Stealing Taffy (Bigler, North Carolina #3) - Susan Donovan Page 0,95

are so awful that you might not want to be involved with me.”

“Too late. I’m already involved.” He smiled at her. “C’mere.” Dante wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed her close to his side. He kissed the top of her head, giving some thought to the words he would say next. It was obvious she was worried.

“Tanyalee, spending time with a woman who’s made mistakes and wants to change is a whole lot more appealing to me than being with a woman who’s only lived on the surface, you know, skated right over the difficult crap that hides in the deep.”

He heard her sigh.

“You are a complex woman. You’re courageous. You’re interesting and smart. You have a slightly skewed perspective on things that I enjoy immensely.”

She giggled into his chest.

“And what I like about you most of all is that you try so damn hard—you’re really pushing to be the best version of yourself, and that makes you more beautiful to me than you can imagine.”

She stayed silent.

“Now, I’m an open book. Whatever you want to know I’ll tell you, as long as it doesn’t compromise an investigation or endanger anyone’s life.”

“Thank you.” Dante could almost hear the gears shifting in her brain. “So when you claimed you couldn’t tell me what you did for a living—or even tell me why you couldn’t tell me—that was just a bunch of nonsense?”

“That was foreplay, baby.”

She laughed, her shoulders shaking below his touch. Dante brushed his fingers down her silky upper arm and waited for her to grow still. “You know, I never want you to feel pressured to reveal anything to me, Tanyalee. You can tell me some of it, all of it, or none of it. You can tell me now, or tomorrow, or a year from tomorrow. I don’t care. Who you are right now is the only thing that matters to me.”

He felt her peel herself from his side. She sat up and turned toward him, her hair all messy, her blue eyes filled with astonishment. “Dante Cabrera.” She batted her eyelashes. “That was the single most romantic thing any man has ever said to me … well, that didn’t include the words ‘unlimited’ and ‘credit card.’”

Dante laughed, and while he was laughing, he had the most irresponsible urge to say “I love you, Tanyalee Marie Newberry. God, how I love you!”—just blurt it out like a crazy man. But he stopped himself. He knew an outburst like that would not only be insane but irresponsible.

What did he know about love? Dante had received certification in a variety of disciplines—automatic weapons, cybersecurity, and emergency first-aid triage, to name just a few—but not love. What if he was wrong?

It was better to keep his mouth shut for other reasons, as well. Not only was a transfer still a possibility, O’Connor had already let him know he was in violation of the DEA fraternization policy.

Tanyalee gave him a playful smack on the shoulder. “You find me funny?”

“I find you hilarious, Pink Taffy.” Dante grabbed her and rolled with her until she was on top of him. And he knew that love or not, he intended to enjoy the hell out of this woman.

For as long as fate would allow.

* * *

Tanyalee woke up, her eyes roaming around Dante’s bedroom, now lit with morning sun. She was almost afraid to turn her head—was this a hallucination? Had she just had another dream of that wild night in Washington, or had she relived it?

She turned just enough to get confirmation that it was all real. A pair of dark, sensual eyes were there waiting for her, alert and mischievous, crinkled up at the corners. A pair of generous wine-red lips quivered with the beginnings of a smile.

They stayed like that, not touching, just looking, and Tanyalee had to struggle to catch her breath. This had happened before, on several occasions. All she had to do was look at Dante and she’d have trouble breathing. Or thinking. Or standing.

Just then, Dante unleashed his smile, and a wave of certainty rushed through her. Lord have mercy! It was the most ridiculous thing ever, but she found herself a hairsbreadth away from telling Dante she was in love with him. Which would be ridiculous, of course.

“I … Dante…?”

“Hmm-mmm?”

“I think I…”

Tanyalee shot straight up in bed, suddenly terrified—she’d almost said the words out loud! Dropping her face in her hands, she took a second to jump-start her brain. She needed to finish that sentence