by Paige Tyler
Okay, what was a woman supposed to do after a line like that? Everly couldn’t resist leaning closer and giving him what she hoped was a sexy, come-hither look.
“I think I may be able to help you with those sweet little nothings,” she said in her best French accent.
At least she hoped it sounded French. She hadn’t spoken more than a few dozen words in the language in years, and all of that had been around her family. For all she knew, her accent may have come off more Pink Panther than sex kitten.
But Landry must have liked it because his eyes got this seriously intense smolder. And when he tilted his head just so, the lights from the chandelier reflected back in the hottest way possible. Like those brown sugar eyes of his were lit gold from within. Damn, talk about sexy!
They were so close that Everly could feel the heat pouring off his body. Or maybe she was the one getting warmer. It was difficult to tell.
Pulse quickening, she wet her lips with her tongue. Landry’s eyes followed the movement, a slightly predatory smile crossing his face. He leaned a little closer, ratcheting up the heat in the tiny alcove another few degrees. Everly parted her lips in anticipation of the kiss she knew was coming.
But before Landry closed those last few millimeters left between them, Emile appeared with their appetizers. Landry smiled and sat back. As Emile placed the beautifully arranged plates on the table, Everly reluctantly did the same.
“We will begin with a trio of pork rillettes with pickled dried apricots, Alsatian tarte flambé, and salmon trout tartare with caviar.”
While they all sounded delicious, Everly was far more focused on the kiss that had almost happened than on anything the chef was saying. Considering how long she’d waited to eat at Chambre Française that should have surprised her. But she found it hard to turn her attention to the food. Landry was much more appealing.
Even though she remembered him saying something in the car about being hungry, he didn’t go for the food right away either. Instead, he sat there gazing at her as if she was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen.
“You were the only girl in a family with four brothers, huh?” he finally said. “That must have been interesting growing up.”
She nodded, casually picking up one of the tartes and hoping her hands didn’t shake. What had Emile said was on this one? Mia would almost certainly ask how the food had been, and Everly wouldn’t even be able to tell her what they’d eaten.
“It was fun when I was younger,” she said as she set the tarte on her plate. “They watched out for me and took me places and always treated me like a princess. Not to mention bought me anything I wanted, took me to whatever movies I wanted to see, and played all kinds of games with me.”
Landry chuckled. “I can definitely see you wrapping men around your little finger.”
Everly couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps that’s what he thought she was doing to him—and if it was working.
“Their attention became less endearing as I got older and started having ideas about what kind of clothes I should wear and how much time I should spend hanging out with my girlfriends. And boys, of course.” She picked up her fork and cut off a small piece of the cheesy tarte. “Sometimes they could be a bit overprotective.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Would they approve of the boy you’re currently spending your time with?”
Everly laughed, enjoying their playful conversation. Even if she wasn’t able to pay proper attention to a special meal she wasn’t likely to have again anytime soon. “Yes, they’re still overprotective. But I’m my own person and make my own decisions about what I do and whom I spend my time with.”
“That probably doesn’t make them very happy.” He took a bite of the pork rillettes, his perfect white teeth practically mesmerizing. There was something so sensual about the way his mouth moved when he ate that made her think she could watch him do it all day. “Should I be concerned they may not like me?”
“No, it doesn’t, but they’ve come to respect my independence,” she said. “And you don’t have to be worried about them not liking you. Since you saved my life, I think they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”
He winced. “I hadn’t thought about them hearing about the bank robbery. That must have freaked them out.”
There was no way in hell she was going to mention her dad had sent two of her brothers to the bank with instructions to go in and get her if needed. “They were worried, but what you did made it onto the Internet right after it happened. Once they realized I was okay, they were mostly interested in meeting you.”
Everly bit her tongue. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Landry that. It was their first date, and she was already talking about him meeting her family. She hoped that didn’t send him running for the hills.
But he seemed to take it in stride. “I’d like to meet them too. Then I can hear all about you growing up as a rebellious teen.”
She was about to tell him she hadn’t been rebellious, but then changed her mind. If you asked her dad, rebellious was exactly what she’d been.
“Any discussions about whether I was rebellious or not will have to wait until at least the third or fourth time you meet them,” she said with a smile. “I can’t have you knowing all my secrets too soon.”
His mouth quirked. “I’m willing to wait. Secrets keep things interesting.”
A warm sensation settled in her stomach at the thought of spending enough time with any man as intriguing as Landry to learn all his secrets. And be able to share hers with him. Not that she had much in the way of secrets, but it was the first time she’d ever been comfortable enough with someone she was going out with to consider it—especially on a first date.
“The art you had hanging on your walls. Is that what you do for a living?” he asked as he finished the last of the rillettes.
She shook her head. “I wish. The figure studies and landscapes are my first love. I do that kind of stuff whenever I can, and even sell some of it now and then. But it doesn’t really pay the bills. For that, I depend on my graphic art business. I design book covers, advertisements, postcards—promotional material, you know? When I’m not busy with that, I teach art down at the community center.”
“I’d love to see more of your work.”
That warm sensation she’d felt earlier burned a little hotter. She’d met a lot of guys who mentally checked out the moment she said the word art. Like they thought men weren’t supposed to have a creative side.
Before she could say anything, Emile came over and delivered their next course—a small fish dish she completely missed the name of. Everly was about to taste it, when she realized that so far she and Landry had spent the entirety of their date talking about her. She didn’t mind a man who was willing to make her the center of his attention, but she was interested in learning about him too.
“So enough about me for now,” she said. “What about you? How long have you worked for SWAT?”
“Three years.” Landry frowned, then smiled. “Wait. Actually, almost four. I was fortunate when I got hired with the department. A lot of the time, you have to do a year or two as a patrol officer before you can transfer into SWAT. But my boss was able to convince the brass to let me join SWAT straight from the academy. I think they agreed because I have a military background.”
“Why SWAT?”
Landry was silent as he considered the question. “It wasn’t the work that attracted me to SWAT as much as the environment. They have my back, and I have theirs. It’s an amazing feeling knowing you can trust every member of the team with your very life. Being in SWAT is like a family.”
Everly never had a job where she worked with a lot of coworkers. Artists tended to work alone or in smaller groups. But she could understand how nice it would be to know the person you were working with wasn’t looking to screw you over to get a pay raise or a promotion. Even so, she had a hard time believing any group could be that loyal, and she wondered if Landry was glossing over the l
ess-desirable people on his team. There had to be at least one or two me-first types there, right? But she wasn’t about to point that out.
“Isn’t it dangerous though?” she asked. “Isn’t your family terrified you’ll get hurt?”
He lifted a forkful of fish to his mouth. “I think my parents and brothers actually breathed a sigh of relief when I got out of the army and joined SWAT. Trust me, there’s a reason I was getting hazardous duty pay while in the military. And I can honestly say it’s rare when someone in SWAT ends up in the hospital. The last guy who did was my squad leader, and he walked out the door in less than twenty-four hours with hardly a scratch.”
Everly found herself breathing that same sigh of relief he’d mentioned. She knew Landry was a cop and what he did was dangerous, but it made her feel better knowing the people he worked with didn’t get hurt all the time.
As they finished their fish, Landry told her one hilarious story after another about the other members of his team. He paused in the middle of one about Becker when Emile showed up with their main course of stuffed pork tenderloin. Everly was sure it was as delicious as the other food he’d served them, but she was laughing so hard at the crazy things Landry was saying, she barely tasted it.
“You have a beautiful laugh,” he said. “Which only makes sense since you’re so beautiful.”
Everly blushed at the compliment. “I bet you say that to all women on the first date.”
“I’ve never said it on a first date before,” he told her. “Actually, I’ve never said it to any woman before.”
She would have thought that was some kind of line if she hadn’t seen the blatant sincerity in his eyes. He really wasn’t trying to be smooth. He seriously believed she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
Landry frowned. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable by saying that. If so, it wasn’t my intent.”
She considered that. By all rights, hearing such an over the top compliment like that from a guy she barely knew should have had her pulling her emergency cab fare out of her purse and running for the exit, but it didn’t. Instead, it made her feel crazy good, like maybe she truly was the most beautiful woman in the world.
“No, you didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all.” She smiled. “In fact, I enjoyed hearing you say it.”
The smile and dimples came back—along with a heated gaze. “I’m glad. Because it would be very difficult to sit here thinking something like that all night without being able to tell you.”
As she gazed into his soulful brown eyes, she felt a warm flush spread across her body and settle slowly between her legs. She wasn’t sure how Landry’s compliment had translated into something sexual, but somehow it had, and like a light switch being flipped, she was suddenly turned on. Even though there was no way Landry could know that, his gaze took on a molten look, which only served to make her even more aroused.
From that moment on, the tone of their conversation changed, and little flirty lines slipped into their discussions. She mentioned that she loved sleeping late on Sunday mornings, and Landry immediately asked her what kind of breakfast she liked having in bed. He said something about loving to work out late at night, and she couldn’t resist giving him a sexy look, saying that it all depended on what kind of exercise she was doing.
In between, Landry regaled her with funny stories about his teammates, and she told him about all the ways her older brothers tried to keep her from sneaking out of the house to go have fun when she was a teenager. But after a while, they didn’t talk at all. Instead, they gazed into each other’s eyes, the silence filled with an energy that made her skin tingle. She’d never felt anything quite like it before, but she had the craziest urge to get out of her chair and crawl into his lap so she could run her hands through his hair and kiss him, maybe even nibble that sexy part of his neck just below his ear. The image was so vivid she could almost feel Landry’s hands yanking up her little black dress so he could get his hands on her bottom.
She stifled a moan and closed her eyes, giving her head a little shake in order to reassert control. What the heck was wrong with her? She’d never acted this way with a guy in her life.
The other courses of the meal came and went, but by now, Emile could have put a TV dinner in front of Everly, and she probably wouldn’t have noticed. All she could focus on was the mesmerizing man in front of her. That, and doing everything she could to keep her butt in her seat instead of crawling into his lap. It was hard as hell though. She couldn’t explain what was happening, but their date had somehow gone from a good time with an attractive man to an extremely erotic evening with a man she wanted to go to bed with. It was a little scary how turned on she was.
Right then, her thoughts weren’t like any she’d ever had on a first date. Maybe not until date twenty or thirty. Because the things she wanted to do with Landry weren’t something you sprang on a guy until you completely trusted him—like after ten years of marriage.
Thank God they were in a crowded restaurant, or she had no idea what she would have done. That’s when she finally broke eye contact with Landry and realized the entire restaurant was bathed in darkness and completely empty. She glanced at her watch and was shocked to see it was after midnight. When had that happened?
Landry chuckled. “I hope I haven’t kept you out too late.”
She shook her head. “No, not at all. I just didn’t realize everyone had left. We aren’t locked in, are we?”
His mouth twitched. “No. I heard Emile moving around in the kitchen.”
Everly cringed. “I hate to think he stayed so late just for us.”
“Me too. I’d stay here the whole night with you if we could, but I guess we should go.”
“You could always come in for a drink once we get back to my place,” she suggested. “I promise I won’t turn into a pumpkin, and I could show you the rest of my figure studies and landscapes, if you like.”
Everly was fully aware that he might take her offer of a drink as an invitation for something else entirely. To be truthful, she wasn’t sure it wasn’t. She wasn’t the kind of woman who had a magic number of dates established when it came to stuff like this, but she’d never slept with a man on the first date. Then again, she’d never met anyone who had the effect on her that Landry did. If one thing led to another and they ended up in bed, she definitely wouldn’t mind.
“A drink at your place sounds perfect. I’d love to see the rest of your art.” He stood and offered his hand to her. “Let’s go see if we can find Emile, then we can get out of here.”
Emile was completely amazing about them leaving so late. “You cannot put a timer on romance.” He smiled and even waved off Landry’s credit card. “Nor can you charge it on a piece of plastic. Go and have a wonderful evening. Come back anytime you want. I’ll always find a table for you.”
The drive back to her apartment seemed to take forever because they hit every freaking light in town, and while Everly was practically trembling with anticipation, she played it cool as Landry led her into the building. Even so, she had to force herself not to rush as they climbed the stairs to her place on the second floor.
Everly glanced at him as she unlocked the door to her apartment. “Mia is a heavy sleeper, so we don’t have to worry about waking her up.”
That was a complete lie, of course. Mia was probably in her room right now refusing to go to sleep until she got a complete report on the evening’s events.
Everly left off most of the lights, only flipping on the one that illuminated the hallway leading to her art studio slash office. She was going to head to the kitchen for those drinks she’d promised, but one look at his face stopped him. He didn’t look like he was very thirsty right then, at least not for alcohol.
Eyes glinting in the soft glow of the overhead light, Landry placed his hands on her waist and pulled her close. Then he bent his head ever so slowly, as if he was waiting for her to stop him. Like that was going to happen.
The mome
nt their lips touched, she reached up and weaved her fingers into his hair, moaning as his tongue slipped into her mouth. He tasted like the chocolate mousse they’d had for dessert, only sweeter.
One of his hands slipped from her waist and snuck around to the small of her back, fitting her more tightly to him. Everly could tell from the way his hardness pressed against her that he was just as aroused as she was.
The kiss went on and on, until she was dizzy and out of breath, but she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted Landry to keep kissing her until she was senseless, then she wanted him to carry her off to bed and make love to her all night long. And if the hard-on she felt against her stomach was any indication, she was in for one hell of a night.
When he finally broke the kiss, she was ready to grab his hand and lead him to her room, but he shook his head as if he’d read her mind and knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I had an amazing time tonight,” he whispered. “But I think I should be going.”
It took her a couple seconds to process what he’d just said, then a few more to understand what he meant. Had she read the situation completely wrong? No way. She’d felt how aroused he was.
“Why?” she asked in confusion.
He smiled, gently curling the ends of her long hair around his finger. “Because I think we both know there’s something special happening here. And when something special happens, I think it’s a good idea to take your time. We don’t have to rush anything.”
That made sense, of course. But the urge to drag him into her bedroom was so strong it was like she was fighting off a living thing.
She determinedly got a grip on her sex drive. “I don’t mind if we take our time.”
But when he tipped her chin up and kissed her again, her resolve almost failed. If he hadn’t been the one to pull back first, she wasn’t sure if she could have.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said softly.
Incapable of speech at the moment, Everly could only nod.