“Stuck with you?” Kiera said. “I might be okay with that.”
Kiera teased him. She always had liked giving him a hard time.
“My dad loved the gift. He talked about it all the way outside. You made his day. Did you see his expression when he saw the theater tickets?”
Kiera smiled at him, her lips a siren calling to him.
He needed to taste her.
He traced her lips, which were still sweet from the cake, with his tongue, memorizing their shape and feel. From there, he captured her mouth and set out to chase any coherent thought from her mind.
When his need for air outweighed his need for her lips, Gray pulled away. Then he untucked her shirt from her jeans.
“How about we go upstairs? I believe I still owe you help in the shower.”
Kiera met his gaze, her eyes alive with passion and her lips red from his kisses. “You’re right. You do.” She took his hand and stood up. “Don’t worry, I promise to return the favor.” The smile she gave him almost brought him to his knees.
Chapter 9
Gray scanned through the morning world news. Once again, it contained nothing but bad news. Sometimes, he wondered why he bothered checking it. If the media outlets weren’t talking about another terrorist attack, they were sharing pictures of yet another natural disaster somewhere in the world. Today’s headlines once again centered on the two military officers who’d released some of the classified information they stole before fleeing the country.
The media had been focused on the story since it’d broken right before Christmas, which was the reason he’d missed the holidays with his family. He could only imagine the headaches, the President, his Uncle Warren, suffered because of the entire situation.
So far US officials hadn’t been able to locate them, although rumors ran wild about their possible location. This morning, the media claimed the government suspected the two men had made it to China. Thanks to the intel he’d picked up in Mexico, he knew the media had it wrong.
Finished with the bad news, Gray brought up his favorite sports site. Sports didn’t solve any world problems, but they did distract one from them. After checking the hockey scores, he took a peak at the baseball results. It was still early, but if spring training was any indication, both Baltimore and New York looked like the leaders in the American League East.
Gray moved down the page to the basketball scores. Boston hadn’t played last night, but they were scheduled to play tonight. Perhaps Kiera would enjoy a game. She’d been a glorified tomboy and had played both basketball and soccer.
“What are you doing down here?”
Warm hands slid over his shoulders and cotton pressed against his bare back. He kissed the hand on his right shoulder. “I woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep.”
Kiera kissed the back of his neck and then his shoulder. “You should’ve woken me.”
She rubbed the skin behind his ear and then down his neck.
Gray closed his eyes as the gentle movement relaxed him, body and soul. “Next time, love.”
“What should we do today?”
“I could sit here all day and have you do this,” Gray said.
Kiera’s hands moved down his spine and then back up again. “That might get boring.”
Boring? Never. “Doubt that.”
He let her hands caress his back one last time. Shifting in his seat, he pulled her onto his lap. “What do you think about a basketball game at the Garden tonight? We can head up early, and grab dinner first. Maybe spend the night in the city.”
If someone saw the smile she gave him, they would’ve thought he had given her the Hope Diamond.
“That’s a fabulous idea. I haven’t seen a game at the Garden in years. What time does it start?”
“No idea.” He rubbed her thigh, his mind and body more interested in her than the basketball game. “How about you move while I’ll still let you, and I’ll get us tickets.” He let his fingers travel under her shorts, and Kiera gave his hand a playful whack.
“Game. Tickets. Focus.” She stood up. “I’ll wait for you upstairs in bed. Be quick.”
Gray watched her walk away. Derek could keep women like Val and Miranda. None of them had anything on Kiera. He let his eyes rake across her body one last time and stood. He’d order tickets for the game later. First, he had a beautiful woman to make love too.