She felt him move closer to her, then Carson’s fingers traced along her back right over her tattoo.He didn’t say anything about her ditching the shirt.What man would complain about a woman sleeping naked in his bed?
“You don’t know what this tattoo of yours does to me,” he said, tracing the wings of her phoenix, a habit he had come to do a lot.
“Why is that?”Allie’s voice sounded drowsy, like she was half asleep, butreally she was just that relaxed; his finger tracing was like a little massage.
“Because I have the exact same one in the same place.”What were the odds they would have the same tattoo in the same place?
Allie rolled over to face him.Her hand tucked up under the pillow and the other rested in front of her face.“Really?”
“Yep.”
“May I see it?”she asked softly.
Carson didn’t respond right away, as if her question had caught him off guard.How could he tell her about his tattoo and not let her see it?
Allie reached out and rested her hand on his chest over his shirt.She could feel his heat as if she were touching bare skin and not cloth in between them.She smiled sadly at him.“When you’re ready?”
Carson’s eyes closed, but he nodded, and Allie felt like she had just climbed K2.“I’ll show you, but please don’t ask about them.”
He wouldn’t hear a peep from her.“I promise.”
Carson nodded and started to sit up, only to halt when his phone rang.He rolled over, glanced at the screen, and cursed.Talk about bad timing.“Sorry, Ihave to take this.It’s work.”He grabbed his phone and answered as he climbed out of bed.“Hey, Charlotte.”
Charlotte?Why the hell was she calling at this hour?Allie knew she shouldn’t be jealous, but with all the secrets and her insecurities, she couldn’t help it.
Allie strained to hear the conversation, but Carson was in the living room and too far away to hear.Did she get up and eavesdrop or wait for him to come back to bed?
On silent feet, Allie slid out bed and tiptoed to the hall entrance where Carson couldn’t see her, but she could still hear.
“Not at all.Did you get something?”he whispered.Therewas a few minutes of pause.“Okay, meet me at Peppermill Restaurant.Eleven o’clock.”
Allie knew where that was.It was about fifteen minutes from her work.Sheworried herlip, wondering if she should follow him there tomorrow.It felt like invasion of privacy, but she wanted answers and felt shewas owed them.
Carson hung up and headed back to the bedroom.Allie hurried back to her side of the bed, tucking the covers around her as Carson came back into the room.
“Everything alright?”Allie asked, lifting her head slightly off her pillow, striving to appear like she’d been attempting to sleep and not eavesdrop.
“Yeah, sorry about that.”Carson hesitated, standing next to the bed and looking for a moment like he might give her some kind of explanation for his sudden disappearance, but then he must have thought differently.He lifted the comforter and climbed into bed next to her.“Work stuff.”
“Everything okay?Seemspretty late for work stuff.”
“Yeah, nothing that couldn’t have waited until tomorrow.Now, where was I?”He pulled her closer and started kissing her, probably trying to distract her.She hated to say it was working, but it would only work for so long.Tomorrow, she wanted answers.
“Not there,” Allie giggled when his kisses started trailing down her abdomen.“But I’m not complaining.”
Chapter 25
Carson sat down at a booth at the Peppermill Restaurant.He was anxious for Charlotte to show up and give him the news.Charlotte was a lead agent at the CIA.She had connections with several other agencies as well.They had met during a military ball.She was a guest speaker, and they had hit it off.
He’d never had sexual feelings for her, but she was always willing to lend aid to him when he needed it.
“Are you ready to order?”a waiter asked, coming up to him.
“Not yet, thank you.”The waiter nodded and left.
A woman walked into the restaurant and looked around.Carson waved her over, recognizing her instantly.He hadn’t seen Charlotte in a few years, but the woman looked the same.Long brown hair, a black blazer, a white blouse, and a pencil skirt with high heels.Charlotte didn’t believe in casual attire.He’d only ever seen her in business clothes or the evening gown from the ball.
Carson smiled when she saw him and made her way over to him.“I hope you weren’t waiting long.It took a bit to get through traffic.”
