Finally, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder, to the back of her neck. “Sorry. I had a few ideas of my own.”
She rolled her hips against him with a breathy chuckle. “Gotta say, lover, I think I like the way your mind works.”
He brushed feathery light kisses along the back of her neck again before finally withdrawing, then snatched several tissues from a box on the corner of her desk and handed them to her.
When she’d discarded the tissues, she let the skirt of her dress fall back into place and started to pull the straps back up over her shoulders, but he stilled her hands. “Allow me.”
He bent, taking her breast into his mouth and teasing the already-hard bud before switching to the other. Then with a resigned sigh, he pulled her straps back up to her shoulders. “I’ve got to get you home. These clothes are just getting in the way.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and deep, assuring him she was thinking the same thing, then pulled back, giving him a grin. “Why don’t you go get the car and come back to get me? I don’t think my knees could carry me the few blocks back to where you parked.”
He chuckled, the sound sending a shiver of need through her. “I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.”
*
Gabe tossed his keys up and caught them midair, not bothering to hide what had to be a stupid-looking grin. Hell, as happy as he was at that moment, he could’ve skipped down the sidewalk, tossing fucking flowers up in the air or some ridiculous shit.
Even being away from Elle now in the few minutes it was going to take for him to walk to the car and pull it around to pick her up was too long. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms, feel the incredible warmth of her body pressed into his, and never let her go.
He gave himself a quick mental shake, wondering what the hell had happened to him. He’d never felt like this with anyone—not even Audrey.
But Elle, what he felt for her… Well, hell—it defied explanation. He almost felt like if he even tried to put it into words, whatever came out of his mouth would just cheapen what he was really feeling because he wouldn’t even be able to come close.
The intensity of it made him want to run down Main Street, whooping and shouting and thumping his chest, but it also scared the shit out of him. Because she was it. At least for him. But he had no guarantee that she felt the same way, no matter what she might’ve admitted to when she was half-asleep.
When he reached his car, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Damn. He was a fucking mess. He chuckled quietly and shook his head.
“Excuse me.”
He’d been so in his own head, he started at the sudden, quiet voice behind him and turned so quickly that the woman who’d spoken leaped back a step, her eyes wide.
“I’m so sorry,” she said softly, her eyes darting about like a frightened doe’s. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Gabe shook his head, his brows coming together in a frown. “It’s okay. Can I help you?”
She swallowed hard and her eyes darted around again, her anxiety immediately putting Gabe on edge. “Are you Deputy Gabe Dawson?”
He straightened, studying her more closely now. There was something vaguely familiar about her. She was young—college aged if Gabe had to hazard a guess—and pretty in a very sweet, wholesome way. Her thick, golden-blond hair was pulled back in a braid that came down to her waist, and she was dressed in a long sundress that obscured her figure. She had innocent written all over her.
Yet she held a bag that contained a small box of what Gabe would’ve guessed were condoms from what he could see through the thin white bag from the pharmacy. When she saw him glance at what she was holding, she quickly wrapped the bag around its contents and shoved it deep into the pocket of her skirt. Based on the way she flushed, he’d been dead on about her innocence—but it looked like she wasn’t planning to stay that way.
“Yeah,” he finally replied to her question, his tone cautious, “I’m Deputy Gabe Dawson. Who’s asking?”
She took a quick step forward, grasped his arm, and said in a tumble of words, “I recognize you from the photos. You have to be careful. You and the woman. He’s planning something. I don’t know what, but he’s making my brothers do things, and they’re going to get killed! You have to stop him. Please—you have to save my brothers. Brian’s only thirteen—he doesn’t understand what he’s doing!”
“Whoa, hold on there,” Gabe said, holding up his free hand. Realization sent a cool shiver down his spine even as he asked, “Let’s start with your name. You okay with telling me that?”
“Sandra Monroe,” she whispered, glancing around frantically.
“Jeb Monroe’s daughter.”
She nodded, her eyes darting again.
Damn, he hated being right all the time.