Carissa

I gulped down some of my water, trying to cool myself off—and not from the heat of the grill. It was Vaughn’s raspy voice that had my pulse racing. He might have been talking about the fire, but my mind immediately jumped to the heat burning between us instead. I had no doubt he knew exactly how to handle it, but I was completely out of my depth with him. It didn’t stop me from wanting to fling myself into the deep end with him, though.

“I already know you’re an expert griller,” I teased as I cut off a charred portion of the pork belly and put it on his plate. “And an amazing kisser. But I don’t know much else about you.”

“I’m twenty-nine, single, and self-employed,” he rattled off.

“You’re going to have to do better than that. I already knew your age, assumed you were single or else we wouldn’t be here together, and saying you’re self-employed doesn’t tell me anything about what you do.”

“I’m an extremely private person. Sharing about myself doesn’t come naturally to me,” he explained.

“I might be new to the dating thing, but I’m pretty sure that’s what first dates are all about. Getting to know each other.” A horrible thought crossed my mind. “Unless. I mean. I guess that’s only if you want a second date. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

“Carissa, stop,” he barked out, stopping my awkward rambling. “I don’t just want a second date with you, I want all the dates. Never, not even for a single moment, mistake my discomfort at talking about myself for not wanting you. Not unless you need me to prove exactly how much I want you.”

“Okay,” I whispered, awfully tempted to do exactly that. Instead, I decided to make it a little easier for him to share by telling him about myself. “I’m nineteen, single, and have no idea what I’m going to do with my life. Both of my best friends live in Europe, Celina and Bryony, and I’ve been wondering if I wouldn’t have been better off staying with one of them instead of coming home. I’d planned to go to college in the Fall, but my parents have been avoiding the subject. Since I’m dependent upon them until I can access the trust my grandparents left to me, I’m kind of stuck at a standstill for now. It’s especially difficult since I’m not close to them. Like, at all since I’ve spent the last six years at an all-girls boarding school in Switzerland.”

“I’m fucking thrilled you decided to come home—”

Vaughn’s response was cut off by the arrival of the waiter. He placed dishes of ice cream in front of each of us, cleared the table and then quietly left us alone again. Vaughn dipped a spoon into my dish and lifted it to my mouth.

“You have to try the ice cream. It’s black sesame flavored.”

I let him slide the spoon between my parted lips, enjoying the cool creaminess before the flavor exploded on my taste buds. The toasted black sesame reminded me of the roasted buckwheat Celina was basically addicted to. “Delicious.”

He dipped his head and swept his tongue across my lips. “Exquisite,” he agreed.

“Vaughn?”

“Yes.”

“The ice cream is amazing, but your kisses are even better.”

“I guess I’d better give you another one since I did say you deserved the best.”

“Yes, please.”

Before I could say anything else, he slammed his lips down on mine. Cupping the back of my neck, he pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. His tongue tangled with mine until my heart was racing. Then he drew back slightly, running his tongue across my bottom lip before nibbling on it.

“Yes, exactly like that.” I licked my lips, trying to capture the taste of him, and he moaned.

“You really don’t have a clue what you’re doing to me, do you?”

“Nope, but I’m going to enjoy figuring it out.”

His eyes flared with heat, so it surprised me when he settled back on his cushion and nudged my bowl of ice cream towards me, handing me the spoon from the table. He dipped the spoon he’d used to feed me into his dish and took a bite. We sat there, eating ice cream like he hadn’t just kissed me senseless, for a couple minutes before he started talking.

“Like you, I was an only child. When my parents died in a car crash during finals of my senior year of high school, I wasn’t left with many options. So I joined the Army and served for eight years. I met my best friend and business partner, Gaige, there.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.” As difficult as my relationship with mine was, I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose them the way Vaughn had lost his.

“Thanks, beautiful, but it was a long time ago.”

It was obvious he didn’t want to discuss them further, so I let it drop and switched to a safer subject. “What kind of business are you and Gaige in?”

“Consulting. Security mostly.”

Thinking about the security staff my father employed, it was hard to believe Vaughn earned the kind of money that allowed him to drop a quarter of a million dollars like he had at the charity gala. My skepticism must have shown on my face because he offered up more details.

“I was a sniper in the Army. Gaige was my flanker. We both learned a unique set of skills that command a high price when needed in the civilian world. I didn’t just learn marksmanship and long range shooting. They taught me how to avoid detection, target range estimation methods, camouflage, infiltration, special reconnaissance and observation, along with surveillance and target acquisition.”

I only followed about a quarter of what he said, but his time in the military certainly explained the confidence with which he carried himself and the aura of danger surrounding him. One thing did jump out at me as being odd, though. “What brought you to the charity gala?”

“Business.”

“Your client didn’t mind that I distracted you from your work?”

“My client”—he paused oddly on the last word—“doesn’t have any objections with how I get the job done.”

“Good,” I sighed, feeling relieved. “I’d hate to cause you any problems.”

“I have no doubt you’ll be worth any trouble you bring my way.”

“I only hope you’ll be worth the difficulties I’m going to face,” I mumbled under my breath. Only I wasn’t as quiet as I thought I’d been because Vaughn heard exactly what I’d said.

“You don’t face anything on your own because of me, beautiful,” he told me as he helped me to my feet.

“My parents being mad at me because of this date isn’t your fault, though,” I insisted. “It isn’t even mine. The blame rests totally with them.”

Dropping down on his knees to slide my strappy sandals back on my feet, he glared up at me. “I mean it, Carissa. I’m damn good at fixing problems. If you find yourself in trouble of any kind, you call me to take care of it.”

“How can I call you when I don’t even have your phone number?” I grumbled.

As soon as he had his shoes on, he yanked his cell from his pants pocket. After a couple of quick jabs of his finger against the screen, my cell started ringing in my purse. When he jerked his head towards my bag, I pulled out my phone and a number I didn’t recognize flashed across the screen.

“Problem solved,” he declared. “For now at least. Until I can get you a phone from me.”

“I already have one.” I shook it at him. “Why would I need another?”

“Whose name is on that account?” he asked. “Yours or your parents?”

“My parents.”

“Exactly. I’m not about to leave my only form of communication with you to the same people who could very well be the reason you need to call me in the first place.”

I considered what he’d said as he led me out of the restaurant to his car. “I guess that makes sense,” I told him after he’d slid into the driver’s seat and the car had pulled away from the curb. “Except for the fact that we’ve only been out on one date.”

“Your first date,” he reminded me. “Plus, your first kiss.”

“And my second.”

“I’ve been in enough life and death situations to learn not to take the good things for granted. You’ve been on my mind every minute since I met you.”

“I’ve been thinking about you, too,” I admitted softly.

“I’ll give you a couple days to think about what you want, but you need to know I’m not looking for a one-time thing with you, Carissa. If you give yourself to me, then you’re mine, and I’m not letting you go.”