“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, bracing a hand on either side of him and caging him in against the counter. “Sometimes it’s nice to exist in a bubble for a moment. Where the only two people who exist are you and the one you love.”
Rafael trailed his fingers down my naked torso until they began to flirt with the waist of my sweats. “And is that what we’re doing?”
I nipped at his lower lip. “For at least the next seventy-two hours.”
“Is that right? And, um, what about work?”
“Work?” I snorted. “I’m my own boss. I decide when I go in.”
“Pretty sure Tyrone would disagree with that.”
“King?” I raised my head and shrugged. “He’s more a boss in name and sheer fear factor only. He lets us?—”
“Run wild?”
I pulled back and arched a brow. “No. I wasgoingto saymanage ourselves, unless?—”
“You become unmanageable.”
I took a step back and crossed my arms over my chest, and it didn’t escape my attention the way his eyes couldn’thelp but greedily roam over my naked skin. “You saying I’m a troublemaker?”
“I’m saying youare, and always have been, a troublemaker.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “How is this real? How are you standing here right now in my kitchen joking with me and looking at me like?—”
“I love you?” He pushed off the counter and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Because I do. But, um, I’m going to let you make the fancy coffee.”
“And what do you plan to do while I make the coffee?” I said as he walked around the counter and took a seat on one of the stools.
“I’m going to watch you. You should be familiar with that.”
I turned in time to see him wink at me, and that did jack shit to stop the heat on my cheeks. I was blushing, actuallyblushing, because Rafael was giving me shit for spying on him all these years.
Oh well, it wasn’t like I had been especially good at hiding my obsession with him anyway.
“So you and the Kings,” Rafael said as I prepared the coffee. “How did that all, you know, come about? Or are you not allowed to tell me?”
I scoffed and turned to face him as the coffee began to brew.“King used to take confessional with you. I’m pretty sure you know secrets much more nuclear than how I ended up working for the man.”
Rafael shrugged, looking a little sheepish about the whole thing. “I wouldn’t say nuclear. But it was more… I just… I wasn’t sure if you wanted to tell me.”
“Because you knew I was doing something illegal?”
“Maybe?”
“Well, let’s just say King caught me snooping through some files I shouldn’t be and offered me a way to stay out of a jail cell.”
“I see.” Rafael’s eyes swept over the kitchen and toward the large living area before coming back to me. “Seems it paid off. You’ve done well for yourself.”
I nodded, my lips twitching, because he had no idea. “You could say that.”
“Is something funny?”
“Nope.” I brought his coffee over to him and then headed to the fridge. “I don’t have any caramel creamer yet, but I have milk and sugar.”
Rafael grinned. “I’m guessing you still like yours black?”
“You know it. But we’ll get you some of the sweet stuff ASAP, plus anything else you need.”
