at talking women into going to bed with him, but just talking to them? He sucked at it.

He sipped his coffee, using the pause in the conversation to figure out his next move. Okay, so he’d made contact, but sitting around in Marley’s kitchen wouldn’t land him any answers. He needed to get her talking about Grier. But though he’d been watching her for more than a week now, to her he was a stranger. And women didn’t open up to complete strangers.

He glanced at the sliding door on the other side of the kitchen, pretending to admire her backyard while he planned what to say. The sight of the oak tree in Marley’s fenced-in yard brought a flicker of guilt, as he realized AJ had set up one of their cameras in the tree’s enormous branches. As if someone wanted to hammer the point home, the branches rustled, sending a few leaves fluttering down to the grass.

Caleb shifted his eyes back to Marley. He opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the ring of his cell phone. “Excuse me,” he said as he fished his cell out of his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID, saw AJ’s number and stifled a curse. “Do you mind if I take this?”

“Go ahead.”

He flipped open the phone and said, “Hey, Vic, what’s up?”

“I thought you were going to make contact later tonight,” AJ hissed.

“I was, but I decided to work on the chapters earlier,” Caleb said smoothly.

AJ let out an expletive. “I need you to get her out of the kitchen.”

“Are you still in New York?” From the corner of his eye, he saw Marley discreetly move to the sink to rinse out her mug.

“I’m in the freaking tree out back. Looking at your ugly face as we speak,” came the heated whisper.

It took all of Caleb’s willpower not to look through the sliding door again. Evidently the rustling he’d seen in the tree hadn’t come from a mischievous squirrel. The image of AJ’s huge leather-clad body up in those branches nearly brought a laugh to the surface, but he quickly clamped it down.

“What are you doing in Florida?” he asked with great interest. AJ had left the house next door an hour ago to grab some groceries. Now he was in Marley’s backyard?

“I was coming back and saw the camera dangling from one of the branches. Must have gotten dislodged. She always goes upstairs and does the yoga/shower thing after work so I figured I had time to fix the camera before she saw it, but then you just had to show up and bring her into the kitchen. And now I’m in the tree. The end.”

“Bird sanctuary, huh? Can’t say that’s my cup of tea.”

AJ swore again. “Just get her out of the kitchen so I can hightail it back next door.”

“Sure thing, Vic. I’ll email you the chapters by the end of the week so you’ll have them when you get back from your vacation.”

Caleb hung up the phone and rose to his feet, just as Marley rounded the counter again. To his dismay, she headed right for the patio door and peered out.

He came up behind her. “What are you looking at?” he asked as casually as he could muster.

“I heard you say something about birds,” she answered with a sideways glance. “It reminded me that I haven’t put seed in my bird feeder for a few days.”

She extended a dainty hand, pointing at the bright red bird feeder hanging from the largest branch on the elm. “I made it myself,” she added. “The sparrows love it.”

Panic rose up Caleb’s spine, mostly because he could now see one of AJ’s black biker boots camouflaged in the leaves. “I should go,” he burst out.

She wrinkled her brow. “Oh. Okay.”

“That phone call,” he said in an attempt to explain his abrupt exclamation. “I’m a writer, and my agent reminded me I need to revise a few chapters. So, uh, yeah, I should go do that.”

Moving away from the patio door, Marley nodded. “I’ll walk you—” She tripped over one of the paint cans on the floor, letting out an unladylike curse as she stumbled forward.

Snapping to action, Caleb reached out to steady her.

And regretted it the second his palms made contact with her hips. Her tank top had ridden up, and he was touching skin. Bare, warm skin, so soft that he hissed in a breath.

“I…” Marley’s voice drifted and her mouth fell open when she caught sight of the obvious desire in his eyes.

He could do nothing to hide the swift response. Her flesh felt like heaven under his hands, and that sweet scent wafting into his nose was far too intoxicating.

He coughed ever so slightly. “You all right?”

She nodded wordlessly, then glanced down at his hands, which were still on her waist. God help him, but he couldn’t seem to let her go.

And she wasn’t complaining. Rather, she shifted so they were face to face. Her liquid brown eyes searched his. “I’m…a klutz,” she murmured without breaking the eye contact.

Caleb swallowed, his mouth in desperate need of moisture, his lips in desperate need of her . Before he could stop himself, he moved his hand over her hip in a fleeting caress. An unsteady breath slid out of her throat.

Insanity. This was freaking insanity, and he was helpless to stop it. He’d been watching Marley Kincaid for seven days, watching and yearning and fighting the arousal he knew he shouldn’t be feeling.

But he couldn’t fight it now. Not when she was this close.

As his pulse drummed in his ears, he finally gave up. Screw it. Kissing her was wrong on so many levels, but at this point he didn’t care. He wanted her so badly his bones ached.

So he took her.

MARLEY LET OUT a little gasp as he captured her mouth with his, but the second their lips met, she melted in his arms. He thrust his fingers into her hair, angling her head for better access, while he slid his other hand to her waist and drew her body to his.

She made a gentle, keening sound against his mouth, and then lifted her arms to his shoulders, pulling him closer. Her lips parted, her tongue darted out to toy with his and Caleb nearly keeled over from the jolt of desire that shot through him.

She tasted incredible. Like coffee, cinnamon and heaven and he couldn’t get enough of her. He deepened the kiss, drowning in her scent. Damn it, he hadn’t known it would be so uncontrollable.

A muffled thud sounded from outside. Marley must have heard it, too, because her eyelids fluttered open at the same time as his.