Page 73 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
“Because you are a smart man.” She grinned.
“After two months I was able to put a paper trail together that found fifteen women who were all members of the Simi Valley golf club participating in massive government disability fraud. Two of the women were married to doctors and were falsifying medical records for all of the staff to back up the disability claims. Hell, if they bothered to put just half the time, energy, and brain-power into something legitimate they could have made quite a tidy profit. But no, these greedy, self-serving shrews had to take advantage of innocent people who trusted them. People that they should have been protecting, not abusing.”
Kostya was looking down at the table in front of her. She looked down to see what he was looking at.
“Ooops.” Her peach tartlet had been smashed beyond all recognition.
“I think you were supposed to eat that.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I think so too.” She took a little bite and smiled. “It still tastes good.”
“So what happened in the end?”
“Most all of these women ended up with time served and parole. But not good old Esther. She thought she was above all that, so she pleaded not guilty on all counts despite the advice of counsel. She ended up serving fourteen months. I got to testify. It was a beautiful thing.”
“You’re a bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?”
“You can’t have just noticed that.”
Kostya laughed. “No. I got your number years ago, and in case I missed it, it was solidified when you were ready to rip all of our dicks off if we didn’t help Samira and her two daughters.”
Lark blushed. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“Actually, you were.” He set down his empty coffee cup. “Are you done mangling your dessert?”
She nodded.
“Can I drive you back to your hotel and arrange to see you tomorrow for breakfast?”
“Let’s discuss that when we get to my hotel room.”
Lark enjoyed seeing his blue eyes darken.
* * *
“DidI tell you how much I liked this dress?” Kostya asked as he sat down in one of the two chairs that flanked the window in her hotel room. He watched her take off her earrings and put them on the dining room table in the living area of the suite, before walking toward him. She hesitated, looking at the empty chair, then back at him. He didn’t want her to make the wrong decision.
He held out his hand. “Come here, Honey.”
Her smile was pure temptress as she took his hand and allowed him to guide her onto his lap. “Like this?” she practically purred.
“Exactly like this,” he praised her.
He eased his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. She didn’t go easy, her body was a little stiff. He’d been replaying bits and pieces of what he’d come to know about Lark Sorensen over in his head, and adding tonight’s tiny drama in the car. One day he wanted to hear the Harris stories, and he had no doubt there were many more than one. But right now, he concentrated on the fact that Lark was uneasy around big men, and God knew he fell into that category.
“I’m glad you agreed to go on a second date with me,” he murmured. He waited for her to turn her head, he wanted to see what she was thinking.
“I am too.”
“What do you think? Want to test to find out if that first kiss was a fluke?”
That got her head to turn. Her blue eyes were wide as she stared at him. “You don’t think—?”
Kostya smiled warmly as he traced his fingers down the side of her jaw, letting them drop further, down to the rapid pulse in her neck. “No, I don’t think it was a fluke. I can’t tell you exactly where I was, but it was damned cold, and thinking about you warmed me the hell up, each and every time.”
She began to relax against him, so talking was definitely the way to go. Kostya cupped her shoulder and coaxed her body to rest against his chest.
“Cold, huh?”
