“My parents were first generation Americans. They came from Bangladesh and didn’t understand the Californian school system, and were confused by some of the things the teachers were telling them. In their defense, I think they were getting conflicting information. This started when I was in kindergarten. It took a while before they were able to navigate the school system and get me properly tested.”
“How did they figure it out in the end?”
“Because nobody could agree on anything, they left me in normal classes, so by second grade I began acting out and I was flagged as having behavioral problems.”
“That must have been tough,” he commiserated.
Her dark eyes sparkled. “Actually there were times I made the most of it. If I was expected to act out, I really acted out.”
“How old were you?”
“I was seven,” she said.
“So how did seven-year-old Riya act out?”
He couldn’t wait to hear this.
“We used nothing but pencils to turn in our work, right?”
Gray nodded.
“One day I managed to hide in the coat closet while everyone else went to recess. I erased everyone’s name off the papers they’d handed into the teacher.”
Gray laughed. He loved it.
“Did you have your hair in a long dark braid?”
Riya’s eyes got wide. “How’d you know?”
“I could just picture it. You were probably the picture of innocence, nothing but beautiful black hair and big black eyes. Did they suspect you?”
“Not Mrs. Ayers, but the counselor did. But he couldn’t prove it.” She squeezed another slice of lime into her water. “Luckily, my second grade teacher graduated from UCLA, so she was affiliated with the California University systems. She ended up getting me correctly tested at UC San Diego. She worked with my parents and walked them through the system.”
“Was it overwhelming?”
“My parents got really excited when they found out I could be part of a research study, so yeah, it was a lot of testing. I absolutely despised the exams, but once I got into the meat of the classes, I thrived. Not every child did.”
Riya’s eyes got wide with surprise. “I’ve never shared all of this with anyone outside of work. What kind of palm reading magic did you do?”
“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be magic.”
Riya gave him a considering look. “I’m thinking the real magic is that you’re nice.”
Hell, the last time he’d been called that had probably been as a child. At eighteen he’d entered the Naval Academy and left there a man and an officer. Later he became a SEAL.
Nice? That hardly entered into it.
Good. He strove to be a good man. Hell, not even Felicia, who he’d lived with for two years had called him nice. When they’d split, and they’d split on fucking great terms, she hadn’t called him nice. Nope, she’d called him impeccably fair.
“You still with me?” Riya asked.
“I’m just trying to get over the fact you called me nice,” he admitted. “I’m trying to determine if I like it or not.”
“I meant it in a good way, if it matters.”
She was adorable. Then she bit her lip. Next thing she’d be reaching for a coaster. “I know you meant it in a nice way.” Gray gave her his best smile.
“Whoa, your smile sure does pack a punch.” She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. “If you don’t like being called a nice guy, how should I describe you?”
“Let’s not pigeonhole one another. I say we take some time to get to know each another.”
“How much time?”
It was fun seeing her back to flirting. “Well we’re almost done with this bottle of water, want to go for another?” Gray asked.
She sat up straight and shook her head. “I’ll end up floating out of here if I have any more. What else do you have?”
Oh yeah, the sparkle in those black eyes had him thinking all kinds of naughty things. “I can think of something. How about if we discuss my ideas as I get you back to your friends?”
“Sure, we can head back,” she said as she quickly hid her disappointment behind a bright smile. It reassured him that his next step was the right one.
Riya slid off the high stool. “I’ve probably been gone long enough. You want to lead the way?” she asked. She waved her arm to indicate he step ahead of her.
“I was hoping you’d let me lead.” Gray trailed his fingers from the inside of her elbow down to the tips of her fingers, watching her shudder. “Let’s not hurry,” he said as he sidestepped her outstretched hand and pushed into her personal space. He bent toward her so they were almost nose to nose. She looked down at the floor. Her sudden shyness intrigued him.
“Lead where?”
“First there was dancing, then there was conversation, I have an idea for the next step in our getting to know one another sequence.”
Her eyes widened beneath her thick lashes. “I do a lot of sequencing in my job. In fact, I really enjoy it. Will this be as fun as dealing with next-generation sequencers?”
Gray barked out a laugh. “I’ll give it my best shot.”
He traced his knuckles from the top of her cheek, down the silky trail to her jaw, then he moved his thumb so that it tested the tantalizing plump softness of her lower lip.
Riya looked up, watched him intently. Then he moved his palm so he could cup her jaw. She was so delicate. His little finger caressed the shell of her ear and she let out the smallest cry of need as her eyelids fluttered shut. Riya swayed against him and he felt the stiff rasp of her nipples between their clothes.
God, she was killing him, and he hadn’t even tasted her.
“Gray?” She whispered his name and it was flavored with lime and another essence that he couldn’t define, but he needed to explore.
“I’m here,” he assured her. Then he touched his lips to hers.
For some reason he couldn’t fathom, Riya was tentative. All of the sass and confidence that she’d exhibited on the dance floor had deserted her, but Riya’s innate sultry heat shone through. Her arms crept up his chest and then higher. Gray shuddered as her warm hands crafted magic against his skin. He felt like he had slipped into a dark night where only the two of them existed.
His eyes opened as she whimpered.
He curled his arms around her and walked her backwards so that she was ensconced in a dark corner, hiding her behind his big body.
She’d caught fire. He traced his tongue along the seam of Riya’s plush lips, and she welcomed him inside. Heat exploded and he tasted the flavor of her passion.
Arousal hit Gray low and hard. It took everything he had not to lift her up and wind her legs around his hips. Where was his calm? Where was his composure?
Shot to shit, that’s where.
He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting for a semblance of control. When his head stopped spinning, Gray stroked a soothing hand down the side of Riya’s trembling body. It took long moments for her to come back to herself. Thank the good Lord he wasn’t the only one in a state of extreme need.
“Uhmm,” she murmured as she rested her head against his chest. “Sequence?” she finally croaked out.
Gray smoothed his hand down her long, silky black hair. “That got out of hand. I’m sorry.”
Her head jerked up, her eyes wounded. “You are? You’re sorry?” She gave him a forlorn look.
“I’m not sorry for kissing you,” he said. “I’m sorry that something so passionate, so intimate, wasn’t done in a private place.”
“Oh.” Her smile was slow to come, but when it did, it dazzled. “We should arrange some private time.”
His mind boggled at the thought as his hands moved up to rest on her shoulders. “Honey, I think we need to take things a little slower than that. Do you have a date to Susan and Mike’s wedding?”
She shook her head.
“Would you like to be mine?”
&nbs
p; She nodded her head.
“Good answer.”
“Do I get another kiss?” she asked hopefully.
He touched the end of her nose. “Not here. Not now.”
“I knew you were going to say that,” she pouted.
“That’s because you’re a genius. Now why don’t you give me your address.”
Riya fumbled with her cross-body purse. He stayed her hand. “Just tell me. I’ll remember.”
She rattled off an address in a trendy neighborhood west of San Diego.
“Got it. Now let me take you back to the ladies before they send out a search party.”
“Oh my God, you’re totally right.”
3
Einstein jumped down off the bathroom counter when the doorbell rang.
“Bad Kitty!”
Einstein meowed back at her with haughty disdain. He hated being called ‘Kitty’. He stalked toward the bathroom door and Riya looked at the makeup, brushes and spilled lotion on the floor.
“I should have capped that properly,” she said.
She heard another meow. The damned cat was agreeing with her. She turned and glared at him, and then he turned around and walked out of the bathroom. She grabbed some tissue and wiped up the mess and the doorbell rang again.
What an auspicious start to the day. Riya tore down the stairs with Einstein trailing behind her.
When she got to the door, she took a deep breath and smoothed down the silk of her blue dress that fell to just above her knee. Opening the door, she was met with miles and miles of chest covered by a blue pinstripe suit and silver tie. Her knees weakened. Riya had to look at least a foot into the air to briefly meet Gray’s clear blue eyes. They matched her dress. Thank God she wasn’t wearing her shoes, or she really would topple over.
The only thing that kept his smile from looking like a toothpaste ad was that he had a little scar that bisected his upper lip. She wanted to lick it. Oh yeah, she had it bad.
Heat suffused her body as the memory of that amazing kiss overloaded her senses.
“If you keep looking at me like that, we’re not going to the wedding.” His voice rumbled like thunder.
Arggh. If she wasn’t careful she’d get drool on her dress. Everything she’d practiced saying to him totally flew out of her mind. She needed to get a handle on this, like yesterday. Still, he was good to look at.
“No can do, sailor. I’m a bridesmaid, I have commitments. Why don’t you come on in and sit down. I still have to get their package wrapped.”
Riya turned and waved him in and shut the door. When she turned back she saw him standing in the middle of her living room with his left eyebrow reaching for his hairline.
“Having trouble making up your mind?” he asked.
She let out a long sigh. “Laugh. Just get it over with. It’s not like I haven’t heard it before.”
“Do you own a craft shop? Does someone in your family own stock in Hallmark?” Gray asked as he bent down and picked up two rolls of wrapping paper and compared them.
“I want to make sure that it’s pretty and conveys the right message,” Riya said as she snatched the rolls from his hand. Gray simply bent down and picked up two more rolls.
“Honey, I’ve seen people with a variety of Christmas wrap, but how many different patterns of wedding wrap do you have here?”
Riya looked at her six large Tupperware bins, five that contained wrap and one that contained ribbon and bows. “Can I say that I don’t know?”
Gray tapped one of the bins with the toe of his high polished shoe. “You’d be lying. I bet you know the entire inventory of your house. How many rolls?”
“Fifteen wedding, seven baby shower, five Hanukkah, thirty-seven Christmas, two Easter, five Valentines, twenty-seven birthday rolls of wrapping paper and one St. Patrick’s day,” she reluctantly admitted.
Gray took a moment, then he gave her a sympathetic smile. “It must kill you to be one roll shy of one hundred.”
Dammit, he was right. It was killing her. She was down a roll since Ethan’s birthday. Gray must have seen he’d been on target because he laughed.
“How can I help?” he asked.
“I just have to get the present wrapped and find my shoes, then we’re good to go.”
“I don’t believe that you can’t find your shoes.”
Neither did she. They were supposed to be right by the couch. She had precisely placed them perpendicular to the sofa right before she brought out the Tupperware containers.
“And if I offered to wrap the present while you found your shoes?” Gray asked. His eyes were sparkling. Again, he knew the answer to his question.
“Ahhhh,” she tried to come up with an answer.
“How about if I pick out a wrapping paper or a ribbon?”
“You’re totally getting a kick out of my obsessive compulsive nature, aren’t you?”
Gray put the rolls of paper back down into the plastic bin and stepped toward her. “I just get a kick out of you. Full stop. The fact that you can laugh at yourself, is just the cherry on top of the sundae.”
Riya tilted her chin up so she could look at him. “Don’t you mean the sprinkle of nuts on the sundae?”
Gray chuckled. “See what I mean?”
That laugh. Those eyes.
Get a grip, girl.
She grabbed at his wrist so she could see his watch.
“The wedding starts in two hours and ten minutes,” he said. “You have fifteen minutes to get your sexy tush in gear and out the door. That way we will be at the church exactly one hour before the ceremony is due to start. According to Griff that’s when the bridesmaids are due to arrive.”
“I can do this. Here’s the deal. I just need to prioritize and delegate.”
“Oh, I get to do something? I’m honored.”
“You’re a SEAL so you get to go on a rescue mission. Find my shoes. Last time I saw them they were exactly by the couch. I was walking around down here making sure I got used to them, since I’d never worn them before. After I made sure I wouldn’t slip, I put them there.” She pointed to where she had last seen them.
“Aye, aye.” He tapped her on the nose and turned to gaze around the first floor of her townhome.
Riya bent down and pulled out the silver wrapping paper with rings and doves on it. She had some great sparkly silver ribbon to go with it, but didn’t have time to mess with it, so it was time to use the big elegant bows that she’d been saving for a time crunch.
She ran to her kitchen, to the drawer that housed her scissors, and then skidded back into the living room in her stockings. Gray was standing there with her white patent leather pumps in his hands. “Are these what you were looking for?”
“Where’d you find those?”
“Your cat helped me find them. They were underneath the loveseat.”
Riya crouched down and saw two shining blue eyes looking at her from beneath the sofa. “He didn’t try to scratch you, did he?”
“Nope, we came to an understanding. What’s his name?” Gray asked.
“Einstein. He’s more temperamental than his namesake.”
“Intelligent though. He saw me looking around and pushed one of the shoes out from under the sofa. It was the damndest thing.”
“He was also the one who shoved them under there in the first place. He loves playing hide ‘n seek.” Riya knelt down and pulled the first box off of the coffee table. Gray peered over her shoulder and whispered.
“I didn’t see those knives on the gift registry. They’re high-end.”
“Susan loves to cook. My mom swears by this brand. She’s constantly saying that having the right tool for the job makes the meal.”
“That’s right for any mission.” Gray picked up the second box and turned it over. “You also got grilling tools and utensils, another thing not on the wedding registry.”
“I take it you shopped on the registry and had it sent to their house.”
“I don’t have nin
ety-nine rolls of wrapping paper to choose from.” Gray turned over the corner of the paper she had chosen. “Are you sure this is the right one to use? It might be too much silver.”
Riya blew her bangs out of her face and looked over her shoulder. “I got the impression you wanted to possibly see sunrise. Was I wrong about that?”
Gray held up his hands. “Note to self, no pithy comments on the lady’s taste.”
“Not if you want to live,” she agreed.
“It’s nice you got something for both of them. At least I’m assuming Mike grills.”
“Does a bear poop in the woods?” Riya asked as she measured and cut the paper.
It’s the prettiest paper, isn’t it?
She folded the paper over and went to grab the tape. Gray had already torn pieces of tape and had them ready for her to grab. “You’re prepared.”
“Part of the job, ma’am.”
She quickly had the knives and grill set wrapped with the bows on.
“How much more time?”
“You’ve got enough time to get your shoes on,” Gray smiled.
“I’ve got to put the lids back on the paper before Einstein decides to play,” Riya said as she bent over.
* * *
Before he could offer to do it, Riya was on all fours and fishing around under her couch and pulling out Tupperware lids. Gray took note of the intricate tattoo that was on display with her halter dress. It was a delicate lacy mandala between her shoulder blades, inked in black and orange.
Holy hell.
Now her dress was creeping up and her butt was wiggling. Had he died and gone to heaven?
Damn it.
He cleared his throat.
Riya pushed up on her knees, and pulled out a stack of lids.
“Give those to me, Honey. We’re on a deadline, I’ll put them on for you. You go sign the card.”
She stood up and smoothed down her dress. When she was standing in front of him, he looked down at her as her head came up to the middle of his chest.
“I’ve been remiss,” he said. She tilted her head and looked up at him. “I didn’t tell you first thing that you look absolutely gorgeous.”
Her Captivated Hero: A Black Dawn Novel Book 6 Page 3
