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“You could say that.”
A different server appeared again with their drinks. Taylor didn’t miss the once-over the woman gave Curt as she set down his espresso. She couldn’t blame the waitress. Curt was too yummy for his own good. There was something else about him, too. This aura of class and power clung to him. Called attention to him. Whatever existed in his background, it didn’t include ex-convicts like hers did. Curt didn’t seem to mind, though, so she wouldn’t worry about it either.
“I love visiting D.C., especially in the springtime before it gets too hot. I was in Virginia for some training last year and spent a day in D.C. before coming home. When Reese gets a little older, Mom and I plan to take her there. A few agents I graduated the academy with work in D.C. but live in Virginia and drive in every day. Does your uncle live in the city or on the outskirts?”
Curt shifted in his seat and reached for his espresso. “My uncle and aunt live right in D.C. They’ve lived there for several years, but visit New England when they can. They have a beach house in Newport, Rhode Island. And the whole family tries to get together for New Year’s Eve. My uncle throws a party every year. There’s always at least one person who can’t make it. Usually it’s my brother.”
If Brett lived wherever Uncle Sam told him to, it meant he was in the military. “You don’t see your brother much?”
“No. I haven’t seen Brett since my cousin’s engagement party last summer. I was surprised he even made that. He didn’t make Derek’s wedding. But we keep in touch.”
By the time they left Pellegrino and drove back to their neighborhood, she’d learned a little more about his family. She also learned he’d never had a pet, even though he’d wanted one growing up, because his mother was allergic to animals, and that he loved fresh fruit but detested bananas. Yet even with everything he’d told her, she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something he was holding back. Some important detail he didn’t feel comfortable enough sharing yet. In time she hoped he would. She could respect and understand someone holding back information for a short time, but she couldn’t be with someone who kept secrets. Regardless of anything else, a relationship needed honesty.
“Can I expect you by tomorrow with the pie for comparison purposes?” Curt asked. He’d stopped in her driveway and turned off the engine, but so far made no move to get out. His fingers brushed across her cheek before slipping down her neck. “Or I can bring it to you.”
Right now she didn’t care about comparing desserts. She was much more interested in tasting him. She planned on doing it, too, before anything else. Leaning across the console separating them, she gently covered his lips with hers. Curt responded immediately, his kiss more a caress that fed the desire building inside her. Each pass of his lips over hers communicated both tenderness and mastery. Needing more, she sucked on his bottom lip until Curt parted his lips. Her tongue tangled with his as his hand explored the bare skin on her back and shoulders. Each movement he made with his mouth and hands sent pleasure radiating from her core to the rest of her body. The console between them made it impossible to press her body against his, to feel his chest against her breasts and his arms around her waist. She considered and quickly dismissed climbing into his lap. She was a little old for straddling a guy in the front seat while they made out. Maybe eighteen years ago she could’ve justified it, but not now. Besides, Curt might be too refined for such behavior.
They pulled apart at the same time. Curt’s hand continued moving across her bare skin as his lips nipped at the skin along her neck.
She slipped her fingers into the hair. It was incredibly soft. “I’ve got a better idea,” she said.
“I’m listening.” His warm breath skated across her skin when he answered, and he sounded as breathless as she felt.
“We go back to your house, and I’ll let you know about tomorrow later.”
***
The windows remained bare, and moonlight spilled into Curt’s bedroom. Resting on her side, Taylor used the opportunity the light provided her and allowed her eyes to wander across his chest and down his stomach. Unfortunately, the cotton sheet resting just below his waist prevented her eyes from seeing more. She’d suspected the first day she met him that Curt took care of himself. No one had biceps like his naturally. What she saw now, and had felt earlier when she’d run her hands down his naked back and ass, confirmed her suspicions.
Curt’s fingertips brushed against her upper arm, sending her eyes back to his face. At some point after entering his room he’d removed his glasses, and she found herself even more captivated by his eyes than she’d been before. They simply were the most gorgeous shade of blue she’d ever seen.
“Stay the night,” he said.
Since becoming Reese’s guardian, she’d spent every night within shouting distance of her niece, except for those times she’d been forced to travel or Reese slept at Hazel’s. Sure, Mom was around in case Reese had a bad dream or an emergency arose, but Taylor saw Reese as her responsibility, not Mom’s. Responsibility like that meant she came home every night.
“I can’t. Not with Reese home. Sorry.” Taylor waited for his response. She’d had a similar discussion with a guy she’d dated when Reese had been much younger. He hadn’t understood. Instead, he’d insisted Reese would never know the difference and that she’d be okay with her grandmother.
Shifting his position in bed, his fingers moved over her shoulder and toward the sheet covering her breasts. “Do you want me to bring you home now?” Curt kissed the skin exposed above the material and her nipple pebbled against the sheet. He repeated the action on the other side before dipping his tongue into the valley between her breasts. “Or can you stay longer?”
Leave now? Was he crazy? She had a naked man who knew how to pleasure a woman next to her, who was ready to go again. She’d enjoyed herself with men before, but never anywhere near what she’d experienced with Curt. Either the guy had way more experience than she did, or he’d been born with one hell of a special talent.
When he changed his position the sheet dropped lower, but not as much as she would’ve liked. Tugging the material down, she didn’t stop until it reached his midthigh. She traced the well-pronounced vein in his penis before wrapping her hand around him. “How’s this for an answer?”
Curt responded with his lips and tongue instead of words.
Chapter Seven
“So who’s the new man in your life?” Mary Jasper, another DEA agent, asked. Mary and Taylor had started with the agency around the same time and shared a cubicle. They were also friends.
Taylor looked up from the document she was reading. “What?”
“Man in your life. Who is he?” Mary asked again, slowly drawing out each word. “Don’t bother saying there isn’t one. You’ve got that glow about you.”
“Glow? What the heck are talking about?” She’d seen herself in the mirror this morning, and she looked the same as she did every morning.
“Really? I have to spell it out?” Mary rolled her chair across the cubicle. “Everyone gets this look when they start a new relationship. Especially when the sex is good. It wears off over time. You’ve had it for over a week, my friend. So, who is he? Anyone I know?”
If anyone would know about a look, it would be Mary. The woman dated more than anyone Taylor knew. She’d lost count of how many men Mary had gone out with just in the past twelve months.
