Unable to resist, he deepened their kiss but kept it quick. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to walk away otherwise. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He nodded to her door and then bent down to retrieve her to-go box and keys. Holding them out for her, he said, “I’ll wait until you lock up.”
After unlocking her front door, she took the box from him, paused in the threshold, and turned back to him. “Thank you for dinner, Xander. I had a lot of fun with you today.”
His name on her lips had goosebumps rising over his arms. “I did too. How about a repeat tomorrow night?”
Her smile widened, and something loosened in his chest. She stepped into her apartment and looked at him over her shoulder. “I’d like that. See you tomorrow, and thanks again for everything today. Goodnight.”
She closed the door, and he waited until he heard the turn of her deadbolt. For a few silent seconds, he simply stared at her shut door. Part of him wanted to knock on her door and take her up on her earlier offer, but the other part—the one that was completely twisted up in a knot—screamed at him to march hisass home. He spun on his heel and quickly made his way down the stairs.
Tomorrow. He was going to see her again tomorrow.
Hopefully, his mind would no longer be racing by then. As it was, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.
However, he now knew a few things for certain. Freya’s inky-black hair felt like the smoothest silk between his fingers. Her lips held the tiniest hint of that blue-raspberry drink she loved. The gentle curves of her hips were soft and fit perfectly in his hands.
While he wasn’t quite sure how to proceed, he knew he wanted more...
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Nice,” Xander said, slapping his punching mitts together. He wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm and lifted his chin at Tash. “Just so you know, after the last couple combos, you were lowering your guard a little.”
Tash’s right eyebrow arched, and she crossed her gloved hands over her chest.
He held up his hands. “I saida little. Nothing to kick my ass for, just something to keep an eye on.”
She rolled her eyes as she used her teeth to loosen the strap on her right sparring glove. “What’s on the docket for today?”
“Not much. Frazier wants me to sit in on a potential client meeting. A-list celebrity has a stalker, and she isn’t happy with her current security team. But that’s not until noon. What are you up to?”
“It’s a rare Saturday off,” Tash said, sitting on the bench and rolling her neck side to side. “Wilson and I are gonna swing into town and grab some breakfast before I head back to Seattle. Want to join?”
For a moment, he simply stared at her. Did he want to tell her? “Uh...”
That damn eyebrow of Tash’s arched again. “Uh...?”
Act. Casual.
“I’m picking up Freya at eight and giving her a ride to work,” he said, his words coming out in a rush. “You know, since her car’s in the shop after all that shit yesterday. She lives downtown, and the resort hasn’t figured out the rental car yet.”Stop. Fucking. Talking!He cleared his throat. “So maybe next time.”
For a full ten seconds, Tash simply stared at him. It took everything he had to not squirm. Holy shit, he’d forgotten how intense the woman could be.
Then Tash laughed. Not a quiet, reserved chuckle. No. It was loud, boisterous, people-were-starting-to-stare laughter.
Fucking hell.
He scrubbed his hand over his face and heaved out a sigh. “For fuck’s sake, Tash, it’s no big deal.”
“Oh, I beg to differ, my friend.” The irritating woman made a production of swiping away a tear. “You think if I mentioned your plans to Wilson, he’d think it was a big deal?”
She wouldn’t dare. He pressed his lips together and shot her his best glare. The last thing he needed was Wilson giving him shit.
Tash snickered, pointing her finger at him. “Exactly.”
He frowned. “Didn’t you say yesterday that you were going to butt out?”
“Yeah, but I lied. Plus, that was before I met her.” She tossed her gloves into her gym bag and stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “For what it’s worth, she seems nice.”
“Funny you should say that,” he replied as he tossed his punching mitts into his bag. “Because that’s exactly what Freya said about you and Esme. That the two of you were nice andsweet.”
