“So? You’ve been drinking too and we’ve only had one shot of schnapps so it’s not like we’re snockered.”

“I won’t take advantage of you.”

“Not even if I wanted you to?” She fluttered her eyelashes seductively.

“No!” he exclaimed, but she heard amusement in his voice. “Besides, I think you’re just bluffing. You don’t really want me to make love to you. You just like to tease.”

Oh really? Is that what he thought of her? That she was all come on and no substance?

They stared at each other, eyes locked.

Her need for him was building faster than she could have imagined. Who’d have thought she’d be all hot and horny for ol’ mismatched Harry?

But dammit she was.

The glimmer in his eyes sent goose bumps marching up and down her arms and she was wetter than a Slip-n-Slide. Need for him, for his kiss, his touch was a wild thing inside her, sending her heart thrashing wildly against her rib cage, thrusting out all common sense.

“You think you have me figured out?”

“I do, or as least as much as anyone will ever have you figured out, Cassie Cooper.”

“Go ahead. Get it off your chest. Let’s hear it.” She jutted out her chin, daring him.

“You sure you’re ready for this? You might not like what I have to say.”

“Go ahead.” She raised a hand. “I’m all ears.”

“Remember you asked for it.”

“Just shut up and analyze me.”

“Here goes. You act like you’re not afraid of anything. You hide behind your charm and your sex appeal and your gregarious talk. You have a hopscotch mind that often gets your body in trouble.”

“Oh yeah?” she said because she did not know what else to say. It was true.

“Yeah. But in spite of your plucky personality, you really have a fear of exploring anything too deeply. You keep everything on the surface, which you mask by a fascination with many subjects. Your flirtation with pleasure is actually a flight away from pain. Ergo, your attempts to get me into bed are in reality, nothing but a bluff.”

“Ergo? Who in the hell says ergo? It’s little wonder why you get called Poindexter.”

Cassie knew she was being defensive but she was unnerved that he had figured her out so easily. Not even her own twin sister, Maddie, understood her motivations the way Harry did. It was amazing and a little disturbing.

She didn’t appreciate being dissected so accurately and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

Cassie knew it was impulsive. She recognized that she was tipsy and that she was still vulnerable over her apartment break-in. And yes, maybe she was using pleasure to cloak her fears. She was on the verge of not only losing her job but potentially going to jail for the theft of a priceless artifact she didn’t even steal.

But something deep inside her whispered that this time was different. Harry was an impulse worth acting on.