Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

“Doll, you’re

no pig. It’s adorable, is all. You’re adorable.”

Her eyes narrowed on me.

“And beautiful.”

She laughed. “You’re so full of crap.” Shaking her head, she tossed her hair over her shoulder yet again.

Despite her words, I saw the pleasure shining out of her molten dark chocolate eyes. She might try to hide her reactions from me, but I could see each and every one of them through her expressive eyes. She was just as into me as I was into her.

“Does that mean I don’t get dinner?” I gave her a pout. “Please, Santana, I’m so hungry.”

“You’re so something.” She sighed exasperatedly, but it was overshadowed by the amusement in her eyes. “I guess I could put up with you long enough to fix you dinner tonight. But only if you promise not to lie about my stupid snort being adorable again.”

“I’d never lie about something like that, doll.”

The waiter put the bill on the table and, as if on cue, Santana reached for her things. I snatched the little black book up, shot the man an irritated look for interrupting us, and handed over my credit card. He took it and made a hasty exit back to wherever he had been waiting to fuck up my time with my girl.

“I should get going. I have to do a little grocery shopping if I’m cooking for you.” She took one last sip of water and stood.

I jumped to my feet, blocking her from leaving. “I’ll take you then drive you home. That way, you don’t have to carry your camera case and I’ll know where you live.”

She hesitated, but since I still had her case in my trunk, it wasn’t like she could just abandon me there.

“Come on,” I urged, lowering my head so I could get another smell of her shampoo. Fuck, she smelled so damn good. “You know you don’t want to say good-bye to me yet.”

She didn’t. I could see the reluctance glowing back at me plain as day. I wasn’t ready to say good-bye, either. A gnawing ache filled my chest just thinking about being away from her for a few hours. That was a dangerous feeling, especially when I was about to leave for tour in a few days.

“Don’t you have other things you need to do, rock star?” She tilted her head, watching me closely. “Aren’t you leaving soon?”

I shrugged. “All I gotta do is pack.” I had a shitload of stuff that needed to be done, but none of that mattered. I only wanted to spend my time with Santana, not wasting it on stupid shit. “That can wait. I’d rather spend time with you.”

The waiter returned with my card and the receipt for me to sign. Taking it from him, I scribbled down a tip and my signature, and then tossed it on the table. Then I took Santana’s hand before she could make up her mind.

Out on the street, I pulled her toward the valet and handed him my ticket. Then I turned to face Santana, determined not to let her get rid of me yet. If I let her go now, if we said good-bye and that was it, I knew we would both regret it.

“You like to have your own way, huh?” Her lips twisted with annoyance, yet I could see the amusement in her eyes again.

I grinned and thrust my hands into my pockets. “See, you already know me pretty well. Don’t lie to yourself either, doll. You know you like me.”

Those damn expressive eyes of hers showed me everything she was thinking right then. I saw the truth, whether she was ready to admit it to herself or not. She did like me, but there was more, the same kind of more I was feeling. It might have scared me a little, but I could see that it terrified her.

Why?

I wanted to know what had made her so afraid of liking a guy. Afraid of getting close to him.

“Yes,” she surprised us both by admitting in a voice so quiet I almost didn’t hear her. “I do like you. A lot. Even though I know I shouldn’t.”

I caught her hand and pulled her into me. Lifting my free hand, I cupped her chin between my thumb and index finger, tilting her head up until those beautiful brown eyes were forced to meet mine. “It’s okay to be scared, doll. This—whatever this is—it scares me a little, too. But it’s a good kind of scared. I like you … a fucking lot. Don’t let whatever fear you have keep you from finding out what this could turn into with me.”

Her inhale was a little shuddery before she asked, “And what could this turn into, Kale?”

Damn, the way she said my name like that made my body respond instantly. I knew she couldn’t miss the fact that my dick was hard against her stomach, flexing and straining to get free.

“You leave next week for a tour, and I—”

I pressed my thumb to her lips, those big luscious lips that I had been fantasizing about all morning. “I’m just asking for a little of your time, doll. Let’s get to know each other; see if we like each other in the real world. Who knows, you might turn out to be some murderess who lures hot rockers back to her studio in the middle of the desert and tortures guys like me, then hacks their poor bodies into a million pieces and scatters them from here to Vegas.”