Wes broke eye contact first and disappeared into the bathroom. A second later the water came on in the shower. Evyn imagined Wes sliding out of her clothes and stepping naked into the heat. She’d seen enough of Wes’s body through that thin, damp white towel back in the locker room to have a pretty good idea of exactly what Wes would look like naked. Ordinarily she didn’t have any problem populating her fantasies with women she knew, but she chased the enticing image of Wes’s body from her mind. She didn’t want to fantasize about her. What she wanted to do was kiss her. She almost had—would have, just then, if they’d been any closer. She had quite a lot of practice reading women’s eyes, and she’d read desire in Wes’s. All the same, she hadn’t had such a bad idea in longer than she could remember. Sleeping with Louise when she hadn’t been one hundred percent present didn’t hold a candle to the insanity of kissing Wes.

Wes had had a serious shock just a few hours ago—had almost drowned. She was vulnerable. Physically depleted. Battered and bruised. By her own admission, not really on top of her game. She didn’t need Evyn coming on to her—she needed a solid night’s sleep and probably a talk with someone about what had happened. Evyn wasn’t one of those agents who found psych support to be intrusive or threatening. Her older sister was a psychologist and one of the best listeners she’d ever met. She’d learned when she was struggling with the kinds of identity issues all adolescents face that talking with her sister helped. And when she’d told Chris she was a lesbian, her sister had been cool. Hell, she talked to Gary when things got really hairy—when the stress and the insane schedules and the lack of a personal life started to make her crazy. She wanted Wes to get any help she needed—and making a move on her did not qualify as helping.

Evyn pulled on Wes’s jacket, not so much because she wanted to keep dry in the still-falling snow but because she liked wearing it. An unusual intimacy for her—wearing someone else’s clothes. Silly, but no one needed to know. The jacket was a little big. Wes’s shoulders were a little wider, her arms a little longer, but she wasn’t so much bigger their bodies wouldn’t fit together seamlessly. Wes’s breasts were just the right size for their torsos to meld perfectly, Wes’s thighs just long and tight enough to wrap around hers with no space between them. The fist of want in her belly tightened, and she dashed outside, welcoming the blast of cold wind and icy snow. The storm had picked up. Two inches of wet powder covered the parking lot. No cars passed on the two-lane. The road remained unplowed.

After tossing the detritus into the open maw of the dented blue Dumpster tucked behind the end of the building, she ran back along the row of darkened rooms. She stamped her feet to clear the snow from her boots and jumped inside their room, shutting the cold night outside.

Wes stood in the middle of the room with a towel cinched above her breasts, leaving her upper chest, sculpted shoulders, and a lot of thigh exposed. A sliver of light slanted through the partially open bathroom door behind her, highlighting her strong curves and sinewy planes. The red-green glow of the motel sign flickered through the open slats on the blinds hanging on the single window beside the door, leaving Wes’s face mostly in shadow. Evyn flashed again on the picture of Wes wrapped around her, nothing between them. Her skin tingled and heat flooded her core.

“Better?” Evyn backpedaled until her ass hit the wall. She couldn’t read much in Wes’s face, but she bet hers was easy to decipher. She’d had more control when she was fifteen than she did now.

“Yes,” Wes said. “How is it outside?”

“Snowing pretty heavy.” Evyn couldn’t move. Couldn’t take her eyes from Wes’s face.

“Your hair is wet.” Wes took a step closer, ran her fingers through the hair at Evyn’s temples. “You should’ve put the hood up.”

Evyn laughed shakily and rubbed her hair with a hand. “I thought I could outrun the snowflakes.”

Wes laughed. “Why does that not surprise me? Do all federal agents think they’re capable of superhuman feats?”

“Only the ones who are, like me.” Evyn grinned, watching the smile reach Wes’s eyes. She loved making her smile. Still, she looked strained, as if she’d been pulling doubles for a week. “How are you really feeling?”

Wes shrugged. “Like I had a really long day. Nothing some sleep won’t cure. I’m not that out of practice working twenty-four on—I still cover the ER pretty regularly.”

“Yeah, but you aren’t usually physically accosted in the ER.”

“I wasn’t today either,” Wes said gently. “I took a header off the boat—none too proud of that actually. I should have ducked. I saw it coming.”

“For how long—a second?” Evyn shook her head. “You never had a chance.”

“And neither did you.” Wes brushed a loose curl away from the corner of Evyn’s mouth. “You must have hit the water pretty hard to bruise your face.”

“You hit a lot harder.” A pulse beat rapidly in Wes’s throat, matching the crazy rhythm of Evyn’s heart. Evyn started to sweat. Wes was inches away. She wanted to touch her. “You should get dressed before you get chilled again.”

“You should get undressed before you end up the same way.” Wes reached out and unzipped the windbreaker. “I left a little hot water. You need it?”

“I’m good,” Evyn said, never having made a less true statement in her life. She didn’t know what she was, but it wasn’t good. Turned on, desperate to ease the shadows Wes couldn’t quite hide, aching to hold her. “Wes, I—”

“I want to get one thing clear,” Wes said.

Evyn drew up short. Here it came. The no-fraternization-at-work speech. Her own rule, the one she should have been remembering, and the one she forgot every time Wes was within a mile of her. “You don’t need to say anything. I agree with you.”

Wes’s eyebrows shot up. The corner of her mouth lifted. “Do you? I didn’t realize you were psychic as well as superhuman.”

“Another big bad federal agent skill,” Evyn said as nonchalantly as she could manage. “Always a bad idea to complicate a working relationship. No need to go there.”

“You’re right, we do agree.” Wes’s tone was soft and serious, but her eyes were partly amused. “Although I was going to say that what happened out there this afternoon was an accident. No one could have predicted it. No matter who set up the exercise, no one was at fault for that cable snapping and me going overboard.”

A hot surge of embarrassment flooded Evyn’s belly. Hell, she couldn’t have been more wrong about what Wes had intended to say, and now she’d tipped her hand and probably made a fool of herself. “I won’t argue. Obviously I can’t win.”

“It’s not about winning.” Wes stroked the backs of her fingers over Evyn’s cheek, just beneath the bruise. “How about just believing it?”

Wes’s mouth was so close, all Evyn could do was watch her lips move and struggle to make sense of what she was saying. Her mind heard the words but her body translated them into something else. Want, desire, an unfamiliar need. “Wes. I’m a little off balance here.”

“I know.” Wes’s voice was barely above a whisper. “So am I.”

Evyn went completely still.

“You saved my life today and I’m grateful. I know you were doing your job, and I would’ve done the same.” Wes watched the muscles along Evyn’s jaw tighten. Evyn didn’t like being thanked for doing what came naturally—and for what she saw as her responsibility. Wes got that—she felt the same. But she was grateful—not for being saved from drowning, but for a warm sure hand in the cold dark night, anchoring her when she’d thought she might lose her way. For the silent assurance that she would conquer her demons and come out the other side of the tunnel whole. Evyn had faith in her—and had offered her a shoulder when she’d needed to lean without once making her feel weak. She was much more than grateful—she was soothed in a place she’d never known she was hurt. “And just so you know, this isn’t about that.”

“What?” Evyn’s eyes were huge blue lakes filled with questions.

Wes had only one answer. She leaned forward and kissed her.

Chapter Twenty-one

Evyn didn’t know what to do with her hands. Wes had just kissed her, and now Wes was inches away, covered in nothing but a towel. She could easily pluck the cotton aside and pull Wes’s hot naked body in tight against her. With a little subtle dip and turn, she’d have Wes against the door and she’d be back in control again. She’d made that move a time or two—Seduction 101.

She didn’t do anything, not even breathe. She just stood there with their lips softly touching, her head whirling, her heart threatening to explode inside her rib cage. Whatever this was, she didn’t want to change a thing. She’d been kissed before, but this wasn’t like any kiss she’d ever experienced. She knew about kisses—she was usually the one doing the kissing. Sometimes kisses were an exploration, feelers sent out to judge the wind direction, the water temperature, the chances for more than just a kiss. Sometimes they were a warm-up for the real contest—a stretch of muscles, a quick glance around the field, a mental review of the game plan. A kiss was never just a kiss but always a step toward something more. A brief stop on the way to the ultimate goal. Everything in her life was a goal to be achieved, a game to be won—even sex. Always, she needed to be the best. She took the lead whenever she could; she was a front-runner. The fastest way to come out on top was to always be on top—metaphorically or otherwise.

Tonight, she was totally without game. She couldn’t see the playing field through a fog of desire more heady than any she’d ever experienced. She’d given up the lead without even knowing she had entered the race. Wes was in total control, something she’d never allowed since she was old enough to get around on her own two feet. In her home, in her world, competition was king. Everything from dinner-table conversation to backyard catch was a challenge. She’d been team captain on just about every sport she’d ever played, was at the top of every class, and only took orders on the job because she knew it was the quickest way to achieve a position to give the orders herself. Whatever game she played, she played to win. And here she was, following, without a plan, with no freaking idea what she was doing.