Actual Stop (Agent O’Connor #1)(61)
Her eyes flared just a little, and she inhaled sharply. She swallowed, and the tip of her tongue darted out to swipe across her bottom lip. The hand not holding her drink came up to brush her hair back off her forehead, and it was trembling. The barbed wire that’d snaked around my esophagus loosened, and my sparking nerves settled to a dull hum.
“Any more silly questions?” I asked so quietly she had to lean in to hear me.
Allison shook her head and gaped at me. “Christ,” she muttered.
I smiled and took another sip of my water, forcing myself to concentrate on the cool wash of the liquid as it hit my tongue and slid down my suddenly dry throat. God, I wanted to touch her. Nothing too intimate. Something small. Just a brief meeting of hands or a swift brush of fingers against the bare skin of her shoulder. I ached with desire but wasn’t sure whether she was ready for that or what the gesture would even mean to either of us. I didn’t want to up the ante too soon.
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” she said in a throaty rumble. She’d shifted so she was standing next to me, and I couldn’t look at her without turning my head.
“Why?”
The invisible hand around my chest squeezed, and my breathing stalled. Shit. I’d gone too far. She wasn’t going to answer, and I’d have only the din of my wildly thudding heart for company.
Allison took another sip of her drink. “Do you remember the day we met?” Her tone was mild, and the seemingly off-topic question threw me.
Did I remember? Which part? The immediate tension between us when we’d first made eye contact? The sparks that’d lit up my entire being when her fingers first brushed mine? Our inability to keep from touching one another, even innocently? Perhaps she meant the way my pulse had raced each time I’d even glimpsed her magnificent smile. Or maybe she was talking about the way everything in my world had suddenly made perfect sense the instant our lips touched. Truthfully, I remembered every single second of my time with her that day.
“Vividly.”
Her eyes captured mine and held them for a long moment. The longing in their depths made me totally forget how to think. Now I swallowed hard. I took another gulp of water, trying to dispel the dryness in the back of my throat.
“The stools over by that pool table are about the same height as the benches at the range, don’t you think?”
I glanced at the pieces of furniture and remembered our first trip to the shooting range, then imagined treating her to a repeat performance in the middle of this very public bar. My already racing pulse picked up speed, and I closed my eyes as a stab of pure need shot through me.
Allison’s lips brushed against my ear, and I felt that touch acutely all over my entire body. “That’s why you need to stop looking at me like that. If you don’t, I can’t be held responsible for what I’ll beg you to do to me.”
The sensation of her lips gently caressing my sensitive skin suddenly silenced the cacophony of memories rolling around inside my head as I was abruptly propelled headlong back into the moment. The muscles in my lower abdomen clenched, and I struggled for something clever to say, something that would mask my true thoughts. “Okay. Not up for a live sex show. Duly noted.”
Allison grinned at me and shook her head. “Not just yet. But I do remember someone promising me a plaid skirt once upon a time.”
I laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“This is it! This is it!” Paige’s excited squeals shattered the intimate moment, and she almost knocked me down with an overly enthusiastic lunge in my direction. She tugged insistently on my arm, and I was thankful it wasn’t the arm holding the water. That would’ve been messy. And I was already wet enough in other places.
Paige looked back and forth from me to Allison expectantly, anticipation brimming in her eyes. I tilted my head to one side and listened. I knew this song. Paige had been right. It was kind of old. And it would be fun to dance to. I glanced at Rico, who shrugged.
“I’m game if you are.”
I held out my glass to Allison. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” Her smile made me faintly dizzy.
“Wait ’til you see this,” I heard Paige tell her. “My God, I just want to jump them both when they do this.”
My jaw dropped, and I glanced back over my shoulder as Rico led me to the dance floor. Allison seemed torn between laughter and intrigue. I shook my head and stepped into Rico’s waiting arms. We paused a moment, feeling the beat of the song before we moved. The muscles in his arms tensed, and instantly I realized what part of the song was coming and what he was about to do.
“Dump me on my ass, and I’ll pistol-whip you,” I told him.
Rico just laughed. And then I was spinning, one revolution for each count the singer made. I’d realized his intentions just in time, too. Whew! If I hadn’t been prepared, my legs would’ve tangled, and I would’ve gone down. I very likely would’ve taken him with me. He’d made a gutsy move. I was a tad unsteady in heels this high as it was.
I forced myself to block out everything—the lights, the setting, the guys, the fact that I could practically feel Allison’s hot gaze on my skin—and just concentrate on the beat and Rico. It didn’t take long to get caught up in our familiar rhythm. The rest of the world faded away as we moved together, and I caught myself grinning.