He knew damn well she wanted this. He’d felt it in yesterday’s kiss. He’d felt it probably from the day she met him.
And it was a very big deal. Huge, in fact.
Suddenly they were closer together. She hadn’t meant to move. It was inevitable. A force of nature. His arms circled her, and they began to sway to the slow, hypnotic pulse of the music. He was so big, so hot. So solid.
The music was loud. He hadn’t turned down the volume at all. She lifted her voice. “Nate, the neighborhood will call the cops if we—”
“Shhh,” he murmured. “It’s just for a few minutes. They’ll live.”
He leaned over her, dropping a delicate kiss on her ear. Shivers of intense awareness made her melt as his lips moved, on her jaw, her cheek.
Then he found her lips again, and claimed them. That sensual sorcery again, holding her in thrall with the sweet dance of lips and tongue, coaxing, teasing.
She clutched his neck and gave in to it. The wild, incredible sweetness of it. The freedom. Flying across the night sky, unleashed, unbound. Full of power.
If he asked to come to her bed, she would say yes. Hell, why even wait for a bed? Her breath caught as he bit her earlobe. Then he pulled her closer.
“Don’t react,” he whispered. “But this place is bugged.”
5
Damn. He’d miscalculated. Gotten the timing wrong. Her body was rigid.
She tried to pull away but he tightened his grip. “Don’t move yet,” he whispered. “Kimball’s bugs won’t pick us up with the music for cover. I know where they are. I was bug-sweeping when you threw me out earlier. Couldn’t tell you then.”
“Where?” She barely breathed the word.
“Air vent, smoke detector, and one of the lamp sconces. We’re all being monitored. Demi’s house, restaurant, Mace’s place, Fiona’s, Anton’s. Our cell phones are hacked. Our cars bugged. Kimball’s going all out.”
“Shit.” Her voice was barely audible. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
He hesitated for a moment. “Later,” he whispered into her ear. “We’ll talk outside. Assume that any public place or indoor space is bugged from now on. I’ll give you a dedicated burner phone that’s clean. We can text on it.”
“But why to me?” she asked. “I have nothing to do with any of this. I draw cute chalkboard menus. I bus dishes and chop onions and do data entry. I’m a freaking errand girl around here.”
“Kimball knows that you exist, and he knows that Demi cares about you, which already makes you a target. And we’re all safer with you in the loop.”
“Well. Um. I’m honored, I guess.”
Her voice was tight and nervous. Her body had gone stiff. He missed that boneless softness she had before, when he’d been kissing her. She felt brittle now.
The song ended and Elisa stepped back. “Time to go.” Her voice had a forced brightness. “It’s really late.”
“Where’s your cell phone?” he asked.
“Don’t have one. I have a burner, but I seldom use it.”
Nate switched off the DJ station. “Let me take you home.”
She retrieved her coat. They walked out of Bluff House together and strolled silently toward the parking lot.
“Can we talk here?” she asked quietly.
“Here should be safe, but keep your voice low,” he replied. “Not in my car, though. It’s bugged. They might be watching, so keep it quiet and keep moving.”
“God,” she whispered. “This is unreal.”
“Yeah.” He slipped a burner phone discreetly into her hand. “Kimball’s stepping up his game.”
Their feet crunched loudly in the gravel in the silence that followed.
“Why didn’t you get rid of the bugs, if you knew where they all were?” she asked in a whisper.
“We’ll use them to draw him out when the time comes.”
“Ah. I see.”
“The Trasks just can’t live like this indefinitely,” he explained. “Always looking over their shoulder. Fucking torture. We have to get things going, or we’ll go nuts.”
Elisa let out a bitter sounding laugh. “Amen to that.”
She stumbled, and he took her arm, but she yanked it free and strode on.
He lengthened his stride to keep pace. “Hey. Elisa. Are you mad at me?”
“Why would I be?”
Whoa. Loaded question. Dangerous to answer. Silence reigned the rest of the way to his car, and for the drive down the hill and into the downtown area.
He parked down the block from Demi’s restaurant. The silence was killing him. He got out of the car and went around to her side, but she was already out and hurrying down the sidewalk before he got there.
He caught up with her swiftly. “Elisa,” he said. “Talk to me. What is it? Did I say something to piss you off?”
“No,” she said. “I mean, yes. I’m just embarrassed, but I’ll get over it.”
“Embarrassed?” He was bewildered. “About what?”
She snorted. “Nate, if you needed to clue me in that Bluff House was bugged, you could have done it without tongue-kissing me into a stupid daze and then blindsiding me like that. It made me feel so clueless. Falling for an act.”
“What? You’re joking, right? An act?”
“Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “You said yourself we’re being listened to.”
“After following you around like a puppy for months, you think that was a fucking act?” His voice was furious. “I’ve been carrying a goddamn torch for you since the day we met. Every person I know is embarrassed for me. There is nothing about that kiss that was not real for me. Are we clear on that?”
“Yes. Okay. I hear you.” Her eyes slid away. “Sorry.”
“My intention was just to dance with you and take the opportunity to whisper in your ear,” he said. “The kiss just happened before I knew what I was doing.”
“I didn’t mean to piss you off,” she said. “Please, calm down.”
He cursed softly. They stopped at her entryway, and he stood there, steeling himself for a cool dismissal. “Goodnight,” he said stiffly.
Elisa rattled her key in the lock, and turned to him. Their eyes locked.
The look on her face made his heart kick like a horse fighting its stall.
He reached out and brushed his fingertip across the fine texture of her cheek. A lock of her dark hair blew across his hand. So warm and silken. He slid his fingers into her hair and pulled her closer.
Lights blazed on inside his body. Elisa’s lips were so sweet and warm and yielding. Her touch and taste and texture, the vibration of her voice against his lips. The wordless language of their kiss made perfect sense to him, a language only his body could understand, or his heart. His soul. He was starving for it. Desperate.
Elisa pulled away, breaking the contact. Eyes dazed, breath fast between parted lips. She looked at the door, then turned the key in the lock, pushed the door open and seized his hand. She pulled him after her. Oh God, yes.
His feet made no sound following her up the stairs. He was floating on air. He waited for her to get the key in the lock, and then covered her hand. “Let me,” he said.