All I Want(70)

“Which doesn’t mean that they can’t,” he said. “They could get stolen. Or leaked.”

“Well, yes,” she said. “But it hasn’t happened before, that I know of.” She paused. “Sorry about the bad day and all the dead ends.”

“Nothing where I get to be with you is ever bad.”

The man had a knack for saying things that hit her right in the heart, and she had to swallow past the lump in her throat.

They exited the plane, Parker moving with the same easy confidence with which he did everything, when he turned to her.

She couldn’t see much behind his mirrored sunglasses, which only served to make him appear even more badass. “It wasn’t a dead end,” he said.

She waited for more and when it didn’t come, she blew out a sigh. “You’re pretty damn annoying sometimes; anyone ever tell you that?”

“Every woman in my life,” he said without hesitation.

This caught her off guard. “I was trying to insult you, but you don’t seem insulted in the least. And just out of curiosity’s sake, how many women are currently in your life?”

“Too many,” he said a little grimly, and when he saw her expression at that, he reached for her hand and squeezed.

Their first physical contact all day, something she’d yearned for, but all she wanted to do was smack him.

“There’s my boss,” he said. “Sharon’s pretty certain I’m the most annoying man alive. And then there’s my sister. Amory loves me, but I annoy her big-time. It’s a special talent of mine.”

“Hard to believe,” she said, hoping the teasing note in her tone served as an apology for sounding like a shrew.

He brought their joined hands up to his mouth and brushed a kiss to her palm. “And then there’s you,” he said with one of his panty-melting smiles.

She tugged her hand free. “Okay,” she said. “No more of that, because my clothes tend to fall off when you look at me like that.”

He laughed, but his smile slowly faded. “Cat’s Paw has gone cold,” he said quietly. “They’ve moved out.”

She took in the tight look in his eyes, the grim set to his mouth. “You’re frustrated.”

“Frustration is a useless emotion. Goes against productivity.”

“So you never let frustration get to you?” she asked.

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I didn’t say that.”

She sucked in a breath and then another one when he pulled his sunglasses off and let her see the heat in his eyes. And then he slid a hand to the back of her neck and drew her in and kissed the ever-living daylights out of her.

When he pulled back, he slid his glasses back on.

“What was that?” she managed.

“Me, letting my frustration get to me.”

And then he was gone, heading inside to wait while she did the postflight check and tie-down.

It didn’t take long. Within thirty minutes she was done and entered the airport reception hangar.

The open greeting area had a few people milling around and there were several more up front, not a single one of them Parker.

Joe was behind the front desk. “You sell our baby?” he called out.

“Did my best,” she said. “I think they’ll be calling you. Have you seen Parker?”

Joe gestured toward the hallway. Zoe headed that way, taking a quick side trip toward the restrooms, when suddenly she was stopped and pushed up against the wall. In the next beat, a mouth covered hers.

Parker. She’d have recognized his kiss blindfolded but her heart still leapt into her throat at the feel of his bigger, harder body pressing hers into the wall, holding her there for his kiss.

Not that she wanted to escape. It felt so good, so heart-stoppingly good that she struggled to free her hands just so that she could get them on him.

Instead, he growled—growled!—and grabbed her hands, pinning them on either side of her head as he kissed her deeper.

And then deeper still, so that escaping was just about the furthest thing from her mind. As for the closest thing on her mind? Finding a place to break her promise to herself and get them both naked as soon as possible.

Parker couldn’t believe it when he’d seen Tripp Carver coming through the front door of the airport. He’d had a single heartbeat to realize that the guy was about to see him and Zoe—who was coming toward him with a smile on her face—and he reacted.

He pushed Zoe up against the wall and kissed her, hiding both of their faces.

He had no idea why Carver was here right now, but he could guess. He was heading out, never to be seen again. And if that was true, the very last thing Parker wanted was to get caught spying on the Butcher with Zoe anywhere near him.

She could kick his ass later, but for right now this was about getting out of here without her being seen.

When he heard Carver pass by them and head down the hallway toward the private lounge, Parker broke off the kiss but left his mouth against hers. “Zoe.”

She blinked slowly, dazed. “Yeah?”

“I need you to go to Joe’s office, lock the door, and stay there until I come for you.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ll explain later, move now.” And when she just stared at him, he added a quiet but hopefully urgent “Please, Zoe.” Having no choice but to believe that she trusted him enough to do as he asked, he took off after Carver.