Yeah, she was a catch.
When she opened the door, Dell wore a solemn expression—until he took in her pj’s.
At that, a small smile crossed his mouth.
She tried to remember if she’d put mascara back on after her shower. She hadn’t.
When it became clear she wasn’t going to invite him in, Dell simply stepped into her. And dammit if she didn’t back up, and then she was watching his very fine ass as it moved into her place.
He stood in the center of her living room and turned to face her. “We have unfinished business.”
Twelve
They had unfinished business?
Assuming he meant their near physical miss, Jade hesitated.
With another small smile, Dell shook his head. “I meant your training. You left early.”
“Figured we were done.”
“Yeah. That got a little out of hand.” He paused, but she shook her head.
“If you’re going to try to apologize again, don’t.”
He just looked at her with those dark eyes, and she let out a breath. “Look,” she said. “We both know the truth is that I kissed you, so if anyone should be apologizing—”
“I’m not apologizing for the kiss.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Then . . . ?”
Instead of answering, he sat on her couch in the same place she’d just vacated and took in the movie playing on the TV, the spread of fingernail polish, the half-eaten bowl of popcorn, the opened laptop.
Too late she realized what she had up on the screen.
He smiled, then laughed out loud, his amusement eradicating the lines of tension in his beautiful face. He leaned forward to read more.
“Hey,” she complained. “That’s private.” She moved toward him to shut the laptop, but he held her off, easily grabbing both her hands in one of his wrists and tugging her down beside him.
“Watch the freshly done toenails!”
He grinned and did just that, taking in the pale blue polish. “Pretty.” Then he went back to her screen, reading her things-to-do-in-her-spare-time spreadsheet:1. Organize junk drawer.
2. Clean hairbrushes.
3. Relax.
4. Don’t think about Dell.
Dell slid her a look but didn’t point out the obvious, that she wasn’t doing anything on her list.
“Cute pictures,” he said of the piglet and calf pictures on the other half of her screen. Both were close-ups of two adorably earnest but wary faces. “Friends of yours?”
She sighed. “Yes.” When he only looked at her, brows up, she shrugged. “I’ve adopted them from Adopt a Farm Animal.” She tugged her hands free of his and refilled her wineglass.
“You adopted a pig and a calf?”
“It’s the late-night commercials. They play sad music and show pictures of abused, neglected animals.”
His smile widened.
“They look right at you! Oliver, the calf—” She pointed at the picture. “He’d been abandoned and had nearly starved to death before he was rescued. And Miss Piggy was heading to the bacon factory. Now I write a check for fifteen bucks a month and they live happily ever after. What’s the big deal?”
“Christ, you’re cute.”
“I—” She narrowed her eyes at him. Cute? “You take that back.”
“Okay, you’re not cute. You’re . . . sexy as hell.”
They both looked at her attire and he laughed when she winced. “You are,” he maintained.
“You’re a very nice man to lie like that.” She grabbed the laptop from him, shutting the screen. “And now you’ll forget about the fact that I’m so pathetic that I watch DVDs on Friday and Saturday nights instead of going out.”
He looked at her for a long moment and she groaned and covered her face. “Don’t tell me that’s why you’re here, that you thought I was feeling . . . vulnerable.” She dropped her hands and glared at him. “Because if you say that, I’m going to kick your ass, Dell, I mean it.”
Reaching for her wine, he helped himself.
“Say something,” she demanded.
“Are you kidding? I don’t want to get my ass kicked. And you could do it now, too.” He flashed a grin but she just stared at him, deadpan.
He sighed. “I’m not here because I thought you were vulnerable. I’m here because you ran off rather than face the fact that we—”
“Hey. I didn’t run off.”
“Jade, you left smoke in your wake.”
Okay, so she’d run off. Bad habit. “It was just a kiss.”
He slid her a look.
“Okay, it was an unexpectedly great kiss.”
He nodded. “Yeah.” His voice was low and a little rough, and she felt her nipples harden at the sound of it. “Each time gets even greater.”