I shouldn’t like this side of him, but I do. He’s seething mad. I can tell that he’s genuinely pissed at this guy for what he did to me. I’m just grateful that now the police can do their job and arrest him.
“I’ll go back to the precinct in the morning and tell them I know who robbed me.” I feel a sudden rush of relief. I haven’t let that night ruin my life but what happened still jars me when I’m alone and I give it too much thought. “I can’t believe we figured it out.”
That lures a smile to his mouth. “You look happy and I’m ready to toss him in the East River.”
I laugh. “You wouldn’t really do that.”
“Give me five minutes alone with the guy and test me.” He fists his left hand. “I can go find him tonight, Piper. I know where the asshole lives.”
I step forward to rest my hand over his. He instantly loosens up and cups my hand in his palm.
“We’re going to let the police do their job, Griffin.”
“Are we?” He moves to rest our hands in the center of his chest.
I stare at them, liking the subtle intimacy, but wanting even more. “I should thank you for solving the mystery.”
“We did that together.” His thumb rubs circles over my hand. “We should thank each other.”
I want that, but he’s interested in someone else. I heard him tell Brenda that less than an hour ago. My stance on getting involved, in any romantic capacity, with a man who has a girlfriend or wife hasn’t changed. I won’t do it, even if I want the man more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.
I tug my hand free, not wanting to prolong the inevitable.
He exhales harshly when our hands part. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. All you wanted was a one-night stand and you ended up in a hotel room with a sewer rat.”
“He’s lower than a sewer rat.” I shake my head to chase away the memory of Marco’s dry, chapped lips on mine. “I should have taken off when he kissed me. It was the worst kiss I’ve ever had. That was a red flag, but I hung around for more. You know what they say about the way a man kisses.”
I catch myself when I realize what I just said.
Griffin isn’t one of my girlfriends from back home. I can’t talk about sex, good or bad, with him. It’s wrong and besides, it makes me want to know how good sex with him would be.
Amazing, mind-numbingly amazing. I know that’s how it would be.
“I don’t know what they say about the way a man kisses.” His mouth curves into a smile. “Tell me.”
I laugh nervously as I look down at the floor. He’ll see the want in my eyes if I look up at him.
He leaves me no choice when he touches my chin with his index finger. “Look at me, Piper.”
I move my head when he applies the slightest bit of pressure to my skin. I look up and into his eyes, knowing that he’ll see everything that I’ve been trying to hide since I first saw him in his office after I’d spent the night with Marco.
“What do they say about the way a man kisses?”
I smile inwardly at the way he draws the word ‘they’ out. “It’s silly. It’s probably just a thing women talk about to each other.”
“You have to tell me now.” His finger runs a path up my jawline until it rests just below my ear. “I can’t leave until I know.”
I shiver under his touch, hoping he won’t leave. I don’t want that. If he does leave, I want to go with him. “You can tell things about a man by the way he kisses.”
His hand moves to cup my neck. His touch is tender with just the right amount of pressure. “What things?”
The sexual tension is thick between us. I should stop everything and ask him about the woman he was talking about earlier. I want to know who she is and if he’s going to be with her tonight. I close my eyes against the assault of an image of Griffin in bed, hovering above someone else.
“Sex,” I whisper as I drop my gaze. “If a man is a good kisser, he’ll be just as good when he’s ...”
“Fucking a woman?” He interrupts with a squeeze of his hand on my neck.
I almost moan, not just from the sensation of his touch but the words coming from his mouth.