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But that didn’t explain why she was suddenly wondering how he was doing. What he was like. Did he still eat his cereal dry and read at the table when he was alone? Did he ever think about the Christmas their parents had spent in Vail, leaving the two of them home alone? They’d had McDonald’s for breakfast because neither could cook and Phillip had driven Lara to the store the next day to exchange all of her lousy gifts. She’d totally forgotten about those things until this month.
She’d almost forgotten what he looked like, his image flashes of photographs rather than impressions of his actual self.
Now she wondered.
Late at night, curled in Dominic’s arms, she pondered if she’d ever find out. If she’d have a chance to.
And why it was suddenly so important.
Lara poured more coffee, drinking it fast to wash away the worry. Using the same guaranteed method of calming herself that she’d employed all week, Lara took a deep breath, cleared her mind, then imagined Dominic naked.
Oh, yeah...
Hard muscles. Golden skin. Big blue eyes and those sexy man dimples. Long, erect delight.
Worked like a charm.
Soothed and happy again, Lara settled her feet on the balcony railing, wondering if—brotherly worries aside—she’d ever been this happy.
Especially considering that she was pretty much positive that she’d done the stupidest thing of her life. She’d fallen in love with Dominic Castillo. And the weird thing was, that didn’t bother her, either.
She should be terrified.
She should be freaking out.
This was scarier than those goons breaking into her apartment, the one who’d grabbed her and the creep cadre all balled together.
If she were smart, she’d be hitchhiking back to Reno or New York or, hell, even Maryland.
She shouldn’t be chilling on the balcony of a hotel room that she couldn’t afford to pay for, eating fattening croissants and thinking about complex HTML code and various sexual positions.
Lara broke off a piece of pastry, the buttery flakes melting on her tongue as she contemplated it all.
Yeah.
She’d probably slipped around the edge into crazyville.
She didn’t take things easy.
She didn’t do calm and reasonable.
Hell, she didn’t even relax.
Something to blame Castillo for, she decided.
Through the open patio door she heard the swoosh of the hotel room door closing and sighed, pleasure curling around peace in her stomach.
She didn’t need to look to know it was Dominic. It was as if she could sense him now. A little voice in Lara’s head screamed WTF, and she imagined that tiny screamer beating on the walls of her brain, trying to wake the real her up. But she was so happy, that voice was easy to ignore.
A hand, warm and hard, slid over her bare shoulder.
“Hi.” She tilted her head to rub her cheek over his hand, then grinned when it slid past her shoulder onto her breast. “Aw, now, Jimmy, I told you I only tip like that for chocolate. Coffee and croissants don’t merit copping a feel.”
“Cute.” Grinning, Dominic came around to drop into the chair next to her. He snagged a pastry from the basket and popped it into his mouth. While he chewed, Lara let her gaze wander over his excellent form. Clad in fatigues and a tee, paratrooper-style black boots and a camo cap, he must be on a break, not off duty.
Even while she appreciated the view, her lips moved into a half pout. A break meant no sexy times, but seeing him in his military clothes was enough of a turn-on to keep her revved until bedtime. Or at least until six, when he’d walk through the door again for dinner.
“You like it here?” he asked.
Surprised, Lara tilted her sunglasses down to get a better look at his face. Nary a dimple was showing, so he must be serious.
“Here? On the balcony? Here at the hotel? Here in California?” She arched one brow. “Wanna narrow it down?”
“Here. Southern California, close to the base.”
Lara wet her lips, excitement bubbling a nervous brew in her belly.
“Why?”
“I asked first.”
“Yeah, but if you don’t answer first, you won’t find out, will you?” She shot him an arch smile.
“You always get the upper hand that way?” he asked, pouring a cup of coffee and toasting her.
“By being clever? Yeah, it usually works.” She waited, but he didn’t tell her what he was talking about. Clearly, he thought he could out-stubborn clever.
Lara waited until he reached for another pastry, then took the basket just before he could get one.
“You were saying why you wanted to know if I like it here?” she encouraged with a smile.
He gave her a hard stare, looked at the basket, then at her again.
“Curious,” he finally said.
