Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) by Kylie Gilmore

system—squeaky shoes, swishy corduroys, a spinning propeller hat that played “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Anything equally nerdy would do because these lusty ideas about her best friend and partner were wreaking havoc with her rational, professional businesswoman side.
    With firm boundaries. Don’t forget that. Very firm.
    She walked straight up to him, bravely looking him in the eye. It was time to put all these crazy ideas about Shane to rest once and for all. “You ever sleep with someone you worked with?”
    He swallowed visibly. “No.”
    “You ever sleep with a friend and then go back to being friends?”
    He gave her a slow smile that made something flutter low in her belly. “I kissed someone and went back to being friends.”
    He stepped closer, and she found she couldn’t move. He smelled like sweaty male. That shouldn’t be good, shouldn’t make her weak in the knees. He took the glass from her hand and set it on the counter. One large hand cradled her face. “You want to give it a try?”
    Don’t be stupid! You’re playing with fire!
    She was all set with a firm no , but what came out was an embarrassingly weak, “Um…”
    She caught his quick smile before he leaned down and kissed her, soft, so soft. His tongue traced her lips and then dipped inside. Someone sighed. That couldn’t have been her. She wasn’t the sighing type. Her hands went up to his chest, gripping his shirt as his mouth and tongue took over a thorough exploration. She pressed closer, nipping at his bottom lip. His hands slid to her bottom and pulled her close against what felt like a massive erection. Cock-a-doodle-do-me . Shane was hung. Someone let out a needy whimper. Her again. Shane growled. Wait, Shane growled?
    Bark! Bark! Bark! They broke apart. Hagar was here, and apparently he didn’t like what he saw.
    “Sorry!” Liz called from the other room. “I just came in to get him some water. We didn’t see anything.”
    Rachel dropped her head on Shane’s chest and heard a low laugh rumbling there.
    “Can I just get his water dish real quick?” Liz asked.
    “Come in,” Shane called, turning Rachel so her back was pressed against his front. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. She wanted to pull away, to give herself a chance to cool off and quell the rumors surely to follow through the family gossip mill, but something hard pressing into her hip told her Shane wasn’t quite ready to let her go.
    Liz beamed at them and filled the dog’s water dish at the sink. “Come on, Hagar. We’ll take this outside. Carry on!”
    As soon as Liz left, Rachel stepped away from Shane and turned to face him. “That never happened.”
    Shane rubbed a hand over his face. “Why? Why can’t it happen?”
    She had to let him down easy. She knew he was sensitive, and she didn’t want any hard feelings. Hard feelings . Her gaze fell to the front of his tented shorts, and she had the sudden urge to peel them down and see exactly what he had going on under there. Just one peek. She’d had no idea…not until he was pressed up against her. Not that size mattered. At least she didn’t think so. She’d never been with anyone that was…above average. Jumbolicious. Giganto-screw.
    “Rach?”
    She heard the smile in his voice and snapped her attention back to his face. Her cheeks burned. She couldn’t believe she was blushing again. That was Shane’s thing. But he wasn’t blushing now. He was giving her an unsettling, knowing look that said, You want?
    Focus . She took a deep breath. “This can’t happen because we’re business partners and friends,” she said firmly. “And, um, Janelle.”
    He took a step closer; she stepped back. He advanced on her with a determined look in his eyes that had her heart beating like crazy as she kept backing up until she felt the counter bump against her back. He boxed her in, one hand on either side of her hips.
    She gulped. “I don’t think—”
    “Don’t think,” he said as his