With a Twist (Last Call #4)(50)

So hell yes …  I'm going to pull and poke at that tether, see how strong it is …  if it's worth keeping tied to.

I suspect it is.

Opening the door, I step in and set my keys on the little table just inside the small foyer. I pull my wallet and cell phone out, dropping them there as well. My house is quiet …  settled …  and I know instantly that Andrea must be outside.

Stepping through the living room, I make my way to the sliding glass door. I immediately see her laying on one of my deck chairs. She's on her back with large, white-framed sunglasses on her face and the tiniest white bikini imaginable. One leg is straightened but the other is cocked up, foot firmly planted on the chair. It's swaying gently back and forth and by the serene smile on her lips, I can tell she's in full relaxation mode.

I quickly head to my bedroom, undress, and put on a pair of shorts and an old Ron Jon t-shirt. The sun is full and hanging low over the sound side of the island to the west, but it's still quite hot outside. I grab two beers from the fridge and walk out onto my back deck.

At the sound of the sliding door swishing in its tracks, Andrea angles her head back and to the side to look at me. Those full lips purse briefly, and then break out into a grin as she props herself up by the elbows on her chair.

This, of course, pushes her breasts out, which, of course, causes my eyes to go to said breasts. I spent a lot of time on them last night, and my mouth was watering to get another taste.

"Eyes up," Andrea teases, and I don't bother doing anything but a lazy slide of my gaze upward.

"Can't help it. They're spectacular," I say with a grin and then hand her a beer.

She sits all the way up in the lounge chair, spreading her legs wide and planting a foot down on either side. And, of course, my eyes flick briefly down but then back up again. She doesn't notice as she's taking a long pull on the beer.

"Damn, that's good," she says. "It's so hot out here."

"Been out here all day?" I ask as I take a seat on the padded bench opposite her chair.

"On and off. Spent quite a bit of time down on the beach …  in the water. I don't know the last time I had a vacation where I just relaxed and did nothing."

"Nice, right?"

"So very nice," she agrees. "How was work today?"

"Same old, same old," I tell her with a shrug. "Honestly …  it's been a bit hard to get back into the routine."

"I know what you mean," she says and then pulls her legs up to sit Indian-style. "It's hard to go from working the pole, flashing my goods to strangers, to sitting back at a desk in a polyester suit." 

I snicker at her imagery. "You don't wear polyester."

"Close enough. The FBI-standard attire isn't all that flattering."

"You'd be beautiful in a burlap sack," I tell her truthfully as I lean forward with my elbows on my knees, and looking deeply into her eyes.

I'm surprised when Andrea's cheeks pinken, and she lowers her face shyly. Her fingers play at the bottle, and she has a tiny smile on her face.

"What's this?" I ask as I reach out with a hand and lift her chin up so she looks at me.

Andrea gives me an embarrassed smile. "It's just …  I didn't know you thought of me as beautiful. All those weeks we worked together …  me dancing around naked, you being so impassive about it …  I just didn't know you thought that about me."

Leaning over, I set my bottle of beer on the deck-which while smoothly sanded has remained unstained-and then reach over to take her beer away from her, where it finds rest next to mine. I snag her hand, pulling her up from the chair. Her long legs uncurl, and then I'm tugging her forward as I lean back on the bench.

Hands to her waist, I encourage her onto my lap and she straddles me beautifully, her arms naturally coming up to rest on my shoulders.

Leaning forward, I place a soft kiss over the sun-warmed skin of her chest.

"You are immensely beautiful, but I couldn't show that to you while we were undercover," I tell her softly, moving my lips upward to her collarbone. Her head falls back, and I can feel her long hair floating around my arms that are wrapped tight around her waist. "You have the body of a centerfold, the face of an angel, and the heart of a lion. Add in the fact that you are, without a doubt, the sexiest woman I've ever known-and I swear this has absolutely nothing to do with the way you can dance-and you can rest assured that your beauty is absolutely dazzling."

Andrea's eyes go soft, even as she blushes again. One of her hands slides over, fingers inching into my hair and then gliding over my scalp. She leans in and brushes her lips against mine. "That may be the nicest thing a man has ever said to me before."