Page 66 of Great White
“Does it have to be chickens and goats?”
Tate breaks out into a sexy chuckle. “Maybe not at first, but eventually.”
I consider it. Maybe the idea of chickens and goats will grow on me.Maybe not.
“The last man I pursued a relationship with didn’t end well.” I feel compelled to confess. “I was in a dark place. I was hopeless and ready to end it all, but the universe, fate, God, I don’t know which, intervened. They decided it wasn’t my time.”
“How exactly?”
“In the form of the most unlikely guardian angels. They saved me. But not before changing me forever. Not before forcing me to tap into a part of myself I didn’t know was there. I kil—“
“Shhh.” Tate puts his finger over my lips. “You don’t have to tell me. You don’t have to think about it or relive it ever again. It doesn't matter what happened in the past. All that matters is what happens in the future.”
Fair enough. I nod.
“Good.” Tate lays it on thick with a mesmerizing smile. He’s too damn handsome for his own good. And he knows it. But as much as his cockiness can get under my skin, it’s his confidence that really attracts me to him. He’s strong enough to stand up for me or himself, and smart enough to know when to back down.
“What did you say to me last night? When you whispered in my ear?” His titillating tone put me under a spell, and his Latin tongue exploited the enchantment.
“You sure you want to know?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
Tate leans in closer to me, tickling the shell of my ear with his lips, the same way he did last night. “I said, you are tangled in my soul. When we touch, the skies open, the heavens rumble, and the rain pours. The beauty of our love is in the storm.”
My skin tingles the same way as before. His words are like a full-bodied, inebriating tonic. And they are all the truth. That’s exactly what being with him feels like, an electrifying mix of thunder, lightning, and rain.
I turn my head and kiss him. It’s the only response I’m capable of. It seems like enough, because he kisses me back zealously. Every embrace is always over the top and passionate with him. He is a man with so much life, and he’s making me realize how much of my life I’ve been missing.
I don’t tell Tate I love him, even though I do. Even though I want to. Those words will be some of the most difficult to say, but I hope one day soon I’ll get there. I want him to know how I feel. I want to express it, maybe not exactly the way he can, with poetics, but in my own way that he can appreciate. So he can know the feelings are reciprocated, and he does have me.
All of me.
13
Tate
I daydream about Dove.
About the nights we've shared and the plans we’ve made.
I want more nights, and I want all our fantasies to become a reality. But I need to concoct a way out. I’ll need to navigate stormy waters when she finds out who I really am and convince her I’m still the same man. I just have some extra hardware. A badge.
Breaking this to her isn’t going to be easy, but Dove is worth the risk. I have faith she will eventually come around. She has to, right? What we have, it’s extraordinary. Unmatchable. Transcendent. It can cross divides. I knew she was meant for me the moment I met her. I felt it in my gut. Something tugged at me inside. It’s still tugging at me, and it’s getting stronger. It’s like a rope is tied to both her and me. Two people bound by an unbreakable bond. Is it unbreakable? I’m terrified to find out, but the truth has to come out eventually, and by the sound of it, it’s going to be sooner rather than later.
“Three-seven-two, are you listening?” Taylor snaps his fingers in front of my face.
I sweep my eyes up to meet his. “Yeah, I’m listening.”
“Good, 'cause your mission is about to come to an end. We have no concrete evidence to move on the Deltoros or the Rayases. They play a smart game.”
“That they do. Stay small enough to fly under the radar, and big enough to put a dent in the cocaine business.” That was what Dove told me one night. Hers and Stefania’s strategy. But they grew quicker than anticipated and had to find creative ways to keep up with demand. When they finally did, they decided — well, Stefania decided, according to Dove — it was time to expand. Which garnered all types of unwanted attention, like from Raffi Rayas and the DEA.
But that is the nature of this business. You bring the heat when you light the match.
“Well, they’re getting ready to pull the op, unless you can produce something tangible besides a pair of panties.”
The old man has a sense of humor.
