She cocked her head to one side, for some reason looking angry. Why was she mad at me? I’d just conceded a point to her side. “So…” She blinked at me. “You’re regretting the abortion?”
“Well, yeah, of course I am.”
“You’ve had a change of heart, then.”
“Change of heart?”
“A complete one-eighty from how you treated Nina when all this went down.”
“Oh. So you think I’m an asshole for judging Nina’s decision to get an abortion?” I sighed. “Look, I know the guy gets off scot-free while the girl’s the one who really has to deal—”
“Nina’s decision.”
I looked at her. “Yeah.”
“The abortion was Nina’s decision?”
My mouth dropped open. “What did she tell you?”
“She said you told her abortion was her only choice! Then after she went through with it, you dumped her—you wouldn’t talk to her.”
“What?” I paced the room, suddenly unable to take a deep breath. “Son of a bitch! No wonder you think I’m a monster.”
“Why shouldn’t I? What kind of guy gets a girl pregnant, forces her to get an abortion, then abandons her?”
“Not me!” I grabbed her hands. “Lucia, I never knew about the baby! I never knew…until it was too late.” I slumped, defeated by images of that tiny girl flooding my consciousness.
She gasped. “Nina didn’t tell you she was pregnant…until after the abortion?”
“Until it was too late.” I pressed my lips together and fought off those wrenching images. “I think of my baby girl—I know she would have been a girl—every day. Every day.” I looked away from her shocked eyes, ashamed by the tears threatening to well up in mine. We stood in silence for a long time.
“Oh, Dane.” She stepped into me and circled her arms around my back as she rested her cheek on my chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you lost your baby.”
Stunned she was in my arms, just like I’d always imagined and hoped, I didn’t know what to do at first. Her sympathy for me, despite me being such a cabrón, overwhelmed me.
Then the crisp, uplifting scent of lavender wafted from Lucia’s hair, loosening the tension from my shoulders and nudging me to gather her more tightly. I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent, my fingers smoothing across her strong back and her soft breasts pillowing into my chest. My hands slid up to bury themselves in the thick hair piling over her shoulders.
She tilted her chin up, letting her head rest in my hands, and my fingers weaved into spun silk. A sound of pleasure echoed from the back of her throat. When I opened my eyes, her face was right there, gazing up at me. Gone was the tightness of mistrust in her expression—her brown eyes were big, round, inviting…her red lips parted and trembling. With her chest pressed into mine, I wasn’t sure whose heart raced faster. She was a tantalizing temptress, a soft seductress…hardly the uptight, buttoned-up conservative I’d expected. At that moment, I didn’t give a damn that she was a Republican. I wanted her. Now.
“I’m waiting for a kiss, GD.” Her fingertips traced the lines of my shoulder blades, and her coy smile delivered a shot of heat to my groin.
Evidently she wanted me, too. “Paciencia.” I leaned in to taste her sweetness but she interrupted me.
“And it better not be a lame peck on the cheek, either.”
So Shy Girl was the teaser this time, and I was determined to kiss the ever-living-hell out of that smirk. I touched my lips to hers, hovering for a moment, sharing her breath—if either of us was indeed breathing at the moment—before capturing her supple lips with a rush of urgency that had swelled inside of me for two months. Her soft mouth yielded at first, pliant and warm, then thrust into me, molding around my lips, hot and charged. The unexpected aggressiveness of her kiss jolted into me and fire raced from my core up my spine. Sweet Jesus, this girl. How had I let her live under my roof this long without tasting the delicious merlot of her lips?
Her breathy moan sparked a surge of heat that zinged upward and escaped my mouth in a feral growl. I fell deeper into her as our kiss intensified. One hand tangled in her hair as the other caressed her cheek, and her hands inched down my back as we kept our lips locked together. When her hands cupped my ass, I almost came right there. Paciencia, I told my Cock-a-saurus Rex. Tranquilo. But there was nothing calm about this moment, and my feet moved forward of their own accord, urging her to backpedal in step with me, until we’d shuffled the short distance to her bed.
Without missing a beat she fell back on the mattress and pulled my buns down with her, dragging my body on top of hers. I was impressed we kept kissing throughout the change in position—quite an athletic feat. We stretched lengthwise on her bed, our legs entwined, and I tried to rest some of my weight on my elbows but her palms dug into my butt so firmly it was like she wanted me to impale her right then and there. Wait a minute—why was she touching my butt when I’d been dreaming about fondling hers from day one?
“I’m too…heavy,” I murmured between kisses.
She shifted below me with a groan of protest as her mouth detached from mine, and I leaned my weight to one side to allow her to climb on top. But then she pushed her hand into my shoulder and in one swift move flipped me on my back. Damn! Her manhandling was a huge turn-on. Now that she’d gained the top position, she stared down at me, smiling as she panted. I smiled back.
This was nothing like the rushed, cold, mechanical coupling I’d experienced with Nina. Her skinny doll body had seemed almost breakable, but Lucia pressed into me with captivating strength, and I didn’t have to hold back. My hands darted for her curvy ass, and she gasped when I kneaded the shapely muscles. A look of alarm flashed across her face.
“What’s wrong?” Maybe it was too soon to become intimate with the two halves of her heinie?
She shook her head—I’d seen that anxious look before. Apparently the eating disorder had joined us in the bed, and I wanted to kick him the hell out. “You know, you have the most gorgeous butt.”
The worried indent between her eyebrows smoothed slightly, but it was still there. “It’s too big.”
“Nonsense.” Taking a risk, I slid my curved palms under the crease between her butt and thighs. “See?” I jostled those muscular peaches. “Your patooty fits perfectly in my hands.”
Despite herself, she giggled.
“I’ve wanted to get my paws on this curvylicious booty from the second I met you.”
One corner of her mouth slowly curled up. “You did?”
“Sí, cariña.”
Her smile vanished. Did she still doubt my feelings for her? To reassure her, I said, “You had me at hola, Luz.”
Her eyes locked onto me, and I wondered if she could feel the electric connection between us. When she ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip, I got even harder. I lifted my head to kiss the wet spot on that luscious lip but she pulled back from me. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
The back of my head hit the mattress with a thump.
Her hair tickled my cheek as she leaned in with inquisitive eyes. “Why did you act like you hated me?”
I reached to tuck her hair behind one ear. “I was stupid, I guess.”
“Uh-uh, Dane.” As she shook her head, the hair loosened to fall in my face again. “I need more of an explanation than that.”
Crap, how would I answer her? Why did all of us do dumb shit every day? I had no fucking clue—that’s why I was a psych major…I was trying to figure it all out. From the corner of my mouth, I blew a strand of her hair off my cheek.
“Well?” One of her eyebrows arched.
I shrugged.
“Do I have to give you hair torture to get it out of you?”
What is that? From the light in her eyes and the jaunty uptick of her mouth, I had a sense it would be pleasurable. “Do what you must.”
In a dash, she pinned my wrists above my head. Her head dipped and her thick hair engulfed me, sweeping across m
y face and filling my mouth. “Nooo!” I half-heartedly pressed against her hold.
“Give it up, Dane.” I could hear the laughter in her voice.
“Never!” I thrashed my head from side to side, trying to breathe through the black curtain blinding and drowning me. “You’re killing me!”
“Jeez, you take this even worse than Matty.”
I groaned. “With a sister like you, I feel sorry for him.”
There was a sharp rap on the door. “Are you okay in there?” China asked.
Lucia glanced at me, and we both cracked up.
“I’m fine!” I called.
As we waited in silence for China to walk away, I heard a growl from Lucia’s belly. She popped up and scooted off of me, and her cheeks turned red.
I sat up. “I’m starved, too. We forgot about our fajitas—not much of a first date without dinner.”
“Our first date?” Her grin stretched from ear to ear. She placed her hand in mine, and I pulled us off the bed. Then she looked at the door as her hand tensed. “What do we tell them?”
“Not a damn thing. They’ve already invaded our privacy too much.”
My answer didn’t seem to quell her anxiety. Her breathing had quickened.
“Hey.” I stroked the side of her face. “We’ll figure this out.”
“But my dad—”
“You want to know why I acted like such a jerk when I met you?”
She paused. “Probably ’cause you hate Republicans?”
I chuckled. “That’s part of it. But the real reason?” I clenched my jaw. “Fear.”
She looked at me quizzically.
“Fear. At least that’s what Dr. Valentine told me.”
“Fear? Fear of what?”
I sighed. “Getting close to you, I guess. I was attracted to you, but it freaked me out.” I looked down. “I thought we were way too different.”
“I’ve been worried about that too.”
“But don’t you see?” I scooped her hands in mine. “We have so much in common. For one, we’re both freakishly tall.”
She smiled just a little at that. “Y hablamos español,” she offered.
“Sí. We’re both crazy enough to need a shrink.”
She nodded. “We’ve both been humiliated on the national news.”
“Ugh.” I wrinkled my nose. “And what are the chances two presidential candidates’ kids play college volleyball? It’s like, fate.”
As she took that in, she swept her tongue along her lip. I wanted to kiss her again—hell, I wanted to rip off her T-shirt and pants and throw her on the bed. But we’d come so far in such a short time, I didn’t want to push her too fast. And I really had no idea how far she could be pushed. “C’mon, let’s get you some food. Dr. Valentine won’t be happy with me if I don’t feed you.”
She swayed for a second, and I clasped her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“I…I’m just overwhelmed, I guess. I can’t believe tonight just happened.” She beamed. “I…” She chewed her lip as she glanced at me. “I’ve wanted to be with you from the first time I saw you on TV.”
“Of course you did.”
She slugged me in the chest. “Esquincle.” Her warm hand rested over my heart, and I reached to clasp her wrist. She looked up at me. “But you just kissed me?” Her lips parted with wonder. “This is like the best night of my life!”
Her exuberance was contagious, and fajitas be damned, I had to kiss her again. I leaned into those honey lips and sucked the sweet nectar dry. Unfortunately, our growling stomachs pulled us apart and sent us toward the door.
“They say not to discuss politics and religion on the first date,” she said as I opened the door for her.
“Well, then.” I gave her a huge smile. “We’re screwed.”
Chapter 21
I FOLLOWED DANE INTO THE KITCHEN to find Brad: his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk’s and a smear of guacamole on his chin. “Daneschter!” He forced a swallow. “S’okay I ate some? These are awesome!”
Dane beelined to the counter and lifted the sheet of foil. “Phew. He didn’t eat it all.”
“Of course I didn’t.” Brad brushed crumbs off his hands, then pulled a chair out from the table and gestured for me to sit. “My lady.”
I glanced at Dane, who gave me an amused shrug and took a seat while offering Brad a discreet chin tap.
Brad yanked a napkin off the table and swiped the green smudge clean before pulling out a chair for Dane. “Least I can do is serve you two tonight,” he said.
“Your service ain’t so secret, huh?” Dane joked.
“Exactamundo, señor.” Brad bowed then crooned a bit of “Be Our Guest” as he grabbed two plates from the cabinet.
Dane scooted his chair closer to mine, and my breath hitched when he clasped my hand under the table. His soft, setter hand was warm, and each stroke of his thumb sent tingles up my arm. I still felt the humming vibration of his kisses on my lips.
“What are you smiling about?” he whispered.
Was I smiling? I snuck a peek at Brad, but he was busy with the microwave. I turned back to Dane. “Being with you.”
His eyes darkened, but then he looked up, and his spine straightened. Frank had entered the kitchen. Was that anger in his eyes?
Dane let go of my hand and kept his eyes on Frank. “Any day now, Brad. We’re starving over here.”
“Almost ready.” Brad looked at his fellow agent. “Hey, will you get some drinks for them?”
Frank stood statue-still for a moment, then nodded. Brad now sang “La Cucaracha” as he set tortillas on the table. Cockroaches…how appetizing. A few moments later, Brad swooped in with a steaming plate of chicken, peppers, and onions, which he set between us, and I had to admit I wanted to eat. I wanted to inhale the food.
Dane apparently felt the same way because he’d already wolfed down half his first fajita before I’d finished filling my tortilla with goodies. He reached for another as I took my first bite. Mmmmm. There were hints of jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic in his chicken marinade, and my taste buds did a little happy dance. “This pollo…” I closed my eyes as I savored the flavor…maybe I even moaned?
He laughed. “It’s my mom’s recipe.” He chewed for a while, then added, “She used to be a pretty good cook.”
“Used to be?”
“We hired a chef once she became senator, of course.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t you have one?”
I arched an eyebrow. “You think Sylvia would let some stranger into her kitchen?”
“Silly me.” He grinned. Then he frowned at Frank, who had been staring at us. “What?”
Frank jumped back, like he was surprised to be caught gawking. “Just…” He cleared his throat. “Just seeing if you’ll need the Heimlich—never seen someone eat so fast.”
Brad thumped Dane’s shoulder. “He’s a growing boy.”
“I worked up an appetite,” Dane said.
¡Dios mio! He looked straight at me, his lively eyes direct and challenging, sparking a prickle of arousal inside of me. I dipped my head and focused on scooping rice onto my fork.
“It smells so good—” China rounded the corner, followed by Allison, but they stopped when they saw me.
“Oh.” Allison fidgeted and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We’ll come back later.”
“Nonsense.” Dane gestured to the table covered with food. “Brad already stuffed himself, of course, but we have enough for everyone.” He nudged an empty chair out from the table and patted its seat. “And we know you two definitely worked up an appetite tonight.” His grin was positively wicked, and I wasn’t sure whose face was redder—Allison’s or mine.
China barreled toward the table and snatched the seat next to Dane, which left the chair to my right open. Allison swallowed, hesitating for a second, before she joined us as well.
“Want me to get you a plate, Frank?” Dane asked. But my agent simply turned and left. Dane and I exchanged a confused look befor
e he shrugged. “More for us, then.”
Brad followed him out of the kitchen. “Hey, Frank, wanna watch The O’Reilly Factor?”
Dane cursed, and I grinned.
I watched China scoop chicken, vegetables, and salsa onto her plate, and wondered how she would fit all that into a tortilla.
“Oops, sorry.” China winced as she noticed me studying her plate.
“Huh?” Why is she apologizing?
China peeked over at Allison. “Allison told me not to do my high-protein bodybuilder diet around you.” She twisted her mouth to one side. “She said it could…trigger you, or something like that.”
“China!” Allison hissed. She snuck a glance at me. “I wasn’t trying to talk behind your back, I swear.”
I hated how scared of me she seemed to be. I wanted my old Allison back. “Thank you.” When she looked at me, I slowly lifted my hand, letting it hover for a moment, wondering if it was okay to touch her. I finally patted her forearm. “Thank you for helping me with my, uh, problem. You’ve really been there for me.”
Her smile was faint but at least not a frown. “You’re welcome, Lucia. You’re doing great.”
I wasn’t so sure of that. As we spoke, I could feel the guacamole glomming onto my ass…my…curvylicious ass. My face warmed as I recalled Dane’s hands cupping my butt cheeks, sending shivers up my back then and now. I looked at him and found him watching me as he bit off a piece of the chicken strip he held. The muscles in his jaw rolled and flexed as he chewed, and his full lips drew my attention. I imagined that mouth on my neck, sucking, licking, his warm breath on my skin—
“That’s it, Monroe,” China said. “You’re cooking for us every night.” She took another bite. “Seriously, this is some good shit. Right, Allie?”
Allison nodded as she dipped her tortilla into ranch dressing. “Yum.”
“Then Lucia has to cook every night, too,” Dane said. “She deserves some of the credit—she was my sous chef.” He scooped my hand into his under the table again. “In fact, she was seeing if you wanted to join us for dinner earlier, when, ah…”
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