Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Want me to blow on them for you?”
If she ignored his juvenile sense of humor, he might stop. “The air in the Durango doesn’t work, so I’m hot.” She glanced around again for a thermostat. “I sure hope this place has A/C.” And that it worked.
“It’s on. You’re just… hot.” He jerked his eyebrows up.
Nova groaned. “Let’s skip the cheesy pickup lines.”
His grin tilted and, damn, that made him even more attractive. “Wasn’t a pickup line. Was a compliment.”
C’mon, Nova. This is work and not play. You need to be close but not that kind of close.
You do not need to get caught up in any kind of relationship while working. That never ends well.
“Let’s skip those, too. Otherwise, I might have to smother you with your pillow while you sleep.”
“I’m sure you’re already aware of this but… Prison’s not a good place for a fed.”
“I would simply need to draw a female judge for my trial and then I’d be acquitted.”
He threw his head back and a rich, deep laugh bubbled from him. She was mesmerized by his throat undulating and the flex of the muscular cords in his neck.
Jeeeeesus. That caused something to flex on her and it was not in her neck.
Damn it, her reactions to him might be a problem. She needed to work with someone she wasn’t attracted to, someone she didn’t react to when he simply laughed. Or showed off his muscular torso with the delicious V.
Not to mention, that tempting line of dark blond hair that started just below his navel and disappeared below his waistband.
“Look…”
Oh fuck me, I am looking…
“These men don’t mince words. They say crude shit. They might love their women but they certainly don’t temper their words around them. Plenty of shit’s gonna be said you probably won’t like, whether by me or others that you’ll have to deal with.”
She hooked a thumb toward the door. “Out there, yes. In here,” she pointed at the floor, “you’re mistaken. It’s simple. Respect me and I’ll respect you in return.”
Something flashed behind his brown eyes. “Got you.”
Got you.
She bit back a sigh. “Good.”
“But just a warnin’, once I get into character, I tend to stay in character. So, how I act out there,” he jerked his chin toward the door, “will most likely spill into here.” He pointed to the floor. “Ain’t gonna apologize for it.” As she opened her mouth to respond, he lifted a palm and continued, “And I’m sure you’ll have no problem tellin’ me if I disrespect you.”
“You’re right, I won’t.”
He nodded. “Good. I can take it as long as it’s in here.” He once again jabbed his finger toward the floor. “You do that out there, I’m gonna have to react as expected, so don’t be surprised if I do and it’s ugly. We’re playing parts here, Nova, as you very well know. Gonna play my part as best I can.”
“As will I,” she murmured, glanced around and forced herself to swallow down a response to him about not telling her how to do her job. She knew how to do it and did so successfully. She really didn’t want to start off their working partnership with a bunch of tension between them. If he continued to overstep, she’d remind him of who she was. “I’d like to get settled in and change into something cooler than jeans as long as we’re not heading anywhere tonight.”
“Nope. Scribbled a bunch of notes for us to go over so we’re both on the same page. Gonna guess you’ve done a bunch of research, too, to prepare. I’d like to see what you came up with. But since it’s late, we can go over all of that tomorrow. Tonight will be simply to get settled in our new place and maybe get to know each other better since our relationship’s gonna need to appear solid and real.”
She couldn’t argue with any of that. “How many bedrooms does this place have?”
“Two.”
Thank fuck.
“But only one shitter.”
Shit.
“Try not to leave all your products all over the place in there.”
One thing he’d quickly learn about her was that she could give as good as she got. “I guarantee you have more than me, pretty boy.”
“Aww. You think I’m pretty?” He cradled his chin with the back of both his hands and fluttered his eyelashes.
“Pretty annoying.”
He laughed again and rubbed his hands together. “This is gonna be fuckin’ fun.”
Nova wasn’t sure she’d go that far. However, she did enjoy going undercover. To her, it was a challenge to reinvent herself every time she did so. It also gave her a peek into how other people lived and it let her immerse herself into a life she never would have lived normally, even if only temporarily.
Going undercover took skills similar to acting. The best UCs slipped into a completely new skin, making it more difficult for someone else to break their cover. However, once the job was over, sometimes it was difficult to yank the agent or officer back to reality.