shook her head as she and Mace picked up their forks. “You two are such boneheads.”
Smitty watched Dez for a second, then leaned forward. “Do you mind if I ask you a question, darlin’?”
“Only if you stop calling me darlin’.”
“Now where I come from that’s a term of endearment.”
“Really? Well, where I come from motherfucker is a term of endearment. Want me to start calling you that?”
Mace almost spit his cake out, but now he knew Smitty was pissed.
“All right then, Dez. Mind if I ask you a question?”
“Ask away,” she happily offered as she ate a bite of cake.
“You’ve never had great sex, have you?”
Swallowing her cake and damn near choking on it, “That ain’t no question, Smith.”
Well, hello Bronx accent. Welcome back!
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Uh-oh. Smitty being sarcastic—not good. “I can phrase that in the form of a question if ya like. Have you ever had great sex?”
Dez leaned back in her chair, her arms crossing in front of her. She leveled that gray-green gaze in Mace’s direction. “You’re not going to help me out here, are you?”
“I could help you out, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.”
“I’m still waitin’,” Smitty pushed. Mace didn’t know what his friend was up to, but he couldn’t wait to find out, and to see if Dez punched him. The girl he used to know had a mean right hook; he could only imagine what this woman had in her arsenal.
“Well…I…uh…”
“Well-I-uh what?”
“Hey! I’m thinkin’!”
“If you have to think about it, darlin’, you haven’t had great sex.”
“What exactly is the point of this conversation?”
“Simply pointing out a fact.” With that, Smitty got up and disappeared again.
Now it seemed to be Dez’s turn to growl. “Okay, now I’m starting to hate him.”
Mace grinned. He was so okay with that.
Dez’s face burned. She could probably fry an egg on it. How had this evening gone so terribly wrong so goddamn quickly? She’d lost control. Again! She never lost control. Whether during an interrogation or a perp walk or a tactical maneuver, Dez MacDermot never lost control. But with Mace staring at her and his country bumpkin friend twisting her words around, she felt like she dangled off a building without a bungee cord.
She’d already regressed to her old nervous habit of running her damn hands through her hair, saying the word ain’t in a sentence where she wasn’t mocking someone, and getting that damn accent back. Maybe Missy Llewellyn was right. She would always be that Bronx girl, no matter what she did.
“Dez. Look at me.”
“No.” Absolutely, unequivocally, kill-herself-first no.
“Desiree. Look at me.”
Clenching her hands into tight fists, Dez raised her head and froze, trapped in that gold gaze. Trapped there as if the man had put shackles on her wrists and sat on her. Dez had no idea how long they were staring at each other. She felt Mace sliding through her body. Touching everywhere. Making himself quite at home. She couldn’t look away and she didn’t want to.
He didn’t say anything to her. He really didn’t have to. He said it all in those beautiful eyes of his. He wanted her. Would do anything necessary to get her. And, if she let him, he’d give her more than great sex. He’d give her never-able-to-walk-straight-again sex. The kind where she’d lose her soul.
Finally, Mace motioned for the check, but his eyes never left her face. “Come home with me, Dez.”
On a sigh, “Okay.” Dez blinked. Helllloooo! Idiot alert! Have you lost your mind? “Uh…I mean…” Dez pinched her leg to snap herself out of it. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t do one-night stands.”
“I don’t want a one-night stand. I want us to—”
“I don’t do relationships either,” she burst out suddenly, completely cutting the man off.
Calmly, “Why?”
“Because I’m a cop. Always was. Always will be.”
“Not quite sure why that affects us.”
“It does.” She’d already been through this. Learned the hard way. Never again. “I’ve actually got somewhere to be.” Thank God.
“At eleven-fifteen at night?”
“It is the city that never sleeps.”
The check came, and she figured she needed to grab this chance to bail.
“I’d like to help with the tip.” She tossed two twenties on the table. “Thanks so much for dinner, Mace.” She stood up and walked around to his side of the table. She leaned over and kissed the top of his shaggy head. “I had a really nice time.”
“You could continue to have a nice time.”
Relentless bastard. She ruffled his hair like she used to when they were fourteen. “I’m outta here.” She hadn’t taken a step when Mace grabbed her hand. His fingers, warm and dry, interlaced with hers. In that one move the man went through her entire body. And that’s when she realized they were no longer fourteen. They were no longer just pals. Dez suddenly saw them naked, sweaty, and fucking like there was no tomorrow. She knew Mace saw it too. Those gold eyes screamed at her, and she knew hers were screaming right back.
Nope. She needed to go. Now.
She took in a shaky breath. “Mace, I have to go.” Oh hell. She needed to stop whispering.
“Don’t. Stay, Dez. Stay with me.” And she knew he didn’t mean at the restaurant having more coffee and another piece of cake. He meant in his bed. With him inside her. And he’d make her scream. Again and again.
“I can’t.” She pulled her hand away. He let it go but not before dragging his big fingers across her palm. Who knew a simple move like that could rock her right down to her toes? And rock her it did.
Jesus Christ. What a man that boy had grown into.
Dez looked into those gold eyes. She knew a few more moments of him and she’d end up doing something really tacky. Like crawling under the table and giving Mace Llewellyn a blow job. She shook her head and backed away from him. This kept spiraling out of control. “I have to go, Mace.”
He smiled. “Okay.” She raised an eyebrow at that calm response but decided to let it go. Especially when she so clearly saw him slamming her facedown on the restaurant table and fucking her into oblivion. Yeah. In that moment she realized she’d overstayed her welcome.
“Have a great Christmas, Mace.”
Then she practically ran out the door, heading to the club a few blocks away.
Mace had to wait a good five minutes before he could hope to comfortably stand and not embarrass himself.
That woman…that woman was everything he’d ever wanted. He’d known it all those years ago. Tonight only confirmed it for him. The kiss and that simple touch practically blew his boots off. And she felt it too. He could see it on her face. He could smell it. Her desire rolled off her in waves and practically knocked him from the room.
No, he wasn’t letting Dez MacDermot get away. He’d take her down like his ancestors