Page 35 of Tight Spaces

"Yeah."

"You’re no virgin."

"Neither are you."

But she’d never had a lover before either. She got it. Sex partners yes, lover no. The difference between them? She wanted a relationship. She didn’t want to be alone, though she’d proven to herself and anyone else who cared to take note that she did just fine that way.

She’d been raised in a close-knit family with parents who loved each other deeply. She wanted that for herself. She wanted someone to call her own. Not someone. She wanted this man. He wasn’t ready to hear that though. She wasn’t sure he ever would be.

"It’s going to be okay," it was her turn to comfort.

This time he did laugh, though the sound wasn’t his usual sexy joy. "A couple of friends are coming in by helicopter. They should be here in an hour."

"I guessed. Should I pretend I don’t realize they’re some kind of black-ops group?"

"Paramilitary black-ops is the correct term."

Something inside her cracked at this little tidbit of honesty. "Is it?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"They won’t tell you their real names. You don’t have to pretend you don’t realize what they are or why they’re here. Our nicknames are used for a reason other than to piss some of us off." He sighed. "Though you’ll probably learn some of them eventually if you hang around me long enough."

"Am I going to be hanging around?" she asked.

"Long distance relationships have a pretty bad success rate."

"Is this a relationship?"

"I don’t know." He looked so pained, so frustrated, she didn’t push.

"We’ll focus on the problem at hand right now," she offered.

His game face came over his features like a robot mask. "Right. That’s exactly what we should be doing."

She went to step out of his arms, but he didn’t let her go, tugging her over to the couch instead. He sat down and pulled her right into his lap.

"This is focusing on our problem?"

"Part of my job is making you feel safe right now."

"I do feel safe."

"You saying sitting in my lap doesn’t make you feel safer?"

"No, I’m not saying that." It didn’t make sense, because really it shouldn’t make any difference, but she didn’t want to move.

"Good."

"What now?"

"The big boss is making some phone calls. They’ll need the data and your interpretation of it, but then the spooks will move in on Luminescent Pharmaceuticals."

She snuggled more firmly into his lap. "What’s your role in all this?"

"Keeping you safe."

"Don’t you want to be in on the takedown?" she asked, as she rubbed her head against his shoulder.

"I want to be your hands-on bodyguard." It sounded like a promise of something else entirely.

She decided to go for the joke, rather than press for him to acknowledge what he was really saying...if he was saying what it felt like. "Sounds dirty."

"Sexy maybe."

"Sexy definitely."

"Good."

"Speaking of sex."

"We’ve got forty-three minutes until the others arrive."

"Let’s not waste it."

And they didn’t. Though he did insist on taking a few minutes to set up some complicated contraptions on the windows and door before carrying her off to bed and once again blowing her mind with pleasure.