For a moment, Naomi was stunned. Was this really happening? Had Sawyer just come and swept her off her feet with a kiss? But before she could even contemplate that, she found herself too caught up in the moment to think about anything but his lips on hers.

Soft yet demanding, he pulled her in like no one else. And when his hand moved from her shoulder to her waist, crushing her to his hard body, all Naomi could focus on was the delicious way her head was spinning.

Sawyer was warm and gentle, yet there was just a hint of danger to the way he kissed. Like he was holding himself back from gathering her up and marching her upstairs, no questions asked. Naomi had to admit, she might not have objected to that…

When Sawyer deepened the kiss, she couldn’t help but sag against him, totally under his spell. It just felt right. Her body was calling out to his, as if this had been a long time coming.

So there they were, making out on the sidewalk like a couple of teenagers who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. And Naomi couldn’t have cared less. Now that she had given herself over to the unquestionable attraction between Sawyer and herself, it seemed like a whole other side of her was opening up.

Before him, she would have never considered this level of PDA appropriate, but then again, she wouldn’t have thought herself capable of being an accomplice to theft either. So throwing whatever caution she had left to the wind, she locked her hands behind his neck, and poured everything she had into their kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, both of them were out of breath. Naomi clung to him, afraid she might still be a little weak in the knees. The passion he had shown her had caught her off guard, not that she was complaining.

“That was quite the welcome,” she said, trying not to blush now that she was looking at him again.

“I had to do that,” Sawyer simply replied.

Naomi nodded. Oddly, that made sense. Hadn’t she had a feeling all along that something had to happen between them sooner or later? She knew she couldn’t afford to get wrapped up in a budding romance right now, not with everything going on, but it wasn’t like she could exactly help it.

Just looking at Sawyer’s handsome face, only inches away from hers, made her want to kiss him again. When she glanced down at the package still tucked underneath his arm, she thought better of it, though.

“Shouldn’t we get that stolen priceless artifact inside?” she arched a brow at him.

“Right,” he replied.

Yet they still stood there, with him reaching up to brush his thumb over her cheek. Something between them had permanently shifted. Electricity sparked between them, potent and heady.

“I have a safe upstairs,” Sawyer suddenly said, as if snapping out of whatever dream they had momentarily slipped into.

“Great, great,” Naomi nodded, taking a step back.

Sawyer got out his keys, and they both walked up the stairs to the front door. As they stepped inside and made their way to the elevator, Naomi’s thoughts started to rush. What did she really know about Sawyer?

Their partnership had worked out well thus far, despite some friction. And he had already fought a demon to keep her and Melanie safe, after only meeting her once. That already spoke volumes about his character.

More than that, she found she already had a deep trust for the man. Whether it was instinct, or a gut feeling, it felt like she knew more about him than she actually did. That might have been foolish, but that was how she felt nonetheless.

The elevator ride dragged on, her shoulder bumping against him as they stood side-by-side in the small metal box. The quiet gave Naomi plenty of time to let self-doubt creep in. What did Sawyer really want from her? What did the kiss mean to him? Was it misplaced jealousy toward Roy that had spurred him on, just simple attraction, or was there more to it?

To fill the silence, and to distract herself from her thoughts, Naomi blurted out the first thing that came to mind that didn’t have something to do with the kiss.

“Did you see the statue? I can’t decide if it looks cool or creepy,” she said, just as the elevator jerked to a halt on the ninth floor.

“I got a look at it when you did,” Roy shrugged. “I’d go more with creepy. The whole no-eyes thing seals it for me.”

“That’s a good point,” Naomi agreed. “I’d feel a lot better if we knew why it was so important. For all we know, it could come to life every night and wander around, eating everything in its path.”

Did I really just say that? One of these days I’m going to have to learn when to stop talking.

The elevator doors dinged open, and she and Sawyer stepped into the hallway.

“I highly doubt that,” he cocked a brow at her. “But you’re right. More information wouldn’t hurt. For now though, I’ll take the victory of us getting it before Verin had his chance.”

“I just hope that Dakota woman calls us back,” Naomi said, as they walked over to Sawyer’s door. “Maybe she can fill in some of the blanks.”

As they stepped inside and the door closed behind them, Naomi let out a breath. Unless Roy went back to the university, which she doubted, no one would even know the statue was gone until Monday morning at the earliest.

Roy. Now there’s a man who’s probably regretting ever showing interest in me.

In one day, she had managed to ask him out twice, and bail both times. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to hear from him again after she all but jumped out of his car on the way to the restaurant he’d chosen.

But she wasn’t really that broken up about it. The only thing she did worry about was how her odd behavior might be put under a microscope once the theft was discovered. Then again, it would be hard to pin anything on her. She had left the room where the statue was being stored with Roy, and he could testify it had still been there when they had taken off.

“I’ll go stuff this in my safe,” Sawyer said, pointing his chin at the container he was holding. “Make yourself at home.”

With that, he walked off, leaving Naomi hesitating in the hall. She had already had her concerns about sharing a space with him before the kiss, and now her nerves were worse than ever.

But, as the events of that day had shown, she had a lot more courage than she had thought. And Sawyer wasn’t nearly as scary as he’d like to believe. Not to her, at least.

Time to get to the bottom of the mystery that is Sawyer Blake.