She turned on the water and splashed it on her face. She would just have to get Rome to understand that while last night was great, and she definitely wouldn’t turn him down if he wanted a repeat, for work they needed to keep it on a professional level. Grabbing a towel she wiped her face off and tried to remind herself why that was so important. Instead, images from the night before came to mind. She’d had sex before. She hadn’t been a virgin. But she had never experienced anything like it. Worse, she knew that he had been gentle with her considering his reputation at the club. That was not a full-on submission. She had seen enough of them to know better. It had almost killed her, and he had gone easy on her. He was more than she could handle, that was for sure.
Maria wasn’t a fool. She knew part of it was just the image he had of her last night. They were playing roles. Lines could get blurred when you were undercover. She had learned that on her first job. She’d thought she had made a friend in a fellow agent, and he’d just used her to get ahead. Then he’d stopped talking to her. It hadn’t been a sexual relationship, but he had been one of few friends she’d made at the FBI. And he had been the last.
“We have work to do, Callahan,” Rome said. She jumped at the sound of his voice, but she could hear the amusement in it.
“Bite me, Carino.”
He chuckled. “I’m hungry so hurry up.”
She grumbled but finished cleaning up and opened the door, expecting to see him there. But he wasn’t, and she tried to ignore the disappointment she felt. She grabbed a pair of jeans and shirt and slipped them on. When she walked out into the living room, he was drinking coffee.
“Where did that come from?”
He shrugged. “It was in the fridge.” She made a face, and he laughed.
He rose from the table and walked toward her. Damn, she was going to have to get used to the idea that a man she was intimate with was going to see her every day. It was an odd thing.
Always make sure to keep things on a platonic level, girlie. Men will try to use you to get ahead in the FBI. Remember that.
Yeah, remember that. But her father never had to deal with a delicious specimen like Rome Carino. And he had nothing to gain from her. Oh, they could catch the serial killer, and lord knew in Hawaii, that would be huge. It could make his career. But he didn’t have anything to do with the FBI. So while working with her helped him, she had a feeling that he didn’t look at working with her in those terms. His mind was on finding the killer.
He stopped in front of her, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her closer for a thoroughly arousing kiss. His tongue swept inside, and she couldn’t keep that wall built up. It crumpled under his sensual assault.
When he pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily. Her brain had just stopped working. She couldn’t even think of a word to say, but apparently Rome had no problems with that.
“Morning again, Maria.”
If she hadn’t heard the deep need in his voice, she would have been embarrassed by her own reaction.
“Morning again, Rome.”
He smiled, satisfaction in his gaze as he released her. “Let’s go get a bite to eat. I worked up an appetite last night, as I am sure you did.”
“Wait, before we go, we need to come to an understanding.”
He raised one eyebrow but said nothing. He still had his hands on her upper arms and it was wreaking havoc with her head.
“We can’t let what happen interfere with the investigation.”
He nodded, still saying nothing. It was enough to unnerve her and that was odd. Her father had been a quiet man except for when he was telling her what to do. She pushed that thought aside.
“So, it’s best when we’re out of the bedroom, it stops.”
Something she couldn’t quite read flashed in his gaze before he hid it behind a mask. “And what does that mean?”
She shrugged, hoping he would take his hands off her, but he didn’t let go. It was an odd situation having his hands on her. “I understand what happened is all part of the job.”
His eyes turned to ice then. “Really? Do you fuck everyone you work with, or just the undercover assignments?”
His tone lashed out at her. She didn’t know how to respond to it. His fingers had tightened on her upper arms, and it was now starting to hurt. She shook herself free then stepped back. “No I don’t. After some bad experiences, I don’t get involved with other agents.”
He studied her for a second. She badly wanted to know what he was thinking, but he kept his expression impassive, not allowing her any hint to what he was thinking.
“So, you don’t sleep with everyone.”