License to Thrill

some checking into Miss Womack's background."
    "You can do that?"
    James pursed his lips and nodded.
    "On anyone?"
    Another nod.
    "What could you find out?" she asked, intrigued and perturbed. "About someone like me, for instance."
    "If I invested some time," he said with a small shrug, "practically anything—the places you shop, the man you're sleeping with."
    Kat laughed nervously, gesturing for him to hand her a stack of mismatched, brightly colored plates. "Well, if you find out, I want to be the first to know his name."
    "Ah, no boyfriend?" He handed her a yellow and orange plate, his expression surprised.
    "Not currently," she supplied self-consciously. Not for ages, really, but he didn't need to know.
    "No aspirations for a family? Little Pussy-Kittens, perhaps?"
    He'd hit a nerve, but he didn't need to know that either. Kat attributed her longing for children and a family of her own to losing her parents and having no siblings with whom to share the loss. "It would be hard to raise children in the state penitentiary," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
    "So you do want children." His voice rose with new insight and he grinned as he handed her a pink and turquoise plate.
    "I don't dwell on it," she said wryly. "How about you?"
    Confusion crossed his brow and he averted his eyes. "I never allowed myself to think about it before, due to the nature of my job."
    The domesticity of their situation struck her—standing in the kitchen putting away dishes and talking about having a family. "And now?" she prompted.
    He brightened, his self-assurance returned. "And now I quite like the freedom of traveling to foreign countries and meeting charming women like yourself."
    So he was either a confirmed bachelor or loosely committed to the woman in England. "And does Lady Mercer share your enthusiasm for your spreading good cheer to women of the world?"
    "Tania has some admirable assets," he said roguishly, but I assure you our relationship is strictly business."
    Kat cocked an eyebrow. "No assurance needed, Mr. Donovan, I was simply being conversational."
    "Well then," he said, spreading his arms wide, "for conversation's sake, I'm an unfettered man."
    "And have you spoken with Lady Mercer since the break-in?"
    His smile disappeared. "She was out, so I shared the turn of events with her assistant. But I left word not to worry—we'll find the thief and the missing letter. And the whole episode will probably fetch her even more money in the auction."
    "Probably," Kat agreed as she racked more plates, then pointed to the saucers. "But I wish I were so certain the police will find the burglar."
    "I didn't say the police," he corrected. "Detective Tenner is quite content to believe you stole the letter and the other pieces from the gallery. Which means," he said with a smile, "the real perpetrator thinks he or she is off the hook. Which means we can catch them off guard."
    "We?" Kat asked.
    "As in you and me," he affirmed. "I'd never forgive myself if an innocent woman were locked up and denied the chance to have a cottage full of children."
    Kat frowned at a chipped saucer and set it aside. "I'm sorry for the delay in your trip to New York. I know this has turned out to be more than you bargained for."
    "An understatement of gigantic proportions," he said softly.
    Kat glanced up and reached for a red saucer he held out to her, but when she curled her fingers around it, he refused to relinquish his grip. Instead he plucked the saucer from her hand and clasped her wrist, then pulled her toward him slowly, as if he expected her to resist.
    She didn't. What woman could? He was irresistible, a larger-than-life image, a devastatingly sexy, charming superhero who seemed—at least for this moment—to want her. She had never felt more desirable. Kat became fluid in his arms, her curves surging against the hard planes of his body. He wrapped his arms around her and lowered his mouth with hard and fast intent. She held him loosely at first, tightening her hold around his neck as the urgency of their kiss increased.
    His lips were soft, but demanding. He stole her breath into his mouth in great gulps, and she gasped for air between the clashing of their tongues, their teeth. The bittersweet taste of beer remained on his tongue, and Kat lapped it up, echoing his moans.
    James crushed her against him, his hands roaming freely down her back and over her hips. Desire exploded low in her stomach and flamed out to her limbs as she felt