Deadly Desire (Carrington-Hill Investigations Book 2) by Kate Allenton Page B

touched her bare flesh, sending shivers down her spine. What should have been a simple soft touch could have turned into so much more if she’d relented and given in. The small of her back was a small void untouched in what seems like years. His touch was almost enough for her to throw caution to the wind and turn into his hands, wanting a more intimate caress.
    She glanced over her shoulder. “And that’s not an invitation , Romeo. The direction is north.”
    His fingers brushed her skin , and they moved down to grasp the zipper, giving it a slow, agonizing tug into place. Pure torture and the sad part was that she’d asked for it. 
    His palms moved to caress her arms. His hot breath brushed the crook of her shoulder up to her neck. His voice was low and purposefully seductive as he whispered into her ear. “You’re beautiful.”
    She turned in his arms, trying desperately to keep her composure. His body was mere inches from hers. Her body stirred, hyper aware of how close he was. A heated silence between them grew as she stood in place unable to move, not that she would have, not that she could have. She drew in a deep breath. “No, no, no, Romeo. Keep your hormones in check. Little Collin can’t come out to play.
    “He’s anything but little , baby.”
    Her gaze landed on his full , kissable lips before moving the short distance to his eyes. Her throat constricted as she broke through the trance he held on her. “We’re going to be late.”
    She recognized his momentary hesitation before he dropped his hands to his side s.
    She waited as he tucked in his shirt , wishing it were her hands she was shoving down the front of his pants. For research’s sake, she tried to tell herself she needed the answer to her underwear question. He grabbed his tuxedo jacket and slid it on as she left the room. He waited for her while she grabbed her clutch with the gun stuffed inside. It was going to be one hell of a long night.
    Her black sheath dress had no give for hiding a gun underneath. Hell, it barely left her any room to breathe, and the seams were stretched so tight there was no way in hell she’d be bending over tonight. She was forced to carry her gun the old-fashioned way and hope that would be enough to keep him alive.

 
     
     
    Chapter 8

     
    Sara ran through the current list of suspicious people she wanted to question as they rode the elevator down to the lobby. Regina and Drew topped the list. She knew so little about each of them, and they did have direct access to not only his house but to Collin. She needed to rule them out before anyone else. She also had yet to meet Collin’s publicist, Maureen, as well as the blogger guy and the ex-girlfriend squirreled away. Maybe his ex had noticed someone unusual lurking around since she’d bumped into Collin. One could hope, even if she was grasping at straws. Her list of persons-of-interest was endless. It could have been any one of the female population or gay male population for that matter. Or, crap, even a man holding a grudge. Her mind spun from the endless possibilities, but her gut instinct was a stalker, someone who had an unhealthy fixation on him. Collin was, after all, sex on stick.
    “Tell me why Regina isn’t coming down with us. She came all this way, so I would assume she’d want to enjoy the party.”
    Collin placed his hand on Sara’s back. “She doesn’t like all the cameras.”
    They stepped into the ballroom and were immediately bombarded by flashing lights. Sara tried to smile through the pandemonium, even though her nerves were strung tight. It would be hard to catch a killer if she couldn’t freakin’ see. Collin steered her, through the hordes of reporters, with his hand on the small of her lower back. Reporters continued to yell questions at them, to them, about them, wanting to know who she was and how long they’d been dating.
    When the black dots cleared from Sara’s vision, she searched the surrounding sea of faces for