Blocked (35 page)

Dane beelined to the counter and lifted the sheet of foil. “Phew. He didn’t eat it all.”

“Of course I didn’t.” Brad brushed crumbs off his hands, then pulled a chair out from the table and gestured for me to sit. “My lady.”

I glanced at Dane, who gave me an amused shrug and took a seat while offering Brad a discreet chin tap.

Brad yanked a napkin off the table and swiped the green smudge clean before pulling out a chair for Dane. “Least I can do is serve you two tonight,” he said.

“Your service ain’t so
secret
, huh?” Dane joked.

“Exactamundo,
señor
.” Brad bowed then crooned a bit of “Be Our Guest” as he grabbed two plates from the cabinet.

Dane scooted his chair closer to mine, and my breath hitched when he clasped my hand under the table. His soft, setter hand was warm, and each stroke of his thumb sent tingles up my arm. I still felt the humming vibration of his kisses on my lips.

“What are you smiling about?” he whispered.

Was
I smiling? I snuck a peek at Brad, but he was busy with the microwave. I turned back to Dane. “Being with you.”

His eyes darkened, but then he looked up, and his spine straightened. Frank had entered the kitchen. Was that
anger
in his eyes?

Dane let go of my hand and kept his eyes on Frank. “Any day now, Brad. We’re starving over here.”

“Almost ready.” Brad looked at his fellow agent. “Hey, will you get some drinks for them?”

Frank stood statue-still for a moment, then nodded. Brad now sang “La Cucaracha” as he set tortillas on the table.
Cockroaches…how appetizing
. A few moments later, Brad swooped in with a steaming plate of chicken, peppers, and onions, which he set between us, and I had to admit I wanted to eat. I wanted to
inhale
the food.

Dane apparently felt the same way because he’d already wolfed down half his first fajita before I’d finished filling my tortilla with goodies. He reached for another as I took my first bite.
Mmmmm
. There were hints of jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic in his chicken marinade, and my taste buds did a little happy dance. “This
pollo
…” I closed my eyes as I savored the flavor…maybe I even moaned?

He laughed. “It’s my mom’s recipe.” He chewed for a while, then added, “She used to be a pretty good cook.”

“Used to be?”

“We hired a chef once she became senator, of course.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t you have one?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You think Sylvia would let some stranger into her kitchen?”

“Silly me.” He grinned. Then he frowned at Frank, who had been staring at us. “What?”

Frank jumped back, like he was surprised to be caught gawking. “Just…” He cleared his throat. “Just seeing if you’ll need the Heimlich—never seen someone eat so fast.”

Brad thumped Dane’s shoulder. “He’s a growing boy.”

“I worked up an appetite,” Dane said.

¡Dios mio!
He looked straight at me, his lively eyes direct and challenging, sparking a prickle of arousal inside of me. I dipped my head and focused on scooping rice onto my fork.

“It smells
so
good—” China rounded the corner, followed by Allison, but they stopped when they saw me.

“Oh.” Allison fidgeted and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We’ll come back later.”

“Nonsense.” Dane gestured to the table covered with food. “Brad already stuffed himself, of course, but we have enough for everyone.” He nudged an empty chair out from the table and patted its seat. “And we know
you two
definitely worked up an appetite tonight.” His grin was positively wicked, and I wasn’t sure whose face was redder—Allison’s or mine.

China barreled toward the table and snatched the seat next to Dane, which left the chair to my right open. Allison swallowed, hesitating for a second, before she joined us as well.

“Want me to get you a plate, Frank?” Dane asked. But my agent simply turned and left. Dane and I exchanged a confused look before he shrugged. “More for us, then.”

Brad followed him out of the kitchen. “Hey, Frank, wanna watch
The O’Reilly Factor
?”

Dane cursed, and I grinned.

I watched China scoop chicken, vegetables, and salsa onto her plate, and wondered how she would fit all that into a tortilla.

“Oops, sorry.” China winced as she noticed me studying her plate.

“Huh?”
Why is she apologizing?

China peeked over at Allison. “Allison told me not to do my high-protein bodybuilder diet around you.” She twisted her mouth to one side. “She said it could…trigger you, or something like that.”

“China!” Allison hissed. She snuck a glance at me. “I wasn’t trying to talk behind your back, I swear.”

I hated how scared of me she seemed to be. I wanted my old Allison back. “Thank you.” When she looked at me, I slowly lifted my hand, letting it hover for a moment, wondering if it was okay to touch her. I finally patted her forearm. “Thank you for helping me with my, uh, problem. You’ve really been there for me.”

Her smile was faint but at least not a frown. “You’re welcome, Lucia. You’re doing great.”

I wasn’t so sure of that. As we spoke, I could feel the guacamole glomming onto my ass…my…
curvylicious
ass. My face warmed as I recalled Dane’s hands cupping my butt cheeks, sending shivers up my back then and now. I looked at him and found him watching me as he bit off a piece of the chicken strip he held. The muscles in his jaw rolled and flexed as he chewed, and his full lips drew my attention. I imagined that mouth on my neck, sucking, licking, his warm breath on my skin—

“That’s
it
, Monroe,” China said. “You’re cooking for us every night.” She took another bite. “Seriously, this is some good shit. Right, Allie?”

Allison nodded as she dipped her tortilla into ranch dressing. “Yum.”

“Then Lucia has to cook every night, too,” Dane said. “She deserves some of the credit—she was my sous chef.” He scooped my hand into his under the table again. “In fact, she was seeing if you wanted to join us for dinner earlier, when, ah…”

China’s naked body flashing in my mind killed my GD buzz, and I squirmed in my chair. Why did he have to bring this up at the dinner table, of all places? I was stressed out enough as it was. When I looked at him, he gave a slight nod, like he urged me to address the Republican elephant in the room.

The eating disorder steals your voice
, Dr. Valentine had told me.
You need to express your needs to steal it back
. Dane’s hand gently squeezed mine.

I swallowed and faced Allison. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

She placed her half-eaten fajita on her plate.

“I’m sorry you felt judged by my family…and scared about losing your job. Please, please, don’t worry about that. There are many Republicans who believe in equal rights for gay people, and I’m one of them.”

The hardness in Allison’s eyes seemed to soften.

China looked at Dane. “What’d you say to her?”

“Nothing she didn’t already believe.” He shrugged, but his eyes smiled at me.

“So you affect her like she affects you,” China said.

“What?” Dane’s eyebrows drew together.

She looked right at me. “You have such a way with him.”

I retracted my neck.

“It’s true. I told my supervisor about you and Dane.”

“You did?” Allison asked.

She did?
I glanced at Dane, whose eyes had also opened wide.

China blew out a breath. “My boss was chewing my ass after The Great Beer Escape. Epic security failure…Beergate! I thought for sure I was fired.”

Dane clenched his fists. “They could’ve fired you for that?”

“Yes,” Allison answered, her voice sharp.

“I’m sorry.” Dane looked straight at China, then down at his lap. “I was an idiot.” His apology sounded truly contrite.

“I
still
don’t know why you went all trench coat that day.” China paused, but Dane didn’t say anything, which made me wonder. What
had
caused him to get thrown out of practice and guzzle beer on national TV? “Anyway,” China continued, “my supervisor told me my methods clearly weren’t working. He said I needed to be less aggressive with the protectee.”

Dane looked up. “I
like
this supervisor.”

China shoved his shoulder. “When I had no fucking clue how to approach you differently, my supervisor asked if anyone else had more success at calming you down—at getting you to behave. And right away I thought of Lucia.”

I gulped. Her spiky brown hair didn’t move an inch as she nodded at me.

“You took his insults without slinging mud back at him. Unlike me, you didn’t fight back and make things worse.”

If only she knew my lack of response was often more about being tongue-tied than turning the other cheek. I’d
wished
I could fight back in my bedroom minutes ago, although I suppose that situation turned out okay…I sighed. “Not always.”

Dane’s hand found mine again, warm fingers intertwining with mine. “It’s not your fault.” His gaze traveled from me to China, then to his lap. “I bring out the worst in people.”

His words pierced my heart. How could he believe that about himself? Even with the mistakes he’d made…I felt absolutely amazing around him—well, when I wasn’t comparing my body to his gorgeousness, anyway. He was a brilliant firecracker in a sky of dark clouds. His brightness had lit the way on my journey at Highbanks so far, and I wondered if I’d still be here without him.

“Hey,” China said. “You’ve been a good challenge for me, Monroe.”

Allison nodded. “And China sure enjoys challenges.”

“Makes life interesting, that’s for sure.” China’s chair scooted across the tile as she stood. “I’m guessing you guys need to study, so Allie and I will do the dishes.”

Dane looked up. “We’re being sent to our rooms to study by Mom…and Mom?”

Holding two plates aloft, China cackled. “Lord, you as my
son?
I think your mother deserves to be president simply for surviving your childhood.”

“But Governor Ramirez might have a chance too,” Allison chimed in as she carried a bowl to the counter. I was relieved to see her smirk in my direction.

Dane came around behind my chair and rested his hands on my shoulders. “C’mon, Luz. We don’t want Moms to spank us for misbehaving.”

I watched China’s wrist spin a dishtowel into a twisted weapon and felt Dane jump behind me when she snapped his butt with it.

“Ow!
Moooohhhhmmm
.”

I giggled as I stood and noticed him massaging his rear end.
I’ll massage it for you.
What would my dad say if he heard that?

“Go to your room, young man!” China twirled the towel, her eyes blazing with faux menace.

Dane pushed me out of the kitchen, and we laughed all the way to his bedroom. My smile faded once I entered the space. The sage-green walls and musky scent lent an earthy feel to the room, and psychology textbooks lined his shelf. Dane crossed over to his bed and yanked the duvet over messy sheets—a touching effort to tidy up for me. Then he flipped on some music.

My heartbeat kicked up as he approached me. “Do you have any midterms tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “I had two today.”

“Ouch. I had one, and I thought that was bad enough. The damn professor scheduled it so I had to miss half of practice.”

“That sucks.” I watched his shirt hike up as he scratched one hip, revealing a taut strip of muscle. I longed to see more. He spoke again but visions of rippled chest muscles, grooves and valleys of tight skin, clouded my brain. “Huh?”

He stepped closer and curved his hand around my hip. “I asked if you needed to study tonight.”

Focus!
“Not really.” Of its own accord, my body leaned into his touch. “I mean, I could always study more, but nothing’s due tomorrow, so it can probably wait, I think…” I was babbling.

“Good.” He tucked strands of hair behind my ear. “No way I could concentrate on school tonight. You’re
way
too distracting.”

He leaned in and scorched me with a plunging kiss. I felt myself tilt backward, but his forearm supported my back and his other hand cradled my head. I was weightless, floating on the pulsing energy his lips pressed into my body.

With apparently zero control over my hands, I felt one of them snake under his shirt and rub against the hard muscle of his ribcage. My fingers slid inward, gliding over his skin, marveling at the ridges of corded abs, and paused at the downy hair above the waistband of his workout pants. His sharp intake of air stilled his lips on mine. His entire body seemed to freeze, except for the part of him pressing against my belly, which made itself known with growing awareness. My lower body bloomed with heat, turning to mush compared to his hardness.