She ran her fingers over the pendant, her gaze locked on his, then she kissed him. “I love it. Thank you.” One more kiss before she peered out at the water. “I want to keep you at a distance. I tell myself it’s just a work thing?—”
“It’s not.” He gently moved her long bangs away from her eyes.
“No, it’s not.”
She wouldn’t look at him, so he tipped her chin in his direction.
“I’m falling in love with you all over again,” he said. “Only this time, I’ll be your rock.”
Her gaze softened, a smile tugged at her lips. “Let’s see whatcha got, babe.”
“Are you challenging me?”
“I’m just protecting my heart,” she replied. “And I’m keeping things real, you know?”
The server returned with their salmon entrees served with a harvest salad of quinoa and arugula.
Slash forked off a piece of salmon, offered it to him. As he pulled the fish into his mouth, he gazed into her eyes. The woman by his side was a vision of beauty and grace. The love in her eyes gave him more hope than he deserved.
“Thank you,” he murmured, “for having dinner with me.”
A nod of acknowledgment before she tried the salmon. “What did you do today?”
“I had a meeting at the White House,” he replied.
She hitched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah. Who was there?”
“Z, Sin, and the President,” he said.
She grew silent while she tried the quinoa. “For real?”
“Yeah, for real. We had lunch with the President in a private dining room.” He leaned close. “Z suspects Luciano is working with Sin and me.”
“There are spies everywhere,” she whispered.
“Did you know Jericho’s wife, Liv Savage, is a watcher?”
“Danielle Fox told me a while ago.” She sipped her water. “Now you know why I trust very few people.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Not with my heart, but as partners, you’re solid.”
“Do you want to trust me?”
After a beat, she said, “Yeah, I do. Do you trust me?”
“One hundred percent,” he replied with conviction.
They finished the first-class dinner. When their server cleared away their plates, she asked if they were celebrating anything special.
“An anniversary,” Carrera replied. “Slash and I met on July first, sixteen years ago.”
“You remembered,” Slash said.
The server regarded Slash. “That is just the coolest nickname. Wow.”
“Not impressed with the anniversary?” Carrera asked.
