Ace Is Wild (43 page)

Daniel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, and the pain shot to her heart and stuck there.

“I was asking you to be my partner,” he said.

“I got that.”

“There are all kinds of partners.”

Vivi’s heart began to thump again, but she was breathing fine this time, and the pain in her chest seemed to ease up some. She took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to Daniel’s face, braced for the worst, hoping for the impossible. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that,” she said. “You know I can’t read your mind.”

He kissed her, a soft, gentle kiss that spoke of more than sex but when she tried to ask him what exactly it did mean, he swept his tongue inside her open mouth and she thought, “Oh, good, no matter what else happens between us, there’ll be sex.” She gave herself up to the kiss, to the feel of his hands moving over her, and by the time they pulled a scant inch apart they were both breathing hard. And if Daniel was feeling half of what she was, he wouldn’t waste any more time on words. But he did, and they were the kind of words that melted parts of her that had nothing to do with sex. Like her heart.

“I love you, Vivi,” he said, his eyes intense but sincere on hers. “I’m not promising there won’t be arguments, and probably some of them will be over your psychic ability and my tendency to doubt it, but I trust you and I think we can make it work. And I promise you’ll never miss another meal,” he finished, retrieving the hamburger bag from the counter where he’d left it and holding it up, a hopeful expression on his face.

She pretended to consider it, letting her gaze shift to the white takeout bag. “Those are some pretty incredible burgers.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I bet they’re so incredible they’re even good cold.”

“I don’t know . . .”

She took the bag from him and set it back on the counter. “I wouldn’t mind missing a meal this one time,” she said slipping her hand into his.

“Nope, I made a promise.” And he dropped her hand, reaching for the bag.

So she kissed him, poured everything in her heart into it, backing him toward the stairs leading up to her living quarters the whole time. “Let’s get this partnership going,” she said when his heels bumped the bottom step.

Daniel caught her hand, pulling her up the stairs with him. “I thought you said you couldn’t read my mind.”

“It’s not your mind I’m reading, Ace.”