Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(12)

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, please do.”

He smiled as he started his tale, happy to make her laugh for once.


*

Holland eased out onto her balcony, closing the door behind her as silently as possible since she had an unexpected overnight guest. After dessert, Dax had helped her do dishes. Afterward she’d told him to wait in the living room while she put on a pot of coffee. She should have shown him the door because it had been almost ten, but she’d enjoyed the evening with him. After they’d gotten the business out of the way, he’d told her stories about his friends and talked about some of the antics of his crew. She’d laughed and laughed.

It was the nicest evening she’d had in a long time. When she’d walked out with his coffee, the captain had been asleep on her couch. She hadn’t had the heart to wake him. He was likely jet-lagged as hell and probably hadn’t slept much. So she’d eased off his shoes and covered him with a blanket.

Then she’d sat at her kitchen table with the cup of coffee and his file. And she’d read.

Now as morning dawned, she looked out over the city. Even the Quarter was quiet. She liked this time, right before the sun came up. The streets had been cleaned from the nightly debauchery, and just for a moment everything seemed fresh and new again.

The sky was beginning to light with pinks and oranges as she thought about the man sleeping on her sofa. From what she could tell, he hadn’t moved an inch. He must have been exhausted. After reading his file, she’d tried to get some sleep herself. Instead, she’d dreamed of him and of what might have been if she hadn’t walked away.

Holland didn’t regret it exactly. She liked her life. It was filled with good work and good people, so why did she feel restless the minute she thought of Daxton Spencer? Why did she want more simply because he walked through her door?

“Do you ever think about it?” he asked behind her suddenly.

It was as though her thoughts had awakened him. Holland hadn’t heard him open the door, but now she could sense him behind her. She didn’t need to turn around to know he would look adorable slightly rumpled. It wouldn’t make him any less sexy.

“Yes.” She knew what he was asking and she didn’t bother to prevaricate.

He moved in behind her, cupping her shoulders with his warm, solid hands. She wanted nothing more than to lean back into the strength of his body. “I think about it all the time, Holland. Why did you run away from me?”

“I wasn’t ready for anything serious,” she replied honestly. “I also wasn’t sure I could handle your lifestyle.”

“The military lifestyle? You grew up in it.”

She didn’t turn to look at him because this conversation had grown so intimate so quickly. “Yes. I watched my mom pine for my father every day until she died. I then watched my father turn bitter and angry because he didn’t get the life he’d been promised. He was supposed to work hard and then one day he could come home and be with her. But she wasn’t around for the good part. Regardless, she never complained. I guess some women are built for life as a military wife. I’m not.”

Dax turned her to face him. He’d taken off his dress shirt and stood there wearing a tight tee that clung to his every bulging muscle, along with his khaki pants from the night before. She’d been right. He looked rumpled and adorable and delicious all at once. He’d definitely filled out, and she couldn’t help but sneak a peek at his sculpted, bronzed shoulders. He practically made her mouth water.

“That’s ridiculous,” he shot back with a shake of his head. “When two people want each other, they work it out. Holland, I’ve never stopped wanting you.”

She had to smile. “Even when you were dating that supermodel?”

He sighed. “She needed a date to an awards show. Mad and Gabe were escorting her friends. I happened to be in town so I agreed to help out.”

He’d looked gorgeous in his dress whites escorting the stunning model to the Oscars. The pictures had been everywhere, and she’d felt a truly illogical tug of jealousy. “So it was just a favor and you didn’t sleep with her or anything.”

Even in the low light of dawn, she could see the way he flushed. “I haven’t been a saint, but then, you walked away from me.”

And he’d walked into the arms of god only knew how many women. This was another facet of his life she wasn’t sure she could handle. He would always have women hitting on him, trying to tempt him. The fact that he had a girlfriend or a wife would simply make them try harder.

“I wasn’t judging you, Spencer. I was simply pointing out that our lifestyles couldn’t be more different. You date supermodels and actresses. I date cops.”

When she dated at all.

He shook his head. “Yes, you date cops. Many of whom used to be military. I find it funny that seven years have passed and we’re right back to where we started. Except this time, there’s nowhere to run. I’m going to be around, Holland.”

Oh, but she was still safe from him. “Yes. You’re going to be around and I’m going to be investigating your father’s death, so now we have a conflict of interest. We’re not going to date and I’m not going to kiss you again.”

She knew what that would lead to and she wasn’t sure she could afford the price to her heart. He might stay around for a while, but he would ship out again and she would be alone. That arrangement might work with another man. She might be able to live in the moment and enjoy the time they had together. But she would always want more from Dax Spencer.