“I don’t think so.” Flipper paused. “She cried tonight.”
“What do you mean, she cried?”
“Today was the first day of summer and there’s an annual laser show to commemorate the change in season. One of the laser displays was a salute to New York, where they did an awesome light replica of the Statue of Liberty and American soldiers. She got emotional and cried. Dammit, Bane, a person who is betraying their country doesn’t cry for those in the service. Call me a sucker for tears but I don’t believe she has a traitorous bone in her body.”
“Then it’s up to you to prove it. What about those two people who hang around her shop?”
“The woman who works for her and the tattoo guy? Both seem clean. But I will dig further. I have to.”
“Okay, but make sure while you’re digging for answers that you’re not burrowing yourself into something you can’t handle.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you know what I mean, Flip. You were sent there to prove her innocence—not to prove she has a passionate side. Remember that. Good night.”
Flipper clicked off the phone and rubbed a hand down his face. Little did Bane know that after the kiss with Swan tonight, Flipper was driven to do more than prove her innocence, or her passion.
He wanted to possess Swan completely.
And he had a feeling the desire wasn’t one-sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes during dinner. He’d felt how her body had responded to his touch. He was certain the same sensations that rushed through him had affected her, too. Kissing her had been inevitable, something they both wanted and needed.
The genie called desire was out of the bottle and Flipper honestly didn’t know how to get it back inside.
Swan pushed away from her desk and took another huge gulp of ice-cold lemonade. It had been that way for her all day. Instead of concentrating on the online orders she needed to fill and ship out, her mind was wrapped around that kiss from last night.
All she had to do was close her eyes to remember every single detail, specifically every sensuous lick of his tongue inside her mouth. Even now, the memory sent multiple sensations coursing through her body, causing pleasure the likes of which she’d never encountered before.
She looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. “Yes?”
Jamila stuck her head in. “Mr. Make-you-have-an-instant-orgasm is back.”
Swan didn’t need to ask Jamila what she meant or who she was talking about. “Any reason you can’t wait on him?”
Jamila smiled naughtily. “I could use the pleasure but he specifically asked for you.”
Swan nodded. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay, I will let him know.”
Swan reached over and took another gulp of her lemonade. She didn’t want to admit it, but after that kiss last night, David could become an addiction. Besides putting down a gallon of lemonade, she’d been twitching in her seat most of the day, thinking that if his tongue could do that to her mouth, then Lordy...she could only imagine what else he would be able to do...
She quickly stood, refusing to go there even as a naughty part of her mind wished that he would. Leaving her office, she rounded the corner and stopped.
David stood in the middle of her shop wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a muscle shirt. The sight of his muscled abs and strong legs made Swan bite back a groan. Just when she thought he couldn’t get any sexier, he’d proved her wrong.
He must have heard the sound of her footsteps because he turned and smiled.
As if on cue, she smiled back. “Hello, David, you came to make more purchases?” Hopefully he would take the hint that she didn’t expect him to just drop by without a reason.
“Yes. I’m buying jewelry for my three sisters-in-law and would love for you to offer suggestions.”
Swan couldn’t help but smile since she liked making sales. What store owner wouldn’t? “I’d love to help you pick out pieces of jewelry for them.”
An hour later, Swan stood at the cash register to ring up all of David’s purchases. With her assistance, he’d selected some really nice pieces, with a number of the stones chosen specifically because that’s what he’d said they would like. Then he wanted earrings to complement the necklaces, which he paid for in advance. They decided to select stones for the earrings tomorrow since they’d spent a lot of time on the necklaces today and her shop would be closing in less than an hour.
From their conversation, she knew the Holloways were a close-knit family. He’d even pulled out his phone to show her pictures of his young niece and nephews.
“No pressure for you to marry?” she asked when he tucked his phone back into the pocket of his shorts.
“None. My parents have been married for more than forty years and are still very much in love. They make sure their kids and grandkids know that. They believe we will know when it’s time for us to marry without any pressure from them. We’ll be the ones to have to live with the people we choose. They just want all their children to be happy.”
She nodded. “I like the way your parents think. I want to believe that, had my parents lived, they would have a similar philosophy. Dad used to tell me all the time that he wanted me to grow up and be whatever I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted to do, and that he and Mom would always have my back.”
She suddenly felt a deep sense of loss. “Appreciate your parents, David. You never know how truly great they are until they’re gone. But in all honesty, I think I’ve always known I had great parents.”
At that moment, he did something she wouldn’t have expected from him—he reached out and took her hand. “They sound great and I know they’re proud of your accomplishments.”
“Thanks.” That was a nice thing for him to say. To avoid thinking about just how nice he was, she slid the bag with his purchases toward him and gave him the credit card slip. He signed it and gave it back to her.
“How would you like to go to happy hour at Danica’s with me?”
After talking about her parents and missing them like crazy, she could use more than just an hour of happiness. She would love to be able to have a lifetime of that feeling.
It wasn’t that she was unhappy, because she wasn’t, but there were times when she wondered if maybe there was more out there for her than what was currently in her life. Perhaps she was shortchanging herself on some things. What those things were, she had no idea.
“I would love to go but good luck getting a table at Danica’s. They have the best hot wings and are always crowded, especially for happy hour. I think the entire island heads over there at five.”
“Since I know you don’t close your shop until five, how about if we meet over there at five-thirty? I guarantee we’ll have a place to sit.”
“Um, sounds like you might have connections, David Holloway.”
“We’ll see.” He took the bag and turned to leave, and just like before, she watched his movements until he was no longer in sight.
* * *
“Wow. You do have connections, don’t you?” Swan said, sliding into a stool at the bar. “I’ve been here a number of times and the best seat I’ve ever gotten is at one of those tables outside.”
Flipper smiled.