Page 63 of Peak Suspicion
“You’d better watch your step,” Ed said.
“Hey, calm down,” Carter said. “We’re just here to have dinner. We’ll leave you alone now.” He hurried Mira past the older man, to a booth at the very back of the dining room. He slid in next to her.
“What is his problem?” she asked, irritation sharpening her words.
“I think he’s a very unhappy person,” Carter said. “After all, he admitted to writing all those notes to people about the things he thought they were doing wrong. Only someone who didn’t have enough to occupy themselves would do something like that.”
“Shayla said Mitch took him in because he had nowhere else to go,” Mira said. “That would be a hard situation to be in.”
“Let’s forget about him and enjoy the rest of our evening,” he said.
They ordered pizza and soft drinks, then fell into a conversation about the morning’s tour. Ed was nowhere in sight by the time they left. Carter was relieved. He didn’t want anything to upset Mira. They had had a good day and he was looking forward to a good night.
Back at her apartment, she wrapped her arms around him. “I think you need to practice your Spanish,” she said.
“You want me to ask you where it hurts in Spanish?” he teased.
“Not exactly.” She kissed his neck, her tongue gliding lightly over his skin. “I thought I’d teach you some new vocabulary.”
“I’m always interested in expanding my knowledge.” Being with her made him feel reckless, ready to follow wherever she led.
“Bésame,” she said.
“Bésame?”
She laughed. “Kiss me.”
He did so. “Bésameotra vez,” she said. “Kiss me again.”
A deeper kiss. “Querido,” she whispered, her lips pressed against the pulse of his throat. “Dear one.”
“Querido,” he repeated.
“Except I’m female, so it’squerida,” she said.
“Querida.” He began unbuttoning her blouse. “Teach me more.”
“Ven conmigo.” She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. “Make love to me.”
She pulled him down beside her on the bed, and whispered the words for everything they did together that evening. He didn’t know how much he would remember in the morning, but at that moment, he paid close attention, the conversation focusing him more acutely than ever, her voice a soft, sexy accompaniment to every move.
Afterward, when they lay together in each other’s arms, he turned to her. “Te amo,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “Where did you learn that?”
“I didn’t say it wrong, did I? I looked it up online. It means I love you, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” she said.
“Te amo,” he repeated.
“Oh, Carter,” she said. “I think… I think I love you, too.”
“Don’t sound so sad about it.” He forced a cheerfulness he didn’t feel into his voice. Had he rushed her, confessing his feelings so quickly?
“I’m not sad,” she said. “Not sad at all. It’s just…a big step.”
“We don’t have to rush.” He smoothed her hair away from her face, enjoying its silken slide through his fingers. “I just want to make sure you to know how I’m feeling.”
