The space was pretty much how Penni had imagined it. Polished wood floors, brick walls, and exposed piping and ductwork running along the ceiling gave the space a loft feel. And with a big wooden bed covered in a navy-and-green-striped comforter, a couple of metal bedside tables that supported mismatched lamps, and a big chest of drawers, the room was simple and masculine. Just like the man himself.
And also like the man himself, the space held a little mystery. There was a lacquered jewelry box atop the dresser. All pearly and white, it looked starkly feminine compared to the Ruger he’d placed beside it after he kicked the door closed, effectively sealing them inside his room. All alone. No likely interruptions.
There go the damned butterflies again. Geez.
And then there was the picture in the silver frame next to the old-fashioned alarm clock on the bedside table. It showed Dan with his arm around the shoulders of a cute redheaded woman. It was obviously old. Dan looked at least ten years younger in Navy dress whites, not to mention…happy, almost innocent. Penni couldn’t help but wonder who the woman was. She opened her mouth to ask, but before she could, he pushed up from the bed and extended his hand. “Come with me,” he said.
“What? Where?” She looked around like maybe she’d missed something. “I thought Boss said we were supposed to stay put until the reporter leaves.”
“Bathroom.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. And the butterflies that’d been flitting around in her stomach got together and made a bunch of babies, multiplying exponentially.
And even though she knew he wasn’t inviting her for another assignation in a latrine—he didn’t have that naughty gleam in his eye that said he was propositioning her—she still said, “You sure have a thing for bathrooms.”
She was trying to cover up her nervousness by reminding him not only about the airplane lavatory but the hotel bathroom in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, thoughts of that bathroom in Malaysia, about what had happened there and what it’d meant to her and to him, only increased her anxiety.
You’re stalling.
Damnit! I know!
She just didn’t want it to end. This feeling of being wanted, of belonging, of happiness and hope and promise. She didn’t want the real world to intrude, to have to face his possible scorn or rejection. She wanted—
“When it comes to you”—he interrupted her tumultuous thoughts. And there was that gleam!—“I have a thing for all rooms.” See? Why can’t it just stay this way? “But in this case, I mean let’s brush our teeth.”
“Oh,” she said, blinking. Then, “Oh!” Because she realized he wanted to brush his teeth so that when he kissed her it wouldn’t taste like hot dog, onions, and relish. And he did want to kiss her. It was kind of obvious since every time she’d opened her mouth to wrap her lips around the hot dog, his eyes had zeroed in, burning with interest as he watched the frankfurter slip between her teeth.
Then again, maybe kissing her wasn’t what he’d been envisioning.
Her blood grew warm. A soft flame flared to life between her legs. Her heart picked up its pace—which only aggravated the butterflies in her belly. They went wild. The time had come. There was no more putting it off. Damnit.
Courage, Penni. Have courage.
Yeah, right. Easier said than done.
“Do you…um…” She hesitated, swallowing. “Do you want to…talk first?”
A strange emotion flickered across Dan’s face. It was gone before she could figure out what it was. “Do you?” he asked, giving her the perfect out.
“Not really,” she admitted, seizing the opportunity with both hands because, you know, she was a total fraidy-cat, pansy-ass wuss. She just couldn’t help herself. She wanted, just once, to know what it was like to lie in his arms, to love him and let him love her without bombs going off around them or Russian spies lurking in the next room. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
Dan preempted whatever answer the voice in her head might have given when he grinned and said, “Neither do I.”
Grabbing her hand, he dragged her off the bed. Two minutes later—after he’d pulled a brand-new toothbrush from the drawer of his vanity, cracked open the case, and handed it to her—she was standing next to him, her mouth full of minty suds, a goofy grin plastered across her face.
“What’re you smiling about?” he asked, spitting toothpaste into the sink and filling a glass with water to rinse his mouth.
“Just that…” She had to stop and get rid of her own toothpaste before she could finish. “Who would have ever thought when we met three months ago that we’d be here now? Brushing our teeth together? Life’s weird, isn’t it?”