Lucas let go of her and turned to get a better look at the car as it drove off.
Both Santa and the driver turned to look at him, and for one heart-stopping beat everyone stared at each other.
Then the car sped up and was gone.
Lucas turned back to Molly, who was still balanced on the railing, dazed. “Did you just . . . put the elf on the shelf?” she asked.
He gave a disbelieving head shake.
She felt a little disbelieving herself. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel his arms wrapped tight around her, holding her safely onto the railing, his mouth sensual and erotic on hers. He’d taken her from chilled to overheated in a blink. In fact, she’d forgotten about the case, about the cold night, about trying to resist him and his insane sexiness for her own sanity. And much as she felt bowled over by their physical attraction, it went far deeper than just physical for her.
She thought she was the sneaky queen, but Lucas could teach her a few tricks, making her realize she had a lot to learn. He was badass and sneaky in his own right, and that was a ridiculous turn-on. Dammit.
“There was no license plate on that car,” he said. “Did you see the driver?”
She hopped down from the railing. “He had a hat low over his eyes. Looked shady as hell. Also that was cash in that bulging duffle bag and it was full—also shady as hell.”
“Everything about this creepy place is shady as hell,” he said.
“I told you they’re making bank. Question is, where is it all really going?” She turned to the trailer, but Lucas stopped her.
“Not yet,” he said. “We’re going to the car to give this place another half hour to empty out.”
“Everyone’s gone.”
He slid her a look. “That’s what you thought last time. You’ve pushed your luck enough tonight.”
He was right. “Lucas—”
“Not here.”
They walked to the car in silence, where Lucas locked them in. “I asked you to wait before heading into the trailer,” he said. “Instead you almost got caught.”
“Yeah, but—”
“When I tell you to wait, you need to wait.”
She narrowed her eyes. She knew she was in the wrong here, but she couldn’t help herself. “Maybe you want to rephrase that.”
“I don’t.”
She crossed her arms, but he didn’t back down. “Are you saying that if I’d said ‘please wait,’ you would have?” he asked.
Good point. Dammit. She just looked at him.
He looked at her right back. She realized in the year she’d been working at Hunt, she’d never seen him really mad before, but he was close now. She’d missed the signs what with all the adrenaline and lust running through her veins instead of blood. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Let’s try this again. I’m sorry I didn’t wait when you said it. Annnddd . . . you’re sorry you barked at me like you’re my drill sergeant, right?”
“Look,” he said, “on the job, I can be . . . focused.”
“Wow.” She shook her head. “You’re really bad at apologies.”
“That wasn’t an apology. When I apologize you’ll know it.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Oh, is that right—”
Before she could finish that sentence, he hauled her up and over the console and then his mouth came down on hers in a long, slow, deep kiss. After a long, breathless moment, he pulled back a fraction, eyes dark, voice low. “I’m sorry I told instead of asking all pretty, but in the field things happen fast, and in the case of life and death, I’m always going to put your life ahead of mine. So keep that in mind next time you act without thinking.”
The magnitude of that, the meaning behind the words slowly sank in and she softened. “Lucas—”
He kissed her again, whispered “sorry” again, taking his time too, and he’d been right, she realized, when he did apologize, she most definitely knew it. And he went on to apologize quite thoroughly too, until she couldn’t even remember what he was sorry for.
Or her own name.
Chapter 12
#ShelfTheElf
Lucas had lost his damn mind. Molly wasn’t for him, and yet the memo had clearly not made it from his brain to his hands. Or his tongue.
Or to any other essential body parts . . .
He tried to shake off the sensual, erotic haze that always came over him when he was close to her like this, but realized the haze was actually real. They’d fogged up the windows. “Not smart,” he said. “Steaming up the windows on a stakeout.”
Her short, tight green elf dress had risen high on her creamy thighs, and far before he was done soaking up the sight, she attempted to smooth it down with shaking fingers. “It’s the oddest thing,” she whispered, straightening her elf cap.
“What?”
“I really don’t want to want you, but I do.” She stared at him contemplatively. “I mean what is that?”
He felt his lips curve. He could have said right back attcha, babe, but instead he said, “It’s because I’m irresistible.”
“Keep telling yourself that. And I’ll keep reminding myself that I’m not attracted to guys like you.”
“Guys like me?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
“Big. Badass. Doggedly aggressive . . .” She used her arm to swipe at the steamed-up passenger window. “Annoyingly high-sexualized chemistry,” she said to the glass.
He was glad she wasn’t looking at him right then because his triumphant smile would’ve made her mad. He really was trying not to be all in with her, and not just because of Joe and the job but because he hadn’t planned on being “all in” with anyone ever again. But she sat there looking so sexy and adorable at the same time in that costume, all pissy and grumpy because she wanted him. It would take a far better man than him to resist that.
“Very annoying,” she muttered to herself, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You didn’t feel all that annoyed a minute ago.”
“Hmph.”
Her bad ‘tude and reluctance to accept their attraction amused him. Which spoke volumes on his mental maturity. But he had to find the humor in this to keep everything—including her—compartmentalized.
And it wasn’t as if she was going to go all in with him either. She kept herself closed off to him in most ways, but ever since she’d slept in his bed, their physical chemistry refused to be ignored.
“This is all your fault,” she said. “You shouldn’t have kissed me again.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “It was you nearly getting caught that led to that kiss. And while we’re on that, you’re welcome for saving your very sexy, impulsive ass.”
“So you’re telling me that kiss was simply a diversion tactic?” she asked. “All the tongue, the hand on my ass, all of it just for the job?”
Their gazes locked. “That’s not what you asked,” he said.
“I’m asking now.”
There was the simple answer, which was that’s what he wanted the kiss to have been. A diversion tactic, nothing more. But the more complicated answer was that the kiss had only started out that way and had quickly proven to him that nothing was simple between the two of them. Not a single thing, including the emotions she stirred up from deep inside him, emotions he’d long ago buried.