“Oh no,” I gasp. “Did I interrupt your date? Please, go back — just, you know, leave the pot.”
“We just established Caspian ‘happened to be in the neighborhood’ so you didn’t interrupt anything,” Antonio says, throwing air quotes like daggers.
Xaden snorts, and Antonio spins on him. “You think I’m funny?” Xaden actually steps back, like a rottweiler retreating from a furious chihuahua.
Kate, meanwhile, introduces herself cheerfully: “Special Agent Kate Jones. And this is Special Agent Xaden Bailey.”
I squeak. Try to disguise it as a cough. Why does Special Agent Xaden Bailey sound like the hottest possible combination of words?
“Real agents?” Antonio asks, curious.
“Real,” Xaden nods, giving me an amused look. Heat pools in my stomach. “And we actually need to get back to work.”
“Come on, baby,” Caspian mutters before immediately correcting himself. “I mean Antonio, not—”
Antonio sighs. “Giuro, se non fossi così bello… Let’s go to your place, che ho proprio voglia di baciarti.”
Kate raises her brows. “I’d suggest you hurry.” She mimes a kiss. Caspian’s eyes widen and he bolts after Antonio.
I see them out, then glance at Xaden. Trying to look nonchalant, I say: “We need to talk. Um… upstairs.”
He raises a brow, lips twitching.
“Sure,” he says with that lazy grin that suggests he knows exactly what I mean by ‘talk’.
Kate rolls her eyes, though she’s smiling. “Five minutes. Then I’m calling Keller.”
XADEN
Cole doesn’t say much as we climb the stairs, but the way his eyes keep flicking toward me — still a little wide from Kate’s “Special Agent” announcement — tells me exactly what this private talk might involve. Fear and thrill are warring in him, and I want both.
The second his bedroom door shuts, he presses against me. I back us toward the bed, dragging him with me.
His lips hover, his cheeks pink. “I know it’s a cliché,” he murmurs, “but it’s ridiculously hot that you’re an agent.”
I smirk. “Suddenly my career choice feels very rewarding.” Then he’s kissing me, not shy this time, hungry.
I groan into his mouth. “Fuck, Cole, you have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
Kate’s voice rings through the door, sing-song sweet: “Two minutes, lovebirds. Then I’m calling Keller.”
I swear. Cole pulls back, flushed and mussed. “When this whole thing’s over, can we go out? We used to have the best dates.”
“When this is over, I want to be on a date with you for the rest of my life,” I murmur. He blushes, but kisses me once more before straightening, running a shaky hand through his hair.
COLE
Xaden’s mouth is still warm on mine when Kate’s voice slices through the door: “Two minutes, lovebirds!”
Xaden curses; I laugh against his lips, dizzy and not remotely finished. But reality crashes back.
Now, ten minutes later, we’re at my kitchen table like none of that just happened. Kate’s angled toward her laptop while I try to remember how to breathe normally.
Keller’s face fills the screen, steady and professional-looking. His first words nearly make me snort. “My daughter’s a big fan of yours, Mr. Hudson.One Last Kissis her favorite. Could I trouble you for an autograph? I’m sure Agent Bailey can deliver it.”
I keep my expression neutral. “Of course.”
Because sure, why not, sign an autograph, save the town, survive an evil sheriff, and also figure out whether it’s possible to properly make out with an agent while your kid sleeps down the hall.
