“Missed that window of opportunity.”
“Me, too, but retiring when you’re young enough to enjoy it makes a lot of sense to me.”
Pierce took a chance. “Want to help me enjoy it?”
Jacquie straightened. “Actually, I do. You have a deal, Pierce.”
He couldn’t keep from smiling when she stood up and slid her hand in his, decisive and strong. He couldn’t resist temptation either, and gave her hand a little tug. She took the step between them, guessing exactly what his plan was and obviously having no issues with it. Her eyes shone as she placed her free hand on his shoulder, then gave him a little caress.
She smelled delicious.
“I think an agreement like this should be sealed with a kiss, don’t you?” he said, watching her gaze drop to his lips.
“Definitely, but only if it’s longer than the one last night.”
Oh, there was a lot to like about a woman who told him exactly what she wanted. Pierce couldn’t wait for Jacquie to tell him more.
“I can guarantee that,” he murmured for the moment, then bent to capture her lips beneath his own. He felt her sigh, he heard her make a little purr of satisfaction as her free hand slid into his hair, then there was only Jacquie and the sweet welcome of her kiss.
Four
Jacquie had to be losing her mind. She was necking with a former mercenary in her favorite coffee shop and couldn’t have cared less who saw them.
Pierce had worked with a royal family and undoubtedly traveled all over the world in private jets, attending fancy parties and being a professional bodyguard. Who knew what kind of missions he’d planned and coordinated? Who knew how many people he’d shot or how many guns he had? He’d lived like an action hero. His life had been as different from the mundane reality of Jacquie’s days and nights as was humanly possible.
But he was retired and he wanted her—and she wanted him. There was no mistaking the attraction between them, or that this kiss was melting her bones as quickly as her reservations. She wasn’t even sure she was thinking straight—the incredible thing was that she didn’t mind.
They were too different to ever have a chance at a real future, and Jacquie didn’t even want a future with anyone now that she was finally on her own. A fling was definitely a possibility—and maybe it was smarter to have a fling with Pierce. She’d be going in with her eyes open. It would be an adventure, and Jacquie was ready for that. Pierce apparently didn’t have a family of blood or didn’t care about them anymore. He was a solitary hunter and liked it that way. He wouldn’t want a future either.
Jacquie didn’t think for one second that he’d told her all of the truth but he’d told her part of it and she recognized that the concession was outside of his comfort zone.
And she was flattered that he wanted her that much. She hoped he’d told her as much as she needed to know, but she was ready to take a chance on that.
After a kiss that nearly set their surroundings on fire, they left the coffee shop and headed back toward F5F, hand in hand. Jacquie was walking on air, heat thrumming through her veins. It was good to be walking beside a gorgeous decisive man, to feel his hand locked around hers, to notice other women looking.
She liked her conviction that Pierce was looking only at her.
“Should I make a reservation for dinner?”
“Probably a good idea,” she agreed.
“I don’t like to just wing it.”
She smiled. “Another planner?”
“Guilty as charged,” he agreed easily, giving her hand a squeeze. “Where would you like to go?”
“Actually, there’s a new bistro near my apartment that I’ve been wanting to try.” She gave him the name and watched him look it up on his phone. “Every time I walk by, it smells amazing.” He scrolled through the menu on the website and she felt her eyes widen a little at the prices. Pierce gave no sign that he noticed.
Maybe she should have looked it up first.
“It’s more expensive than I thought.”
“No problem. My treat.” He frowned at the screen. “There’s nothing at eight. Seven or seven-thirty? Or do you want to wait until nine?”
“Seven-thirty,” Jacquie said. She’d have time to get home and change that way.
Pierce nodded and booked it as she watched. She could get used to specifying exactly what she wanted and not having to compromise. She was ready to be spoiled in oh-so-many ways.
He flicked a quick glance her way. “Meet you there?”
She saw understanding in his expression, as if he guessed that she wouldn’t be in a hurry to surrender her home address.
After all, he’d worked in security. She wondered how often he’d advised the princess to keep her private life to herself, and whether Farah had listened. Jacquie would guess that Farah hadn’t, but she was older and wiser.
“Perfect,” she agreed as he stopped just inside the fitness club.
He made a sound of frustration and took off his glasses, which had fogged up. “I hate these things.”
“I like them.”
He gave her a look.
“They give you a kind of Clark Kent aura.”
He chuckled, which surprised her. “Better remember my tights, then.”
“Ummm hmmm,” she said without thinking and he shook his head, his gaze clinging to hers.
“Maybe I won’t find out more about laser surgery then.”
Jacquie felt a little thrum of pleasure that he’d think about keeping the glasses, just because she liked them. She gestured across the lobby when he didn’t move. “You’re not going in?”
“I have an errand to run,” he said, his gaze sliding away. Jacquie knew better than to ask. This was a man with secrets and she needed to let him keep some of them, if she wanted to spend time with him. Fortunately for his secrets, it wouldn’t be that much time. A night. A weekend. A week at most.
And lots
