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“Time to go check out something else.” Allison whispered the words to him, although she could’ve shouted and the other guests in the room wouldn’t have heard her over the screaming little boy who had thrown himself down on the ground. “The Hawaii exhibit might be far enough away.”
The kid had a set of lungs on him. “Unless that’s in another building, I doubt it.”
Another scream bounced off the walls, and he wished he’d packed the ear protection he used at the gun range.
“You’ve got a point. Lets go outside to the Rose Garden. We can come back inside later.” She led him past the couple trying to convince their son to get off the floor and back into a hallway. “This way.” Allison’s thumb rubbed his palm, her skin warm and soft against his. The little gesture sent his gut into his boots.
Standing inside the lush garden, one could forget they stood in the heart of a city if not for the buildings in the distance. Unlike the orchid room, which they’d had to themselves until the screamer and his parents arrived, other guests wandered around the garden enjoying the scenery.
“This garden makes me think of hide-and-seek,” Allison said as she looked around.
“You must have played a different version of hide-and-seek than me.”
She nudged him in the side with her elbow. “Not because of the flowers. One of the gardens at my dad’s house in Barrington is designed in a similar way. Derek, Alec, my cousin Sara, and I played hide-and-seek in it all the time. It had some of the best hiding places. Alec hid himself so well one day, we got tired of looking for him and went inside. He ended up falling asleep. He spent five or six hours in the garden. Mom was furious at us for leaving him out there.”
“He shouldn’t have fallen asleep then.”
“We tried that argument. She didn’t buy it. Instead, she lectured us about how we were older and should look out for him,” she said, stopping and looking around the garden.
“Something wrong?” He made a quick survey again of the other people around them then looked back at Allison.
“No, just taking it all in.” She moved closer and wrapped an arm around his waist, and his heart did its little Jack-in-the-box routine again. “Anyway, I didn’t get why she was so mad then, but now I do. We should’ve yelled out that we gave up or something instead of just going inside.”
Whatever political genes flowed through the Sherbrooke clan had skipped her because the woman just could not lie worth a damn. She was uneasy for some reason.
He checked each individual gathered around them again. Everyone outside was either part of a couple or a small group, except for one person. Down by the concrete wall, an athletically built man wearing a black golf shirt, tan pants, and sunglasses stood alone. Dark brown hair hung below his Georgetown baseball cap and brushed against his collar. With his face bent toward a guidebook, it was impossible to make out any facial features. It didn’t look like the guy was paying any attention to them or anyone else; still, something about the dude told Rock he didn’t belong.
If she didn’t want to admit something was wrong, he’d play along. “Who’s older, you or Derek?” Addie had shared a lot of Sherbrooke family trivia with him before her wedding, so he knew Allison had a twin brother.
“Derek’s five minutes older. He never lets me forget it either.” Her arm tightened around him as they turned down a different path. “He loves referring to me as his little sister because he knows it drives me crazy.”
Rock checked out the dude by the wall again. He’d closed the book in his hands and was now looking at some roses nearby. He didn’t know any guys who would come to a place like this by themselves to check out flowers. Maybe he was hanging out here waiting for someone. Or maybe he figured it’d be a good place to pick up women.
“He’s called me that more than Trent and Gray combined.”
“Picking on a kid sister goes with being an older brother. Ask Addie about the things we pulled on her.” A few of the more memorable pranks came to mind and Rock reconsidered. “Forget that. Don’t ask her.”
Right away she let go of him and took a few steps away as she opened her shoulder bag. “No way. I’m going to call her now.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him before she had the phone out of her bag. “Later.”
“Afraid she might give away some embarrassing secrets?” She let her bag hang by her side again and smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t share anything she tells me with anyone else.”
Her lips moved but the words floated past his ears. It was hard to concentrate on them when all he wanted to do was kiss her. So far today, he’d only gotten a brief taste of her, just enough to tease him and make him crave more.
“I’m sure––”
Keep it quick. Moving them behind a large bush, he pressed his lips against hers, cutting off the rest of her sentence. Perfection. Unable to stop, Rock applied more pressure and let his hands drop a little lower. Mannaggia, he shouldn’t have started this now, but damn she tasted good.
Her tongue traced his lips. When he didn’t respond, she sucked on his bottom lip. Merda. Did she have any idea of what she was doing to him? Already he was going to be incredibly uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon. If he gave into what she wanted, he wouldn’t be able to walk out of here.
Sliding his hands back up her back, he pulled her away, ending their kiss in the process. “It might be safe to go inside and check out the other exhibits, or I can show ya what else I have planned for the day.”
“I hope it involves food. The poor couple inside the orchid room probably heard your stomach over their screaming son.”
He’d kissed all her lipstick off, revealing her naturally rosy lips. It might be the wrong place, but he couldn’t keep from leaning toward her again for another quick taste. “Funny.” Allison parted her lip
s to respond, but he silenced her with his mouth. Lord, she tastes good. Who needed food with her around? His stomach seemed to disagree with his opinion and took that moment to rumble loud enough for her uncle in the White House to hear it.
