Becoming Rain (Burying Water #2)(83)

“I never asked!” I can’t remember half the places I’ve been to. They all start to look the same after a while. “She’s not like the women you normally see me with. That’s the problem.”

“Maybe.” A smile. “You really like this one, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I do.”

He dumps his drink back. “Maybe that’s why she raises the hairs on my neck.”

Chapter 44

CLARA

“So, what were your uncle and that guy arguing about? Because he sounded pissed.”

“It’s just the language.” Luke chuckles, turning into the underground garage in his building. “Russians always sound angry to people who don’t understand them.”

“Did you understand them?”

“I can’t believe you were at The Cellar when I was, and we never met.”

I know a brush-off, and Luke’s trying to brush me off. “I know, crazy, right?”

“But Rust noticed you.” Luke glances down at my bare legs. This dress doesn’t allow for much coverage and, by the way he’s been eyeing me all night, that’s a good thing. He veers the SUV into his private garage with ease.

“So, did he give his blessing?”

Slipping his hand around the back of my head, he pulls me into a long, hard kiss. The kind that I give him when I’m not wearing my wire. The kind I can’t enjoy right now.

“He loved you. He can’t wait to see you again.”

No small relief fills me. There’s a reason no one’s been able to get close to Rust so far. He doesn’t trust easily, or completely.

But he trusts his nephew.

“You, in this dress, have killed me tonight.” Luke’s hand lands on my thigh and slips upward as he adds, “You’re coming up for the night, right?”

I grab hold of his hand just as his fingers begin curling under the lace of my panties. “I can’t.”

His forehead drops against mine. “Are you sure? It’s been too long since that day at the garden . . . I need you again.”

Fuck, shit, f*ckity shit. My stomach leaps up in my chest and I have to look away from him before he reads the panic that I’m sure is written all over my face. How the hell am I going to explain that one to Warner? I’m so screwed. There’s not much I can do about it right now, except not make this worse. “I know. But I can’t right now. You know . . . female issues.”

His head falls back with a big groan. “Ohhhh.”

Thank God he’s not smart enough to question why on earth I’d wear a cream-colored dress that barely covers my ass when I’m on my period.

“You could still come up, though . . . right?” The way he looks at me—hopeful, almost pleading—well, apparently he’s plenty smart enough to understand that there’s nothing stopping at least one of us from getting off tonight.

I’m sure as hell not having the sounds of that recorded, even if Sinclair condones it.

I pat my abdomen. “I’ve got bad cramps. I could use the sleep.”

He nods and offers me a reluctant smile. “I could take care of you? You know, get some Tylenol or . . .” He laughs awkwardly. “I don’t know what. I’m new to all this.”

“You’re sweet, thank you. But I just need some sleep. And Stanley serves as a good heating pad.” The fur-ball creates a rather inconvenient obstacle in the center of my bed.

Luke meets me at the back of the car and walks me out hand-in-hand, stopping to punch in the code for the garage door that will hopefully keep this one from being stolen. That’s when I spot Warner behind a pillar, baseball cap pulled down over his brow.

Gun drawn.

My mouth drops open. What the hell is he doing? Luke has met him! He thinks he’s my brother!

We make eye contact, and Warner retreats a few steps, the relief visible across his face. Any second now, though, Luke is going to look up and spot him. So I do the only thing I can think of. I slip my hand around Luke’s neck and pull him down into my mouth in one of those kisses made for movies, which buys Warner enough time to dart behind a large truck.

“I thought you needed to go home?” His blue eyes dance as they take me in.

I smile, my hands rubbing the contours of his chest that I so desperately want to spend the night with. “I just wanted to make sure you knew how I felt about you.”

He leans down and matches my kiss. Somewhere behind us, I assume Warner is watching.

“Are you insane?” I yell into my phone, kicking my heels off. I figure if my handler’s about to tear me a new * and get me kicked off the case, I should go down swinging.

“What the hell was I supposed to do? The last thing I heard was that 24 made you in the club. Then nothing. Fucking static!”

I frown. “What? You mean you couldn’t hear us after we parked?” I quickly play the damning conversation back in my head, trying to remember what was said and when.

“I don’t know if it was because of the underground vents, but I couldn’t hear a thing. I thought . . .” Warner’s words trail off.

“You thought my cover was blown.” It all makes sense now.

“Yeah. That’s the only reason I would risk the case. You know that.”

I flop into my couch, feeling the lead weight float away. They didn’t catch Luke’s comment about the gardens. “I get it. Sorry for yelling at you.”