Charmed: A Masters and Mercenar - Lexi Blake Page 0,69
have to get them young, Nina. You’re right to dump that pretty boy. He’s what? Thirty-two? You know what they say about old dogs. My little puppy there is learning lots of new tricks.”
Drake set his tray down. “Tricks? What new…” He flushed. “Seriously? I didn’t think we were going to talk about that. Like that’s private.”
“Not if I get you in a club it won’t be. I think you’ll like a little humiliation play.” Sandra replenished his supply of fruity cocktails.
“I will not,” he said in a way that made Nina think he might. He picked up his tray and turned. “People are talking, Ms. Blunt. And they’re watching you.”
Then it was time to go. She picked up her martini and turned, bumping into a mass of muscle.
“Hey, I think we’re about to go in to dinner.” JT loomed over her. “We should probably sit together.”
“You should definitely sit together,” Drake said under his breath before he stalked off.
“He’s a handful, but look at that tight little ass,” Sandra said with a sigh.
JT’s eyes widened.
Nina found she couldn’t hold out on him. She’d hated not talking to him all day. She’d gotten used to their friendship, to the easy way they seemed to fit together.
It was only a few more days. She could survive being close to him. She slid her arm through his. “Come on. Take me to dinner where your assistant will shoot daggers my way, and later on I’ll tell you all about Sandra and her May-December romance.”
“I’m not that old,” Sandra groused. “May-October, maybe…”
“I’m going to need that story,” JT said, his free hand coming up to cover hers. His voice went low. “But he’s right. I do think people are talking about us. I think I’ve come up with a way to stop them.”
“Holding hands should help.”
“Or we could give them something else to talk about. I mean, that’s kind of our job, right? I’m supposed to distract them so you don’t seem threatening in any way, so they think you’re only here because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you behind.” He’d stopped right at the edge of the crowd and she found herself being turned from his side until she was standing right in front of him, looking up into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.
All day she’d managed to keep some distance between them, but she was now reminded of how much chemistry they had. Her body didn’t care that he’d lied to her, that he’d tried to get her kicked off her own op. Her body only remembered what it felt like to be skin to skin with him.
His hands came up, cupping the sides of her face. “It’s for the mission.”
She found herself nodding. Yep. For the mission.
He lowered his head and his lips were on hers.
The whole world seemed to drop off, and all that mattered was the heat that flashed through her. His fingers wound in her hair and she felt surrounded by him. He turned the kiss deep and utterly carnal, his tongue surging into her mouth and coaxing hers to dance.
One of his hands moved down her back to her waist, pulling her in even closer so she could feel the hard planes of his chest against her breasts, crushing her deliciously to him.
He kissed her one last time and then whispered. “That should do it. I think if I kiss you like that a few more times, there won’t be any doubt as to how much I want you, how much I am unwilling to give you up. For anything.”
He moved to her side again, and there was a lazy smile on his face as Deanna stood staring at them, one hand on her hip.
“If you’re done, we should go in to dinner,” she said, her irritation plain.
“Oh, I’m not done. Not even close.” He brought Nina’s hand up to his lips. “But I’ll behave for now.”
His fingers tangled with hers and he started toward the dining room.
She suddenly had the unnerving feeling he wasn’t talking about the mission at all.
She took a deep breath because if JT had decided to fight dirty, she wasn’t sure she could win.
* * * *
It was all about sex. That was how he would get to her.
Dinner had flown by. He was sure it had all been delicious, but it hadn’t mattered. It could have been undressed kale salad with a bit of dirt clinging to it for all he’d tasted the food. All he’d been