Pitch knocked his head back against the kitchen door frame. “We’ve got some ideas.”
“Well good luck,” she gave him a sad smile.
Pitch’s smile held the same sadness. “Thanks.”
Candace returned to putting away the groceries. Instead of helping, Pitch easily crowded her when she went to the fridge. He let her close the door, but only left her with a scant bit of space to do so.
“I didn’t come here to lay all this on you, you know?”
“It’s fine. I know how to keep my mouth shut, Vic.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he looked mildly agitated. It wasn’t what he was talking about. He didn’t know how he knew he could trust her...he only knew that he did.
“Candace, I um, I came to ask you to have dinner with me tomorrow night.” He spoke in a small, disquieted voice completely at odds with his larger than life persona. He looked around the kitchen at the food still waiting to be put away. “Out to dinner with me,” he clarified.
Her expression changed then and Pitch tried not to let on how much he liked it. There was still so much to learn about her and he intended to learn it all. From what he knew so far, she seemed the straightforward type-no games or bullshit. Despite her straightforwardness, she was still very hard to read at times. He recognized the defense mechanism, not trusting anyone to get too close-expecting to be disappointed. Pitch guessed he recognized the behavior, because he was the same.
“I don’t have sex with men I work for.”
He gave a single nod. Straightforward indeed. “That’s good, since you don’t work for me.”
Pitch advanced until Candace’s back met the fridge door. He didn’t touch her, merely stood there eclipsing everything in her line of vision. She tried to ease out from between him and the fridge, but he merely used his superior arm span to keep her in place. He put a hand to the wood counter space on either side of the skinny refrigerator.
“I don’t have sex with my friends, either.”
“Okay, two things,” he offered another of his brilliant grins, “I don’t have women friends and Jesus lady get your head out of the cesspool. I only asked you to dinner.”
Candace shifted, attempting to hide her smile.
Pitch slipped an arm about her waist and drew her to the very tips of her sneakers. He hardly bent an inch to meet her for their kiss, choosing to put the burden on her to meet him.
Hunger for his kiss overcame her in a heartbeat. Candace didn’t care how much desperation was at work in the way she clutched his shoulders. She wouldn’t cheat herself out of one bit of what he did to her mouth. His tongue explored with masterful skill, the thrusts long, slow and deep-the perfect balance of aggression and patience.
Candace gasped each time her fingers dug into the fine material of his shirt and she felt the extent of his muscle mass. Some microscopic voice of reason in the back of her mind told her to exercise caution. Vic Tesano was surely not a man used to being turned away once his blood was up.
He took pity on her aching toes, lifting her high next to him. Candace silenced all voices of reason now. She would cross the line she’d vowed not to and give this man whatever he wanted whenever the moment arrived.
For the moment at hand, she indulged in easing curiosities that had ravaged her mind. He was as broad and unyielding as his build implied. His hair was just as she’d imagined-like gossamer.
Pitch put her on the counter, pulling her snug against him once he’d stepped between the vee of her thighs. Candace could virtually confirm then that the vast size extended to all parts of his body.
Pitch forced himself to listen to the faint command his conscience made to back off. The woman in his arms deserved better than a tumble on her kitchen counter. Somehow, breaking the kiss, he pressed his face to the side of her neck. He needed her scent in his head as much to bring himself down as to indulge in the naturally addicting fragrance of her. Stepping back, he put a kiss on her forehead.
“Lock the door behind me,” he said.
Candace remained on the counter. She waited until he was halfway through the living room before she followed. Any closer and she wasn’t sure she would let him go.
~33~
“For a group of young men who just had the time of their lives at Lucinda’s, you all don’t look very happy,” Liam’s bottomless eyes made a slow circle around his office inside Tesano headquarters.
“I trust the birthday boy had a fine time,” Liam slanted a wink to Roman who gave him a grin while embarrassment had blood darkening his face.
“Oh yeah, Pop. The birthday boy had a very fine time.”
“Some of us wanted to pass on the opportunity, Dad.” Vale slid a sly look to Stone.
Stone returned the look. “Some of us had to decide who was going to watch brats.”
Low, yet hearty laughter surged at Vale’s expense.
“Don’t take it personal, Son.” Liam’s reassurance was riddled with soft laughter. “I think my assignment is at fault for the moods I sense today. Don’t worry men, the proposals won’t be graded.”
“Pop, about the proposals,” Stone was first to speak up. “We found something while we were finishing up.”
“We?” Liam settled back in his desk chair looking satisfied. “So the impossible was accomplished, huh? You people actually worked together?”
“Some of us passed on the opportunity,” Roman responded with Vale’s earlier phrasing. “My project found common ground with P’s...we kind of wished that hadn’t happened.”
“Tell me.”
Stone tracked a quick look around the room. “You know about the robbery, don’t you Dad? The one down at the docks?”
“Yeah, the cops foiled it, yes?”
“Foiled only after a big shootout,” Humphrey put in.
“And they found ammunition,” Liam added.
