Free His Captivating Confidante (Secret Sentinels) by Lisa Weaver Page A

something back from her. And she could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was still beating himself up for the kiss they’d shared.
    Not that she wasn’t bashing herself mentally, too. She had a job to do, and she’d dropped the ball—big time. She should have realized they were being followed, too. If she had, she would have caught on to what Frank was really doing when he pulled her up against the pilings.
    Once again, she’d let her feelings for him muddy her ability to do her job.
    “About the kiss, Steph—” Frank began.
    She rolled her eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that you do wonders for a girl’s ego? You’ve already apologized. Twice. If you apologize again, I can’t be held responsible for my actions,” she teased, hoping to lighten the mood. “You really don’t have anything to be sorry for. It was my fault, not yours. Let’s just forget it ever happened, okay?”
    He reached out a hand and tenderly caressed her face. “That’s going to be easier said than done, Kitten. That was one hell of a kiss. I’m trying to respect our friendship and not color outside the lines, but you aren’t making that easy.”
    Her stomach fluttered at his pronouncement. Maybe the kiss hadn’t been as horrible a faux pas as she’d thought. She figured he would have run away as fast and as far as he could by now, figuratively speaking, yet he was still here. But since the feel of his mouth on hers was too tantalizingly recent, she couldn’t risk dwelling on the possibility that he might be as intrigued by the chemistry brewing between them as she was. It would be far too easy to bridge the short physical distance to where he was standing and sample the fullness of those tempting masculine lips again.
    “Let’s just put it behind us and move on,” she offered.
    “I’m not sure I have the willpower to do that,” he murmured. “Do you?”
    “Yes,” she lied, all the while knowing she’d have to come up with some kind of miraculous reserve of that very stuff. In the meantime, she’d just keep telling herself the kiss had meant nothing.
    Too bad it hadn’t felt like nothing. It had felt like forever.
    ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
    Frank wanted to attribute the accelerated staccato of his pulse to the potentially risky situation he and Stephanie had just avoided, but he knew he’d be fooling himself if he did. Being tailed by an unknown pursuer rated a mere one on the hazard scale. A minor blip like that wouldn’t have every synapse in his body firing on full alert like they were now.
    No, there was no denying that this adrenaline rush was courtesy of the warm and willing woman he’d just held in his arms.
    What had begun as a simple tactical maneuver had taken on an entirely different and far more dangerous facet. His intent had simply been to force the man tailing them to walk past them. Presenting the illusion of a couple about to share a romantic moment on a secluded beach had accomplished that goal, but it had carried an unintended side effect. He’d contracted a bad case of Stephitis.
    He never should have kissed her, but he hadn’t been able to hold back. He’d gotten way more than he’d bargained for when he’d merged his lips with hers. She’d tasted of innocence and seduction, all rolled into one mouth-wateringly enticing package.
    That incendiary lip-lock had him thinking about insinuating himself into her life in more intimate ways than mere friendship, at a time when he couldn’t afford to have his focus splintered. He needed to stay on task.
    Not an easy feat when discovering Stephanie’s passionate side had hijacked his brain. His blood was still steaming from her heated response.
    Ten years ago, on that summer night when she’d offered herself to him, it had taken everything in his power to walk away from her. A glorious, untouched angel, her beauty had taken his breath away. But indulging his need hadn’t been an option. He hadn’t been worthy of her, then.
    And he most