Page 50 of Last First Kiss
When she’d taken the job, she’d sworn to Joey and to herself she wouldn’t get attached to Rocco and definitely she wouldn’t sleep with him. But in the short time they’d known each other, she’d already told him so much about herself. Things she never shared. He was the only person who knew she was a virgin, for crying out loud.
And here she was, in the same place she’d been all those years ago . . . about to put her career on the line for a man.
Was he worth it?
* * *
“Wait here,” she said, practically jumping out of the car while forcing him to stay outside of his own home.
He was too tired to argue, and he knew he wasn’t going to win, unless he literally picked her up and carried her inside. But even then, with her ninja skills, it was likely he’d end up on his ass. So, he stayed put. Anyway, he was certain everything was going to be okay, with the state-of-the-art security system he had upgraded at her recommendation and the new neighborhood patrol that drove around periodically. He wondered if some of the extra security came with the security package NHN was paying for, or if that was an added benefit of having the owner be a protective older brother.
Ten minutes later, the door opened.
“Okay, all good. Come on.”
She held the door open, her weapon by her side, looking all sorts of sexy with those long-ass legs and sexy shoes. His eyes stayed on the way the little buckle pressed softly against her delicate ankles. “Those shoes don’t seem conducive to sweeping my house, Tiger.”
She lifted the dress slightly and swirled around on her sky-high stilettos. “You’d be surprised by what a woman in heels can achieve, Monroe.” It was that flirty banter he loved so much. It didn’t always come out, but when it did, it was spectacular.
Once they were inside and the doors were locked, she turned to him. “Go on up, I’ll secure the rest of the house.”
She didn’t give him much time to say anything before she moved to the next room. They still needed to talk, and there was no way she’d be able to give him her full attention if she hadn’t done her job first. So he went to his room and changed out of his tux, brushed his teeth and washed his face, and got ready for bed. When he was done, he went downstairs and uncorked a bottle of wine, grabbed two glasses, and went up to her room.
He knocked. “Come in!” she yelled from the bathroom. “One second.”
He poured two glasses, set the bottle on the nightstand, and took a seat on one of the loveseats across the bed.
Wiping her face with a towel she stepped out of the bathroom. She had on a T-shirt that went to her knees and long fuzzy socks, her hair was in a knot on top of her head, and her skin was free of all makeup. She looked years younger. In fact, too young.
“What’s that?” she signaled to the glasses with her chin as she tossed the towel in the hamper.
“You’re off duty.” He handed her a glass. “And we need to talk. No more getting out of it.”
She sat on the edge of the bed in front of him and tried to hand the glass back. “First of all, I’m never off duty. I can’t drink and work. And second, talking while drunk isn’t the answer. Something you should know about me. I rarely drink, but when I get drunk I’m a sappy crying drunk.”
“Really? Interesting. Look forward to seeing that someday. Regardless, you’re not going to get drunk. It’s one glass. It’s been a long day. It feels like three days ago since you went to ICS and came back all beat up.”
“It feels like it,” she agreed.
“The alarm is on, I’m in the same room as you, I’m sure you have an arsenal of weapons within arms’ reach. Come on, loosen up. On Monday things are going to get intense. Tonight may be the last time you can relax.”
She looked at him for a moment, then to the red wine, as if deciding. Finally he could see her shoulders relax a little as she took a sip. “Okay, so what do you want to talk about?”
“You know what I want to talk about. Why are you a virgin?”
She gulped down the rest of the wine and flung herself back on the bed, grabbing a pillow and covering her face. “I have a gun under the mattress. Right side. Pull it out and shoot me with it, please.”
He chuckled, took her glass from her hand and put it aside, then sat next to her on the bed. “Come on, sit up. Talk to me.”
“I was in love once,” she began. He felt a stab of jealousy as she said it. He knew her enough to know she wasn’t the kind of woman to give her heart to just anyone. So this guy must’ve been a big deal. He hated him immediately. “I was an MP in the army. Derek was my commanding officer. Dating him was off limits, but it happened. You’re out there, day in and day out, living the same experiences, feeling the same things, and it just happens. We snuck around for about six months. I was terrified of getting caught, he could’ve been demoted, stripped of his position, fined . . . not to mention, it’s hard enough for a woman in the military, but a woman in the line of fire was very rare. The only reason I was allowed there was because of my MP status. I didn’t want to be that stereotype—the girl who was infatuated with her superior.”
She had goose bumps on her arm, so he lifted the covers and they both slid under. He rubbed her arms until she was warm. “But were you in a relationship? Or was it just a one-sided thing?”
Her hands were palm to palm under her face. He had his elbow to the bed and his face on his palm.
“No, it wasn’t one-sided. He was ready to put his entire career on the line to be with me. He loved me. A lot. He told me often.”
“And you never had sex with him?” he said, skeptically.
