Going Deep (Coastal Heat #1) by Maggie Wells

remained locked on hers. “You mean a nerdy guy like me.”
    The intensity of his stare dredged up a raft of insecurities she thought she’d jettisoned years before. “You were such a jerk to me all through school.”
    “I thought we already covered this.”
    “I’m still trying to figure it out.”
    “You’re brighter than that, and I’m a simple organism. Nothing complex about the why, Brooke.”
    His voice was melodious and deep. The confidence ringing through the cooled molasses thickness of his drawl proved as seductive as poetry. He wasn’t a shy boy anymore. This man knew damn well the effect he had on women.
    Blowing out a breath, she stared out over the sun-dappled water. “You wanted to embarrass me?”
    “I just wanted you.”
    His negligent shrug should have annoyed her, but it didn’t. The combative stance he held should have been off-putting, but it wasn’t. She found everything about him maddeningly attractive.
    Knowing the circular argument wouldn’t get the answers she needed, she switched tracks. “This isn’t the boat I pictured for you.”
    As she spoke she smoothed her water-stained skirt over her hip. His gaze followed her hand and her heart rushed. The ebb and flow of desire threatened to crash through her best defenses. At last, his eyes met hers again, but the breeze whipped her hair into her face. He hooked the wind-tangled locks behind her ear in a shockingly tender gesture, and he kept his hand in place.
    “You thought I’d have a rowboat?”
    “I expected something a little more…serious.”
    His lips twitched, then a wide, wicked smile took over. “Boring. You expected something boring.”
    She wagged her head in fierce denial. “Just more…I don’t know, scientific.”
    “You want me to talk displacement, strokes, and thrust?”
    “No!”
    He chuckled and a blush fired her cheeks.
    “I was just saying…”
    The words caught in her throat when his fist closed in her hair. He tugged on it and her heart revved at full throttle. The heat in his dark eyes set her blood to a boil.
    His lips hovered millimeters from hers. “I won it in a poker game.”
    “You did?” The question sounded weak and breathless, but he held her so close she didn’t dare attempt to fill her lungs.
    “No, but it sounds better than saying I bought it from a friend who couldn’t keep up with the payments anymore.” Something flickered in his eyes. He lowered his lashes before she could decipher it. “I want to kiss you again.”
    A thread of menace wove its way through the simple statement, but Brooke felt no fear, only excitement. She couldn’t resist testing the waters. “Do you get everything you want?”
    “These days I do.”
    “Why?”
    “Don’t over-think it, Brooke. I wanted to kiss you. It’s as easy as that.”
    “Nothing was ever easy with us.” She angled her head to look him straight in the eye. “Is this revenge? You had me haul all the way out here because you could? I need something from you and you’re going to make me dance for it?”
    “I liked dancing with you.”
    “Brian—”
    “You said you needed my help.”
    “And you want to be my knight in shining armor?”
    He tossed off another one of those careless shrugs. “You want me to be?”
    Frustrated, she glowered at him. “What do you want?”
    “I want you. Always have. Think I always will.”
    Her jaw snapped shut and her heart lodged in her throat. Lifting her chin another notch, she bit back a moan when his hand tightened in her hair. Her nipples hardened to the point of discomfort. “Maybe you need to get it out of your system.”
    They stared at one another, locked in a silent battle of wits and wills with no rules. A full minute passed before Brian’s mouth thinned into a line and his hand fell away. “If an interview is all you want, I’ll give it to you, but I want you to be honest with me.”
    A hollow ache filled the pit of her stomach, overtaking the churning, burning longing he stirred