“Happy? No. I’m frustrated as hell, but I give you props for bein’ honest. The woman who stopped by last night is my cousin Monroe. Her work brought her into town, but she’s gone.”
“How do I know that’s the truth?”
He placed his hands on her chair, sandwiching her in, and raised his eyebrows. “I trusted you with my life. I respect the hell out of you. You’re drop-dead gorgeous and sexy as hell. You get what you see with me. I’m not gonna complicate things up. Life does that without me havin’ to add my own spin.”
“We aren’t exclusive, so I just figured?—”
“Only you.”
She held his gaze. “Same.”
“There you go.”
She shot him a smarmy smile.
“Next time you don’t like somethin’, tell me, or ask mestraight up what’s goin’ on. I like you… a lot. I’m not gonna fuck this up. My mom and dad were all kinds of messed up. I don’t need that drama.” He kissed her cheek. “We got this.”
She swallowed, hard. “I want to be completely transparent… I followed you home last night. It was immature, and I’m sorry.”
He studied her for an extra beat. “Thanks for being honest.”
“It won’t happen again.” She shot him a sheepish smile.
“I could rip your clothes off and take you on this table,” he murmured. “That’s how badly I want you.”
A moan ripped from her. “Ohgod, that’s sexy.”
“Right now, I gotta check on a new hire at the restaurant. Have dinner at Santini’s with me before the Dungeon.”
“I’ll meet you there. I need to change for tonight.”
“You look great.” She was wearing a tailored black suit.
She acknowledged his comment with a little smile. “I need to go for a run or work out.” After packing up, she stood. “Since we’re being totally honest, I’m concerned. We’re not making any progress.”
“Worst case scenario, we can’t find the terror cell,” he said. “Bomb dogs search the buildings. If we run out of time, the buildings get evacuated?—”
“The employees can’t work from home forever.”
“This isn’t gonna take forever, Austin.” He packed up, shouldered his laptop bag. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“I can meet you.”
Dakota had already left, and they had the building to themselves. As they made their way toward the hangar, a rush of energy had him pulling her into his arms. They came together in a torrent of need. Her kisses tasted like more, her soft lips had him groaning. She pressed into him, but she slowed the kiss until she was dropping light ones on his cheek.
“Thank you for being straight with me,” she murmured. “I think we should keep whatever this is between us.”
He didn’t like the sound of that, but he wasn’t gonna pushback. He liked her. She liked him. He was good with that… for now.
“Don’t overthink us.”
She cracked a smile. “We’re an us?”
“Hell, yeah,” he said, and kissed her again.
In the hangar, they got into their vehicles and drove out. He followed her onto the main road, but they got separated in the heavy traffic.
Twenty minutes later, he parked in his driveway, went inside. He changed into shorts and a T-shirt, slid into running shoes. He could have asked Caroline to work out with him, but he needed time alone. As he took off on his usual route, he cleared his mind of the constant frustration.
