"I was afraid you weren't going to come back…"
The insecurity in her voice surprised Esposito, considering that the tender words came from somebody used to performing for thousands of people while withstanding the media storm that had so abruptly arose around her person.
And perhaps that was the attraction to Allison Banes; her authenticity in the face of her sudden success.
This wasn't the same person who'd called him a day earlier, downright pushing him into a date that ended in a lot more than he'd expected. This was the real woman behind the façade, the fragile, tender soul she was so fiercely protecting from any outside threats.
"We found another body.", he explained quietly, bypassing any halfhearted chauvinistic jokes he'd thought about on the way over here.
Stripping out of his leather coat, Esposito sat down next to her, relishing the comfort of the elegant red couch as he leaned back, resting his head for a moment of contemplation. As the images of rotten flesh and dead eyes left his mind, they were replaced with the sweet perfume exuding from the beautiful young woman next to him, and the tingles rushing through his body as she turned toward him to kiss his neck, eventually making it to his lips, lavishly enjoying their reunion.
Returning the favor, he allowed her to sit on his lap as he wrapped his hands around her narrow hips, feeling the heat build where their bodies touched.
"In that case it's time to unwind…", she teased and reached underneath his sweatshirt as she buried her face in his neck, purring at the sensation of his beard stubbles tickling her cheek.
"And just how long do you think this is going to work out?", Esposito asked, his exhausted mind thirsting for the answer he'd been kicking down the road for the past few hours.
Because he didn't have the faintest of clues.
He could hear her breaths speeding up when he gently pulled that thin white t-shirt over her shoulders, throwing it halfway across the expensive suite that made his apartment look like a homeless shelter.
"As long as possible…"
When he made no attempts to go after her bra, Allison sat back up, her confused eyes scanning him for many long moments.
"Don't you feel…the same way?"
"I do…", he answered too fast, then reached for her long fingers on his chest, "But I am a cop. And you…you are a successful singer. How is this going to work?"
With a careless shrug, she let her smile return.
"You're a man and I am a woman. That's a simple enough concept. You see, we typically start by taking off our clothes. I won't tell you the rest though. Hate to spoil the ending."
Chuckling at her words, he hesitated, then cocked his head at a nearby window, his expression growing serious.
"You know what I mean. And what…what about those…those piranhas following you around everywhere? This would be a feast to them."
"They will create stories whether there is something to report or not. They feast on false narratives. And they're impossible to stop, so you just learn to get used to them. And I honestly could care less if somebody saw you at this point."
Without giving him a chance to reply, she resumed her task of digging into his sweatshirt, then pulling his undershirt out of his pants.
Esposito tried to relax and enjoy the ecstatic moment, yet something deep inside worried just how much life would change for him if they were ever seen together.
