Part 16 (2/2)

It reminded her of what she had to do now. Having held her peace all afternoon, she couldn't bite her tongue any longer.

”Leandro, we need to talk,” she said.

”Yes, we do. But not this close to a million flapping Mandalor ears,” he said.

She nodded her agreement, and slid into his car. She grew more and more tense as they neared her house and she ran over the words she'd convinced herself she needed to say.

He helped her out of his car, and as she looked up to thank him she put her foot down on something cold and sharp. ”Ow!”

She lifted her foot to find a shard from a broken soda bottle on the sidewalk and blood welling from a cut in her foot.

”Here,” Leandro said, bending down to scoop her into his arms.

Sliding a hand around his neck, she winced with pain as he strode up her garden path to her front door. Within seconds they were in her house and he had placed her on the kitchen counter and was examining her grubby sole.

”I don't think there's any gla.s.s in there still,” he said.

”No, it was just that one big piece,” she agreed.

He disappeared into the hallway then, and she heard him rummaging in her bathroom. He returned with her first aid kit, along with a washcloth. Pulling one of her kitchen chairs in front of her, he took her foot in hand again.

”It's a bit dirty,” she apologized.

Shrugging his lack of concern, he reached across to run the washcloth under the tap, then gently wiped her foot clean.

”Not hurting?” he asked as he dabbed gently near the cut itself.

She shook her head, something inside her expanding warmly at the great care he was exerting to mend her hurt.

”I'm going to put some antiseptic on now-that bit might sting,” he said, uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g a small bottle from her kit.

”I'm tough,” she said, and he squeezed her ankle in response.

She hissed out a breath, however, when he dabbed the cut, jerking her leg back instinctively. He maintained his warm, firm grip on her ankle until he'd put a bandage on the cut, but the glance he gave her afterward was full of regret.

”Sorry,” he said simply.

She stared at him, getting lost in his eyes, admitting to herself a truth that had been growing inside her for weeks.

She was in love with Leandro.

So much for flings and fun and light and breezy. So much for conquering her fear and taking what she wanted and doing it her way.

”I was going to break up with you tonight,” she said.

”I know,” he said.

They stared at each other for a beat, tension crackling between them.

”I didn't mean for this to happen,” she said.

”Me, either. But it did. And I'm glad.” He slid his hand farther up her calf, his palm hot against her skin.

”What do you want from me?” she whispered, her hands gripping the edge of the counter as though her life depended on it.

”This. What we have now, and to know that we have a future,” he said. ”To have the right to come home to you. To plan with you. All the usual stuff.”

She closed her eyes. All the usual stuff.

All the stuff that scared the living s.h.i.+t out of her. Routine and domesticity and expectations and obligations.

When she opened her eyes again, he was waiting patiently, his gaze unwavering.

”I don't know if I can do all that, Leandro,” she said faintly. ”I know that this is about more than s.e.x, that we've moved beyond that and there's more between us now. But I don't know where it can go.”

”It's not something we have to decide right now,” he said quickly. ”Can't we just keep doing what we've been doing? Except that I'm allowed to buy you gifts and show that I care about you without you freaking out?”

She managed a wry little smile.

”You can read me like a book, is that it?” she said.

”Something like that.”

He stood, moving close to take her in his arms. She spread her thighs wide so he could stand within their embrace.

”This is a good thing,” he said as he framed her face with his hands. ”Only a fool would throw it away.”

”And I'm not a fool?” she asked, drowning in his eyes.

”You're the smartest woman I know,” he said.

He kissed her, and for the first time she allowed herself to feel the full magic of being treasured by such a special man. She realized with a rush of panic that she was going to do this-she was going to throw all her caution to the winds and allow this thing between them to have its head and rampage its way through her life.

For a moment she was awash in fear, but then the flick of his tongue against hers and the slide of his hand over her breast and the growing heat between her thighs pushed everything else away.

He carried her to the bedroom and they made slow, languorous love on her bed, staring into each other's eyes, caressing each other with new intensity. Afterward, she lay wrapped in his arms and marveled that after all her years of careful planning, she'd slipped up so spectacularly.

Somehow, though, in the aftermath of her day with his family, it didn't feel like such a disaster.

She didn't see the light blinking on her answering machine until after he'd left, explaining he had an early-morning location scout the next day despite it being a Sunday. She pressed the message b.u.t.ton absently, her fingers rising to her lips as she remembered Leandro's kisses.

”Claudia,” Cosmo said over the speaker. He sounded serious, and instantly she tensed, her gaze zeroing in on the answering machine. ”Mom has gone missing. Dad and I have been out looking, but she's not in any of the usual places. She might turn up at your place. Call me.”

The message ended with a clatter, as though her brother had dropped the phone before returning it to its cradle.

s.n.a.t.c.hing up her own phone, she shot a glance at the wall clock. It was past ten, but this was important and she dialed a number that she hadn't needed for nearly three years.

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