Crash Into You by Roni Loren

was behaving, so I got my act together.” The corner of his mouth tilted into a wistful smile. “I wish she were still around. She was awesome—really got me, you know?”
    Brynn nodded, although she had no idea what it must feel like to have someone like that.
    “But at least I had somewhere to go when I lost her, even if it meant dealing with all that goes along with filling the role of the Jamison son.” He leaned over and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, sending goose bumps down her neck. “That’s one of the things I like about you. You don’t seem to give a damn about who my family is, so I can just relax around you.”
    She laughed. “Yeah, once I found out you couldn’t fire me, you lost all shot of me kissing your ass.”
    He slipped a hand onto her hip and pulled her closer, theirbodies almost touching. “So what’s your stance on kissing other things?”
    Every muscle in her body strained to move forward, to close the sliver of distance between them, but she held still. “Probably not a good idea since we work together.”
    He smiled and shook his head. “See, you’re always such a half-empty kind of girl. Working together means we’ll get paid to hang out with each other.”
    “And everybody in the office will think I’m hanging out with you for the wrong reasons.”
    He shrugged. “That’s why we don’t tell. It’s none of their business anyway.”
    She chewed her lip. “I like you, Reid, but I don’t know… it’s just complicated. I’ve got a lot—”
    He put a finger over her mouth, hushing her. “Stop overthinking things, Brynn. It doesn’t have to be so complex. I know you don’t bullshit, so I’m not going to either. Since the first day I met you, I haven’t stopped thinking about what it would be like to touch you.” He cupped her chin and ran his thumb over her lips. “To taste you. I leave the office every day fighting a hard-on because just hearing your voice sets me off.”
    She swallowed hard, the blunt words and his finger on her lips throwing gasoline on the flickering flame of longing she’d been fighting since they’d left the office.
    “So in about three seconds, I’m going to kiss you. If you don’t want that, you tell me to stop, and I’ll never try again.” He curled his hand around the back of her neck, his gaze tattooing her. “One… two…”
    “Three,” she whispered.
    He leaned over and touched his lips to hers, a deceptively gentle press that, from someone else, would’ve seemed sweet, innocent even. But the heated grip on the back of her neck and jolt of awarenessthat sizzled down her nerve endings were something else altogether. With a maddeningly slow pace, he tasted each part of her mouth—the corners, the bow at the top, the line where both lips met—like he was cataloguing every nuance of her skin, each flavor. She gave a little whimper of protest and he pulled back, holding her gaze for a moment. “Changed your mind?”
    She should stop him; that’d be the smart thing to do. But her hormones claimed veto power over her brain. She reached for him, gliding her fingertips over the hint of stubble on his cheek, then down his neck to his collar. She gave it a gentle tug and pulled him with her as she rolled from her side to her back. If she was going to be stupid, why do it halfway? “Kiss me like you want to kiss me. I can feel you holding back.”
    The blue in his eyes darkened as they swept over her face, her neck, lower. “Be careful what you ask for, sugar.”
    She shivered beneath his hungry perusal. “I trust you.”
    Something unidentifiable flickered across his features before he dipped his head and claimed her mouth again, blanketing her with his upper body. This time, there was no tentativeness, no teasing. Only white-hot rawness.
    Just like in the fantasies she weaved in the privacy of her bedroom, Reid took control—his kiss as unapologetic as the man himself. Commanding fingers twisted in her hair, and