I smirked. “Is it working?”

“Maybe a little.” She looked back up at the wheel and I shook my head. I didn’t get the heights thing. Maybe it was because I was used to helicopters in the Army and that shit didn’t even have doors on it.

The line moved and it was our turn to enter the pod. Andi glanced at me and I whispered that it was going to be okay and I gave her hand a final squeeze. I saw her chest rise and then she entered and went straight to the center of the ball while everyone else went to the glass walls. I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest, not saying anything while she took in her surroundings.

“Okay,” I heard her say after a few minutes.

“Okay?” I questioned.

She nodded and started to step toward the glass, her hand in mine. Just before we got to the railing, she stopped and looked down.

“Gorgeous,” I laughed, “you’re not supposed to look down.”

She looked up at me. “I wanted to see how far up we were.”

“Well, shit. You’re lucky we aren’t all the way on top yet.”

“I know.” She stepped as close as she could to me, our shoulders pressed together, our hands still clasps and then she took the tiny step forward to the railing.

We were silent again as the wheel took the slow turn. The lights lit up the dark Vegas sky. Each casino could be seen below, and I wanted to point everything out to her, but I kept my mouth shut and let her take everything in. The closer we inched up to the top, the tighter her hand held mine.

I needed to distract her.

I tugged on her hand so she would turn her head to me, and when she did, I leaned down and captured her lips with mine. I wrapped the hand I was holding around my waist and let go so I could reach up and grab her face with both of my hands. Her other arm wrapped around my side as I finally got a taste of my girl.

Everyone in the pod disappeared. It was just her and me. I wanted her to only focus on me, so I stepped closer, pressing her back against the glass. The taste of tequila was faint when I swiped my tongue against her lower lip wanting her to open for me. When she finally granted me access and our tongues collided, there was a little grain of salt left over from her drink and the combination of the two only drove my need to really be with her.

I pushed against her a little harder, causing one of my knees to go between her legs. Our mouths worked together, tasting, sucking and not caring if others were watching. Really I couldn’t give a fuck because this was what I’d been craving for the last two weeks and getting this little taste of her was only going to drive my need for her that much more. I wanted to taste every fucking inch of her.

As I was about to whisper into her ear that I couldn’t wait to get her home to fuck her brains out, she quickly brought her hands up to cover mine that were holding her face and broke the kiss. She pulled her lips away and we kept our foreheads connected. Frustrated, I closed my eyes panting and said the only fucking thing my brain could luster up.

“Andi …”

Chapter Thirteen

Andi

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would know what it was like to date two guys at once. Theoretically, I wasn’t. I was only dating Paul. But I was also dating other men.

I was only dating Paul for real.

Holy shit, I was only dating Paul!

When I accepted the assignment to come to Vegas, I never thought that I’d start dating someone. Dating was not on my radar.

Even though I stopped our kiss the night on the High Roller, it wasn’t because I didn’t want to keep going; it was because I was in my head. That was what I did when it came to all guys I tried to date. It was my curse. My mother, Tony, and Marco had cursed me the night of my seventeenth birthday. I wanted to be normal, to forget about how they ruined me, but no matter what I did, I was reliving that night.

The situation was weird, though. Paul and I lived together so we saw each other all the time. It was as if our relationship was progressing faster than normal and I couldn’t have that. I was freaking out. Literally freaking the fuck out. I hadn’t had sex in twelve years and he’d had sex yesterday—okay not yesterday, but close enough. How was I going to dodge that bullet and still live with him while I did my investigation? Did I want to dodge that bullet? What if I told Paul the truth?

This wasn’t part of the plan.

Paul wasn’t part of the plan.

It had been a few days since our date and things were good—really good. I knew sex was coming.

The sex was coming.

Rolling out of bed, I tossed my hair into a messy bun and went to the kitchen for coffee. Paul was shirtless like always, and I bit my lower lip to hide my smile as he turned. I wanted to smile, but it would only feed his ego and we had our little banter I’d grown accustomed to.

He grabbed my wrist and tugged me to him before I reached the coffeemaker. “Don’t think I didn’t see that, gorgeous.”

“See what?” I peered into his chestnut colored eyes.

“I know you’re hot for my body.” He nipped at my ear and it sent a tingle down my belly. I stifled a moan.

Yeah, I was hot for his body.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

“You think so?” I joked as I tilted my head and allowed him to kiss my neck.

He worked his way up to my mouth. “Shut up and kiss me, woman.”

And I did.

My hands wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped around my waist as our lips locked. The taste of coffee lingered when our tongues got their first taste of each other this morning. I wasn’t going to lie. I could get used to this.

“Remind me to thank Mark again for moving you into my house,” he murmured against my lips then kissed me again, our tongues savoring the feel of how lucky we were.

I smiled against his lips. “I thought I just barged in here?”

He pulled back. “You’re feisty even without coffee.” He slapped my ass playfully as I walked to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup. Little did he know I’d been awake for half an hour preparing myself because today was day three after our date and if you thought about it, it could be date number three. Guys always wanted sex on or before date three. I didn’t know what to expect except …

The sex was coming.

Even though I had no update, I called the secure line for the bureau and gave an update. I told them briefly about the girl in the bathroom; how she’d mentioned Mr. Martinez and how I was going to investigate him further.

As far as Paul, we came up with rules for working even though we’d just started dating. When we went to work, we were only allowed to go to dinner, Vegas shows, or be a lucky charm at a casino for someone. We could hold their hands with minimal kissing, but no getting naked (that was for him). If things got to a certain point where we might not be able to stop a client from getting mad because they wanted more from us, then we ended the date. I wasn’t too worried about that; I had done more research and learned that most companies have a policy that female companions weren’t allowed in client rooms—at least that would be my excuse.

As far as the sex … we’d passed day six of dating and no sex. I wasn’t sure I could do the sex anyway. I wanted to do the sex. I really did, but it was a mind over matter thing and … I was scared.

Luckily, Paul was busy with dates at night and during the day he had his self-defense classes with Gabe so we had minimal interaction. He did, however, mention he wanted me to meet his friends, and that was a big step. I needed to see where this was all going before I brought more people into the mix because I was certain I was leaving after the investigation was over.