Part 19 (1/2)

The truth is, as crazy as it sounds given that this is Cole and me, I'm just making my man a sandwich and he's just glad to see me at the end of a long day.

He still kisses like a bad-a.s.s, though, leaving me breathless when he finally relaxes his embrace. He stares down at me for a second before smiling just a tiny bit. ”Missed you last night.”

”Same.” I don't ask where he was. I have the feeling that if he was free, he'd have been here, and since he wasn't, he was doing something he doesn't want me to know about. ”I'm glad you came over, even though I'm a bit of a dragon lady.”

”Love it when you spit fire at me.” He winks and spins me around. ”Keep cooking.”

”Yeah, real fancy dinner.” I finish up, Cole's hands on my hips the whole time, his chin against my hair. This is nice. Dangerously lovely, in fact, and I want to guard myself against letting it get too deep, but it's probably too late. Two nights, a few heated encounters, and I'm hooked on him.

”Go sit,” I whisper, and he kisses my hair.

”Can I grab us some drinks?”

”There's beer and wine in the fridge. Some Perrier-I'll have that, please-and OJ? But it might be past its prime.”

”Beer it is.” He grabs a bottle for himself and the sparkling water for me, and leads the way to the couch.

I flick on the television and look over at him, taking in his fitted black suit and tie, and white s.h.i.+rt. He's even wearing dress shoes instead of boots. ”You're all dressed up. I feel like I should offer you a martini or something.”

Cole closes his eyes and snorts, then slowly undoes his tie as he tips his head back against my couch. ”I know it goes against my James Bond image, but I can't stand martinis.”

My breath catches in my throat because I hate his James Bond image. Even though it's hot, I want him to secretly be different. ”No?”

”Beer and a burger kind of guy. Beer, burger, and babe.” He looks at the sandwiches in my hands, then flicks his gaze to my face as he gives me a big, s.e.xy grin. ”Or sandwich and babe. Come here.”

”I'm all schlubby.” But I put the plates down because I'm being silly, and we both know it.

”Do I look like I care? You look comfortable. You know who's not comfortable? Me. I need a warm woman in my lap and a sweet mouth to kiss for a minute. Get your a.s.s over here.”

I climb into his lap, loving the way he spreads his solid, muscled thighs wide. How his arms easily wrap around me, and the hungry way his hands glide over my curves. We kiss again, this time more playfully, before I slide over to sit next to him. We eat our sandwiches together in silence, watching the news, then he takes our plates away and returns with two bowls of ice cream and the bottle of chocolate syrup.

The top of the hour headlines have just finished, so I turn the volume down and curl into his side. ”This is really good.”

”You deserve good. You deserve the best.”

I want to sink into this warmth. I want this moment to last forever, except for the whole cramping-and-having-my-period annoyance.

And when we finish our ice cream, Cole takes the sweetness to the next level. ”I want to take you on a date.”

”What?” I twist to look at him.

”A date. You. Me. A movie and popcorn.”

G.o.d. I can't even handle this. Time for snark. ”I like junior mints.”

”Good. We'll get those, too. And I'm going to hold your hand.”

The way he says it makes me laugh. ”Are you warning me?”

”I don't want it to be too much in the moment.” He says this straight, and for a second I'm not sure, but the way he pulls me close, like he might not want me to see his eyes crinkle...that has to be a tell.

”Shut up.” I mumble that into his chest. Never mind being too much then...this level of boyfriend behavior might be too much right freakin' now. We sit there for a minute, me buried in his chest, before I slowly prop myself up on his lap and try to be real for a second. ”We don't need to go out. I like you coming over with ice cream.”

Cole clearly doesn't like me compromising on this point. He narrows his eyes. ”Your last date before me took you to the Kennedy Center.”

”Yeah, but it wasn't really that great to begin with, then some a.s.shole kind of interrupted it and...” My cheeks turn pink. I can't help it.

His hands tighten on my hips. ”Say it.” He dropped his gaze to my mouth. I lick my lips. It's like a reflex, I can't help it, and I like how his eyes darken in response. ”Wicked woman.”

I slide my arms around his neck and cuddle closer, bringing my lips to his ear. ”My last date was interrupted by a s.e.xy bad boy who went down on me in an empty concert hall while Was.h.i.+ngton's snootiest milled about in the lobby.”

”That's better,” he mutters, squeezing the back of my neck. This is the wrong conversation to have when indisposed. We are both getting worked up, I'm all tight and achey inside, and, well, his arousal is obvious on the outside. The solid length of him is pressing insistently against my thigh. As much fun as flirting and cuddling is, I'm leading him on.

I shake my head. ”This isn't fair, I'm sorry.”

”Don't do that.”

”What?”

”Don't a.s.sume that I'm a monster who can't contain himself.” He rocks against me. ”Neither of us needs to get naked or come to have a good time. We don't need to talk about s.e.x, but I gotta say, doing a recap of the first time I tasted you sounds like a great way to spend some time. Builds a nice slow burn of antic.i.p.ation for the next time we do that.”

I must be dreaming. That's the only reasonable explanation.

”Who are you and what have you done with Cole Parker?” When he just smirks at me, I slowly kiss him, languid and tender this time, just touching and tasting until we're both warm and drowsy and we slip sideways on the couch. Cole tucks me in front of him and we watch the next set of headlines-how has an hour slipped by?-and then he tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear and quietly asks if he can stay over.

Seriously. I never want to wake up. This is like some magical alternate reality where Cole and I can actually date and be a normal couple.

It's the best thing I can imagine.

I find him a toothbrush and we take turns was.h.i.+ng up, then snuggle in my bed wearing just our underwear. I was going to find a t-s.h.i.+rt to sleep in, but as I got down to my panties, he tugged me into bed, and now we're wrapped around each other. His phone blows up a few times, but he never takes long and when he props up on one arm and asks me what I'm thinking about, I take a chance and tell him the truth.

”Help me understand your job.”

He blinks at me. ”Not sure that I can, but I'll try.”

I roll onto my side so we're nose to nose, and he wraps his arm around me. ”Why do you do it? You could do anything else, right? Regular old security. James Bond stand-in. Grumpy old man lessons.”

He laughs. ”None of those sound like fun.”

”Neither does what you do-I mean, you don't seem to enjoy it.” I hold my breath after the words rush out of me, because it's entirely possible I'm way overstepping the bounds of our fledgling relations.h.i.+p.

The seconds stretch as he looks at me, a long, thinking-man's pause before he c.o.c.ks his head to the side and gives me half a smile. ”No, my job isn't fun, either. But it brought me you, and this, right now? Is the most fun I've ever had in my entire life.”

I laugh, because that has to be a lie. ”More fun than what we did at the Kennedy Center?”

”That was hot. And fun, yes. But this...” He shakes his head as he strokes a hand up and down my spine. ”I didn't know this was possible for me. Dinner on the couch, talking about work. Laughing together. It's...”