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pretty awful thing to do after she pretty much raised
me."
    "I don't know about that."
He pushed off the table and walked across the room to lower himself
into one of the chairs. "My mother knows about me."
    A tiny hint of fear spiked through
her. She hadn't even considered the possibility that being psychic
would put Wesley in danger, too. "Do people—I mean, I
haven't heard. If telekinetics are as much in demand as precogs and
clairvoyants."
    He stretched his legs out and leaned
back into the chair with a soft sigh. "No clue. I know none of
the drug enhancement studies have worked to make TK more reliable.
Aside from that..." His eyes were bleak when they met hers. "I
try not to pay too much attention."
    It was hard to see him look so
disheartened. "Why?" she whispered. "Are you worried
about what would happen if people found out?"
    "I could always go back to
Atlanta," he told her evasively, shifting his gaze away from
her. "Maybe get assigned to a special unit. But I like my job."
    She hadn't let him get away with
that sort of thing in high school, and she didn't now. She rose to
her knees and moved to the other end of the couch, reaching out a
hand to rest on his. "You think I won't understand?"
    "On the contrary," he said
softly. "I think you'd understand entirely too well, Addie Jo."
    Addie took a deep breath and let it
out before tightening her hand around his. "It doesn't matter to
me, you know. Obviously."
    Wes laid his other hand over hers.
"I know. I guess the secretive thing is just a hard habit to
break."
    "Yeah." His hand was warm
on hers, strong and just a bit callused. It was all too easy to
imagine his fingers sliding over her body, to imagine how good it would feel. Her libido reminded her that there was extremely hot
sex in their future, and she fought the sudden urge to slide into his
lap.
    Danger and adrenaline .
It wasn't a possibility she wanted to face, but it was there. In a
town as small as Carter's Bay, a nasty falling out could be
unbearable. She worked for Wes’ mother, and he spent every
single lunch hour in her grandmother's restaurant. If they let the
allure of shared secrets and the danger of the storm lure them into
doing something…
    Waiting a night or two wasn't going
to hurt them.
    He sighed again and pulled his hand
from hers. Her disappointment was quickly supplanted by breathless
desire when his hand rose to her cheek, his thumb rubbing over her
skin. "Things don't always work out the way you think."
    "Sweet Jesus, Wes. If we're not
going to have hot sex, you have got to stop being all...hot. And romantic. And irresistible." Oh, that was smooth. Why don't I just babble a little more?
    For a second, he looked just as
thrown as she felt. Then he flashed her a smile. It was the same
smile she'd seen him give other women, usually right before they
offered him their panties. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I need a
little time to downshift from confessions to hot sex."
    Addie laughed and fell back onto the
couch, dragging the pillow over her face. "We have got to keep
it under control. I can't face your mother tomorrow if I violate her
little boy in the basement of the old Carter place."
    He
made a strangled noise and swore. " Damn ,
Addie Jo."
    She frowned and tugged the pillow
away only to realize that her robe had slid open, baring her legs to
the tops of her thighs. Her cheeks flamed as she scrambled to drag
the blanket over her nakedness, glaring at him. "Stop it. I just
said I was behaving."
    "That’s a shame," he
said in a hoarse voice. "Given a little time to get used to the
idea, there are far worse ways to pass the time than getting naked
with the woman of your dreams."
    Her heart jumped. "Is that what
I am?"
    His laugh was more than a little
self-conscious. "I used to wish my chemistry grades were a
little worse," he admitted, "just so I'd have an excuse to
ask you to tutor me. But you were always so busy with
what's-his-face. The computer guru."
    Addie groaned. "Chuck. God,
what a