Family Honor (10 page)

Her heart soared, and she
couldn't
hold back her grin. Before she could answer, their young waiter returned with the appetizer, some plates and warm bread. "Thank you," she said to him.

"Give us about fifteen minutes, then we'll be ready to order," Nate advised the boy.

He nodded and retreated.

Mel focused on the big plate of meat and cheeses. "This looks good." She reached for her plate but Nate scooped her hand into his.

"You were going to tell me if I needed to apologize for the kissing."

Mel faced him and squeezed his hand.
"Most definitely not.
More kissing is absolutely in order. I just
wasn't
sure, last night, I mean. We really
don't
know each other. When you had a little too much to
drink
I figured it was the stress of the day. Then I started overthinking things. Like, was the drinking a normal thing for you? It is for a lot of people in our line of work."

He tightened his grip. "You're
right,
you had no way of knowing. But
it's
not normal for me.
It's
not normal at all. I might drink a beer every couple of weeks on the weekend. Usually
we're
gone somewhere working a case, and I never drink then. This time, being here by myself without my usual support staff, was different for some reason. Not sure I can explain it."

"You don't have to explain," she insisted. But looking at his face, she could tell he needed to try.

"Five days, Mel," he said simply.

"Excuse me?"

"My bureau chief gave me five days in Kansas to see if I could solve this case. The rest of my team went to Tacoma, as I mentioned yesterday."

She nodded. "I remember. Henry asked if a missing kid in Tacoma outranked a bunch of dead hookers in Wichita. You said absolutely not."

He loosened his grip on her hand and studied her palm. "I lied about that. Of course it does. I was all but on the plane to Tacoma when this case came across my desk.
Had to put in a special request with my chief.
To say he
wasn't
thrilled would be an understatement. I did my best to convince him, and he gave me five days."

"Five days," she repeated, skin tingling as Nate's finger traced the lines on her hand.

He looked up.
"Four, now.
I've
never felt so much pressure on a case before.
It's
agonizing, because I know I can figure this thing out. I just don't know if I can do it in five days."

"Four now," she repeated again.

He smiled and released her hand. "We should eat. What would you like for your main course? I'll order the next time Skippy comes back."

"Veal parmesan?"

Nate smiled again, and nodded.
"Sounds good to me.
Try this." He took some meat and put it on her plate. They ate for a few minutes, and when the waiter returned Nate placed their order.

Mel pushed her small plate away. "If I eat any more of that heavenly bread, I won't be hungry for the veal. So…." She watched his face. "You miss your team. Anybody you especially miss, or are they all pretty much about the same?"

He stacked his plate on hers and set them aside. A small grin crept across his face as he sipped his wine. "I think I know what you're asking. No,
I'm
not seeing anyone on my team.
They're
a crackerjack group and I trust them with my life on a daily basis. But that's about as intimate as it gets."

The timing felt right, so Mel pressed on. "No Mrs. Willis waiting at home back in Texas with a baby on her hip?"

That made him chuckle.
"Babies?
Not me.
Women, not now.
Never an ex-.
Dated a few, sure.
Been serious a couple of times, but things just
didn't
fall into place. I trust
you'll
understand when I say it takes a certain breed of woman to be married to the FBI. My first serious romance ended when I got accepted into the academy. The second went belly up when one of my teammates was shot and killed. She freaked out that it could have been me. We went to counseling and everything, but she just couldn't get over that one small issue."

"What small issue?" Mel was trying to keep up.

"That I could die."
He shrugged. "She was way too hung up on that.
I'd
never given it much thought. After
that
I did, but it was too late. She was gone."

"I'm sorry." Mel placed her hand on his knee.

He shrugged again. "
C'est la vie
. Such is life. So what about you, Melanie Curtis?
Boyfriend waiting in the wings that I should know about?
Husband?
Lover?
Secret children?
I should add
,
they'd scare me worse than any man."

She laughed. "No children, so no worries there. Like you, a couple of serious relationships in the past, but none that stuck. The first one, also like you,
couldn't
handle my being a cop. Drove him nuts every time the phone rang, wondering if something had happened to me. He cut his losses and walked away before we got too attached, or so he said. Personally, I felt pretty attached.
Took me a while to get over Dean."
She paused and sipped her wine.

"Dean," he repeated.

"Dean." She nodded. "What were the names of your—?"

"Rita and Carol."

"Rita and Carol," Mel mouthed the names after him. She
didn't
know any women by those names, and for some reason she was glad.

"So what happened after Dean?"

"After Dean
came
Harold. Harold and I
didn't
have the same problem because he was also a cop. Harold was the best damn traffic cop on the beat. Trouble was
,
he was content to be the best damn traffic cop on the beat. When I made detective and moved to homicide, it irritated the hell out of him. He thought I should have been content along with him. He
couldn't
understand that I wanted more. He asked for a transfer, and now he's probably the best damn traffic cop walking some beat in Kansas City."

Nate smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Mel." He covered her hand with his and squeezed. "Well, really I'm not.
Because if Harold had stayed, you might have worked things out.
You'd be Mrs. Harold Traffic Cop and we wouldn't be sitting here eating Antipasto and Veal Parmesan."

"You're right." She nibbled at her salad but
couldn't
eat much, and eventually pushed it away.
"Too much food.
It's wonderful, just too much."

"I know. I always have the same problem. Fortunately for me, I can eat my veal leftovers in the hotel."

Mel decided to go for it. Her hand found his kneecap again. "I've been thinking about the hotel. Really
doesn't
make much sense, what with my having the extra room and all. If you're comfortable there, you might as well stay at my place."

His eyes lit up. "Are you serious? Because I have to tell you, even though I promised not to go wandering last night, I'm not positive I could make the same promise tonight."

She smiled. "I was going to suggest that you might be even more comfortable in my room. The bed is firmer, and the pillows are softer."

Nate leaned in and nuzzled her earlobe. "Just two of the room's many fine features, I'm sure."

The waiter approached to remove their salad plates. "Your meals will be out in a few minutes."

Nate
didn't
move his face, just replied, "Better hurry them up, Skippy. We don't have all day here."

Mel pushed him away and smiled at the waiter apologetically. "That will be fine, thank you."

He left and she slapped Nate's chest lightly. "You're going to owe him a really good tip."

"I always leave good tips," he assured her.
"Maybe not as good as you.
Christ, how much did you pay the waitress last night? My wallet is nearly empty."

"That wasn't because of the tip!" Mel laughed. "It was the never-ending rounds of beer!"

"Oh, yeah."
He smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, seeing as how my prospects for the weekend just took a turn for the better, I'm ready to get this show on the road. Shall we ask for our meals to go?" His grin turned devilish.

"We will not," she insisted. "We're going to sit here and eat like civilized folks. When we're through, I might even order dessert."

His foot nudged her leg and wrapped around it. "Okay, if that's what you want. I like dessert."

She worked one knee over the top of his leg and rubbed their legs together. "You're gonna like it."

Nate groaned. He found the waistband of her jeans and unfastened the snap.

Mel stared straight ahead. "You wouldn't dare!"

His fingers pried her zipper down as he glanced around the room. "Is that a challenge?"

"Stop that!" she whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"Nope, I've been double-dog dared. I can't stop now."

The waiter chose that moment to return with their plates, and the pair of them froze. He set the steaming dinners in front of them and asked, "Would you like extra cheese on those?"

"Yes, please." Nate smiled pleasantly, and feigned interest as the boy shredded fresh cheese on top of the veal.

"For you ma'am?"

Mel could barely speak. Nate's hand had made it inside her jeans and one finger was rimming the edge of her panties. "No thank you," she squeaked.

The waiter left, and she looked at Nate. "You are evil!"

"And you are gorgeous! All I can think about is making love to you. I can't wait to get you home so I can count the ways I'm going to cherish you." One finger dipped through her folds.

It was her turn to groan. "Can we ask for doggie bags now?"

"Nope."
He grinned. "We're going to sit here and eat like civilized folks." He removed his hand and began to eat with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"What if I've changed my mind?" She
couldn't
face the huge plate of food in front of her. At that moment, the only thing she wanted to do—the only place she wanted to be—was in Nate's arms.

He leaned over and planted a small kiss on the nape of her neck. "Never change your mind. Stick to your guns. I like a woman with the courage of her convictions."

She turned slightly so her lips were mere inches from his. "Right now I have very little courage and even fewer convictions. I just know I want to get you home so you can start counting."

He chuckled, kissed her ever so gently, and pulled away. Motioning for their waiter he asked the boy, "Can we get boxes to go, please? And how about a bottle of that wine you served us? What the heck, add two pieces of chocolate
cake.
"

As the waiter nodded and hurried off, Mel grinned and zipped her jeans. "You really know the way to my heart."

His gaze traveled down her body and back up to her eyes. "And you know the way to mine."

She watched the waiter box up their food and Nate signed the check. He left a sizable tip which warmed her heart even more. They grabbed their food and headed out the door.
"Ugh, two cars."
She unlocked hers and they stored the food and wine in the rear.

The automatic hatch lowered and Nate pressed her up against the car, his hips against hers. "That's okay. We might get home safer this way. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep my hands off you."