He hoped, for both their sakes, that the geek would take the bait tonight. That he’d be so crazy with the turn of events that he’d let his emotions get the better of him. The angrier he was, the quicker things would end.
“Okay,” she said.
He glanced over and caught her T-shirt slipping down over her jeans. He averted his gaze even though he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of skin.
“There,” she said, pointing to a parking spot three houses from hers. Milo recognized home, and he got up in the back, whining to get out.
Boone parked and walked around to her side of the car to hold the door open. When she stepped out, he took her hand, and they walked together to the back to open the hatch for the dog.
Milo was quite excited and made a beeline for the front yard. Boone slipped his arm around Christie’s shoulder. Her trembling was even more pronounced, although she acted the lover with conviction.
As they got closer, she put her head on his shoulder. “I can’t wait to tell my mother we’re engaged,” she said, her voice giving nothing away. “She’ll flip out.”
“I look forward to meeting her. I’ll call the airline tonight and make our reservations. And then you won’t ever have to think of that creep again. Jesus, what a pervert. Clearly he can’t get it up. If he could, he’d go after someone who wanted him.”
“He’s probably got one of those pencil dicks,” she said. “Has to jack off with tweezers and a magnifying glass.”
Boone laughed, and bent his head to kiss her. It was meant to be light, a show for the camera, if not for the microphone. But Christie…
She kissed him back. Again. Her hand went to his neck, pressing him tight, holding him as she thrust her tongue past his lips with a desperation that made him forget the microphone, the job.
She moved, pushing her body into his so that he felt the gun between them. Which meant that she would feel his erection. He couldn’t stop it, couldn’t will it down. The way she kissed him after all that touching had him as hard as the barrel.
Finally, she pulled back, but not away. She looked at him in the dark for a long while, their breaths mingling, her lips still moist. “I don’t give a shit about that pervert,” she whispered. “I just want you. Only you.”
It wasn’t until she stepped back, until she called for Milo, that he remembered the words meant nothing.
THEY WALKED INTO THE HOUSE and Christie immediately went to the kitchen. Boone was still shaken from the scene on the walkway, and as he watched her feed Milo, all he could think was, what the hell?
From her career, her looks, the way her house was so put together, he’d expected her to be…different. In fact, Nate had told him that she was high-maintenance, and that she had such high standards he wondered if she’d ever meet a man who would qualify. And yet he was absolutely sure she was coming on to him.
She put away the dog food, filled Milo’s water bowl, then turned to Boone. “I’m going to take a bath,” she said. “Care to join me?” Her voice was calm and collected, but she avoided his gaze.
Was she serious? Nah, couldn’t be. Was she just reacting to the fact that the geek might be listening?
Giving him a wide berth, she left the kitchen for the bath. All he could do was shake his head as he got his duffel. He had a few changes of clothes in there, along with his kit. A shower sounded like one hell of a great idea, but first he wanted to sweep the house, make sure no one had been inside.
He’d think about the kiss later, when they were safely settled down for the night. When they were in separate rooms. Maybe it was his problem, not hers. It had been too long, that’s all. Too long since he’d been this close to someone like Christie.
SHE GOT TO HER BEDROOM DOOR and fought the urge to look back at Boone. She’d embarrassed herself enough with him for one day. She wanted him with a hunger that was foreign to her, that made her feel like a first-class slut. Ironic that for most of her adult life, she’d been considered pretty cold. She wasn’t, of course. Just picky.
She went straight to the closet and turned the dimmer light on because, frankly, she didn’t want to see herself in the mirror in the corner. She just stripped off the workout clothes and pulled on her bathrobe. Never so grateful for her incredible Whirlpool bathtub, she couldn’t wait to get in and soak for a week or two. Anything that would make her feel like herself again. Did she even remember what that was like?
She sighed as she went to her big dresser. She got out her old pair of flannel pajamas, the ones with little cowgirls on them. They’d been a gift from her best girlfriend, Stacey, who lived, unfortunately, in Colorado. Four years ago, they’d had a slumber party, and while Christie had provided the munchies and the chick flicks, Stacey had brought matching pj’s. It had been such a great night.