Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(4)

Knox leaned his hip against the desk, rubbing his hand along the square planes of his jaw. “At least you admit you’re lazy. Most people wouldn’t. Although I must say, I’m flattered by your confidence in my ability to extract the information from his computer.”

“You’re one of the best, or so I’ve been told. But that’s not the issue right now.” I jerked my gun toward the computer. “If you didn’t notice, we don’t exactly have time for a cordial meet and greet. Give me the thumb drive, before someone finds us in here.”

He cocked one pale eyebrow as he snagged the memory stick out of the computer. “Now that would be interesting. How would you explain the gun?”

“I’m more than capable of thinking on my feet,” I countered.

“I’m glad to hear that, Jones. I wouldn’t want a pretty woman like you to get in over your head.”

The slightly husky rumble of my last name rolling from his lips sounded nice. Too nice. I didn’t know exactly what was happening to me. For the first time in months, I was aware of another man—more aware than I should have been given the circumstance. Maybe I was finally over Miles, my mentor, and my boss. He screwed me over in more ways than I could count, but I hadn’t dated anyone since. He took me under his wing when I had nothing and no one, and for that, I’d be forever grateful.

“Ah, it’s touching you’re concerned about me, but you shouldn’t be. I haven’t gotten this far on luck alone.”

He crossed the room in a couple of giant strides and held out the thumb drive. A twinge of guilt twisted in my gut. I stared at the slim black drive for a second without reaching for it.

“Jones,” Knox taunted, drawing out my last name. “Are you going to take this or are you wrestling with the ethics of stealing my work?”

Without dropping my gun, I grabbed it with my free hand, but he didn’t release it. Locked in a silent battle, I heard Representative Lang’s scratchy voice outside the office door. My head whipped to the side. Dammit! I hadn’t fully closed the door.

What is wrong with me tonight? I’m not thinking clearly.

Knox closed the space between us, his face mere inches from mine and one side of his mouth hooked upward. A jolt of electricity arced between us. My blood felt like lava in my veins. He angled his head toward the cracked door. “An amateur mistake, don’t you think?”

“Fuck you,” I whispered, but I could hardly hear my words over the frantic swoosh of blood through my ears. My carefully crafted plans were going to blow up in my face. If I lowered my gun, Knox could take advantage of the moment and walk out of here with the memory stick. If I kept my gun aimed at Knox, I’d end up spending the night in jail, and I’d have to call Miles for bail money. I’d almost rather rot in prison than tell him I messed up. Sure, he was my boss, but that didn’t mean I wanted to interact with him any more than absolutely necessary. Our relationship was dicey these days.

“I see your wheels spinning, but there’s only one way we’re going to get out of this now.”

My dark eyes his clashed with his in a silent battle. “What do you have in mind?”

“We’re going to put on a good show,” he said, his warm breath tickling my face and sending shivers down my spine.

Electricity zigzagged through the air like a thunderstorm gathering strength on the edge of the horizon. My fingers involuntary twitched with the urge to sweep through his disheveled blond hair. He looked downright dreamy as his deep sapphire eyes zeroed in on my mouth. Before my mind registered his intent, he was kissing me. Like a puppet, I was too stunned to do anything except follow his direction. His tongue dueled with mine, and his arms circled my waist, pressing me firmly against his hard body, and I melted into him. Only our clothes and the cold metal of my gun separated us.

I heard a deep chuckle and murmured voices, but I couldn’t bring myself to push Knox away. One of his hands edged around my neck, locking me in place and my ribcage squeezed tight around my heart. The kiss went on and on until I lost track of everything. He lit up every nerve ending in my body like a stick of dynamite nearing the end of its fuse. I never wanted it to end. I felt this kiss all the way down to my toes.

I was acutely aware of everything about him.

The spicy scent of his cologne.

The smooth weave of his jacket beneath my fingertips.

The faint fruity taste of champagne on his tongue.

The sound of a throat being cleared registered somewhere in the back of my mind. “I guess this room is taken.”

Knox’s lips lifted from mine, but he kept our bodies molded together. I gasped for breath.

He glanced to the side and quickly returned his attention to me. Apparently, the look on my face entertained him, because he flashed a wicked grin that made my heart stumble. “It’s all yours, Representative Lang. We were just leaving.”

In a too smooth move, he grazed his lips across mine one more time and snatched the gun out of my hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, he eased it inside of the waistband of his pants. He circled his arm around my hip. “Keep walking and put a smile on your face,” he whispered in my ear, his warm breath sending a charged jolt down my spine.

Too stunned to think clearly, I did exactly as he asked. Heat rolled up my neck to my face. Damn my Irish blood.

“Sorry about that, Representative Lang,” Knox said, a smirk on his face. “It won’t happen again.”