Sensual Confessions - Brenda Jackson [71]
“Everything is all set,” he said, finally finding his voice as he placed the last fork down beside a plate. He glanced at the table set for two and thought he hadn’t done a bad job.
She walked over to him and put one of the warm platters in the middle of the table, then looked up at him. “I’m impressed. The table looks nice.”
“Thanks.”
“There’s a half bath around the corner if you want to wash up,” she said.
“All right.”
He headed to the bathroom, wondering how he would get through this meal. Somehow he would, and then he would leave and go back to his place and get the sleep he’d been cheated out of.
Sam’s eyes lingered on Blade as he left the kitchen. It was only then that she released a deep breath and let her fingers relax enough to set the other platter down on the table. She didn’t have to ask herself what there was about being in the same room with him that made her feel this way. The man oozed sexiness in a way no other man could. And it didn’t help matters when she looked into his eyes, or caught him staring at her. It was at those times that she could vividly recall intimate moments between them, sensual confessions they had shared.
She quickly walked back to the refrigerator to get the bottle of orange juice. The best thing to do was to keep him occupied with idle chitchat, she thought, and once breakfast was over, he would leave and she would get to work reading the case files that Patsy had dropped off last week.
She glanced up when Blade returned. “You drink orange juice, right?”
“Yes. And over breakfast I need to talk to you about a couple of things.”
She arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“The threat on your life.”
She chuckled lightly as she came back to the table. She sat down after filling their glasses with juice. “Getting tired of your babysitting gig already?”
He took the chair across from her. “No. I just don’t like not knowing who and what we’re dealing with. That’s why I talked to Alex.”
She paused and reached for a slice of bacon. “Alex?”
“Yes, Alex Maxwell. Remember him?”
She nodded. “Yes. I don’t want to think what could have happened to Mac if he hadn’t figured things out,” she said.
“Alex has agreed to help us, but I need you to be up front with him and tell him everything, Sam. You need to tell him about all those guys you didn’t mention to Detective Adams. He will need names.”
“The only reason I didn’t mention anything about them to Detective Adams is because I don’t think there’s a connection.”
“Maybe not, but we need to let Alex check things out and decide that.”
“And he’s willing to help?” she asked.
“Yes, he’s willing to help investigate.”
What Blade didn’t tell her and what he himself hadn’t wanted to dwell on was the reason Alex was willing to do it. It was simple. Alex was doing it because he’d asked him to. They were family and if Blade had come to him with concerns about Sam’s safety, then that pretty much sealed it. Although Alex hadn’t said anything, he knew Sam wasn’t like those other women Blade had messed around with. For some reason, Sam meant something to him.
“But what if this was just a joke? And someone is doing what Detective Adams said, just trying to ruffle my feathers?” Sam asked, breaking into his thoughts.
As far as Blade was concerned Sam’s questions were timely and necessary. He still wasn’t ready to think about his relationship with Sam. He wasn’t even ready to consider the possibility that they even had a relationship. And he was certain that she would be the first to deny one existed.
He leaned back in his chair. “And do you really think that?”
She slowly chewed her bacon. “I honestly don’t know what to think, Blade.”
The frustration in her voice touched him. He was tempted to get up and pull her into his arms and hold her, whisper in her ear that as long as there was life in his body, nothing would ever happen to her.
He took in a sharp breath. He was confused at how he was thinking, shocked by how he was feeling.