Page 27 of Finding Lexie
“They better not,” Midas growled.
“The thing is, I like what I do,” Lexie said. “I like helping others get back on their feet. It’s so satisfying to see the men, women, and families I work with be able to make it on their own. To not need Food For All anymore. I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing…but I think I’m ready to choose my assignments a little more carefully.”
Midas closed his eyes in relief. “Good,” he said.
He felt more than saw her looking at him. “You’ll go back to Hawaii, huh?”
“Yeah,” Midas said as he opened his eyes and saw the same damn boards above his face that he’d been staring at for hours. He tucked his chin and looked down at Lexie. Her hair was in disarray around her face and he could feel some of the strands sticking to the stubble on his face. “Any chance Food For All operates in Honolulu?”
The question came out without thought, and he desperately wished he could see the look in Lexie’s eyes.
“I don’t know. But I would think so. I mean, they’re in a lot of the big cities in the States. New York, Chicago, Detroit, Orlando, Houston, LA… I would think Hawaii has its share of homeless and hungry families.”
“It does,” Midas confirmed.
They stared at each other, neither saying anything. Midas wanted to tell her how much he’d love it if she came to Hawaii, but wasn’t sure how she’d take it. Yes, they’d known each other in what seemed like another lifetime, but they were both very different people than they’d been back in high school. And Lexie seemed to be content with her job. And she was good at it. She could help the needy in Hawaii, but would she want to settle in one place after all the exotic locations she’d lived and worked?
He wanted to ask, but instead, Midas kissed her forehead gently. He let his lips linger on her skin, wanting more, but not wanting to take advantage of the situation.
He felt Lexie’s hand on his stomach move. It skimmed up his chest, brushing over his Kevlar vest and the various tools that were attached to it, and then her fingers were on his cheek.
“Lex?” he whispered.
She didn’t respond verbally, but he felt her shift against him. Her chin lifted and then their mouths were only inches apart.
God. He wanted to kiss her. Wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. It was as if his soul was crying out to taste her. To make her his.
That was crazy. They were still in danger. He was a SEAL who lived in Hawaii, and she was a hostage he’d rescued.
But she was so much more than that.
Lexie licked her lips, then moved her head closer.
Their lips brushed against each other lightly. Once. Twice.
Midas growled. He hated not having more room. Hated not being able to touch her the way he longed to. With her hand still on his face, Midas licked against her bottom lip, asking permission for entry.
She gave it immediately, but instead of waiting for him to make the first move, her tongue pushed into his mouth.
Midas smiled even as he kissed Lexie back.
She kissed as she did everything else…with enthusiasm and damn the consequences. Their kiss was more emotional than passionate, but it was no less life altering for Midas.
After a minute or so of the best, most intensely emotional kiss he’d ever had in his life, he felt Lexie pull back. She stared at him as her thumb brushed back and forth over his cheek. He wasn’t sure she was even aware she was doing it.
Midas ached to touch her, as well. To cup the back of her head, tangle his fingers in her untamed hair and devour her. But all he could do was meet her gaze and make sure she knew how much he admired her and wanted to keep in touch.
He took a breath to say the words, when the back door opened and someone entered the store.
And just like that, the mood shifted. Midas’s hand tightened on his rifle and all his attention was on the footsteps above them. But instead of continuing into the store, they stopped. Scraping sounded on the wood, and Midas tensed further.
He felt even more protective over the woman in his arms now. No one was going to take her from him. No way in hell.
One of the boards above them shifted a fraction, then whoever had moved it stepped back.
“It’s okay. Safe,” a deep voice said from above.
Midas didn’t move. And when Lexie shifted against him as if to push the boards back, he shook his head sharply. She settled back down.
