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When we finally exit the closet, we do so with our heads held high. No one is in the governor’s foyer waiting to bust us. Our steps echo on the marble floor leading to the front door. Only then do we encounter a woman in a prim black dress who opens the door and thanks us for our attendance.
After retrieving Barrett’s car from the valet, we climb in—him at the wheel. The air conditioning sends chills over my skin when I lift my hair off my damp neck.
“That was a workout,” I say to break the silence.
I notice a half smile, but his attention stays to the road. Once we arrive at my apartment and step out of the car, I take his hand.
“Wrecked,” I repeat—belatedly, but I can’t get the word out of my head. “Is that good or bad?”
“I guess that depends,” he says cryptically as he opens the building’s door for me.
“On?” I ask in the elevator.
His back against the wall of the elevator, he tugs me to him and kisses my nose. “On you.”
I chew on my lip for the remainder of the elevator ride, curiosity—and frustration at this point—getting the best of me.
At my apartment door, I thrust my arms into the air. “I don’t know what any of that means!”
He chuckles as he takes the keys from my hand and lets us in. Then he tosses my keyring onto the kitchen table before undoing his cufflinks.
“Have any men’s T-shirts lying around, or are you opposed to me sitting around your place shirtless?” He starts unbuttoning.
“Are you staying?” I ask.
“Do you want me to?”
“Do you want to?” My tone inches into hysterical and his smile turns lazy. Shoulders slumped, I traipse to where he’s standing and pout up at him. “Please tell me what’s going on in your head. Did I do something wrong? Did we cross a line?”
“We crossed a couple of lines, Kitty Cat.” He tucks my hair behind my ear and drops a kiss onto my lips. “You’re becoming...irreplaceable.”
My heart ka-thuds, skips a beat, and jerks to life again.
He unbuttons his starched white shirt and drapes it on the couch, untucking his undershirt and propping his hands on his hips. He looks exhausted.
“That sounded like a compliment, but you look like you’re about to break up with me.” Which sends my heart into an altogether different rhythm.
His eyes widen. “Are you shitting me? I’m not breaking up with you. I’m hoping like hell you’re going to let me stay around a while longer. Tonight. Tomorrow. Couple of weeks or months following that.”
I rest a hand over his heart. It pounds out the same hectic rhythm as my own. “You’re worried I’ll break up with you? After what happened tonight?”
“Hot sex is often a fast track to the end, Kitty Cat.”
Understanding comes like the morning dawn. “For you, you mean. The in-between girls who wanted you for your body.”
He lifts his eyebrows in confirmation.
“I’m not like those girls.”
“Honey, you’re not like any other girl. That’s what I’m telling you. You’re a comet. A rare coin. A new species.”
I wrap my arms around his waist. “Then I guess you’d better start acting like the man who’s earned me.”
His head jerks slightly, his brow crinkling. I’m on the edge of a cliff overlooking jagged rocks and crashing tide. May as well take the dangerous yet exhilarating leap to the bottom.
“I never pictured myself falling for a cocky, former NFL player that I took on as an assignment.” I shrug. “But I am.”
Confusion colors his handsome face. After a false start on the word, he finally manages to repeat. “Falling?”
