CHAPTER EIGHT
Thursday, June 1
Stazi sat at the counter in her kitchen, quietly drank her coffee, and thought about the forces that had brought Hank into her life. Or, more specifically, into her apartment.
They’d been essentially living together since Sunday and she wasn’t sure how long the arrangement was going to last. As far as she could tell, they were in a holding pattern until someone made a move. Firtash hadn’t contacted her again regarding his painting and there was still a man sitting outside her apartment keeping watch and another trailed her every move.
Which meant that Hank had allowed her out of his sight only when she was at work. And the only reason he did was that the Conservation Center had a state-of-the-art security system in place along with a rigid protocol about who got into the building. All the priceless art that passed through the doors of the building wouldn’t allow for anything less.
Leaning back, she looked into her guest bathroom and tried to see if Hank was almost done shaving. Seeing the muscles move in his wide back gave her a shiver of pleasure as she watched him lean forward and run the razor across his cheek. He really was a beautiful man and she wasn’t just talking about just his physical attributes, though those were numerous and spectacular. What she found most attractive was his character. The last several days had allowed her to discover that he was steadfast, brave, and kind. He was also impatient, demanding, and uncompromising.
Which made sense considering the career he had over the last decade. A lieutenant commander couldn’t be successful if he wasn’t those things. Taking men into battle and being the one responsible for bringing them home shaped a person irrevocably. Who was Hank Coleman before he went to the Naval Academy? Who was he before he left for his first deployment? Probably not something she was ever going to find out. “Are you ready for coffee?” she called out.
“Yes, please.” He looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Have I told you how much I enjoy living with you?”
Before she could respond, he turned around and wiped his face with the towel. Which was a good thing because she didn’t want to admit how much she liked having him around. The moment the threat against her was taken care of, this little arrangement would end, and she would go back to her regularly scheduled life and he to his.
She stood, walked over, put a coffee pod into the Keurig, and pressed the button. Leaning her hip against the counter, she thought about the dinner plans she had tomorrow night and chewed on her thumb. Before she could come up with an answer, Hank walked up and wound his arms around her waist.
He lifted her chin and raised an eyebrow. “What’s bothering you?”
“How can you tell?”
“You were staring into space and chewing on your thumb, which I’ve discovered means you’re puzzling something out. Also, you were frowning.”
“Well…”
“Just tell me, Stazi.”
She stepped out of his embrace and then handed him his cup of coffee. “It’s my birthday tomorrow and my parents are having a small dinner for me, and I wasn’t sure if I should invite you.”
“Your birthday!” He set the coffee cup down and crossed his arms. “You couldn’t have mentioned it a couple of days ago?” He shook his head. “One day doesn’t give me much time to come up with a present, not to mention a cake. Jeez, Staz.”
“First off, you don’t have to get me a present, and my mama is going to get the cake. And…”
“What?”
“How am I supposed to introduce you? My family is going to give me the third degree and I don’t know what answers to give them.”
He took two steps, lifted her up, and set her on the counter. Placing his hands on her face, he gave her a smile. “I’m your boyfriend and I look forward to meeting your family.”
“You are not my boyfriend. We are living together because Ivan the Terrible is parked out front.”
“Yes, I am.” Running his finger over her cheek, he grinned. “Our relationship just got put on the fast track. I knew from the moment I met you that I wanted to spend time together. It just so happens that the situation we’re in is allowing us to do that, and I, for one, am enjoying the hell out of myself.”
“Well…”
He lifted her hands, draped them over his shoulders, and then stepped in between her legs. “You’ve slept in my arms for the last four nights and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s been enjoying it.”
“You were supposed to sleep in the guest room.”
He threw his head back and let out a laugh. “You think I’m going to sleep in a lonely bed when I can crawl into one with you?”
“At least you don’t steal the covers,” she replied.
“It might be kind of hard, considering you sleep wrapped in my arms. It’s your head that’s lying on my chest. It’s your arm draped over my stomach and your feet tangled up with mine. So, I know that you like sleeping together.”
“I can’t tell my parents what’s going on because I don’t want them to worry, and I’m not comfortable telling them we’re temporarily living together. I may be about to turn thirty, but informing them that I’m shacking up with a stranger is not a conversation that I want to have.”
“Understood.” He bent down and brushed his lips over mouth, nipping at her bottom lip. “I don’t want to be anywhere else in the world, Stazi.” He swept her hair off her shoulder and kissed her shoulder, then her jaw. “I’m not going to be satisfied until I know every inch of your body.” Licking his way upward, he nibbled her ear and then worked his way back to her mouth with gentle kisses. “All of me wants all of you, Staz. Nothing less will be acceptable.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not.”
Which was such a lie. He might not be speaking, but what he was doing with his mouth made it very difficult to remember why the two of them were not a great idea. His mouth moving across her skin felt like butterfly wings, as arousal thrummed through her veins. Which, had become a pretty regular thing since he’d shown up.
On Monday night, when she realized she wasn’t getting rid of him and he spent the night, she figured he might try to become intimate right away, but she’d been wrong. At least, they weren’t intimate in the most obvious way.
What they’d been doing every night was kissing, which, as far as she was concerned, was the most pure and raw form of physical contact. Sex was intimate, but that could be done with almost anyone. A kiss, though—my God, that could change the world. That small touch between two pairs of lips, whether short and sweet or long and intense, could be the beginning of everything.
Which, as far as she could tell, was exactly what occurred, and she wanted nothing more than to see what happened next.
But Hank had been frustratingly well behaved. Yes, he got into bed with her, but he always had his boxers on. Which had proven enough of a barrier for both to keep things PG.
But the way his mouth was moving over her skin and the heat that was pooling in her panties told her four nights of chastity was enough. Running her hands over his warm back as he kissed her senseless told her that the birthday present she wanted…was Hank Coleman.
Pulling her face away, she looked into his glazed eyes. “Okay, you can be my boyfriend, and when we get back from dinner, I’ll tell you what I want as my present.”
Framing her face with his hands, he pulled her close and answered with a kiss. Seemed turning thirty wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
***
Hank walked out of the company gym and headed toward the showers. He’d just finished sparring with Jason and he felt relatively calm for the first time all day. Living with Stazi was proving to be both pleasurable and tortuous in equal measure.
And he prayed that he was going to be experiencing a lot more of the pleasure fairly soon. Every night that he crawled into bed had been a gamble because he didn’t know (A) if she was going to allow it and (B) if he was going to survive.
So far, she hadn’t kicked him out, but his ability to curb his cravings was being seriously tested. Every night, he’d clamped down his desires and done nothing more than give her PG kisses. And he would continue until he got the signal that she wanted something more. Because there was no way he was going to risk his everlasting happiness by jumping the gun and doing something that would make Stazi uncomfortable.
Until he got the go signal. Once he got that, then he wasn’t going to hold back. He’d always been a man with a healthy appetite for sex, but being around Stazi had put the thing into overdrive. There had been a near-constant beat in his body to make her his. And the only thing that had kept him sane was that he’d been by her side almost constantly.
Hearing his name over the intercom, he walked over to the wall-mounted monitor and buzzed his assistant. “What’s up, Kaye?”
“A Ms. Anastasia Ivanov is on the phone for you. She says it’s urgent.”
“Shit, put the call through to the locker room.”
“Right away, boss.”
He jogged down the hall and entered the locker room just as the phone began to ring. He lifted the receiver and said, “Honey, is everything okay?”
“Yes, and no…I’m not sure.”
“Are you hurt or threatened?”
“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
Letting out a breath, he leaned against the wall. His heart went back into its regular rhythm and he allowed himself a second before he spoke. “What’s going on?”
“I got a call from Mr. Firtash and he wants me to come over and bring the contracts for his painting. He’s ready to have it evaluated.”
“Is that something you normally do?”
“No! I’m usually in the workshop or at my desk. I typically don’t have much interaction with clients. The company I work for has a team of people who handle the contracts, and the only reason I took the initial meeting was because Dmitry had requested it.”
“I think we should go.”
“What do you mean, ‘we’?”
“You are not going there alone, so if you want to take this meeting then I’m coming along.”
“Doesn’t that sort of blow our cover? The moment they get a glimpse of you, they’re going to know exactly what you are.”
“Yes, they will,” he answered. “I’m a man who is completely smitten with his girlfriend and can’t stand to be apart from her. A man who’s going to take his woman out for an early birthday dinner and decided to go along on her last meeting of the day.”
“Oh…that’s sort of brilliant.”
“Whoever is responsible for having you followed already knows that we’re together. They’ve taken pictures of us all around town and they see that I’m at your place every night. Me showing up is not going to throw up any red flags. It will also allow me to survey the place and maybe plant some audio devices. I can wear a camera and gather intel, and we’ll see who the players are by the time we walk out of there.” Hearing her laugh gave him a jolt of pleasure and he figured she was game to go along with the plan.
“How exciting. I’m going to be a spy and gather intel. I’ve always wanted to do something like that.”
“Honey, I’ll be doing the gathering. You will be doing the distraction.”
“That doesn’t seem all that fair. I want to do more.”
Great, he’d just awoken Stazi’s latent desire to become a super operator. “You have already done the impossible. You are getting me into Firtash’s house and Sam has never gotten close. This is unprecedented access and we’re going to make the most of it.”
“Fine. But don’t count me out.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. If a spy moment becomes available, I’ll be sure to let you know.” The fact that he’d just lied through his teeth bothered him very little. No way was he going to allow Stazi to be in danger in any way. He didn’t much like the idea of her being anywhere near Dmitry, but avoiding him wouldn’t help them figure out what he wanted. And until they knew what he was after, they couldn’t end the threat.
“I know you just said that. There’s no way you’re going to give me a chance at a spy decoder ring. You’re going to save all the fun stuff for yourself.”
“I promise to buy you a decoder ring the first chance I get.”
“You’d better.”
“Call Dmitry and set the appointment for the end of the day. I will come by and pick you up and then we can go see what the man wants.”
“All right. This really is the last day it’s possible, so I won’t be lying. I’m not going to have a moment of free time after today. I have my trip to Rome next week.”
“Which I will be accompanying you on.”
“No way, Hank.”
“Yes, way, Stazi. You think whoever is interested in you is going to stop because you cross an ocean? Let me answer that for you…no. Send your itinerary to Kaye and I’ll have her make arrangements.”
“You can’t just get up and leave your business to jet off to Europe because there might be a threat. I’m going to be working anyway and you’ll just be bored.”
“Send the itinerary over. This is not negotiable.”
“Those are words that should never be said to a woman.”
“How about these…honey, can you please send the details of your trip so that I can make arrangements to join you? The idea of being separated from you for more than a day is inconceivable and I want nothing more than to spend time with you in the beautiful city of Rome. I plan to seduce you under the Roman moon, and by the time I’m done with you, there will be no other name on your lips than mine. Please, honey, let me show you what love feels like.”
All he could hear was Stazi’s breathing. Had he made her speechless?
Apparently.
He hadn’t given much thought to what he said. He just opened his heart and let the words tumble out. Something he rarely did. Thing was, everything he’d said, he meant. He did want to romance and seduce Stazi and he figured Italy was as good a place to do it as any. “Stazi…”
“Those, Hank…are the words you should use,” she said quietly.
“I meant every single one of them.”
“What are we doing, Hank?”
“Starting us, Stazi. This is the beginning of our story. Sure, we have a couple of bad guys, mobsters, and oligarchs trying to distract us, but it’s never going to work because no matter how many obstacles besiege us, we will not be stopped. We are going to be together.”
“Okay.”
Leaning his head against the wall, he smiled like an idiot. That was as good an answer as he could hope for. “Call me as soon as you confirm the meeting. I’m going to work with Lucky and Sam and get myself all geared up for our spy mission.”
“Wear a suit, Hank. It will make you look less like what you are.”
“Meaning?”
“A suit will hopefully soften your edges and make you look less like a warrior and more like a businessman.”
“Got it. A suit it is.”
“Thank you. I’ll call you back as soon as I set up the meeting.”
“See you soon, honey.” He hung up the phone and checked his watch. He had only a few hours to get everything together. This might be a one-shot deal, and he wanted to make the most of it. Whatever intel he could gather today would put them one step closer to figuring out what the players wanted.
And he might be one step closer to getting what he wanted too…and that was Stazi in his arms, in his bed, and in his life.