Undercover Passion by Raye Morgan Page A

definite letdown.
    But she gave him a slight reprieve. “I haven’t tried that flavor. The only one I’ve had is the peanut butter and chocolate chip.”
    â€œOh.” He relaxed. “Okay. I’ll test it out and let you know.”
    â€œWhy won’t you try it right now?”
    â€œCan’t be done.” He shook his head, looking wisely at her. “I never mix tea with nutritional bars.”
    She gave him an exasperated look, but didn’t urge him any more. They took their tea to the living room and sat on the couch drinking and talking softly for the next half hour. Daniel sat in one corner and Abby curled up at the other end, her feet tucked under her. The sound of the dryercould be heard in the distance. Ming peered out from behind a chair, keeping an eye on Daniel, her golden eyes unblinking.
    And Daniel talked about anything he could think of to keep from looking over at where Abby sat looking cute and inviting and definitely under the influence of something unnatural.
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    Watching Daniel slowly sip his tea, Abby had an overwhelming urge to start kissing his neck. It looked so good, the skin so smooth and golden against the rougher texture of the suit coat. She didn’t dare let herself look at his chest too often. Who knew what she might get the urge to do there? It took her breath away.
    She closed her eyes for a moment, truly shocked at herself. She didn’t do things like this, didn’t think these sorts of thoughts. But the impulse was there, and she couldn’t deny it.
    And what was wrong with him, anyway? A surge of annoyance swept through her. She’d set the scene. The lights were low. She had light jazz playing softly on the stereo. A cinnamon-scented candle was flickering on the coffee table, throwing intriguing sparkles of light around the room.She’d given him pearl-essence tea, which the health food store guy had assured her had properties important in the art of seduction. She’d laughed at the time, sure she would never need it for that. But now here she was.
    And…nothing.
    The man could have been sipping tea with his maiden aunt. He was spending a lot of time staring at the far wall and he was talking on and on about some pirate movie he’d seen. This was not what she would have imagined an evening with the two of them sitting on a couch could be.
    She had to do something to pull him out of ignore mode. It was too bad she didn’t have more experience at seducing a man. In fact, she’d never tried it before.
    But this was different from all the other times in the past that she had liked a man and never had the nerve to do anything about it. She didn’t want to let this one slip through her fingers. She was just going to have to follow her own instincts, such as they were. Slowly, she stretched out one leg until she could nudge him with her bare foot.
    He looked up, startled.
    â€œI think it’s time,” she said softly.
    He blinked at her. “Time for what?”
    She smiled at him. “For you to kiss me again.”
    His gaze shifted uneasily. “I don’t dare try that. Your cat is still on guard, you know.”
    â€œShe won’t hurt you.”
    â€œI never knew a cat yet who would follow orders.”
    She prodded him with her foot again. “I’ll protect you, then.”
    He looked at her for a long moment. She was sure he was going to move toward her. But he did something odd instead. He winced, as though he was forcing himself to do something he didn’t want to do, and he looked away again.
    â€œForget it, Abby,” he said roughly. “You don’t want to go kissing a guy like me. There’s no future in it.”
    Future! What was he talking about? The future could take care of itself.
    â€œGuys like you are the only kind worth kissing,” she said lightly, hoping he didn’t detect her disappointment. It would have been nice if he’d looked a little