a mistake to have that on display.”
“Agreed. Would you excuse me? I’m just running into the bathroom.”
“Take your time,” he said. “I’ll be right here when you get out. You couldn’t drag me out of this place.” He gazed around at the walls, fascinated. “I’ve been wanting a closer look at you from the first day. I knew you had hidden depths.”
“Really?” she said with a snort. “What clued you in? The box-cutter?”
His gorgeous smile flashed. “I’m just curious. It’s my nature.”
Well, too bad about his curiosity. She wasn’t going to satisfy it. He’d just have to be content with having other needs and urges satisfied.
And to that end, she slipped into the bedroom, which was barely large enough for a cot, and unzipped her already packed suitcase.
She didn’t have much to work with when it came to seductive lingerie. The nightie she pulled out was a far cry from the pretty sleepwear she’d worn in her former life; filmy nothings made of silk, satin and lace. Her clothes-shopping post-flight had been limited to the secondhand thrift shop down at St. Vinny’s. Everything priced under a dollar.
The clingy tank was so thin and worn it was almost sheer, but it had big roses splattered over it. It was soft, stretchy, and it clung nicely to her curves. With eyes blurred, or in candlelight, it could pass for sexy, tattered chic. She wasn’t quite ready to waltz out there stark naked. She had to ease into this a little at a time.
The bathroom connected with the bedroom, so she slipped in there and took a quickie shower. She pulled out the pins and shook down her hair, unwinding the coil. She stared at herself in the mirror as she arranged it over her shoulders.
So she was actually dragging Nate into this death-trap? To scratch a fucking itch? She was being selfish. Self-indulgent.
But if she didn’t tell him about Gil, then she wouldn’t spark his curiosity or activate his macho protectiveness, or invoke his knee-jerk hero instinct.
This was simple and straightforward. A one-night stand. Everyone understood the rules of engagement. She would indulge in her lustful curiosity, blow his mind, and then disappear forever. An eternal question mark.
This was stolen time. Stolen sex. Gil would have no reason to hurt him. Once she left this place, Gil would never have any reason to know that Nate even existed.
Right. Like it could be that easy. Nate was ferociously smart and curious. He was heroic and protective by nature. He’d put himself on the line for his country in the military, and he did it on the job, too. Defending and protecting people came to him as naturally as breathing.
He had offered her his protection unasked. Knowing nothing about what threatened her. It would be incredibly difficult to hide the truth from a guy like Nate.
What made her think concealing it would get easier once they’d had sex?
She padded barefoot out to the main room. Nate had pulled out his cell phone and was holding it up under air vents, under the smoke detector. So that thing was not just a cell phone, evidently.
He turned, and his eyes widened. “Wow. I wasn’t braced for that.”
She snorted. “Aw. Thanks. And that thing?” She gestured at the thing in his hand. “What’s up with that?”
“Bug-sweeper,” he said. “From what I can tell, your place seems good. You don’t appear to have any electronics in here at all. I pick up a big fat nothing.”
“Nope,” she said. “I have my laptop, but it’s not connected. There’s no TV or tablet or digital clock. There isn’t even a microwave.”
Nate shrugged off his suitcoat, and took off his shoulder holster, laying his gun on the drafting table, next to the candle guttering in the plate. He pried off his shoes, yanked his tie loose, and paused, giving her an uncertain look. “Too much, too soon?”
“Not at all,” she said. “Please go on. It’s not every day I get a show like this.”
His grin flashed, and he got back to it. Buttons, belt. She had to stop breathing for a moment when he shrugged the shirt off.
Total sensory overload. She’d been fantasizing about him since the beginning, but she still wasn’t prepared for how gorgeous he was. Every cut and contour, every thick, ropy muscle or taut tendon just struck her as absolutely perfect. The silky mat of dark hair over his chest trailed down to his flat belly.
His eyes narrowed at the look on her face, and he stopped,