Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)

“Yeah. She and Forte go back a long way. They grew up together. There’s a thing between them, but they’re pretending there isn’t.” It was nice when the truth got him so neatly out from under a metaphorical bus.

“Ah.” A spark of mischief entered her gaze, and her voice held a touch of anticipation. “Then I’ll really look forward to meeting her. I like her taste.”

“I think she’ll like you, too. She’s been on us to get someone to organize our front desk forever and she’ll love the rest of the stuff you’re doing.” Actually, Rojas wondered if he’d sidestepped one minefield for another. Once Sophie met Elisa, Sophie was sure to subject him to a serious interrogation.

He really didn’t want to think too hard about the sorts of questions Sophie would ask about Elisa yet. Mostly because he was still feeling things out. Thinking too hard made things complicated.

It was simpler to act. Like he had earlier. And he’d very much enjoyed the kiss that had come out of it.

“So, tomorrow at seven, then.” Elisa hesitated, then turned to put her phone on the bedside table.

“Elisa.” He waited until she looked up at him. He dropped Souze’s leash and took a few steps to cover the distance between them and stopped.

After a moment’s hesitation, Elisa took the final step to close the space, putting her within easy arm’s reach.

Warmth rushed through him at the sign of trust, acceptance. It was getting hotter in the room. Or maybe that was just him.

He looked deeply into her expectant gaze.

No. Not only him.

He leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips were soft, brushing against his first before pressing in for real contact. Then she opened for him and he tasted her. She was honey sweet and hungry. She only let him tease her with a few flicks of his tongue before she nipped at the corner of his mouth and claimed a deeper kiss all on her own.

Enjoying himself, and her, he raised his hands to cup her face, and she gasped.

Freezing, he opened his eyes. “Is this okay?”

Her eyes fluttered open—dizzy, and with a slight hint of panic. “Yes.”

It wasn’t quite the truth. Maybe not a lie, either, but he eased back anyway.

“Don’t.” Elisa lifted her own hands and gripped the front of his tee. “You’re not scaring me. I might be scaring myself, but it’s not you.”

“And that’s all right.” He dropped his hands to her shoulders without pushing her away. “There’s a lot going on, fast. And this, this isn’t anything we need to rush.”

“I…” She didn’t ease her hold on the front of his tee.

“I can stop if you want. You can absolutely tell me to stop.” It was important for her to know that. He didn’t want to apply pressure. “And I can also be a friend, if you need ‘friend’ more.”

It’d require a shit-ton of self-control, but he could do that for her. He wanted to at least be someone she could lean on if she needed to.

“No.”

His heart stopped in his chest. He started to release her shoulders. He should go if he wasn’t wanted. And good thing if they settled it right away like this. Tomorrow morning he’d come back as an easygoing friend and do his best to let her settle into a comfortable rhythm with him again.

But Elisa released his tee to press his hands against her shoulders. “No, I don’t want you to stop. I just…need to find my way through every step as we go. And this between us is new, and complicated, and I don’t want it to get twisted up in the process.”

He grinned. Better. Much better than he’d thought. “We can take it slow.”

She looked up at him through long, dark eyelashes. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Because aside from the kisses, he hadn’t really thought it through, either. This was going to be complicated from a couple of different angles, on both sides.

She smiled then, rising up on tiptoes to kiss him again. He was really starting to like her kisses. Especially when she placed her hands on the waistband of his jeans and tugged him closer, tipping her head back and angling it for an even deeper kiss.

He slid his hands over her shoulders and down her back. Time was starting to slip away, and he was more than happy to ignore its existence.

Then a dog whined.

Elisa jerked back like she’d been splashed with cold water. “Oh. I. Uh…”

He raked his hand through his hair. “Yeah. Uh.”

He turned to regard Souze, still dutifully sitting in the doorway, staring right at them. The dog might be drunk on the pheromones in the room because his jaw hung open in a doggy grin.

“Not really into canine voyeurism.” Elisa sounded breathless and hell, his ability to speak clearly wasn’t in the best shape, either.

Mostly, his brain was scrambled. His pants also felt about three sizes too tight around the groin area.

“Rojas. You ready to go? Gary and Greg checked in; they’ll be here any minute.” Cruz’s voice came floating up the stairs.