Page 133 of Triggered By Love
Chapter Forty-Three
Gino himself delivered the pizza,along with breadsticks, wings, and a Caesar salad to the hunting cabin. While Avery wanted to be alone, Gino’s gentle teasing and the obvious affection he had for Jason rubbed off on her.
She sipped on the Chianti and laughed along at the stories he told—mostly embarrassing ones about Jason’s childhood. Jason endured the ribbing good-naturedly, and Avery could tell he was itching to go back to the city and dive into the investigation.
He’d shown her the bugging equipment sewn into the sexy swimming suit. The setup was expensive and designed to make the wires look like underwire for the suit and therefore intentional. What was Tatiana up to? Avery wished she could have spoken privately with her, but at the same time, she couldn’t be trusted.
Was she on Larry’s side or working on her own?
While Jason and Gino talked sports, she’d snuck a text message to Mrs. Bonet asking if she’d seen Tatiana recently.
The answer was no, not since the previous weekend.
She’d asked Joan to text her if she saw Tatiana return, and when Joan asked if everything was okay, she assured her she was safe and would have dinner with her before the show—the same timeslot Alida wanted her to be seen with Matt. Humpf, the three of them would have a date for the media. See what they’d make of that!
“I wish you a good evening.” Gino kissed her on his way out. “The show will go great. I’ll even put in an order for the Brando Fedora.”
“You’ll look dashing.” She hugged him. “It’ll be a gift from me. Just text Jason your hat size.”
“Wow, thanks. Make sure you sign the hatband.”
She and Jason stood on the porch listening to the night bugs chirp. Despite the food and wine and the company, she was still jittery and uptight, and her nerves jumped higher with each crunch of Gino’s tires receding down the road.
“Hey, you’re safe here. I won’t leave you.” Jason put his arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t you have to keep investigating?” she asked, twisting her hands together. “I texted Joan, and she says Tatiana hasn’t been home since the weekend.”
“She won’t answer the door without a warrant,” Jason said. “I know you’re exhausted, and you have a big day tomorrow.”
“There’s still so much to do.” She fluttered her hands, and her pulse spiked with panic at how few hours remained.
“Didn’t you tell me Kerry has everything under control? Finn’s a hit with the models, and his Army discipline and logistics experience has everyone ready to deploy.”
“True. We did finish most of the accessories and do the alterations. I feel bad that everyone won’t be doing the animal fur, fins, and spikes. We just didn’t have time to recreate everything after Ivanna was hurt.”
“It’s for the better,” Jason said. “You don’t want to dilute the Brando Heroic theme. Somehow, brave firemen don’t match with feathers, wings, and scales.”
“I can see your point, except Alida will be disappointed with the lack of social media shares.”
“You don’t need gimmicks to get real fans. I wasn’t looking forward to wearing spiked quills.” He ran his hand over the top of his hair. “I’m not as prickly as you think.”
“You’re disappointing.” She elbowed him in a playful manner. “And here I thought you’re impossible to live with.”
“Iamimpossible, but in a good way.” He turned her around and planted a kiss on her lips. “Let’s go to bed.”
Even though Jason sounded innocent, the deep, sexy burr of his voice licked fire over her every tingling nerve, arousing her and making her writhe with a sudden surge of desire.
She was ready to forget everything in the throes of orgasm and let the flames of lust burn her anxiety to ashes. Could he compartmentalize what he’d learned about her and let it go, at least in the throes of passion?
Kissing and clutching him, she stumbled with him back into the cabin. He pressed her against the door, raising her hands above her head while his skillful mouth assaulted her lips, neck, and teased her expectant nipples.
Who needed to talk when bodies were sparking with passion and desire? Besides, Jason might still be feeling the lingering effects of the meth. It was unlikely, but she wasn’t about to miss out on throwing him into a higher high.
Unfortunately, when he wrestled her onto the bed where she wanted to be, he rolled off her and held her hand. “Before we do anything, I want to apologize.”
“You, apologize?” she gasped, still trying to catch her breath from the sudden transition. “I thought you wanted to, you know, sleep with me.”
He pinched her heated cheek lightly. “I do want to sleep with you, but I want you to trust me more.”
