stood and disappeared behind the double doors. I wasn’t waiting long before she stepped out and held the door for me.
“Thank you,” I said, my focus turning to Kade, as soon as I entered. He was also dressed in jeans and a tee, standing behind his massive desk with the New York skyline behind him.
“Detective.”
“Molly,” I said, and witnessed just the slightest softening around his eyes. I crossed the room to him. “I brought you lunch,” I offered, pulling a gyro from the bag but stopped. “Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“Oh good. A gyro. I didn’t get anything fancy because, honestly, the spices that Amar uses are enough.”
He walked around his desk to the sideboard and got two bottles of water and more napkins, but instead of sitting across from me, he took the chair next to me. He handed me a bottle of water, and I handed him the gyro. He waited for me to take a bite before he did, the man had impeccable manners, but when he did, he smiled. “You’re right, the spices are enough.”
I took another bite. “I could live on this.”
“Have you ever been to Greece?” he asked.
“No, I’ve never left the States, but it is on my bucket list.”
“Bucket list?” He studied me a second before he asked, “What else is on your bucket list?”
For the amount of nerves the man stirred in me, talking to him was surprisingly easy, natural even. “Swimming with sharks. I know most want to swim with dolphins, but I’d love to swim with sharks.” I reached for my water. “And skydiving, that moment of freefalling sounds terrifying, but I imagine, it’s life altering. Seeing the pyramids, looking up from the bottom, something that is so old and yet still standing, still a reminder that we aren’t the first and won’t be the last.”
He finished his gyro, reached for his bottle and leaned back in his chair. “What else?”
“I’d love to attend the Academy Awards, walking down the red carpet, getting all dressed up. I have absolutely no reason to be there, but I’d love to experience Hollywood on her special night. Staying in a castle in Ireland or Scotland, or really anywhere in Europe. And believe it or not, I’ve always wanted to attend a masquerade ball, so thank you for allowing me to scratch that off my list.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
I had a new item, and it was to kiss him, but I wasn’t going to share that. “Yeah. What about you?”
“I’ve never thought about it.”
“Okay, well think about it.”
He looked thoughtful, before he offered, “Drive in Nascar.”
I placed my water on his desk, sat back and said, “Oh, that’s a good one.”
“Dive a sunken pirate ship off the Caribbean.”
“I’d like to do that, too.”
“Build a yacht with my own hands.”
My focus shifted to his hands. Lucky yacht. He took a drink, my gaze moved to the line of his throat, and even that was sexy. He knew what I was thinking, by the way his eyes turned darker. “Eat a gyro in my office with a detective I can’t seem to get out of my head.” I went numb, but in the best possible way. He leaned closer, dropped his voice when he added, “Thank you for allowing me to scratch that off my list.” I almost kissed him. My knuckles were white with how hard I was gripping the chair, so I didn’t act on the one thing in that moment I wanted more than anything. The answering fire I saw burning behind his eyes hypnotized me. “Are you busy tomorrow?” he asked.
It took me a minute to break out of the trance. Busy? If it I were, I would cancel. “No.”
“I’ll come for you at ten. Dress casual and wear sneakers.”
I answered a little too quickly. “Okay.”
His lips tipped up on the one side. “Don’t you want to know what we’ll be doing?”
I answered honestly. “It doesn’t matter.”
The sexiest sound rumbled up his throat. “I’m not good for you,” he said, but it sounded as if he was trying to convince himself of that as much as me.
“I don’t agree.”
His gaze moved to my mouth, lingered, before he lifted it back to mine. “Thank you for lunch.”
That I didn’t go up in flames was amazing because my blood was on fire. “Duke’s sandwiches are next,” I whispered.
He held my gaze. “Looking forward to it.”
He walked me to the elevators, pushed his hands into his pockets, and why I had the sense he did that