Page 48 of Allegiance
Heat radiated across her cheeks, and she looked away.
“Don’t get shy on me now, especially after last night.” Cupping his hand under her chin, he lifted her head and pressed his mouth on hers. “You look gorgeous in the morning.” Breaking away, he turned back to the griddle.
“So do you. .” She crossed her legs. “I gather you’re a morning person?”
“Yep—morning works for me—always has. I’m guessing you’re not?” He flipped another two pancakes on the griddle and pointed his spatula toward her coffeemaker. “I would have made some, but that thing is a little intimidating. I didn’t want to break anything.”
“I’m forced to be a morning person, but I love the night.” Lena hopped down from the counter. “I’ll make the coffee. This machine is amazing—it does a lot of things.”
“From the look of it, with all the buttons and shit, I figured that out.” He pointed to the stack of flapjacks on the griddle. “We’re about ready to eat, so work your magic, and I’ll keep working mine.”
She laughed. “He says to the chef.”
The next several minutes were spent making coffee, bantering, and joking back and forth with each other as Lena made herself a latte and finished making a black iced coffee for Tank. The interaction between them felt so comfortable and familiar.
“Finished with everything?” she asked, sliding his coffee glass across the countertop as he plated their pancakes at the table.
“Almost.” He came around the island and snagged her around the waist. “I didn’t give you a real good morning kiss.” He looked into her eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. Leaning forward, he kissed her until all the breath left her lungs.
God, he wasn’t even supposed to be here. The fact that he was, and pulling out her chair for her as she sat down to a delicious meal cookedforher, nearly made her brain melt into a puddle on the floor.
“You know, I’ll be critiquing this meal the whole way through.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips across hers. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” Pushing back, he gripped the bottle of syrup and poured it on his pancakes, cut off a large piece, and shoved it into his mouth. “If one night made you lose your ballbuster exterior, I think that would play to my ego way too much. Give me your review.”
“You got it.” She put the first bite into her mouth and chewed, expecting a consistency of rubber or concrete. “Wow.”
“Goodwowor badwow?” Tank took a sip of his black coffee, eyeing her over the rim of his glass.
“Actually, damn good. What did you use—”
“Nope. Not gonna happen. My secrets stay secret, Master Chef.”
She giggled. “Ah, I see.”
They ate in comfortable silence.
“You thought I’d be gone this morning?” Tank side-eyed her with an unreadable expression. “I can’t lie, that’s my normal MO.”
“What changed?” she asked quietly, as if she was nervous about the answer, knowing full well whatever happened between them that morning might alter a whole hell of a lot from a professed casual relationship to something more. “Something did.”
He made a small noise and paused over his food. “I like you. You challenge me. You don’t act like I shit gold because I own my business and go to the gym. And you’re different from the women I meet. I don’t know… I enjoy being with you. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Thanks for your honesty.”
“I don’t make a habit of lying.”
Chewing slowly, she looked down at her half-empty plate as she curled her fingers together in her lap.Should I tell him about the restaurant? Does he need to know?After all, neither of them were rushing to put any kind of label on their relationship. It was one night. He said he liked her.I’ve heard that before.And while the night had been phenomenal, and way overdue, she didn’t really owe him anything.
So by not saying anything about owning the bistro, it wasn’t really a lie, more of an omission. Most men were scared off by her success, and she really wasn’t interested in making this one run for the hills. Not to mention the fact that once she told him about the restaurant, there was no way of keeping her feelings about the extortion under wraps. She could barely handle not thinking about it now, let alone keeping it a secret when the assault was still fresh in her mind, and part of the reason she had sought solace in Tank the previous night.
Lena had no doubt that her bringing up the extortion would ruin the whole morning. And a man like Tank? He would feel the need to make things personal and seek some kind of vengeance on her behalf. He was that kind of guy. She couldn’t risk putting him in the line of fire for something that was going to be taken care of by the sheriff and his department. It didn’t make any sense to bring this man any further into her closed-off world.
“You went quiet.” His forehead creased in concern. “What’s going on in your pretty head?”
A smile grew on her lips as she took his hand. “Things are just a little chaotic in my life at the moment.”
He nodded, squeezing her hand back. “If you wanna talk about it, just let me know.”
