Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1)(65)

Her mouth dropped open.

“Why are you surprised?”

“I don’t know.” She combed her hair away from her eyes again. “I figured it was one of the perks of the job.”

“It’s not.”

He sat up and leaned back against the headboard. She gazed up at him, and the vulnerability on her face made him feel like shit. He knew better than to let things go here, but he’d done it anyway.

He wanted her again. Right now, even though he’d barely recovered from last time.

He’d thought that caving in once would get her out of his system, but it hadn’t at all. And he cursed himself for being so stupid.

She ran her fingertips over his abdomen. “What if we find ways to be alone together when you’re not on duty? That wouldn’t be a problem, would it?”

“It’s already a problem.”

Guys had been fired for doing what Erik had just done or, at minimum, reassigned. The prospect of turning her security over to someone else was unthinkable. He couldn’t let it happen.

“You’re concerned there’s going to be fallout at work?” she asked.

“There will be. Don’t worry about that. I’ll deal with it.”

“You know what that sounds like? A bunch of macho crap.” She shifted onto his lap and straddled him, then slid her hands over his shoulders. “If there’s fallout, I’ll talk to Liam. I’m the client—he’ll listen to me.” She paused. “Whatever it is, we’ll both deal with it.”

Erik didn’t say anything to that—he was too mesmerized by her perfect breasts right there in front of him.

“This so-called problem,” she said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “Is it a problem of distraction?”

He’d been distracted since the minute he met her. Years of training and rigorous self-discipline had gone right out the window. She just had to look at him with those deep blue eyes, and his focus was shot to hell.

“Because I don’t think it’s a problem,” she said. “I mean, look at this place. The apartment’s secure. We’ve got cameras downstairs. You’ve got a whole arsenal here on the nightstand.” She leaned closer. “I feel very protected.”

“There are still things you don’t see.”

“I’m willing to risk it.”

Erik wasn’t. And yet here he was, unable to slide her off his lap so he could get up and leave.

She tipped her head to the side, watching him, and he sensed she was devising a new line of attack.

“I want to ask you something, and you’re not allowed to lie,” she said.

She was trying to distract him. And he was letting her.

“What is it?”

“Why did you trade shifts with Trent?”

“He asked me. I told you.”

“Yes, but you weren’t being truthful. Not completely.”

How the hell did she know that?

“No, he did ask me.” Erik sighed. “But I was going to make him give me his shift anyway.”

“Why?”

“After everything that went down, I didn’t want you out of my sight. I wanted to be here tonight.”

Not just here in her apartment—in her bed. He’d known exactly what he wanted when he walked through her door.

She smiled. “I knew you were lying.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Thank you for your honesty.” She kissed him, letting her tongue linger over his bottom lip, and he knew he wasn’t going anywhere right now. Or for the foreseeable future.

“And FYI?” she whispered. “I wanted you here tonight, too.”





BRYNN WOKE up alone in the big bed. The room was light, and the traffic noise drifted up from street level. She lay beneath the cool comforter, listening to voices in the kitchen, but none of them belonged to Erik.

She refused to feel hurt. Or disappointed. He’d made it clear last night where he stood on things, and nothing she’d done had changed his mind.

She slid out of bed and took her time in the shower. It was Saturday, so at least she didn’t have to be in court. She dressed and put on some makeup, then took a deep breath to brace herself before going into the kitchen.

She found Jeremy seated at the bar with his computer. The sight of him there instead of Hayes or Trent put an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning.”

She went straight for the coffeepot, glancing over her shoulder at him. Jeremy had a super-ripped build, a military-short haircut, and pale gray eyes that seemed to notice everything. Like Erik, he was a former Marine. Also like Erik, he wasn’t a talker.

Brynn opened the canister, and just the smell of ground coffee perked up her senses. She got the coffee maker going and turned to face him. Her first challenge of the day was going to be chatting him up and getting info.

“So.” She smiled. “Who else is here this morning?”

“Keith is in the control room, watching the surveillance cams.”

“I assume you reviewed them from last night?”

He nodded. “No sign of Corby near the entrances.”

Brynn shook her head. “Amazing.”

“What’s that?”