hot before, today he’s on fire. In front of me is the man who every woman drools over. He drips with sex appeal.
And today, he’s my date.
“Morning.” I let his husky voice wash over me and try not to let it fry my nerves.
“Good morning.”
“I’m glad to see you’re awake.”
I smile. “You never told me a time, but I get up early even on my days off.”
It isn’t a total lie, but I never would be awake at four in the morning.
Eli pulls his shades down and grins. “You ready?”
That’s a loaded question. I’m ready in terms of being dressed, but ready to go on a date with him? No, not even a little bit. I’m not ready for any of this. I’m terrified of what today could lead to.
However, I’m more afraid of walking away and regretting this moment.
Instead of telling him any of that, I nod. “I am.”
“Good.”
“Can you tell me where we’re going?” This is the only part of this whole thing that has me mystified.
“Nope,” Eli says, his eyes dancing with mischief.
“Okay,” I draw out the last syllable. “What do I need to bring?”
“Nothing.”
This is so not how I function, but I’ve decided to go with him today, so I need to let it go. I grab my purse, leaving my gun in the safe, and try not to get lost in his smile.
He holds his hand out, and I take it, knowing that today, I’m going to let him lead.
The black Bentley is nowhere to be seen. Today, he walks me to a gray Audi Q5 sitting in front of the house. He opens the door, and I climb in. When he sits beside me, I can’t help but look at him again.
His scruff is growing in, giving him a darker look than the first time we met. I like this so much more.
Eli’s head turns, and I quickly look away. When my eyes shift back again, it’s clear he caught me.
“So, how many cars do you have?” I ask after the silence between us has stretched to almost uncomfortable.
“A few.”
“A few like three or a few like thirty?”
Eli smiles, focusing on the road. “Somewhere in the middle of that.”
I shouldn’t be surprised, his net worth is on Wikipedia, but still. It’s hard to comprehend that he makes my yearly salary in a week.
Needing to shift topics again, I go with a safer question. “What was in New York?”
“I had to sign a new contract. A Thin Blue Line was renewed for another season.”
“Oh, that’s awesome!” I heard rumblings on a few of the news outlets that the show might get dropped. “I really hope you’re finally able to get a new partner. I don’t know why they keep pushing that story line. Tina is not a good match for Jimmy. Brody and I have been riding together for almost seven years, and I would punch myself in the face before I ever kissed him. The show needs to give Jimmy a woman who he saved or something. That would be an interesting plot. Also, your brother on the show has to stop sleeping with that model. Twitter went nuts when he went back to her. She’s a bitch.”
Eli’s gaze shifts to mine, and he chuckles. “I thought you didn’t watch the show.”
Crap. I did say that. I chew on my thumb and shrug. “I guess I’ve seen a few seasons.” I say the last word under my breath, hoping he didn’t catch it.
“Seasons?”
No such luck.
“Whatever. It’s just to see how bad you butcher my job.”
Eli shakes his head and grabs my hand. His fingers thread with mine and then he gently squeezes. “Sounds like you’re a little more invested than that.”
“Fine,” I admit. “I watch it religiously.”
He brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “I knew you liked me.”
I laugh and hit his chest with our entwined hands. “You’re crazy. I like your show, but seriously, tell the writers they need to clear that up.”
“So, you and your partner have never . . .”
“Eww!” I twist in my seat. “Never. He’s married first of all, and I was married to our lieutenant so that was never going to happen on Matt’s watch, but . . .”
“You were married to your boss?” he questions.
I guess I haven’t really been very forthcoming with information. Not that we’ve had a ton of time to get into much. I mentioned my ex-husband but didn’t go into any great detail. “Yes, I was married, but we’ve