Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “What changed?” she asked. “I need to know that I didn’t guilt you into this. I need to know that this is what you really want.”

            He yanked at her then, pulling her flush against him. The breath rushed out of her on a moan, because he was hard everywhere. God, oh God.

            Everywhere. She tightened her hold around his neck, lifting on her toes again to perfect the fit. “Yeah,” she breathed, “I guess this is what you really want.”

            “It is.”

            Please don’t be a dream. But she didn’t want to let him go long enough to pinch herself, so she wriggled closer, drawing a strangled groan from deep in his chest. Then his lips were on hers again, and this time there was no gentleness. Just raw want.

            She could fall into this so easily. Too easily. But she pulled away, needing to know.

            “What changed?” she whispered against his mouth.

            “Everything and nothing. I wanted you. Wanted this.”

            “Then what—”

            He interrupted her with another kiss, hard and fast. Then his lips curved. She could feel his smile and it lightened her spirit. “What changed was me. Someone helped me take a good look at myself,” he murmured. “Showed me how I look at you.” His hands were on her back, roaming up and down restlessly. “Someone made me realize that I was being a fool and paying more attention to a calendar than to my own heart.”

            Liza was going to bake that someone Dream Bars forever. “How do you look at me?”

            “That’s two questions.”

            “Indulge me. I’m . . .” Needy. Fragile. Vulnerable as hell. “I need to know.”

            He pulled back far enough to meet her gaze, and in his she saw the truth laid bare. “I look at you like you’re the only thing I need to be happy. Is that enou—”

            She pulled his head down and kissed him the way she’d always dreamed, hard and lush and a little indecent. Their mouths fit perfectly, their bodies aligning in just the right way.

            Then his hands dipped lower, cupping her butt and lifting her off her toes like she weighed nothing at all. In three strides, he had her up against the wall, her legs wrapped around his hips.

            He dropped his head to the curve of her shoulder and breathed her in. “Is this okay?”

            She could feel him pulsing into her, and he was exactly how she’d fantasized. “Tell me this is real.”

            He straightened, resting his forehead on hers. “It’s real. I promise.”

            She took a moment to absorb the rush of emotions, the thrum of lust. “Then it’s better than okay. So much better.” And then she kissed him again.




SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

            SUNDAY, MAY 28, 7:05 P.M.

            It really shouldn’t be this easy, DJ thought as he walked into Miss Stephanie Stack’s kitchen. She’d left her door unlocked.

            People really should be more careful. Especially since she was now living alone. Her Facebook status was “Single,” and it was a new thing. An hour ago, she’d posted that she was planning to spend the evening “blissfully alone,” watching the TV shows that her ex had sneered at, then taking a bath with a glass of wine.

            The soft sound of a laugh track floated through the air as he crept to the doorway to the living room. She was sitting on her sofa, watching TV, her back to him. On the table beside her were a half-empty package of Oreo cookies, a mostly empty glass of white wine, and a half-empty wine bottle. It appeared Miss Stephanie was getting a head start on the booze portion of the evening.

            She was playing a game on her laptop. That her laptop was on would make this easier still.

            He assumed that she’d have her class roster somewhere on her computer. Depending on where it was stored, he might not need her involvement at all. If it was part of a password-protected school-owned software package, he’d need to keep her around. If her list was a simple Word document on her hard drive, her assistance would not be necessary.

            He’d planned for this, planned to keep her alive in case he needed her password. He had precut lengths of duct tape fixed to his jeans and his silenced pistol in his gloved hand.