Page 27 of Protector Unmatched

“Then I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“Why did you invite me to your house and let me kiss you when you thought I was involved in your brother’s kidnapping?” It made no sense to him now. The night before, he’d thought he was just lucky and they were hitting it off, but knowing what he knew now, that couldn’t have been the case.

Daphne sighed. “Because I was stupidly thinking that maybe if I could distract you and get a hold of your phone, I could program a tracer into it so I could figure out where you went and, that way, find my brother. But you didn’t really give me enough time with your phone… and then you kissed me, and I figured…”

“You figured what?” Now he was really curious.

“I figured if I could seduce you, maybe you would help me and turn against Guido.” She shrugged.

“Oh my God, Daphne! You were playing with fire! Imagine what could have happened if I’d really been the bad guy. I mean, how could you put yourself in that kind of danger?” He was of a mind to toss her over his lap and paddle her sweet ass. “A guy who associates with the likes of this Guido would have used you instead. Who knows what he would have done?”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

He shut the computer and rose. So much for Daphne being attracted to him. She’d done it only in the misguided belief that she could help her brother. “I understand now why you’re regretting what happened last night.” Although he had no such feeling. He only regretted that she hadn’t welcomed his kiss. “It won’t happen again.” He turned, ready to pack the computer away.

Daphne got up from her chair. “It’s true, I did it for those reasons. But now that I know better, there’s no reason for me to regret last night. In fact, now that I know you’re a good guy, I’m glad that you kissed me.”

He pivoted and saw her dropping her eyelids.

“I liked it,” she confessed, and lifted her gaze to meet his. “A lot.”

Slowly, he took a step toward her, close enough to kiss her again. “Are you saying…”

She lifted her hand to his cheek and brushed her fingers over it. “I’m so grateful for you saving me, for you giving me hope that nothing irreversible has happened to my brother, hope that everything will turn out all right despite the odds.”

“So, are you saying that now you’d let me kiss you, because you’re grateful?” While that wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for, he’d take it—for now.

She slowly shook her head. “No. I would like you to kiss me because we both want it.”

He brought his body flush to hers, delighted about her words. “How much do you want it?”

“Really badly.”

When he brought his face closer to hers, she put her hand on his chest to stop him.

“But only if you want it too. I don’t want pity,” she said.

Pearce grinned. “Trust me, pity is the last thing on my mind right now.” Then he framed Daphne’s face with his hands and kissed her.