His lips twitched. “Hi again.”
Yeah, she’d said that already. “Sorry.” In the eleventh grade, she’d had a crush on a cute guy in her class. He’d stopped and talked to her once and she had gone all tongue-tied. Like now. She’d known Jake for years, and this awkward feeling didn’t make sense.
The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement. “Maybe if you stopped clasping your hands together you could talk better.”
She didn’t get it.
“Never mind,” he said and chuckled. “Ready for our date?”
Until she managed to calm down a little, maybe it would be best not to speak. She nodded.
He took her hand and led her out of the house to his car. When he slid into the driver’s seat, he leaned over the console and kissed her. He smelled like sandalwood and spicy aftershave. She brought her hand to his cheek, feeling the smoothness of his skin. Something warm and fuzzy slithered through her knowing he’d dressed up for her, shaved even. God, he smelled good.
“Another minute, Chiquita, and I’m going to have you under me right in your brother’s driveway.” He inhaled a deep breath and started the car. After he backed out of the driveway, he took her hand and placed it on his thigh.
She liked that he seemed to want her hand on him. Making circles with her fingers, she caressed his leg, feeling his muscles ripple under her touch. He didn’t speak, and the silence between them felt intimate, as if words weren’t necessary to know their desire for each other simmered in the air. Leaning her head back against the seat, she closed her eyes and narrowed her focus to nothing but the feel of the soft fabric of his slacks covering a muscle-hard leg.
Her fingers roamed to the inside of his thigh and he made a low humming sound, its timbre vibrating in hot waves throughout her body. She barely noticed when he pulled into a parking spot in front of his condo.
“Maria.”
“Hmmm?”
He took her hand and pressed it over his erection. “See what you do to me?”
She turned her head toward him and smiled. “That’s nice.”
“Nice?” His laugh held the sound of amusement. “Right, nice. Let’s see if I can get something better than ‘nice’ out of you.” He exited the car and came around to her side. Opening her door, he held out his hand.
As she walked beside him, her hand in his, she thought she’d never been happier in her life. He glanced at her and winked. Well, that was just sexy.
She leaned her head against his shoulder as he slid his key into the lock. “After yesterday, you can’t know how happy I am to be here with you.” The door swung open and she stepped inside.
“What happened yesterday?” he asked, following her in.
Crap, crap, crap. Why hadn’t she kept her mouth shut? Seeing the painting he’d said reminded him of her, she walked over and stood in front of it. She considered telling him the last few days of school had worn her out, but even as she thought it, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him.
“Maria?” His hands came down on her shoulders, and he turned her around.
There was no getting out of it, but he wasn’t going to like it. “Fortunada’s finally in jail.”
“So the cops found him and you didn’t tell me?”
Oh, yeah, he wasn’t happy and it was only going to get worse. “Not exactly.”
He backed away and shoved his hands in his pockets. “What exactly then?”
“Well . . . he . . . Fortunada, kind of attacked me yesterday morning.”
“He kind of attacked you? Where the hell was Saint?”
Icicles should be dripping from his mouth, his voice was so cold. “It wasn’t his fault.” She rushed on to explain what had happened, unnerved by his hard stare.
“And you didn’t tell me this yesterday because?” he asked when she finished.
“I didn’t want to worry you, you know, with the mission and all, you didn’t need the distraction.”
“You need to get one thing straight. It’s not your job to protect me.”
Jake had never been so angry in his life, and the hurt shimmering in her eyes at his declaration only made him madder. The bastard had gotten his hands on her, and she wasn’t going to tell him out of some misguided idea he needed to be coddled?
Soft music played on his speakers, and the lights were dimmed to a golden glow. He’d set the stage for a seduction before leaving to pick her up. Things had changed though. He flicked off the stereo and turned on the lights to full brightness.