Hitman Next Door

He waited. Counting down the seconds.

It wasn’t long before the man was dead.

Nate held the dead body, lowering him to the ground, and then wanting to do nothing more than to expel all his anger into the man. There was no way he could do it though, not without risking Lemon waking up.

He didn’t linger on what had happened.

Working with speed, he got the hitman wrapped up in a body bag, the blood cleaned up from the floor, and after quickly pulling on a pair of sweatpants, he dumped the body in the car, which he would deal with later.

There was no blood on him, and for that, he was thankful.

In the kitchen, he quickly got to work on some morning coffee.

He heard Lemon wake up and he gritted his teeth as he waited for the kettle to finish. Then he poured them two generous cups and headed upstairs.

The door rattled, and he cursed.

How was he going to handle this line of questioning?

He was pretty sure the truth wasn’t going to cut it.

After he flicked the lock, the door opened and a panicked-looking Lemon greeted him, in one of his shirts, which he wasn’t going to deny was sexy as fuck to see her in.

“Nate.”

“Lemon, I come with coffee,” he said. Part of him wanted to bow down to her, to make a joke of it.

“The door was locked.”

He smiled. “Er, I was … this is … all new to me.”

“What is?”

“Having a virgin in my bed.”

Her cheeks went a beautiful shade of red. He loved the color on her. “When I woke up, I didn’t know how to keep you in bed and I thought a coffee and talking was what the doctor ordered, and so I didn’t want you to leave before I got a chance to do that.” And he was totally winging these excuses.

This was one of the many reasons Rocco hired him.

He could talk and charm his way out of anything.

“Oh, well, the coffee does sound good. Do you think we could leave the whole virgin thing out of the conversation?”

“You know you’re still one, don’t you?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, good. For a minute there, I thought you didn’t know.” He winked at her. “Try your coffee.”

He made shit coffee.

Lemon took a sip and he laughed as she stifled her shudder. “It’s very good.”

“Oh, please, you and I both know it’s shit.”

“It’s coffee, and it’s first thing in the morning.”

They stood with him outside the door, her inside his room, drinking coffee.

“Maybe we could go and have a seat?” he asked.

Lemon looked back at the bed, and from the quick glance, it was clear she wanted to do anything but.

“Sure. Sure.” The lies spilled with ease past her lips, and he followed her into the bedroom.

He put his coffee down and then took hers from her, placing it on the cabinet beside the bed.

Next, he cupped her face. “You have no reason to be nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“Yes, you are.” He kissed her lips. “And you’ve got no reason to be.” Sinking his fingers into her hair, he tilted her head back. “Do you want to talk about what happened last night?”

“Do you regret it?” she asked.

“Not a single second of it.”

“Then no, it was—” She stopped, biting her lip. “It was the most amazing night.”

“Good, because it is only going to get better. I don’t want to rush things with you, Lemon. You’re a special woman, and you deserve to have the best.”

“What does that even mean?” she asked.

“It means when the right time comes, you will belong to me. There will be no fear, no nerves, and we won’t have argued before I take what is mine.”

She licked her lips, and her gaze fell to his chest. “I don’t like arguing with you.”

“Good.” He kissed her again. “Did you like my mouth on you?”

She moaned.

“I’m going to need words, Lemon.” The blush was back, and he couldn’t resist stroking her cheeks. “Talk to me.”

“Yes, I liked it.”

“Lemon, I’m not a man who fucks with the lights off or hides what I want.” He tightened his grip on her hair. “I know what I want and I go after it. When it comes to a woman I want, and sex, I like it dirty. I like it open and exposed, and raw. Nothing left untouched. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Tonight, I want to take you out to dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes. I’ve heard of a nice Italian restaurant. I think it’s only fair I make your night amazing, don’t you?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to. Your first time isn’t going to be with anyone else but me.” With that, he kissed her again. “You can wear jeans if you wish, or that dress you showed me a couple of weeks ago.”