“Good,” she said simply. “I was hoping you’d want to come with me. I already feel safer.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “You were teasing me about Ethan?”
“Maybe a little.” She shot him her naughtiest grin. “Call it revenge.”
“For what?”
“I’ll think of something.”
He tilted his head back and burst into laughter. She watched the strong tendons of his neck flex and had the impulse to lick his skin, just there.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?” he asked her when he was done laughing.
“I’m pretty sure you told me that in one of your first emails.”
“Well, it’s still true.” He stepped to the side, breaking their intense connection, and opened the door for her. “But don’t worry. I take my bodyguard duties seriously. I won’t let anything happen to that ass.”
On her way through the door, with her back to him, she gave her ass a naughty twitch.
She didn’t have to see Darius’ face to sense his reaction to that. She could feel his gaze burning up and down her backside.
This was going to be a very interesting trip.
Chapter Fourteen
The law firm of Cotton and Bryant booked them adjoining suites in an upscale boutique hotel in Century City, a neighborhood that seemed to consist entirely of high-rises. Even though Darius was a ranch boy by birth, he’d lived in both Houston and El Paso—different cities for different marriages. He enjoyed cities, when he wasn’t scanning every passing face for some sign of a threat.
It was a relief to step into Kate’s suite and drop out of watchdog mode.
Kate set her suitcase on the floor and surveyed the impeccable room with a happy sigh. Stargazer lilies and a tropical fruit basket sat on the glass coffee table.
“You know, I think it’s worth putting my life at risk just so I can have a fifteen-dollar kiwi paid for by a fancy law firm.” She plucked a fuzzy brown fruit from the basket and peeled it with her thumbnail. Juice wetted her fingers, and he decided that watching her eat it—her lips on that green flesh—might be too much for him.
“I’m going to do a quick check of the room.” He went from window to window, making sure everything was locked from the inside and inaccessible from the outside. He did the same thing in his own suite.
“Do you want this open or closed?” he asked her from the door that separated their suites.
“What’s safer?” She paused with the kiwi inches from her lips. Damn. He knew that would be trouble. He lost his train of thought.
“Safer in terms of…”
Her eyebrows lifted. “In terms of not getting surprised in the middle of the night.”
What kind of surprise did she have in mind?
He shook off his inappropriate thoughts and got back to business. “Probably open, so I can hear if something happens.”
“Okay. Open. But no peeking.” She winked at him and bit into the fruit in her hand. Juice ran down her forearm, and she darted out her tongue to catch it.
He wheeled around and pulled the door half-closed behind him. “Taking a shower,” he told her in a choked voice.
“Me too,” she called after him. Great. Simultaneous showers. He’d have to make his a cold one. “Want to get dinner after that? I’d say it’s on me, but the law firm’s paying for everything so it’s on them.”
“Sounds good.”
Instead of a cold shower, he turned the heat up and filled the stall with fragrant steam. Then he soaped up his hand and wrapped it around his cock. With the other hand braced against the tiles, water cascading onto his head and back, he stroked himself. Kate’s face and lips danced behind his closed eyes. The way she’d licked that juice off her arm…that should have been her tongue on his erection. And it was, in his imagination.
What was she doing right now? Was she too in the shower? Soaping her breasts, covering herself with lather? Maybe her hand was between her legs right this very moment. Maybe she was rubbing herself, touching her own nipples. Oh God.
It took only a few strokes for him to come in his hand. Pressure relieved. At least for the moment.
He spent some more time catching his breath, cleaning himself thoroughly, and delivering himself a lecture about proper bodyguard behavior.
When he’d gotten himself dressed in a new set of clothes, he knocked on the adjoining door.
“Come in,” Kate called. She spun around as he stepped