long, warm, callused fingers. She’d twine them through hers and yank him in the door after her, right up the narrow flight of stairs and into her apartment. Her bed up there was just a narrow cot, but she had no intention of lying next to him anyway. She wouldn’t waste time. She’d climb right up onto that guy and let the delicious buzz of desire push all the fear away. She’d ride him into screaming oblivion. Let the pleasure wash away the terrors in her past. And the terrors yet to come.
It would be such a fucking relief, to just breathe. Even for a couple of minutes.
She swallowed hard…and shook her head.
No. She would not put Nate in Gil’s sights just for sex.
“Tell me who it is.” Nate’s low voice was caressing. “I’ll fuck him up for you.”
Elisa laughed. “Aw. That’s sweet. Is that your idea of seduction?”
His breath caressed her ear as he leaned closer. “No,” he murmured. “That’s just my idea of common, baseline courtesy. Believe me—when I start seducing you, you won’t need to ask me if it’s happening or not.”
The air hummed with tension. She looked up at him, searching for the right words to put him off, push him away. She didn’t have the words. Or want to say them.
She felt the warmth of his hand against her neck. Stroking her hair, fingers sliding through it. Cradling her head. She was pinned between those two opposing forces. The hunger in his eyes, and the huge, cold fear holding her back.
She drifted closer, not opposing his gentle pull…and their lips met.
Emotion jolted through her like lightning. His lips were warm, moving gently over hers. Seeking, asking for entrance, then as she opened to him, slowly daring more. The flick of his questioning tongue got bolder, entering her mouth, probing delicately, like he was inviting her to come out into the light. Drawing part of her soul right out of her body. It rushed out to meet him like a fountain of color, out of control. The seductive invitation of his kiss blossomed into a hot carnal promise.
Yes. Now.
People walked by on the sidewalk. She heard muffled laughter, and pulled away from him, pressing her hand to her tingling mouth, her burning cheeks.
“God, Nate,” she said shakily. “What the hell was that about?”
That gorgeous smile was a devilish assault on her senses. “That was me being seductive,” he said. “In case you were wondering.”
She stared into his dark eyes, his gaze so sweet and searching. She ached for more, to just throw herself into it. The longing was so sharp, it hurt.
She’d forgotten all her troubles. For the duration of that kiss, they had simply vanished.
So fucking dangerous. Shut this down. Right now.
It took a moment to get her voice under control. “I need to get going,” she said. “I expect you need to go guard Fiona now, right? You should probably go do that.”
“Yeah, she needs to get that food home,” Nate said. “Anton’s hungry for lunch. I’ll take her back to Demi’s house, but once she’s there, she and Anton will be covered by Jim and Mitch. So I could take a break, if you wanted to hang out. Talk about stuff.”
The implied invitation made her head spin. She could make this fantasy come true, at least once, before she left this place forever. Today. She wouldn’t have to lie awake at night wondering what it would have been like for the rest of her life.
However short that might be.
Then she saw it again, in her mind’s eye. She was always seeing it, on some level of her consciousness. Flashing lights, crime scene tape, and her friend Willis’s body, zipped into a black bag. All her fault, for involving him. Not understanding the danger. All her fault, for fatally underestimating Gil’s ruthlessness and cruelty.
“I’m not free to hang out.” She edged away. “I’m sorry, but the timing’s wrong. I have a million things to do. I need to finish those menu boards, and help finish up the ravioli, and we have to go set up the kitchen stations at Bluff House as soon as they wrap up the lunch buffet today. I won’t have a second to spare.”
Nate stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped back, resigned. “Okay,” he said lightly. “See you at the wedding, then. Will you save me a dance?”
“I’ll be working at the wedding,” she told him. “Working like a galley slave. That’s the café’s kitchen staff’s wedding present