G-Men: The Series (70 page)

“I’m fine,” I lied, taking another long sip of my drink.

“Look,” she said, waving her index finger back and forth in front of me. “Dude’s obviously clueless as to how to be a boyfriend, so
teach
him.”

“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “After all, I have so
much
experience with being a girlfriend, don’t I? Besides, I’m not even sure I could classify him as a boyfriend.”

I’d shared with Darcy over our first drink the phone conversation I’d heard between Slate and Taz, and the fact that Taz had called me afterwards, presuming we would make plans for the evening and our ensuing argument. I hadn’t mentioned ‘Dirty Diana.’

“You did the right thing. The last thing you want to do is be too available. He needs to understand you won’t be taken for granted.”

“I’m not trying to play games here. I did want to see him, but I’d already made plans with you. I’m not going to blow off friends like that. I just felt like Taz should’ve understood.”

“Honey, he’s out of his comfort zone here. Darin told me that Taz doesn’t do relationships. He does women once or twice and then moves on. You may have to accept the fact that you guys aren’t boyfriend/girlfriend material. Maybe being fuck buddies is the best he can do.”

I shrugged. I’d considered that possibility as well.

“Hey, did you know Taz is a like an 8th degree black belt in Taekwondo?”

“No, it’s never come up,” I replied.

“Yeah, Darin is testing for his red belt at the academy next month. He sparred with Taz once—for about six seconds,” she said, laughing.

“Has Darin ever mentioned a female recruit called either Dee Dee or ‘Dirty Diana’?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

“Oh no, not on your perky ass. Spill what you know about this Dirty Diana.”

I rolled my eyes at her. I knew she wouldn’t let it go. I filled her in on the rest of the conversation I’d overheard.

“So, do you think Taz spent extra time at the range just to hang with her?”

I shrugged my shoulders, downing the rest of my cocktail.

“Do you want me to ask Darin if he knows the skank?”

“No,” I replied, quickly. “Don’t say a word.”

“Okay, okay.”

“How about we change the subject?” I suggested, waving the server over for another round.

“Fine by me.”

This was followed by a few moments of silence as I racked my brain, trying to come up with something not involving Taz. Darcy was sipping the last of her drink before the next one arrived.

“Oh, guess what? I saw Slate’s junk today when I walked in on him peeing.”

Darcy spit out her drink, splattering me in the process.

“Damn,” I said, grabbing a cocktail napkin to pat my neck and chin dry of the droplets.

“You’re just now telling me this?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“I just remembered it,” I replied, snickering.

“So?”

“So what?” I asked. “I accidently walked into the bathroom from the nursery. He was taking a whiz. It was all out there for me to see.”

“Oh, my God,” she said, chuckling. “Well, was it impressive?”

“Impressive?”

“Stop playing dumb. Are you jealous of your mom?”

“To be perfectly honest, I’d say my mother’s blessed.”

“Yeah?” she replied, giggling like a teenager.

“Yep, however, I’m not jealous. I’ve been blessed more,” I replied, laughing with her. “At least I was,” I added, frowning.

“Oh, stop,” she chided. “I bet he’ll be stalking your ass before the night is over.”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, taking my fresh drink from the server. “Taz made it perfectly clear he doesn’t do the ‘alpha male’ thing. He doesn’t waste his time chasing high-maintenance chicks around,” I replied, trying my best to imitate Taz’s voice.

“He
did not
refer to you as high-maintenance for Chrissake, did he?”

“Pretty much.”

“Damn, if he thinks you’re high-maintenance, I guess he’d find me off the fucking charts.”

“No lie there,” I replied with a smile.

“Cheers.”

We toasted each other as the band started warming up for their next set. I was not hammered yet and I wanted to be. My mood was somehow affecting my ability to get drunk. I was considering ordering a shot of Patron, when I felt Darcy kick me underneath the table.

“Don’t look now,” she whispered loudly. “It seems your non-alpha man has had a change of heart about chasing your high-maintenance ass, after all.”

She started giggling, then turned her attention to the stage.

I felt him come up behind me. I felt his hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked up to see his green eyes on me. I couldn’t read his mood.

“Taz?”

That’s all I could manage.

“Come on, time to leave.”

“I’m here with Darcy. I’m sleeping over at her house tonight so I don’t need a ride home, thank you very much.”

“I’m not here to give you a ride home. I’m here to take you to my place. Your sleepover plans have changed. You’re sleeping with me tonight.”

There was that familiar surge of butterflies in my stomach again. They were roused from their dormancy by that simple statement. Darcy looked around as if she’d been unaware of Taz being here.

“Hey, Taz,” she greeted him with a smile.

“Darcy,” he nodded. “Lindsey’s coming home with me. Will you be alright?”

“Oh sure, no problem. Sonya’s joining me in a minute. You two have a nice evening.”

I threw her a look, but she was oblivious to it, turning her attention once again to the band.

I felt Taz’s arm around my shoulders as he walked me from the bar to the street, where his Corvette was parked. He opened the car door and I climbed in. The alcohol was finally kicking in, giving me the urge to giggle at his fucking denial that he was alpha.

He got in and we took off in silence.

“Taz,” I said sweetly, “I thought you didn’t do the whole ‘alpha control freak’ thing?”

He glanced over me with a half-smile. “Hush, okay? I’m trying to figure it out myself.”

“So then, what are we doing?”

“We’re going to my place. We’re sleeping together. I thought I explained that to you in the club.”

“I’m still on my period.”

“I didn’t say we were going to fuck. I said we were going to sleep together. I want you next to me tonight. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I guess not.”

“Good.”

“Taz?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever done Dirty Diana?”

“Fuck no! Why would you ask me a question like that and how is it you came up with her name at all?”

“I was there when Slate was talking to you on the phone earlier.”

“He was just fucking with me. It’s what we do.”

“Why did you spend so much time at the range then?”

He looked over at me, rolling his eyes. “Trust me, it had nothing to do with Dee Dee. I had to line some things up for Baltimore. I stuck around longer than I planned in order to do that. I do apologize for not getting in touch with you sooner. I’ll try and work on that, okay? Just be patient with me.”

“So, you haven’t been involved with Dirty Diana or any other woman since we’ve, uh, since…”

“I have not touched another woman since you and I made love for the first time.”

OMG! He didn’t call it fucking.

My heart was in a true flutter now. I relaxed and sighed. Taz mistook it for me doubting him.

“I have no reason to lie to you about that. You must realize that it was a first for me, as well.”

Huh?

“A first?” I questioned, clearly puzzled.

“I’ve never had sex without using a condom. I’ve never insisted anyone that I’m physically involved with get on the pill so that I could continue riding bareback.”

“Are you saying we’re exclusive?”

“How long does it take for you to get with the program, girl?”

“So then, are you saying we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Lindsey, can we not dissect all of this right now?”

We rode in silence for a few minutes, while I not only dissected it in my “slow-in-getting-with-the-program mind,” but digested it as well.

“Taz?”

“Yeah, baby girl?”

“I’m really in the mood to suck you off.”

^{chapter 32}

~ TAZ ~

I woke up before Lindsey. I marveled at how well we fit together. She was molded perfectly against me, my arms wrapped around her petite frame. Her back was to my chest, her rump to my groin.

Damn!

She was only 5 feet 4 inches, but we fit together like puzzle pieces when we snuggled together. I lightly brushed her unruly bed head hair. Hell, I was to blame for her new ‘do.’ My hands had done a job on it.

She’d knelt at my feet last night, unzipping my jeans and wasting no time in pulling me out and making my toes curl with her sexy mouth. She knew what she was doing and read my signals perfectly. The girl could swallow, too.

I smiled behind her, thinking how about much I liked the way she could hold her own with me. That was new. Most of the chicks I’d ‘dated’ and I used that word loosely because our ‘dates’ were invariably held either between the four walls of my bedroom or the four walls of theirs, were all about doing things my way. I decided when, where, how, and how many. They were only too happy to oblige.

Lindsey was her own person. I respected her for that, even though she fucking drove me to distraction most of the time. It was a good distraction though. It kept me coming back for more.

She was sleeping in my FBI-issued hoodie. She’d looked so sexy last night coming out of the bathroom in her panties with my hoodie on. It had been hanging on the hook of the bathroom door. She’d caught my look of surprise.

“I don’t have anything to sleep in. Is this okay?”

“No problem, baby girl,” I’d told her, moving towards her.

I’d captured her hair in my hands, cupping her face and bringing my lips down on her sweet ones. I could taste them now. We’d quickly made a beeline for the bedroom, where I’d enjoyed two mind-boggling blow jobs within a two-hour period.

We’d both crawled under the sheets, kissing and then falling asleep. I hated that I couldn’t make love to her before I left for Baltimore. Hell, if things were delayed there, it could very possibly mean she’d be on her menstrual period again by the time I got back. This damn bust better go down without a hitch.

She’d mentioned Dirty Diana to me last night. Slate was going to hear about that shit, regardless of his rank over me. I was going to come clean with him about Lindsey and me, too. There was no reason for us to sneak around, now that it had been established we were more than fuck buddies.

I felt her stir beneath my arms, her legs stretching under the sheets. I lowered my lips to the back of her neck, lifting her hair to plant soft, butterfly kisses on her smooth skin. I felt her shiver against me.

“Hey, baby girl,” I said against her skin.

“Hey, Taz,” she replied, pulling my hand to her lips, “can we stay in bed like this all day?’

I groaned, pulling her closer. “I wish we could, babe,” but I think I’m going to have to get up and get you going. It’s almost ten o’clock.”

“What? Oh shit,” she said, pulling away and launching her body out of the bed.

“Hey, hey,” I said, “why the hurry? I thought we’d at least have breakfast together.”

“I’d love to, baby,” she said, “but I planned on getting home around nine.”

“Slate’s there,” I persisted. “Besides that, aren’t you a little old for a curfew?”

“Sweats,” she mumbled, looking around.

“What?”

“I need a pair of your sweats. I’m not putting my dress back on and traipsing in the house like that. I left my overnight bag in Darcy’s car. I need sweats.”

“Hold on,” I said, feeling grumpy that she was going to blow out of here so quickly.

I pulled a pair of clean sweats from my drawer. They were going to be humongous on her. She tied the drawstring tight and rolled the cuffs up on the bottom.

“Oh shit,” she said, sitting back down on the bed. “Déjà vu all over again.”

“What do you mean?”

She slipped her high-heels on and looked over at me with a quirky smile.

“Don’t you remember the first night I stayed here and puked all over my bridesmaid gown? I went home in a pair of your sweats with high heels on.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You know, I never did get those back.”

She shrugged.

“I’m sure they went through the laundry and Slate’s wearing them now. You’re both around the same size in most places.”

I looked over at her and she had a shit-eating grin going on. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I have a gut or something?”

I leaned into her and started tickling her tummy.

“No,” she laughed. “I’m talking about something south of that.”

“What?”

“I accidently walked in on Slate in the bathroom yesterday. I saw his private parts.”

“Oh, so now you’re calling it ‘private parts,’ Ms. Prissy?”

“On him, that’s what I call it. On you, it’s something else entirely.”

“Yeah, yeah rub it in,” I said, swatting her on the butt. “Back in the day, I heard various women in Slate’s old harem bragging about how well he’s hung.”