Whiskey Tribute: A Trident Security Series Novella - Book 5.5 by Samantha A. Cole Read Free Book Online

attracted to, and it
would’ve gone away on its own, had it not come in contact with her soft,
feminine body. After that, all bets were off.
    After tossing and turning on the couch until midnight, he’d
known if he was ever going to get any sleep, he would have to take matters into
his own hands, which he’d done in the shower. Imagining her on her knees in
front of him, sucking him off, it hadn’t taken him long to shoot his load into
the shower spray. And damn, just thinking of her now, was making his dick
twitch.
    Down the hall, he heard her bedroom door open, so he
retrieved a clean mug from the cabinet and was pouring her coffee as she
entered the kitchen. The dark circles under her eyes told him she hadn’t slept
any better than he did. “Good morning.”
    She took the steaming mug he handed her, bringing it to the
table where the milk carton still sat next to the sugar bowl. She avoided
looking him in the eye. “Morning.”
    “The kids are all fed. Ryan and Amanda are out collecting
eggs while the other two are in their room. Do you want cereal or something
else?”
    “No thanks. I’m not hungry. I’ll just drink this and bring a
granola bar with me for the road.”
    “Dana…” He grabbed her elbow and tried to turn her to face
him, but she pulled out of his gentle grip. Still refusing to look at him, she
began to put away the boxes of cereal and milk. Curt had already placed the
dirty bowls and spoons in the dishwasher.
    “Can we not talk about this now?” At least they were both
thinking about the night before, but whereas he wanted to discuss it, she
clearly did not. “I would rather we both forget it happened.”
    Stepping toward her, he boxed her in by placing his hands on
either side of her hips as she spun around in surprise. “Look at me.” He
waited, but her gaze was pinned to his chest. “Damn it, Dana. Look at me.”
Slowly, she tilted her head back until he could see her eyes. “What if I don’t
want to forget about it? What if I’ve been dreaming about kissing you for weeks
now?”
    She brought her hands to his chest and tried to push him away
as she shook her head, but he wasn’t budging. “Please. Not now. I-I think it
was a mistake.”
    “And I don’t.” The sound of Ryan and his sister climbing the
back porch stairs had him taking a giant step away from her, but his eyes never
left hers. “We will be talking about this later. For now, though, I’ll drop it
so we can have a fun day with the kids. But don’t think for one minute I regret
kissing you.”
    Before she could respond, the back door opened and Curt
pasted on a tense smile, which quickly became relaxed and real as he listened
to Amanda chatter about how many eggs they’d found.
    * * *
    A little after seven-thirty that evening Curt carried a
sleeping Amanda from the couch into her room and tucked her into her bed. The
cute pixie was exhausted from all the fun she’d had during the day with her
friend and family. Closing her door behind him, he passed Justin and Taylor in
the hallway, yawning on their way to their room. Ryan was already in his own
bedroom on his Xbox. It wouldn’t be long before the entire house was sleeping
soundly from the long day. But before that happened, Dana and he were having a
talk about the kiss, whether she wanted to or not. He had to let her know he
was interested in taking a forward step to a closer relationship with her, but
only if she was ready. He wouldn’t push, but he also wouldn’t wait forever.
Patience may be a virtue, but even the most patient man on earth had a breaking
point.
    Returning to the living room, he saw it was empty. From the
sound of things, Dana was cleaning what he already knew was a spotless kitchen.
Sighing, he picked up a heavy throw blanket from the back of the couch and
strode into the kitchen where she was scrubbing the table she’d wiped down that
morning before they left. Placing the blanket over her shoulders, he pulled her
upright.
    “W-what are