She closed her laptop and tucked it into her duffel bag. In yoga pants and a T-shirt, she had her hair down, literally and figuratively. He liked that she was just herself with him. That was one of the sexiest things about her.
“You want to watch TV, or just crash?” she asked as she got under the white sheets and flopped down on the pillow.
He’d rather be naked with her right now. “I’m fine either way.”
“Okay. I’d rather not watch TV.” She turned off the little lamp and lay back down.
He stared at the ceiling, painfully aware of his breathing and hers. Even with the outside traffic and muted noise, every shift against the sheet seemed overpronounced in the room. He’d imagined being in his bedroom with her—her bedroom. Any bedroom. But in those fantasies, they hadn’t been clothed and in separate beds.
“Would you really be okay with me going into dangerous situations for my job?” Sienna suddenly asked into the dimness.
Her question startled him. The lights from the parking lot streamed in through the tiny gap between the curtains so he could see her well. “What?”
“I’m just curious. I want to know if you’d really be okay with me going into dangerous situations.”
He paused as he tried to formulate his answer even as it registered that since she was asking, she’d been thinking about the possibility of being with him.
Apparently he didn’t answer fast enough because she said, “See? This is why it would never work between us.”
Oh, hell no. “Can you give me a second to give you an honest answer?” Without waiting for her to respond, he slid out of his bed and moved into hers.
She made a little yelp of surprise but didn’t tell him to get back to his bed.
Lying on his side, he studied her as she turned to face him. She propped her head up on her hand, her eyes bright in the darkness and her dark hair spilling around her shoulders.
It was impossible not to be physically affected by her. And in this moment, he knew things could change between them. This was the opening he’d been waiting for. “I’m not going to like you going into dangerous situations. But I’m never going to tell you what to do with your life. For the most part I understand your job can be kind of boring, but that sometimes you get into sticky situations. Again, I’m not going to love that aspect. But I’m also not going to ask you to quit your job, because that would be like you asking me to quit mine.”
She bit her bottom lip, watching him carefully. Her subtle vanilla scent teased the air, making him crazy.
“What about you? How do you feel about my job?” For the most part he got sent to calls where people were already dead or crimes had already been committed. So he was there for the aftermath. But he still faced dangerous situations on occasion. There was no way around that.
“I would never ask you to quit your job either, but…I’m not going to love that you’re in danger.” Then she bit her bottom lip again and he could see the wheels turning inside her head, and wished he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Taking a chance, he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her hip, flexed once. He liked holding her, however and whenever she would let him.
She let out a sort of sigh and leaned closer to him, erasing most of the distance. Not quite all of it, but this was very, very good.
He shifted a little closer, all the muscles in his body pulled tight as he erased the distance between them. She was finally opening up to him, actually talking about them. He wanted her so damn bad he ached.
To his relief, she slid her hands up his chest and clutched onto his shoulders as she pulled her body flush with his, erasing the final inches between them. And this was what he’d been waiting for, aching for.
They watched each other for a long moment, and when her gaze fell to his mouth he slanted his lips over hers, desperate for a taste of her. He’d been fantasizing about her for months. Hell, longer than that. Since pretty much the moment he’d seen her. Then he’d gotten to know her and it had been over for him.
As he delved his tongue into her mouth, she immediately threw a leg over his hip.
The two of them together had always been like fireworks going off. It was pure combustion. He forgot to think, sometimes forgot to breathe—like right now as she molded her long, lean body to his.
She tried to take over and push him onto his back, but he was balancing on a razor-thin wire, all his muscles bowstring tight, so he pinned her beneath him. He savored the feel of her under him, holding on to him, moaning into his mouth.
God, he’d missed her, missed this.
She arched against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest. Only two layers of material separated them, her T-shirt and his.
As they kissed, he slid his hands under her top, his fingers skating along her soft, smooth skin.
His cock was heavy between them, a desperate throb against his jogging pants. This was not how he’d imagined their day ending. Not even close. But Sienna underneath him, and—
A car alarm started blaring, obnoxiously loud as it sliced through the quiet.
He jolted, coming back to reality as he pulled back slightly. Breathing heavily, he looked down at her.
Sienna’s lips were swollen, her eyes dilated as she looked up at him. “Ignore it,” she rasped out, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
He wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. But some kind of instinct had him moving, forcing himself off her even though leaving her warm, welcoming embrace was the last thing he wanted to do. “Give me a second,” he murmured.
Returning to the window, he ignored his uncomfortable erection as he eased the curtain back.
The alarm was still blaring as he scanned the parking lot. A car near the front of the hotel was the culprit, its lights flashing in tune to the alarm. Stupid cockblock car alarm.
He started to step back, but paused as something in his hindbrain registered. Something…was off. He wasn’t sure what it was though.
There. One of the security lights had gone out. No, three were out on the big light poles across the parking lot. And they hadn’t been out when they’d arrived. He’d specifically picked a well-lit spot but the three out created a sort of triangle around their rental.
The back of his neck tingled with awareness, and when he turned around Sienna was sitting up, watching him carefully. “What is it?”
“Grab your stuff.”
She didn’t even question him, simply grabbed her sneakers and slipped them on before tugging a hoodie on over her top.
Neither of them had unpacked their clothes or toiletries since they’d only planned to stay the night. They each picked up their bag and instead of going out the door into the hallway, he opened the door to the neighboring room.
Normally each door would be locked, but as a precaution he’d rented two rooms next to each other, the second room under a different name—courtesy of one of Sienna’s brothers.
As he shut the door to the neighboring room behind them, he flipped the lock into place.
“Should we leave?” she whispered.
He shook his head and held his finger to his mouth. Then he headed to the front door, glancing out the peephole.
Nothing.
He was probably being paranoid but he didn’t care. Not when it came to Sienna’s safety. He checked the window again. The car alarm had gone quiet now and even though there was faint street noise and a couple cars pulling into the hotel parking lot, it was quiet enough.