Free Exhale by Kendall Grey

Ever. First of all, it’s very dangerous for everyone involved, especially the whales. Secondly, you’re interfering with my job when you pull that kind of crap. And last, but not least, I don’t want you advertising your intentions—whatever they may be—to the people I work with. It’s just not cool.”
    “Then give me an alternative.” He softened his voice. “I don’t give up easily.”
    The warm wind picked up her hair, and brought the smell of flowers to him. Lavender. He inhaled deeply. Jesus.
    Her face turned up to his. Perfect angle for kissing. “I don’t want to go out with you.”
    “I think you do.” Hoped she did. He shot her another crooked smile. “You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”
    She narrowed her beautiful blues on him. “Careful, Captain Delusional, your god complex is showing.”
    He took two steps closer, herding her toward the wall with his body. “God complex, yes. Delusional, no. You definitely want to go out with me.” Hidden under the tough exterior, pinkish-orange swirls in her aura betrayed her uncertainty.
    Straightening, she put her back to brick and dropped both arms to her sides. Her jaw tensed, muscles quivering. Threads of red desire wove through the coral-colored aura and began a slow take-over. Maybe he was finally getting through to her.
    “I’m sorry if we upset your work. We didn’t want you to get clobbered by that whale.”
    “The whale wouldn’t have hurt anyone. He was just a little grumpy.” Her eyes glittered in the darkness, and she poked his chest as if to push him away. He didn’t budge. “Three hundred meters like all the other law-abiding citizens, okay?”
    He took a chance and closed with another step. “Three hundred meters is a long distance, and my eyesight isn’t that great.”
    He glanced around the street but didn’t see anyone nearby. “All I’m asking for is a date.” Bending toward her, he lowered his voice. “No expectations. Just one night with you.”
    She pulled back, her expression unsure, and he pushed forward, chasing her lips. She turned her head before he could tag her.
    “Watch it, slim,” she threatened, but a crack in her voice and the red blush in her aura betrayed her desire.
    She wanted this. Holy hell, he did too.
    He could have pushed it—tried coercing her into his bed with sweet talk like he’d done to a hundred women before her. It might have even worked. But some primitive part of him thrilled over the prospect of her submitting to him on her own terms. “You’re a cold woman, Zoe Morgan.”
    “You have no idea.” The jut of her chin and the hardness in her gaze didn’t deter him.
    “I guess my challenge is working out how to melt you.” He shifted his weight but remained planted in her personal space, pinning her to the wall with nothing but his stare.
    “You can’t melt stone.” Her gaze slid past his shoulder, and her leg twitched in a bouncy rhythm.
    Taking her chin with a thumb and index finger, he turned her face back to his. “ Everything has a melting point. I’m eighty percent sure I can get you to yours.”
    An audible swallow tagged his ears as she met his eyes. The leg stopped bouncing. Her aura reddened even more. “Why only eighty? Why not ninety-five or ninety-nine?”
    “What works on other women doesn’t apply to the likes of you, so eighty seems more realistic.”
    Her smoldering gaze dropped to his lips. “I think you’re over-estimating.”
    Absorbing the rest of her shadow into his, he knuckled the wall on either side of her head, trapping her in the cage of his arms, but not touching. The cool, sweaty bricks ground into his skin. She shivered and flattened her hands as if clinging to the wall for protection. Fire flared low in his gut, spurring him on.
    His lips hovered within an inch of striking distance, drawing a line and daring her to cross it. He breathed onto the air above her mouth. Heat reflected off her, a maddening taunt.
    “You’re wicked