I don’t say goodbye to Spencer and never bother to find my father, even though I know he’s here. Instead I hold tight to Curran’s hand as he leads me out of the ballroom, both of us laughing as we cross the street and reach his truck.
He opens the door for me and helps me inside. I can’t stop smiling, especially when he slides into the driver’s seat and gives me a quick kiss. “Thank you,” I whisper against his mouth.
Curran returns my grin, stroking the side of my face. “You’re welcome, angel face,” he tells me.
I lean against his shoulder. This awful evening is now behind me, thanks to this man I can’t stop thinking about. But our night together? Well, that’s only just begun.
“Is Lu on watch tonight?” I ask.
Curran laughs, but it lacks some of its humor. “Yup. She’s on.”
He cranks the engine and pulls out of the lot. I place my hand on his leg. “I don’t want to get you in trouble,” I tell him truthfully.
He rolls to a stop at the first light. “And I don’t want to pretend like there’s nothing between us when there obviously is.”
“There’s something between us?” I muse.
He shrugs. “Considering we’ve been miserable apart, I’m guessing there might be.”
“Oh, hell,” I say, trying my best to imitate him. “We’re not going to have the ‘are you my boyfriend’ talk, are we?” I lift my arms and drop them like they weigh a ton. “Oh, we are, aren’t we?”
He throws back his head, laughing as he steps on the gas, but then his good nature fades. “That Spencer guy, your date.”
The name alone erases my grin. “What about him?”
“I didn’t like you with him.”
“I don’t like him with me, either,” I mutter.
“Good,” he says, sounding satisfied. He taps the screen to his Bluetooth. “Hey, Lu,” he says when she answers.
“I’ll be at the hotel in thirty,” she says by way of a greeting.
“Don’t. Tess is headed back to her place.”
There’s a pause before she says, “I take it you’re headed back with her?”
Curran doesn’t hesitate. “Yup.”
“You sweeping her apartment?”
“Right again, Lu. She’s safe. We’ve got no tails. If anything changes I’ll call you back. Otherwise, I’ll meet you in the parking lot of her building.”
She mumbles a few curses, most of which I’ve never said. “This is your damn signoff. Isn’t it, O’Brien?”
Curran steals a glance my way. “Right again, Lu.”
“Christ,” she mutters, and disconnects.
We don’t say much once his “cop” face returns and he resumes his vigilant guard, checking for anyone who might be following us. Thirty minutes later, he pulls into the lot of my building, his eyes sweeping the area for any unfamiliar cars or potential threats.
He backs into a spot beside Lu. “Wait till I come for you,” he says.
He hops out and marches to Lu’s vehicle. She lowers her window and says something to which he immediately responds. Whatever he tells her earns him a stiff middle finger.
I clasp my hand over my mouth, laughing. Curran opens my door and helps me out, grinning when he sees me. “Come on, angel face.”
I smile at Lu and lean into Curran when he puts his arm around me, my way of assuring her that I want him with me. The last thing I want is Curran getting into trouble with his superiors, especially knowing I’m already in trouble myself.
Yet I don’t think about my father now. He’s not here. Curran is. And he’s all that matters.
Curran keeps his cop persona until he emerges from my bedroom, following a thorough sweep of my apartment. In the time he took to conduct his search, I removed my coat and placed two glasses of water on the coffee table.
He walks to me slowly, taking each of my hands, one at a time, his light blue eyes sizzling with desire. “You still want me to help you out of that dress?” he asks.
I move in closer, barely managing a nod when he hauls me to him.
Curran doesn’t help me out of my dress.