Sensual Confessions - Brenda Jackson [66]
“Nice bedroom.”
She looked up at Blade. “Thanks, but I’m sure if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” she said, making light of his compliment.
“For some reason this one is different.”
She forced herself not to say it was probably the first bed belonging to a woman that he hadn’t been in, but decided not to do so. It was getting late and she was tired. The day had been overwhelming to say the least.
Instead she said, “Now that you’ve satisfied your curiosity, I’ll walk you to the door.” And instead of waiting for him to move, she began walking back down the hall and then down the stairs. He didn’t immediately follow her and she could only assume that he felt the need to check out her master bath, as well. When he finally joined her downstairs, she was waiting beside the front door.
“I input my phone number on your landline under B,” he said. “Hand me your cell phone for a second.”
Rolling her eyes, she moved to the sofa to get it out of her purse, and walked back over and handed it to him. She watched as he entered his name and phone numbers—both for his cell phone and landline—into her BlackBerry. He then handed it back to her.
“Now I need your numbers,” he said, taking his phone out the pocket of his jacket. She gave them to him and moments later he returned his own BlackBerry to his pocket.
He met her gaze. “I guess I don’t have to tell you to be careful opening the door for anyone you really don’t know.”
She forced her eyes not to roll. “No, you don’t have to tell me, although you’ve done it anyway.”
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “You like having a smart mouth, don’t you?”
“I don’t know. Do I?”
His frown deepened. “Keep it up and I’m going to get pissed.”
She couldn’t help but inwardly smile at that. “Mmm, what else is new, Blade? Same place—” she looked at her watch “—and almost the same time. Seems like your mood is a repeat of last night.”
When she saw anger flicker in his eyes, she drew in a deep breath and then said, “Look, sorry I brought up anything about last night. I’m not in a good mood right now. I’m tired, sleepy, aggravated and—”
“Trying to make the best of a difficult situation.”
She was. And the fact that he knew it almost was too much for her. All day she’d tried being strong, but now she felt vulnerable. Knowing there was someone out there who wanted to do her harm had her stomach in knots, and it had taken everything she had to fight back her fears. She was a Di Meglio, she had come from a long line of Italians and Africans who were mighty and invincible. Brave to a fault. Not a coward among them and she was determined not to be the first.
“If you want to get to the office by eight, then we need to leave here no later than seven-thirty,” he said.
She nodded. “I’ll be ready. And I’m doing breakfast if you’d like to drop in. It will be ready around six-thirty.”
“Thanks, but fair warning. I’m not a morning person, Sam.”
She shook her head and glanced down as a chuckle erupted from her throat. She glanced back up at him and smiled. “Neither am I, but I can do a good job at faking it.”
The smile that touched his lips—those incredible lips—she thought, was refreshing. His eyes held hers for the longest time and then he reached out and touched her cheeks. The fingertips touching her skin felt warm, soothing…caring. She inhaled deeply at the thought that there was a slight possibility that he did care. He might not want to, but he did anyway. Otherwise, he would not be here now. She couldn’t help but find that interesting.
“Try to get some rest,” he said. He leaned closer and brushed a kiss across her lips and whispered, “Good night.”
“Good night, Blade.”
When she opened the door to let him out, a private security patrol car was driving by, making its rounds. Seeing