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and she trembled, knowing what would come next.
    Without hesitation, James unbuttoned her plaid shirt. His warm hands caressed her skin as he slid the warm flannel over her shoulders and down her bare arms. He had always enjoyed undressing her, turning a mundane act into a sensual feast, and it seemed, from the hitch in his breath as his hands glided over her skin, that hadn’t changed.
    Her body flamed at his touch, responding as if the two-year break had never happened. “I…ah…can…better do that.” Her words came out no louder than a whisper.
    James paused, his fingers on the waistband of her jeans. “I’m faster.”
    His hand dipped inside her jeans and pressed gently against her now-almost-flat tummy to undo the button. Lana’s breath caught in her throat and her senses shot to high alert as he tugged down her zipper, his fingers grazing lightly over her mound. His gentle caress was more arousing than if he had stripped off her clothes and touched her bare skin. She bit into her lip and tasted the sharp tang of blood. She should never have let him undress her.
    He crouched in front of her and slid her jeans over her hips. An image flashed in her mind of James on his knees in her bedroom as she stood naked before him. She had thought for once she was in charge, but when he grasped her thighs and brushed his lips over her clit, she had known her control of the situation was only illusory.
    He looked up and caught her gaze. His eyes deepened to an azure blue and his lips parted. Swallowing hard, he dug his fingers into her thighs, as if to steady himself, and slid her jeans over her feet.
    Lana braced herself against the cool metal of her trusty Jetta and fisted her hands against the urge to thread them through his now deliciously long hair. The softest moan escaped her lips.
    James froze. “Lana…” He choked back his words and managed only one more, “Rex.”
    Need, raw and ragged, turned her insides liquid. Swept up in a maelstrom of emotion and desire, she uttered the three words she had wanted so desperately to say over the last two years, needing to reassure herself nothing had changed. “I hate you,” she whispered.
    “I know.” His eyes glittered and the look he settled on her—hot and hungry—seared her to the core. He knew her words for the lie they were and she sensed he understood her need to say them.
    Lana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ground herself in the moment—a deliciously dangerous moment. “Let’s just get this over with,” she blurted out. “And then we can move on with our lives…our cases.”
    James rose to his feet and lifted her, settling her bottom on the hood of her car. “Open for me.”
    Her cheeks flamed and she froze. When they had been together, he had been able to bring her close to the edge with his erotic commands. But now, although her body was on board, her heart was running scared.
    When she didn’t move, he slid his hands up her thighs and eased her legs apart. Her breathing increased and her pulse sped up. Did he know the effect his touch still had on her?
    Of course he knew. Better than she knew herself.
    James eased himself between her legs and pulled her tight against him, locking their hips together. Awareness flared through her. The press of his hands on her thighs. The heat of his body. The raw scent of leather and the clean, fresh aroma of his cologne. His presence swallowed up everything—Rex, the field, even her anxiety. Everything but him.
    His eyes crinkled as he studied her face and then darkened with sensual promise. “Ready?”
    She could only nod her head. His warm breath brushed over her cheek and whispered over her lips. Tears, unwanted and unexpected, prickled at the back of Lana’s eyes. Pulling away, she tried to contain the emotions skittering through her. How many nights had she spent tossing and turning, dreaming about kissing him again? He was the first man she’d ever trusted since escaping from Levi, the