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Dave shrugged. Normal conversation with this woman was a lost cause. It was a shame they hadn’t met another way, in any other circumstance.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”

“I didn’t. I told you that I would stop you, and I meant it.”

She faced him now. Even in the half light of the streetlights he could see her confusion. Her mouth formed the shape of an O, and she sucked in a breath. “Of all the…” Her small hands balled into fists. “Look, you’re the mayor, not the owner of the town. Those men want us there and my ladies paid good money to visit—”

He didn’t know why he did it. Didn’t even think about it, not really, just went on instinct. Dave leaned forward and kissed her.

She pulled away. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He ran a hand though his hair. “I don’t know. It seems to shut you up.”

“Of all the arrogant, irritating—”

Fingers traced the skin of her cheek. Soft, so incredibly soft. How could someone so beautiful be such a damn pain in the ass?

His hand slipped around to the nape of her neck and pulled her close. For a moment her eyes went wide, but she didn’t speak. Trembling, she leaned in, their mouths meeting.

Gently, he sucked her lower lip and nibbled on the delicate skin. She smelled like flowers, light, spring-like. Her body, all curves and softness, fit against his like it was meant to be there.

He should end this. She represented everything he hated about women, but she deepened the contact, turning his will to mush. She tangled her tongue with his in an erotic dance that drained the blood from every place in his body. Every place but his cock. Turgid and ready, it strained between them. She shivered in his arms and he drew her sexy little body onto his lap.

The cab came to a wobbly stop. Their mouths parted and she looked up at him with a gasp. He too felt like the breath had been sucked from his body. The red stoplight above them was blurred by the ice on the windows. It turned from red to green. Beneath them, the cab’s tires spun uselessly on the pavement as the ice made it almost impossible to accelerate.

The cabdriver swore as the engine revved and the tires fought for purchase on the slick street beneath them. Inching along, they finally came to a stop in front of his hotel. Chastity slid off his lap.

Dave looked at the woman next to him. He shouldn’t want her, shouldn’t be drawn to her. The V of her shirt showed a hint of breast and he swallowed, hard. “Come with me.”

Where the hell had that come from? He opened his mouth to take it back, when she turned to face him and licked a pink tongue over her lips. Dave’s heart skipped a beat.

“Sorry, folks. This is the end of the line. I’m not risking it out there till they salt the roads.”

She glanced up at the cabbie, and back at Dave, confusion clear on her face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can walk from here. Thank you very much.”

Dave looked around. Iced over, the sidewalks appeared more than treacherous. “You’re not going to walk in this.”

Her head came up, the fight back in her eyes. “Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time and—”

Dave placed a hand over her mouth. Her eyes narrowed, but she went silent. “I don’t know why I’m so attracted to you. I should spank you. I think the attraction’s mutual. I don’t want to fight right now. I want to take you to my room and make love to you. What do you want?”

Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away and waited for an answer.

Lip between her teeth, she turned her head to him, then up the street. “Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.”