he licked his lips, she bit back a groan. “I’ll do my best.”
“Tell you what, if I keep my derogatory comments about English poets and long-winded nineteenth century literature to a minimum, will you participate in an experiment?”
“What experiment?”
“Kiss me.”
As her breath caught in her throat, her heart lurched to a stop. Were Sloan and Andrea right? Was she jumping to conclusions? Would she and Gavin be great together? Was there something to this honey and bees thing? Maybe, with their chemistry leading them, they could find common ground somehow.
He continued in a low Texas drawl, “I haven’t stopped thinkin’ about you since you stormed off the other day.”
She coughed to clear her throat. “You’ve been on my mind quite a bit, as well.”
His perfect teeth flashed in a smile. “Anything you want to mention, between the cuss words and name calling, that is?”
“Your degrees are imaginary.”
“Are they?” He seemed surprised.
“I had the historical society’s resident computer expert do a little research. She discovered your name change, by the way. Care to elaborate?”
“Fortune is descriptive—and sexy, don’t you think?”
That wasn’t an answer. A confirmation. Or a denial. Hmm … “It’s something, all right. I saw you talking to her earlier.”
“Who?”
“My computer expert—Penelope Waters.” Brenna narrowed her eyes. “Who you need to take off your radar instantly.”
“I don’t fool around with kids.”
“Or big-breasted waitresses.”
“For some reason, I find temperamental redheads fascinating all of a sudden. Are you going to let me kiss you or not?”
“I was waiting for you. Are you sure your lothario reputation is actually earned? Because so far—”
His mouth covered hers midrant. His lips were warm, persuasive, tasting appealingly of whiskey and sent a spark of desire shooting down her spine.
He cupped her jaw in his hand, angling her head to deepen the kiss, his tongue gliding against hers. She pressed her body to his, her hands clutching his soft cotton shirt as she fought to get closer.
Man, he felt amazing. She closed her eyes, shutting out her conscience, which was trying to remind her that she was kissing her opponent.
“I really don’t need this complication in my life at the moment,” he whispered hotly against her cheek.
“You’re hopelessly arrogant,” she returned, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her aching breasts against his firm chest.
“You’re too serious.” His lips moved over hers for another heated kiss. “And you could be a lot quieter.”
She was perfectly happy with the method he used to silence her.
He had a great mouth, and the hunger that twisted low in her belly spread and intensified. As his hands slid down her back to cup her butt and tug her against his erection, she moaned.
The heat that had flared briefly between them a few days ago raged into a white-hot fire, leaving her body throbbing, and incinerating every vow she’d made about keeping her distance from this man.
He not only had her motor revving, it was on the verge of blowing. Yet she didn’t do one-night stands. And she couldn’t imagine anything with Gavin Fortune lasting beyond one night.
They were adversaries at best, stone-cold enemies at worst.
This same thought seemed to occur to him at the exact second it did her, since they both jumped back simultaneously.
“We can’t do this,” he said, his breathing harsh and choppy as he stared in disbelief at her.
“You started it,” she snapped, annoyed that she wanted nothing more than to be back in his arms.
“Me? You were all over me.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Delusional. You were the one who proposed the experiment.”
“Which was a complete failure. I don’t want you in the least.”
“Me, either.” Every cell in her body tingled, calling her a liar. “I’ll have no problem doing my duty by the historical society and checking up on every move you and your crew makes.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and attempted to look aggravated, even though she could see the desire lingering in his eyes as his gaze focused on her lips. “It’s summer. Can’t you set aside the overbearing teacher impulses until September?”
“Unfortunately for you, no.”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
Breath heaving, they glared at each other. In the next instant, they were plastered together.
Gavin leaned back in his deck chair on board the Heat and closed his eyes against the glaring sun overhead. “I’m in serious trouble, amigo.”
Pablo, lounging in his own chair, needed no clarification on the cause of Gavin’s problem. “She’s a looker. Could use a tan, though.” When Gavin glanced at him, he peeked over his sunglasses, his eyes lecherous. “Why don’t you invite her to sunbathe on deck tomorrow? I’ll watch over her while you pick through all that debris at the wreck site.”
“That’s a great plan,” Gavin said in mock admiration. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“No idea. You’re the one who’s supposed to be brilliant.”
“Sure I am. She can hardly stand the sight of me, so I’ll just call her up, invite her over and ask her to strip down to her bikini while we all drool over her.”
“I’ll be drooling. You’ll be diving.”
“Even better.”
“It is. She likes me better than you.”
“Oh, no, she doesn’t. You’re guilty by association. She thinks you’re part of my gang.”
“I wouldn’t be if you’d tell her you’re not a jerk.”
Gavin shook his head. “I can’t risk it.” He paused, feeling the weight of his lies more substantially than ever. “Besides, she’d hardly believe me now.”
With a sigh, Pablo sat up. “Keeping up your hotshot image gets you a lot of play, and our team a lot of press. Your agent called earlier, by the way. He wants to talk to you about a cameo in the next Dr. McFearsome movie.”
“Dr. McFearsome?”
“He’s the suave archeologist who’s obsessed with Egyptian culture, Tai Chi and hot blondes.”
Gavin winced. “Charming.”
“Could be fun.”
“I don’t see how.”
After a tick of silence, Pablo conceded, “If you’re miserable with your image then dump it. You don’t have to compete with Dan Loff anymore.”
Gavin curled his hand into a fist. “Loff doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Sure he does.” Pablo swatted his shoulder and stood. “Way too much.”
As Pablo walked toward the cooler, Gavin reflected that though Loff had been the catalyst and motivation for much of his professional life, Gavin himself had made the choices that had brought him to the crossroads he now faced.
He’d wanted the spotlight,