Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) by Nipa Shah Page B

girlfriend, apologize to her, and leave. Instead, they had spent an entire evening together, and now here he was, alone with her on her balcony, struggling to keep his hands off her.
     
    The light perfume she wore, teased him. He knew that if he reached out and touched her, he wouldn’t be able to stop the raw passion from exploding between them again.
     
    For a week now, he’d tried desperately to stay away from her. He had buried himself in work, arriving early and leaving later than normal; even eating dinner with his girlfriend every night, hoping to banish Serena from his head.
     
    At night, he had lain awake, his body aching with longing as he remembered Serena’s passionate kisses, her lips swollen from his, her heart thudding against his. He wasn’t that much older than her, they were only six years apart in age, but she had an untouched quality about her, and he felt like a perverted old man thinking about her like that. But holding her had felt so right too.
     
    Tonight, he had texted his girlfriend and canceled dinner just before they had left the gallery. He knew she would be angry at the last minute ditch. She had already sensed something was different with him and had asked him if everything was ok; he also knew she hadn’t believed him when he had claimed that he was preoccupied with a case.
     
    His partner had grown frustrated with him too, telling him today that he was driving her nuts with his “moping around.” Men don’t mope, he had told her and in answer, she had shoved him out of the office, enunciating every syllable as she told him to, “GO AND SEE HER.” He had decided to do just that, and now here he was, standing on her balcony, trying desperately to keep his hands off her luscious body.
     
    She too appeared to be lost in thoughts, he thought, as he watched the breeze ruffle her long, lustrous hair and saw her hands, as she gathered her hair and prepared to tie it in a knot.
     
    “Don’t,” he said huskily, laying his free hand on hers to stop her. Then he brushed the hair away from her face, his fingertips gently playing at her temples.
     
    Her eyes fluttered close, and he let his gaze roam her face lazily, wondering what it was about her that made his usually strong willpower to desert him.
     
    He set his glass down next to hers, then gathered her close, burying his face in her hair, inhaling the heady fragrance of Jasmine……Jasmine???? His mom had a jasmine plant, and he loved the way its fragrance permeated their home in the summer.
     
    Even her shampoo was selected to seduce him, he thought, inhaling the sweet fragrance of Jasmine once again and again.
     
    “I tried so hard; to stay away,” he murmured in her hair a few moments later, his voice guttural with desire.
     
    Serena pushed away just enough to look at him, and he thought he saw hurt flash in her eyes before she lowered them. She tried to leave his arms, but he wouldn’t let her escape.
     
    “I’m sorry. For standing you up for dinner.  For not calling. For…”
     
    She looked up and placed her hand on his cheek, murmuring softly, “You already apologized earlier. It’s ok, it doesn't matter.”
     
    He covered her hand with his; then brought it to his mouth, his tongue gliding across her palm. “Hush, you have to be quiet and let me apologize.”
     
    When she smiled, as he had intended, he placed her hand against his heart and added, “It matters to me. I didn’t want to”, then he corrected himself; “I don’t want to hurt you”.
     
    “Sam, it’s ok. You haven’t hurt me”, she whispered.
     
    “You know that’s the first time you’ve used it,” he said huskily.
     
    “What’s that?” She asked, confused.
     
    “You've never said my first name until now.”
     
    “Are you sure I haven’t, Special Agent Raina?” she teased him tongue-in-cheek.
     
    “Say it again,” he demanded.
     
    “Special Agent Raina,” she said, her lips curving in a smile.
     
    He growled, and