He swallowed. Damn it. At this point, he wasn’t sure he cared who she was. He wanted to bury himself inside her and claim her as his.
CJ sneaked a glance at David, a low growl erupting from his chest. He cut it off before anyone could notice. The other man was obviously into Kendra, but he’d backed off when he picked up on CJ’s interest. That realization didn’t completely smother the jealousy.
Kendra continued her climb up the wall, including a difficult transition that CJ thought might require a jump. She didn’t look his way at all. Her entire attention remained focus on her ascent. Even contorted in concentration, her face was beautiful.
CJ didn’t know if he’d ever seen such a beautiful woman before. Excitement and trepidation flooded in, making him question so many things he took for granted. He’d been free of the Phoenix Corps for a while, and unlike many of his brothers, he’d had no problem immersing himself in human popular culture, including beautiful actresses, singers, and athletes. None of them compared to the woman now ascending the wall in front of him.
There was one major problem with the possibility of her being his Vestal. The only way to be sure at this point was to sleep with her. It wouldn’t hurt to do some further investigation, for the sake of the mission, if anything.
CJ grinned. Maybe that wasn’t such a problem. First things first.
“Hey, Kendra,” he called. “How about lunch?”
Chapter Eight
Kendra sipped at her glass of water, her heart pounding. She’d been kicking herself since the park. Graham’s serial killer explanation didn’t feel right, and when CJ showed up at Walls and Falls, she couldn’t help but see it as a sign from above.
She’d been hoping to work up the courage to ask him out after the climb, but he’d gone and done it right in the middle. That almost made her fall, but it was worth it. She’d finished her climb, taken a quick shower, and headed out with him to a nearby Mexican place.
It didn’t matter that she wasn’t hungry. She wasn’t hungry for food.
Kendra could feel his eyes on her body the entire time she’d been climbing. She welcomed it, only worrying that it might be messing with her concentration.
She’d always mixed fashion and function with her outfits since Graham first convinced her. She’d come to appreciate how they showed the results of her hard work but never had worried about how they might please a single man. Of course now, she was in sweats, but he’d gotten to see what she had to offer.
It wasn’t fair. His short-sleeve t-shirt showed off his thick arms, and his jeans clung tightly to his powerful thighs and awesome ass, but she wanted that shirt off so she could trace every muscle in his chest with her fingers and tongue. She also wanted to see what he could do with his own tongue.
They’d chatted politely so far, keeping it light and breezy and mostly talking about her videos after he’d admitted he’d finally come across her show. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but he sounded impressed. Now she felt like an awkward teenager as she nibbled on her carne asada and stole the occasional glance at the man who was already done with one huge steak burrito and moving onto another.
His appetite didn’t surprise her. A man that muscular and huge needed his protein.
“Enough about me,” Kendra said. “What about you? I have to admit you’ve got an impressive physique, and I spend a lot of time around men with great bodies.” She put a palm to her forehead and groaned. “That didn’t sound so bad in my head.”
CJ lowered his burrito with a pleasant smile. “Don’t worry. I’m being generous. Go on.”
Kendra took a deep breath before swallowing down her discomfort. “You said you were checking out the gym for a friend? You don’t do climbing?”
“Not as a sport, no.”
“You must do something.” Kendra reached across the table, stopping herself before she caressed his bicep.
They both stared into each other’s eyes in silence for a long moment before she sat back down, her face burning with embarrassment. She returned to her meal, but it wasn’t long before CJ cleared his throat and spoke again.
“I don’t do sports if that’s what you’re talking about,” CJ said. “I train a lot, but gym stuff and general exercise. It’s all functional stuff, more about my job than anything. Besides, I’m one of those guys who was just kind of born bigger. I put in my time, but I doubt I have to work as hard as you.”
“Your job?” Kendra loved everything about CJ. His size, his voice, his light brown hair. Again, she couldn’t help but think about how he was a dream made flesh. “What kind of job requires that kind of fitness but isn’t athletics?”
CJ looked surprised for a split second. Kendra wondered why that would be but didn’t want to mess up the moment.
“I’m a private investigator,” he said with a sheepish grin. “Before you say anything, it’s not that impressive. It’s mostly following around husbands cheating on their wives, that kind of thing.”
“A PI? Wow.” Kendra laughed. “I’ve never actually met one in real life. I would have never suspected from the way you look.”
“Sometimes people don’t like getting caught doing bad things,” CJ said. “And I can’t shoot everyone who wants to take a poke at me. Fitness and being able to knock a guy on his ass can come in handy and save me from having to explain why I shot somebody.”
The more he spoke, the more confident it sounded. Kendra wasn’t sure if that meant he was
