I gasped. “Take it back!”
“What?”
“I love this song. You should see me dancing to it after I’ve had a few.”
His mouth quirked. “I won’t get between you and your pop divas.”
Jun’s cool and chic appearance fooled a lot of people. He was a bit of a bad boy deep down. He listened solely to the hardest rock and metal and old-school punk that could be scrounged up. I was talking the kind of music where you could barely understand the lyrics and someone was going to give themselves a neck injury from thrashing. Jun would probably be right at home in a mosh pit.
I only knew he wasso nota Rihanna fan because a few years back he had gone out to a bar with me and Matt after work. Matt had spent the entire time flirting with some younger guys there—and fuck, it still hurt thinking about that. About how stupid and unwanted that made me feel, and Jun had seen it all. He sat with me all night, doing his best to chat, which was where I also learned he wasn’t a chatter, and he ended up bonding with me over our extremely diverse musical tastes.
“You okay?” Jun asked, glancing away from the road once or twice.
“Yeah,” I said quickly and a bit too loudly. “I was thinking about the time you nearly blew out my eardrums with Five Finger Death Punch.”
“I knew you were lying when you said you liked them.”
“I was trying to impress you.” I reached over and put my hand on Jun’s thigh. It was solid muscle and feltrightto touch. “Did it work?”
He only smiled in response.
After Jun and I found the message in the closet, I was done. No more crazy, creepy shit for me, thank you very much. I’d put Adam in charge of closing up for the night, grabbed my belongings, and we left. The only thing I wanted to do for the next week and a half was relax on the beach, pretend to be a tourist, and do a whole lot of naked lounging with Jun. A vanishing skeleton and mystery message were not going to ruin my vacation.
So help meif something came between me and sexy Mr. Tanaka over the next ten days. I might be tiny, but I would fuck someone’s shit up.
“Left or right?” Jun asked at the next intersection.
“Left here,” I said. I sat up a bit and pointed to a cottage coming up. “That blue one is me. This is my parking spot too.”
Jun pulled up on the side of the road. “Where’s this pink Vespa I’ve heard so much about?” he asked, taking the keys from the ignition.
“Oh, the Princess?” I asked, smirking. “Backyard.”
Jun laughed as he climbed out of the driver’s seat and went around back to fetch his suitcase.
I got out and walked to the front door, unlocked it, and held it open. “Welcome to Chez Grant. Come for the home cooking—stay for the sweet ass.”
“Does everyone get that offer?” Jun asked as he stepped inside.
“Only crime-fighting linguists.”
“Sounds like a short list.”
I shut the door and turned to look up at him. “You’d be surprised. I think I can squeeze you in for brunches every other Wednesday. What do you say? Omelets from scratch, followed by your front and my back?”
Jun set his laptop bag beside the rolling suitcase and approached me. I backed up against the door and loved how he towered over me. I could feel the heat of his body and the tension rippling in his muscles. So much self-control. Maybe too much.
“Although I think my tables are reserved now,” I whispered.
“Last name, Tanaka. Want me to spell that?”
“I think I got it.”
Jun’s gaze wandered briefly, and it felt like he was stripping me with his eyes. My breath was coming shallow and quick, and my dick had most definitely perked up, thinking it was go time.
No reason to stand at attention. He hasn’t even touched you yet!
“Let’s be certain,” Jun said, voice dropping so deep, it was like he was caressing my balls with it. He got as close as he could without our bodies actually touching, and I could feel myself starting to vibrate as I held back from grabbing him. Jun gently pressed his index finger to my throat and drew what felt like aT.
