White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2)(22)

He leaned back and studied me. An imperceptible shift took place in the way he sat, in the line of his shoulders, and in his eyes. Apparently we were done talking about work.

“What?”

“I missed you,” he said, his lips stretching into a slow, lazy smile. The ice in his eyes began to melt. “Did you miss me, Nevada?”

He said my name. “No.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“No. Never thought of you.” Just because I usually chose not to lie didn’t mean I couldn’t.

Rogan grinned and all of my thoughts went to the wrong places. He was almost unbearably handsome when he smiled.

“Stop it,” I growled.

“Stop what?”

“Stop smiling at me.”

He grinned wider.

“Why did you even get involved in this? Trying to punish your cousin?”

“Yes.”

And he’d just lied. I squinted at him. “Lie better.”

“Nice, Ms. Baylor. That was a partial truth and you still tagged it. Been practicing?”

“None of your business.” I hadn’t just been practicing. I’d been actively working on being better. I studied my books, I worked on arcane circles, and I experimented with my magic. I enjoyed it too. Using my magic was like stretching an aching muscle. It felt good.

“Mmm, prickly.”

“You’re not answering my questions. Why should I answer yours?”

He surveyed me, his eyes half closed, as if wondering if I were a delicious snack. I had an image of a massive dragon circling me slowly, eyes full of magic fixed on me as he moved, considering if he should bite me in half.

“Dragons.” Rogan snapped his fingers.

Oh crap.

“I wondered why I kept getting dragons around you.” He leaned forward. His eyes lit up, turning back to their clear sky blue. “You think I’m a dragon.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” My face felt hot. I was probably blushing. Damn it.

His smile went from amused to sexual, so charged with promise that carnal was the only way to describe it. I almost bolted out of my chair.

“Big powerful scary dragon.”

“You have delusions of grandeur.”

“Do I have a lair? Did I kidnap you to it from your castle?”

I stared straight at him, trying to frost my voice. “You have some strange fantasies, Rogan. You may need professional help.”

“Would you like to volunteer?”

“No. Besides, dragons kidnap virgins, so I’m out.” And why had I just told him I was not a virgin? Why did I even go there?

“It doesn’t matter if I’m the first. It only matters that I’ll be the last.”

“You won’t be the first, the last, or anything in between. Not in a million years.”

He laughed.

“Rogan,” I ground out through my teeth. “I’m on the clock. My client is in the next room mourning his wife. Stop flirting with me.”

“Stop? I haven’t even started.”

I pointed my bottle at him.

“What does that mean?” he asked me.

“It means if you don’t stop, I’ll dump this bottle over your head and escape this compound with my client.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

The door opened and Cornelius stepped out. His face was flat, his eyes bloodshot. All my selfish embarrassment evaporated. Rogan’s sensual smile vanished and I was once again looking at a Prime—cold, hard, collected, and looking for revenge.

Oh. He’d done it on purpose. He’d riled me up and pulled me out of the terrible place I was in after I saw the video. The awful loop of death no longer played through my brain.

Cornelius sat in a chair and looked at Rogan. “What are you offering?”

“You have an excellent investigator,” Rogan said. “Ms. Baylor is competent, thorough, and holds herself to a high professional standard.”

I waited for the other shoe to drop.

“But her firm is small. It lacks resources and power. Things I have in abundance.”

Was he trying to get Cornelius to fire me?

“I, on the other hand, require Ms. Baylor’s services,” Rogan said. “She has the ability to greatly speed up the search for the murderer of my people.”

“Because she’s a truthseeker,” Cornelius said.

I sighed.

“I’m not an idiot,” Cornelius said quietly.

“We’re after the same thing,” Rogan said. “I propose we join forces.”

“I need a few minutes with Ms. Baylor,” Cornelius said.

“Of course.” Rogan rose and went inside.

Cornelius waited until the door shut behind Rogan and leaned back against the cushioned seat. “I realize that this is an uncomfortable question, but I have to ask. What’s your relationship with Mad Rogan?”

“We cooperated to apprehend Adam Pierce.”

“I know that. I meant emotional relationship.”

He deserved an honest answer.

“It’s the same old story.” I made my voice sound as nonchalant as I could. “Billionaire Prime meets a pretty girl with a little magic, billionaire Prime makes the girl an offer, and the girl tells him to hit the road.”