“The coffee’s on the counter. I put it in an insulated mug so it’ll stay warm.”
That little act was one of the reasons she kept falling harder and harder for him. She hadn’t realized there were degrees of love, but for her, it turned out there were. After all that insanity so many months ago, she’d fallen hard, but it was the small day-to-day things he did that showed how much he cared that had her completely addicted to the sexy man. “I love you.”
“Me or the coffee?” he asked, pulling the shower curtain back and stepping inside.
She grinned as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, drinking in the sight of him. “Both.”
“At least you’re honest.” He placed his big hands on her hips as he moved flush against her. His thick length was hard against her abdomen.
Feeling her body heat up with a seemingly unquenchable need for him, she slid her hands up his chest. The sight and feel of his naked body never failed to get her turned on.
He was looking at her strangely, kind of intently as he slid one hand into her wet hair, cupping the back of her head. He opened that wicked mouth of his and had started to say something when the water turned cold, making her yelp and try to scramble out of it.
Tucker just laughed and moved them so that he was under the stream, blocking her body while the water returned to normal. The random changes in the temperature made her crazy, but it was apparently something that happened because of the piping. Whatever it was, it certainly woke her up better than coffee.
She wondered about that look he’d just given her, but he kissed her as the water went from cold to hot—and so did her body. Then she didn’t think about anything else other than his kisses for a long time.
? ? ?
“I’m seriously thinking about quitting my job and becoming a beach bum,” Karen murmured, leaning into Tucker as they strode up to the front door of his parents’ place. After the seafood dinner they’d just had, she was ready to jump him and then get some sleep.
“You’d be bored in a month.” He opened the door for her but wrapped an arm around her waist from behind and pulled her close.
She heard the door shut behind them as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck. A shiver went through her body, her nipples automatically tightening in response to his kisses, but she nudged him with her elbow. “Your parents are here,” she whispered, knowing he was likely to want to get physical right up against the front door. She and Tucker had gone out to dinner and his parents had declined to go with them, so she knew they would still be up.
His grip on her tightened for a moment, and then just as quickly he let go, coming to stand next to her. When he looked down at her, that same intense look he’d given her in the shower this morning was on his face. He linked his fingers with hers and silently tugged her down the hallway toward the kitchen.
She was surprised they weren’t making a beeline for the stairs but didn’t question him as they continued to the French doors that led to the back porch.
When he opened them, she stared in surprise. White twinkle lights had been strung up across the lattice covering most of the deck and hot tub area. At least a dozen no-flame candles were placed around one of the mosaic-tiled tables, and in the middle was a silver tray with a bottle of champagne and two flutes on it.
Blinking, she turned to Tucker just as he went down on one knee.
She nearly jolted at the sight and her eyes grew wet as it finally registered what was happening. His parents must have set all this up while she and Tucker were out.
When he took her left hand and slid a diamond ring onto her ring finger, she still couldn’t find her voice. Her heart beat out of control with so much joy, but her throat had seized as she tried to fight back happy tears.
“Will you make me the happiest man on this planet and marry me?”
She’d never seen him looking so serious. Or nervous.
As if there was ever any doubt what her answer would be. “Yes.” She wanted to shout it, but all she could manage to get out through her emotion-clogged throat was that one word. The only one that mattered.
Relief and a healthy dose of lust covered his face as he stood, crushing his mouth to hers. He moved them until the backs of her knees collided with one of the cushioned lounge chairs.
Then he was on top of her, his kisses more frantic, but she pushed against his chest, taking a moment to admire the way the diamond sparkled under all the twinkle lights and moonlight before she met his gaze. “Your parents—”
“Are gone for the next few hours.” Again with the knee-weakening, wicked grin that made her glad she was already flat on her back.
She wrapped her legs tighter around his hips. “I want to try some of that champagne.”
He rolled his hips against her, his need evident. “After.” The word was a hungry growl.
She grinned, her body already primed for him. “Definitely after.” Before he could move, she closed the short distance between their mouths, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and tugging on it playfully. She loved Tucker so much it was scary and wonderful at the same time. She couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with the man who’d completely stolen her heart.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe a big thanks to my wonderful editor, Danielle Perez! Thank you for pushing me to make this book shine. To the entire team at New American Library—Christina Brower, Jessica Brock, Ashley Polikoff, and Katie Anderson—thank you for all the behind-the-scenes work you do. For my fabulous agent, Jill Marsal, thank you for being in my corner. Kari Walker, as always, thank you a million times over for all your insight when reading the first draft of Edge of Danger. For my husband and son, I’m forever grateful that you put up with my crazy writer’s hours. And I owe another thanks to my husband for answering all my random research questions. Any mistakes are my own, or I intentionally took creative license. For Sarah, thank you for all that you do. You keep me sane. As always, thank you, thank you, thank you to my Deadly Ops readers! I’m thrilled to bring you another book in this world and I hope you enjoy this latest installment. Last but never least, I’m incredibly grateful to God for so many blessings.
Don’t miss the next novel in the exciting Deadly Ops series by Katie Reus,
A COVERT AFFAIR
Available in March 2016 from Signet Eclipse.
Amelia Rios took the tulip-shaped champagne glass from her date, Iker Mercado, with a smile. At forty-five, he was seventeen years older than her and definitely the oldest man she’d ever been on a date with. Not that she dated much, not with her schedule. But Mercado was interesting, charming, handsome and didn’t have a reputation as a manwhore. If he had, she would have declined his invitation. In her experience, playboy types tended to have little respect for her gender. No, thank you.
If anything, the man had practically lived like a saint for the last twenty-five years. She knew from gossip that his wife had died at nineteen during childbirth. He’d only been twenty, yet had raised his daughter and never taken another wife or really even dated. If gossip was to be believed, of course. In this case, she did.