Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(36)

The memories of the day darted through my mind. “It’s been fun. It was a little crazy getting onto the set today, but aside from that it hardly feels like work.”

“You were out kind of late tonight, huh?” He rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to be working out a kink, but I knew better.

“Is that a question?” I leaned into his line of sight and smiled.

“Maybe.” He grinned, dimpling his cheeks, and glanced out of the corner of his eye.

“Oliver and Leland Jackson shot a fight scene, and they must have gone through forty takes before they got it right. The director called it, but I think it was only because the daylight was almost gone.”

“Sounds entertaining.” He began stroking my toes. “Have you seen any of the headlines from the thing in the park?”

“Me? No. I only saw what they said on the news this morning.” The slight hesitation in his voice gave me reason to pause. “Why… or do I even want to know?”

“One was captioned ‘Will You Be My Bodyguard’ and there was a close up of you fending off the guy, which still bugs me by the way.” He studied the parting gift around my eye.

“I know.” Just like the sky is blue, Gabe would forever worry when I was in the field. I’d moved beyond being bothered by it.

“Then one said something else.” He fought to choke out the words lingering in the back of his throat.

“You’re scaring me a little. Tell me.”

“They snapped a picture of Oliver looking at you, and it was… evocative.”

“Evocative? Well, la tee dah.” I coughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t like the look in his eyes. The headline suggested you might be his next leading lady.”

I burst out laughing. “That’s hilarious. Me? Boy, are they way off base.”

“Are they?”

I squinted, and the refrigerator kicked on, humming in the background, rmmm… rmmm… rmmm. I refused to answer such an absurd question. If he had something to say, I would sit forever until the fat lady belted out a boisterous tune.

“Watching Oliver Pierce has thrust you into the limelight.”

“Please. Hardly.” I smeared the frost collecting on my glass until it gathered enough liquid to run down the stem.

He paused for a beat. “But how could it not? Just look at you.”

I took a deep breath in through my nose. “It’s a ridiculous story.”

“Is it?”

The faint seeds of doubt sprouted in his voice. Given our past, I suppose I was partly to blame. “You know you’re being silly, right? It’s the tabloids. I admit I never thought I’d be a part of them, but it’s completely made up.”

“Of course, I’m being ridiculous.” He snorted. “Just make sure Oliver Pierce keeps his hands to himself.”

I stretched my legs across his lap and leaned back against the arm of the couch. “Please, he’s a married man.”

“That doesn’t stop people in Hollywood. When the cat’s away, people screw the nanny. I don’t want your name splashed along one of those headlines and dirtied like you’re some backstreet hook—” He knew better than to finish the word. “It would drive me nuts.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Camille is in town so the cat isn’t even away.”

He ran his hand over my leg. “Good.” He threw back what remained in his glass.

“How’s work been?”

“Busy.”

“Is the new merger going any better?”

He set his glass down on the table and didn’t look at me with his eyes but undressed me with them. “I don’t want to talk about work.”

I spun the stem of my glass between my fingers and already felt naked. “Don’t you? Even with all you have going on?”

“Even with all I have going on.” He made a barely audible sound deep in his throat like he’d bitten into something divine. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“In all the hours I’ve been working recently, there’s this one thing I can’t seem to get off my mind no matter how hard I try.” His hand inched its way up my thigh.

“Which is?”

“You standing naked in front of my shower and the water running down your body.”

I set my glass next to his and settled deeper into the couch, my foot brushing against his tightening zipper. “Oh yeah, what about it? You’ve seen me that way plenty of times.”

“I can’t see it enough, and every time may as well be the first.” A dark look took over his eyes, and he dropped his voice to a husky whisper. “We have unfinished business, Diana.”

My ears hummed when he said my name. “We do, do we?”

“Em hmm.”

His fingers moved higher, hooking over the lace band of my panties, and then tugging them down over my feet. He scooped me off the couch and carried me into the bedroom, setting me on top of my quilt.

He pulled off my shirt, and with my hair webbed over my face, I unbuttoned his oxford and pushed the starched material off his shoulders. I brushed my hair away and scooted back as he unbuckled his belt and removed his pants. His lean, athletic build was something I’d never tire of, the tightness of his boxer briefs emphasizing the force of his thighs and the slimness of his hips. He ran his fingers through his sandy brown locks, which had grown longer than usual in recent months. He knelt down at my feet and brought my knees up, pushing them apart.