by Nina Perez
"Nope, I'm clean. For the most part.” I winked and we smiled at each other as I poured another glass of wine. Chloe stretched out on the sofa and yawned.
"I guess I'm keeping you up, huh?"
"No, that's okay. I'm fine. I was just wondering what it's going to be like when my mother comes for her Thanksgiving visit. Be prepared for a third degree. I'll be prepared for embarrassment."
"She’s that bad?”
Chloe laughed. "And then some. On the force she was the master of getting confessions. By the time she was through with them she had perps confessing everything from homicides to swiping the loose change off their mothers' dressers when they were ten."
Her choice of words caused me to smile. "Listen to you. Perps?"
"Oops,” she replied with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, remember you're talking to a civilian."
"I'd imagine that growing up with a firefighter for a father is not so different than growing up with a cop for a mom.” Chloe rolled onto her stomach and looked at me. She looked sexy in her gray shorts and white t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and lying like she was made her look all of eighteen years old. With some difficulty I tried to focus on the conversation and decided that I had just had my last glass of wine for the evening.
"I don't think we realized how dangerous our father’s job was until we were older. When you're young you look at it like being a superhero. We thought he was invincible."
"Then you realize that they're not." Chloe looked down at her hands. I knew she was thinking about her father and, although we'd definitely grown a little closer that night, I didn't think I should question her about him. I rose and started to gather up the wine and glasses.
"You turning in?” Chloe asked.
"Yeah. I have an early afternoon session."
"Well, leave that stuff. I'll get it."
Chloe stood and tried to take a wine glass from me, and in the process slipped on a throw pillow on the floor. I caught her in my arms, but not before spilling wine on my tee shirt.
"Whoa, sorry. I knew three glasses was my limit."
A bit of wine had splashed on her face and tiny drops ran down her nose. She must have felt it the same time I saw it because we both started to laugh softly. We were standing so close, Chloe still in my arms and both of her hands were flat against my chest. Without thinking, I ran my thumb down the bridge of her nose, wiping away the droplets. She inhaled quickly at my touch, and as my hand rested on the side of her face, her tongue appeared briefly and slid across her bottom lip.
Just that quickly, I got hard. Had she been an inch closer, Chloe would have felt it. As it was, I was sure she could feel my heart hammering against my chest. I pulled my gaze from her mouth and our eyes met. I still had the glass in one hand but the other was on the small of her back. I used it to pull her closer and I knew the moment she felt how much I wanted her because she breathed in deeply again, her lips slightly parted.
I didn’t care about the consequences. In that moment, all I knew was that I had to find out how Chloe’s lips would feel against mine.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven