Page 73 of Garrison's Creed

Whatever. Nicola wasn’t going anywhere. She also needed to chill out, completely forget about work, and he’d make sure that happened. Downtime was a Cash Garrison specialty. He intended to make sure she knew the full reach of his getting down skills.

The sun sank into the Virginia hills. His truck powered and growled around another bend. The straight-to-the-skies incline disappeared into a green canopy of trees. Truth: he loved this truck almost as much as he loved his new digs. Not that his last place was bad, but the new one was badass.

He flicked a glance down at Nicola. A pang of pride exploded in his chest. When he’d bought the place, he had no idea she’d ever see it—her being deadand all—but now she was about to and that was… unexpected. It was pretty damn cool.

They hit the driveway. Gravel spun in the wheel well. She’d been sniper quiet, her finger tracing stopped, exhausted into a simple hold. Her gaze fell absentmindedly out the windshield. That private Sugar convo must’ve been a heavy one.Or a bitchy one. Nothing telling either way.

Finally, they arrived. A world away from Winters’s madhouse, Tyson’s Corner, and Sugar’s House of Guns.

“This isn’t your folks’ place.” She looked out the window. Her eyes were wide, her tongue flicking over the bottom of her lip.

“Nope. It’s not.”

His house hid tight in the thick, green woods. The area looked untouched, but he’d had Titan ’n Boys hotwire the thing NSA-style. Breaching this place would be like burrowing through the impenetrable layers of the Pentagon with a pencil sharpener. Here, if a deer so much as sneezed, Cash could check a readout and know what time and why.

They were alone. This wasn’t just a man cave, it was his man castle. Him and her, and nothing to do… but relax.Relax.That was the point of this trip. Nothing to do with that teasing tongue and lips that made him want to jump out of his hide. Nothing to do with that drop-and-get-me-naked kiss in the parking lot that made his blood surge even now. Cash took a breath, trying to resuscitate his voice of reason.

He stopped at the gate, entered a code, and pressed his finger on a scanner. The high-and-wide swung open.

Shifting under his arm, Nicola took another sweeping glance from driver to passenger side. Her hand brushed dangerously close to his cock. “This isn’t where Titan bunkers down?”

“Nope. Guess again.” He had a sense that she knew where they were when her hand caressed him.That her innocent act is anything but.Yeah, they’d end up in bed together. He had no doubt. But seriously, he had to show a little something besides an interest in banging her.Right? A little restraint.

They weren’t strangers. They were far too familiar. Yet here he was, hoping she liked his digs, wondering how much was too much. All things he knew nothing about. Things that meant he was totally feeling her.

They crunched over a few rocks. The front side of his house came into view. It was a log cabin on steroids. All timber façade and picture windows. As broad as it was tall. He’d had no idea what he was supposed to do with all that space. For now, Miss Betty had a room to spread out in, and the living room rocked a billiards table and fully stocked wet bar.

Oh, and the hot tub on the back deck. Maybe he’d convince Nic to take a dip.Her hair might be piled on top of her head. Her cheeks might be flushed.And alone in the woods, hot water bubbling around them, there wouldn’t be a hint of clothes. Her full breasts bobbing on the water line, her toned arms wrapping around him. Thoughts of her in there with him, the sway of the trees, the sun going down behind her, made Cash shift in his seat. His cock wanted out of his jeans, hardening with mental images of Nic in his arms.

Not yet.

He hit an overhead button. The middle garage door rose.

“This is your place?” Her voice had a twinge of holy shit, and his chest swelled with an old fashioned, “hell yes.”

But instead, all he offered was a nod. “Yup.”

The garage door shut behind them as he turned the ignition off. Florescent lights flicked on.Nothing but space to fill. A whole lot of potential.If they didn’t make it into the house, if he had her up against the hood of his truck, their voices would echo around them. Their names. Their breath. The sounds would bounce empty wall to empty wall, screaming their satisfaction back to them. He realized his fingers were trailing up her sun-kissed bicep and the slope of her neck.

Nic met his gaze, now not looking at all like they had the same thoughts. She eyed him, a splash of confusion on her face. “Between this place and Winters’s… did you guys win the lotto or something?”

He laughed, definitely not thinking about the hood of the truck. “Private sector always pays better, babe.”

“Oh.” Her hands smoothed across the top of her long legs. “Your house is gorgeous.”

He took a stabilizing breath and tried shake the lust from his voice. “I promised you normal stuff, and I intend to pay up. You should see my DVR. I’ve got great taste in TV.” He got out of the truck, hating the cold sensation when he left her side, and she followed him through the garage.

Maybe he should’ve parked in the front and got out under the wall of pine trees. The needled-scented breeze always made this feel like home.Maybe next time.

They walked into the living room. He slid his keys onto the table and unholstered the concealed .38 from his waist. “There was aDie Hardmarathon last week. I have to squeeze in my yippy-kay-yay motherfucker fix. Probably a few episodes of—”

“Cash?” She glided around the kitchen, one finger trailing over the granite island that separated the kitchen and living areas. Huge leather couches wrapped around the great room. Her eyes bounced from corner to corner, while his snaked from her melt-his-heart gaze to the legs he’d die to have wrapped around him.

“Yeah?” The urge to christen his kitchen pulsed under his skin. He moved behind the couch, keeping his erection to himself. Normal stuff, he chanted silently. Movies and reruns. Popcorn and frozen pizza.

“What do you think of our two projects converging in Maine? Your team? My team?”

Work.She wants to talk shop. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore thoughts of what she’d look like naked in his bed and how damn close they were to his king sized mattress. Hisnewking sized mattress, that’d only slept him, alone.

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