He blinked, then smiled. “Sure.”
“And this time you answer my questions, no matter who wins.”
“If that’s what you want.” He hugged her again. “Anything for you, Addy.”
The name of the game—Go Fish.
“Idon’t think I’ve played this in over twenty years.”
Addy grinned. “I’m the master. I beat Ginny and Delia Anderson just last week, and those twins are practically psychic. Ha. Give me all your twos, sucker.”
Noel just looked at her as he handed over three twos.
“I win again.” Their third game.
He sighed. “What now?”
She’d been question loading on each win. “Well,I know your favorite color is green. You have a thing for Asian chicks.”
“I never said that.” He flushed. So adorable.
“You like me.”
“You’re not Asian. I mean, you are, partly, but it’s not a race thing. I’m into you.” He turned brighter red. “Never mind.”
For someone so mysterious, once she’d gotten him talking about himself, Addy found him sweet and caring. But she’dhad to dig deep to get to him. Though he’d said she could ask him anything, he’d been giving her stilted and shallow answers for half an hour. Only when she’d threatened to go home to check on Solene had he tempted her with deeper truths.
“Hmm, what else? You prefer guns to knives or poisons. You hate oppression of any kind. You especially hate people who are mean to kids and pets. Youlike dogs over cats, and you hate to cook.”
“I don’t think I’d sayhate. I’d much rather gather the ingredients and let someone else put them together.”
“That’s okay. I love to cook.”
His slow smile had the butterflies inside her doing somersaults.
“But what I really want to know…”
“Yes?”
“Were you serious before? In the hotel? You said you wanted me inall ways.” An allusion to that kinky sex he’d requested. “Do you still?”
He tensed and slowly put his cards down. “Do you really have to ask?” He glanced down at himself.
She followed his gaze and saw the erection straining at his pants. Heat blazed within her.
“Addy, I want you any way I can have you. And yes, to answer your question, I want your ass in the worst way. I’vebeen dreaming about taking you there. Hell, about having you under me again. We never got to finish that date.” He dimmed a little. “I still blame myself for not taking better care of you. I’ll never forget the look on your face when I found you. That bastard hurt you, and I wasn’t there to stop that.”
“He barely touched me.” She leaned closer and put a hand on his cheek. “Noel, it wasn’tyour fault. This mess belongs to whoever is trying to hurt you. I understand your responsibilities. Remember, my dad was a cop. He put bad guys away all the time. Once in a while that spilled over to Mom and me. We stayed at my aunt’s a time or two while Dad dealt with the threat. Mom never blamed him. And neither did I.”
“But I’m not a cop. I kill people, Addy.” He looked upset, whichfor Noel was saying something. “For all you know, I really am one of the bad guys. I’m sorry, but there’s no one you can call to confirm what I told you. They can’t know that you know. Not officially.”
She didn’t understand all that, but she did know the truth when she heard it. “I believe you, Noel. And I’m okay with what you are.”
“Do you mean that?” He scooped her into his lapin seconds and just held her there, his chin on top of her head. “Addy, I don’t want to pressure you. But my feelings for you are deep. They have been for a long time, but I wouldn’t let myself acknowledge them.”
She smiled. “You’re the only man who makes my heart race when he’s near. The only guy who’s ever made me so crazy I forgot all about protection when he was inside me. And you’rethe only one I’ve stalked for two years.” She met his surprised gaze when he glanced down at her. “Did you ever wonder how I’d be on your doorstep whenever you got home? You stayed away for weeks, sometimes months, but I was always there when you came back. I, um, well, I kept an eye out for you.”
“You did?” He beamed. “Damn.”
