The Art Of Deception, Book Two, Stolen Hearts series, Romantic Suspense by Kate Kelly Page B

look guilty as she stared just to the left of his earlobe. Some things were best not said out loud. Gage wouldn’t welcome her falling in love with him any more than she embraced the thought.
    And that’s all it was–a thought, not a reality. She steeled herself to look straight into his eyes. “If I have any more secrets, they have nothing to do with this case."
    “That’s not exactly reassuring.”
    “It’s the best I can do."
    Gage watched her for another minute, then sighed and pulled his hands away from her face. “The MG Midget you were sitting on out behind the art gallery is yours?”
    Why she would feel like crying now after keeping it together for the last few days, she had no idea. Except Gage was no longer touching her and the absence of his touch created an emptiness inside her, as if by taking his hands away, he took a part of her with him.
    “Yes." She rubbed the back of her hand against the tingle in her nose.
    “You should have paid those speeding tickets and slowed down a bit."
    His message came through loud and clear. I’m an FBI agent with a file on you, and I’m building fences here. She drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. It’s what she wanted after all, a safe distance from the feelings he stirred up. She had never intended for any of this to happen. Not just the trouble she and Raphael were in, but the way her and Gage’s lives were locking together, piece by piece. She had the sinking sensation if one of those pieces were taken away, the hole left behind would remain forever empty.
    Oh God, she was in trouble, wasn’t she?

Chapter Seven
    Sophie scrambled out of the truck and dug in her pocket for her key ring and the key to Raphael’s apartment. “Why are we here?” She glanced up as Gage walked toward her.
    Still wearing his black sweater and jeans, he moved as though he were part of the night, dark and dangerous and offering unthinkable possibilities. A wave of desire threatened to engulf her, and Sophie stumbled onto the sidewalk.
    “To look for the bag Raphael intended to take with him. He says it’s the same as the one that held the Matisse, but the clothes he’d packed were different,” Gage explained in his deep voice as he took her elbow and steadied her.
    She yanked her arm away and rubbed the spot he’d touched. “Why do you keep taking my arm as if I can’t walk?”
    A crooked grin lifted one corner of his mouth, and although she hadn’t thought it possible, Agent Gage of the FBI, all six feet, four inches of him, looked embarrassed. “I can’t seem not to touch you.
    “Hell." He folded his arms over his chest. “You probably think I’m nuts talking like that.”
    Sophie watched the horizon of her safe, familiar world sink out of sight. How could he do this to her? How could he crack open his tough exterior to give her a glimpse of the real man inside? The combination of his strength and vulnerability sank all hopes she had of surviving without getting in over her head.
    She flexed open her fisted hands, stood on tiptoe and placed her palm against his cheek. The hell with it, if she was going down, Gage was going with her.
    “I think you should kiss me. Please,” she added.
    She felt a tremble work through his body as she slid her other hand up his chest, curled it around his neck and tugged him down to her.
    “Sophie, I--”
    “I think it’s time for this, don’t you?” She traced his bottom lip with her tongue and closed her eyes.
    “God, Sophie, I...." His voice broke, and he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet, dragging her body up against his hard length.
    She wound both arms around his neck and brought her mouth to his, swallowing his groan as he turned them both as one and stepped into the dark doorway behind them. The cold, uneven brick wall pressed against her back, Gage’s hot firm body against her front. He set her down on her feet and cupped her head, then groaned again as his tongue invaded her mouth,