some reason.
He watched as she stiffened her spine even more. “And that gave you the right to talk about me?”
His heart thudded deeply in his chest. The last thing he had time or the inclination to do was deal with an emotional female. “Look, Sheila, like I said before, I am a private investigator. My job is to know people and I don’t like surprises. Anyone who comes in contact with the baby for any long period of time will get checked out by me.”
He rubbed his hand down his face and released a frustrated sigh. “Look. It’s not that I was intentionally questioning your character. I was mainly assuring my client that a child that someone is claiming to be his has been placed in the best of care until the issue is resolved by way of a paternity test. There’s no reason for you to take it personally. It’s not about you. It’s about Sunnie. Had you been the president’s mother-in-law I’d still do a background check. My client is a very wealthy man and my job is to protect him at all costs, which is why I intend to find out who is behind this.”
He paused for a moment. “You do want what’s best for Sunnie, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“So do I, and so does Brad. That baby was abandoned, and the last thing I would want is for her not to have some stability in her life over the next couple of weeks. She deserves that at least. Neither of us know what will happen after that.”
His words gave Sheila pause and deflated her anger somewhat. Although she didn’t want to admit it, what he said was true. It wasn’t about her but about Sunnie. She should be everyone’s main concern. Background checks were routine and she would have expected that one be done if they’d hired a nanny for Sunnie. She didn’t know Zeke like he didn’t know her, and with that suspicious mind of his—which came with the work he did—he would want to check her out regardless of the fact that Dr. Phillips had spoken highly of her. But that didn’t mean she had to like the fact Zeke had done it.
“Fine,” she snapped. “You’ve done your job. Now, take me back to the hospital so I can get my car.”
“We’re going shopping for the baby stuff as planned, Sheila. You still need my truck, so please put your emotions aside and agree to do what’s needed to be done.”
“Emotions!” Before thinking about it, she quickly crossed the room to stand in front of him.
“Yes, emotions.”
His voice had lowered and he reached out and tilted her chin up. “Has anyone ever told you how sexy you look when you’re angry?”
And before she could take another breath, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Why did her lips have to be so soft?
Why did she have to taste so darn good?
And why wasn’t she resisting him?
Those questions rammed through Zeke’s mind as his heart banged brutally in his chest at the feel of his mouth on Sheila’s. He pushed those questions and others to the back of his mind as he deepened the kiss, took it to another level—although his senses were telling him that was the last thing he needed to do.
He didn’t heed their advice. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Sheila’s waist to bring her closer to the fit of him as he feasted on her mouth. He knew he wasn’t the only one affected by the kiss when he felt her hardened nipples pressing into his chest. He could tell she hadn’t gotten kissed a lot, at least not to this degree, and she seemed unsure of herself, but he remedied that by taking control. She moaned and he liked the sound of it and definitely like the feel of her plastered against him.
He could go on kissing her for hours … days … months. The very thought gave him pause and he gradually pulled his mouth from hers. Hours, days and months meant an involvement with a woman and he didn’t do involvements. He did casual affairs and nothing more. And the last thing he did was mix business with pleasure.
Sheila’s first coherent thought after Zeke released her lips was that she had never, not even in her wildest dreams, been kissed like that. She still felt tingling in her toes and her entire body; her every limb and muscle felt like pure jelly, which was probably the reason she was quivering like the dickens inside.
She slowly drew air into her lungs, held it a moment before slowly letting it out. She could still taste him on her tongue. How had he gotten so entrenched there? She quickly answered her own question when she remembered how his tongue had taken hold of hers, mated with it and sucked on it.
She muttered a couple colorful expletives under her breath when she gazed up at him. She should not have allowed him to kiss her like that. She’d be the first to admit she had enjoyed it, but still. The eyes staring back at her were dark and heated as if he wanted a repeat performance. She cleared her throat. “Why did you kiss me?”
Why had he kissed her? Zeke asked himself that same question as he took a step back. He needed to put distance between them or else he would be tempted to kiss her again.
“You were talking,” he said, grabbing the first excuse he could think of.
“No, I wasn’t.”
He lifted a brow. Hadn’t she been? He tried to backtrack and recall just what was taking place between them before she’d stormed across the room to get in his face. When he remembered, he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. You would have said something you regretted and I decided to wipe the words off your lips.”
Sheila frowned. “I suggest that you don’t ever do it again.”
That slow, sexy smile that she’d seen earlier returned, and instead of saying he wouldn’t kiss her again, he crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “So, what brought you inside? You said you were going to wait outside.”
He had changed subjects and she decided to follow his lead. “Your car began beeping loudly as if it was going to blow up or something.”
His smile widened to emphasize the dimples in his cheek. “That’s my fax machine. It’s built into my console in a way that’s not detectable.”
She shook her head. “What are you, a regular James Bond?”
“No. Bond is a secret agent. I’m a private investigator. There’s a big difference.” He glanced at his watch. “If you’re ready, we can leave. My truck is this way.”
“What about the fax that was coming through?”
“I have a fax in the truck as well. It will come in on both.”
“Oh.”
She followed him through a spacious dining room and kitchen that was stylishly decorated. The living room was also fashionably furnished. Definitely more so than hers. “You have a nice home.”
“Thanks, and if you’re talking about the furniture and decorating, I can’t take credit. It was a model home and I bought it as is. I saw it. I liked it. I got it.”
He saw it, he liked it and he got it. She wondered if that was how he operated with everything in his life.
“Where do you want me to put these boxes?” Zeke asked, carrying two under his arms. One contained a baby car seat and the other a baby bath. He hadn’t wanted to tell her, but he thought instead of purchasing just the basics that she’d gotten carried away. The kid would only be with her for two weeks at the most, not two years.
“You can set them down anywhere. I’m going to stay up late tonight putting stuff up.”
After placing the boxes in a corner of the room, he glanced around. The place was small, but it suited her. Her furniture was nice and her two-story home was neat as a pin. He could imagine how it was going to look with baby stuff cluttering it up.
“I’m going to call the hospital again to check on Sunnie.”
He bit down on his lips, forcing back a reminder