by Incy Black
“That’s ridiculous!”
“I agree. But then everything about this situation is ridiculous and I’m desperate, so start talking. Why won’t you move in with me?”
Was he mad? “Well, for one you haven’t asked, and second it would never work.”
It didn’t look much like he was listening. Not the way he was fixating on her hair, wrapping its new length around his forefinger and then releasing it, only to find a fresh lock with which to play.
“Jack.”
“Hmm.”
“Will you stop stroking me? I thought you wanted answers.”
“Not really. After all, it’s not like I’m going to let you walk away, whatever it is you have to say.”
She pushed against his chest and leaned back. “The Service, Jack. It’s your life…and I don’t want it to be a part of mine. Too many bad memories, and I need to start afresh.”
“Me too. That’s why, having tied up some loose ends, I quit. For good this time. A desk job would have killed me or, more accurately, I would only have ended up shooting someone important. Too much tact and diplomacy required, and I don’t have the patience to play politics.”
“You can’t quit, Jack. The Service is a part of who you are.”
“Who I was. Setting up my own operation specializing in close protection makes more sense for a man intent on starting a family.”
He was back to nuzzling her neck, delicious flames licked her skin. She curled the fingers of her free hand into his shirt and tried to hang on, while the walls tilted and spun around her.
She let his words percolate. “Jack, did you just propose?”
“Hell no. All that would get me is a flat-out refusal. I’m asking you to move in. To give me a chance to prove I can make this work.”
“Then hell no, right back at you.” For an instant she could have sworn shock and yes, maybe fear, skirted his eyes. Not that he allowed her a closer look.
In an instant, she was under him, her lips trapped beneath his, his hands skimming. Teasing. His thigh eased between hers, pressing high. Christ, the man liked to play dirty.
Her blood fizzing, she deliberately wriggled her hips. Couldn’t have him thinking she was without a few tricks of her own.
His groan vibrated against her flattened breasts. “Not stopping until you surrender. I’ll kiss you all night and all over, if I have to, then I’ll start again. A chance, Lowry, the last risk I’ll ever ask you to take, I promise.”
“Still no,” she panted. “I don’t want you to stop the kissing, so you won’t be hearing any ‘yes’ from me.”
She whimpered as he pulled away.
“Gotta find Richard. He’s got the key, and I need these cuffs off. Bloody stupid idea. They get in the way.”
She arched and curled her legs high and fast around his hips. “I like them.” She liked the way his eyes suddenly burned more fiercely too. And the way his breathe quickened.
She refused to duck his intense stare, though there was little she could do about the slow-effusing flush that stained her cheeks.
“You really trust me that much?”
She nodded. “With my life. With my heart. Now prove you feel the same. Ask me to marry you—no conditions attached.”
He hesitated, swallowed hard enough to bob his Adam’s apple. “Okay. Will you be my”—there was no mistaking the choke—“wife?”
She nearly laughed. Jack Ballentyne loathed asking anything, hated asking period. But in their partnership, he’d do well to get used to it.
“No. Ask me again in a month’s time, and probably several months’ time after that. I like having the upper hand, Ballentyne, and knowing you love me too much to refuse me anything makes me feel deliciously naughty. Think you can cope with the insubordination?”
The last thing she heard, before all sound ceased to matter was a torn and heartfelt “Lowry-bloody-Fisk.” Then, “Soon to be Lowry-bloody-Ballentyne.”
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Acknowledgments
To Tracy Montoya, Editor, for her endless patience, and tolerance of my ‘voice’. Thank you. *Curtsies*
To Shehanne Moore, could my thanks ever be enough? Nope. Best company ever—keep waving the banners!
To the Naughties, and the Black Quills, for the friendship and entertainment you provide. Kudos. Thank you.
To the team at Entangled Publishing, for their contribution. Thank you, unsung heroes.
To the writers of the many books I have read, and will read in the future (yes, all of you). Thank you. For the colour. For the joy. For the journey.
About the Author
It took a swan dive from a roof to convince Incy (aged 5) she wasn’t an avenging fairy and no, she most certainly couldn’t fly. Bruised but undefeated she retreated deeper into her imaginary world populated with the brave and the poisonous.
When not fighting injustice and righting wrongs on ‘Planet Incy’ she works as a Marketing Director. (Unfortunately, her law degree languishes unused, the distinction between good and evil proving too worrisome in real life.)
Her five children are well versed in what scares her (most things) and delight in pushing her neurotic buttons—at their peril.
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