Page 17 of Silent Comrade
Damn it. What else was happening within thisfield of operation? He had no idea.
His mission objective had become his biggestbarrier to success.
Easing her hands back down to her sides, hekissed her one more time and then stepped back.
“Okay. Wow,” she breathed.
His chest rose and fell like he’d rucked tenmiles uphill. “You can say that again.”
She licked her lips, then grimaced. “I’d askyou in, but my roommate…”
“That’s not why I kissed you.” Liar. Toosoon. Too much. Too … not what he was here for. Conflict ofinterest was the least of his concerns.
Nodding, she blinked once. Twice. “Allright, then.” Her hand shook as she fumbled with the lock on thedoor and picked up her backpack. “Good night.”
Before she could turn the door handle, hecaught her by the upper arm, his hand easily wrapping around thelimb. “Britt.”
He dropped another mouth-scorching kiss onher lips until they were both panting.
Stepping back, he brushed a thumb over hisown mouth, savoring her taste. “Good night.”
With a wobbly smile, she slipped inside theapartment. The lock clicked.
Chapter Eight
Britt closed the door and leaned against thehard surface. Her lips tingled. Her legs trembled. Had shealmost?
Yes, she had happilyalmost.
Al. What an odd guy. He went from shy toconfident and back in the blink of an eye. He spewed fashion infolike an expert, but couldn’t pair fabric blends to save hislife.
She slumped onto the couch with a creak ofold springs and flicked on the lamp. A nasty taste settled in theback of her throat. Fashion snob much?
The guy had missed out on a chunk of fashiontimeline while deployed. For all she knew, he might have been toobusy staying alive to keep up with trends. Now he had a chance tofollow his own dream. Nothing wrong with that, aside from herjudgement of him. She sighed and rubbed her neck, still feeling hisfirm but gentle touch.
“That you?” Tachi drifted into the livingroom and paused, unwrapping the towel around her damp hair. Shewore an oversized AC/DC sleep shirt over boxers which did little toconceal her long legs. “Oh.” She paused and squinted, typicalnearsighted Tachi without her glasses or contacts. She snagged hercat-eye glasses off the kitchen table, tossed the towel on thefloor, and sat on the love seat, facing Britt. “That’s a dreamylook. Do tell.”
“Nothing to tell.”
“Nuh-uh. I’ve known you since Zandrewintroduced us after his show four years ago.” She shook out wetwaves with her fingers. “Your neck and cheeks are bright pink. Andif I’m not mistaken, that’s a patch of stubble burn. Spill,darling.”
Warmth climbed Britt’s chest and worked upinto her face at the memory ofthose lips, mere minutes ago.Busted. “Even if there was something to tell, the story doesn’t goanywhere. I have a degree to finish and a senior project due thatcan make or break my career. Iwillfinish it all.” Shesighed. “There’s no time for anything or anyone else.”
One dark eyebrow rose. “Your smoochy-lookinglips suggest that you’ve freed up a little extra time on theschedule.”
“Fine.” Britt sighed. “His name is Al andhe’s the new student in school. We had dinner and a kiss afterward.End of story.”
“That story is insultingly short ondetails.” She sniffed. “Wait. Is this the guy who stood you up fora date? Because I hope there’s a chapter about you chewing his assout for that.”
“I did, actually.”
“But?”
“He stood me up because his granny wassick.”
Tachi fanned herself. “Well, there go myovaries. I assume you gave him credit for the granny assist?” Shegave an unabashed broad laugh, and Britt couldn’t help but smileback. “Of course you gave him credit! Right on the lips.”
“That’s maybe not exactly how it went down.”She swept a finger across her mouth, skin still tingling from hispossessive kisses.
