Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
He walked in and closed the door behind him. “I didn’t hire him. Deanna did during her divorce. She didn’t want to use McKay-Taggart because they’re damn expensive. I offered to help pay for it, but she can be stubborn. She thought her husband was cheating. He was. On her and his girlfriend.”
Well, at least she knew who’d hired the PI and why Deanna was so touchy. “He’s the man following us. Are you sure your relationship with this woman is strictly professional?”
His eyes had gone innocently wide. “I’ve never touched her. Not once. I don’t think I’ve ever even helped her out of a car.”
She stared at him.
“I’m serious. Never touched her. Never been anything but professional with her. She’s abrupt but effective,” he explained.
“She’s rude.”
“She’s direct. I wanted to fire her in the beginning and my dad took me aside and asked me why. I told him she was abrasive. He asked me if I would say the same thing about a man in her position. I gave her more time and looked at her differently. She’s good at her job. I don’t care that she’s not what a female assistant is supposed to be. If I asked her to get my coffee there would likely be poison in it, but if I direct her to push through a multimillion-dollar deal with a jackhole who’s trying to tie me up in red tape, she gets it done. I can get my own coffee.” He seemed to deflate. “All that said, she did seem jealous today.”
She’d seemed more than jealous. “I think we can assume she set the PI on us. Have you talked to your parents? Would she call and ask about me?”
“Turn around.”
“Why?”
“Because you still need to buy swimsuits,” he said. “Let me help you try these on.”
She sent him a pointed look.
“I’ve already seen everything, and we should talk about this in private in case the PI is lurking.”
He was right. And he had seen everything. She turned and let him deal with the zipper she always struggled with. “Fine. Talk.”
She could see him through the mirrors. All three of them. She watched as he smoothed his hands across her shoulders before he slowly eased the zipper down.
“I called my mom earlier today,” he said. “She’s been sent a bunch of information about you and how we met. She and my father will support the cover. If they get reporters calling, they’ll hold the family line of ‘we do not discuss our personal lives in the press.’ They’ll move on very quickly because there are far more interesting people out there with even more money. We’re boring.”
His fingers skimmed along her skin, making her shiver. “Good. I think it’s safe to say Michael is on board as well. Are the two of you okay?”
“Can I kiss you? I have the wildest urge to put my lips on the back of your neck.”
She wanted that more than anything. “It would be a mistake.”
He touched a place between her shoulders that made her want to melt. “What you’re telling me is I can do this job, or I can have you? Is that what this is about?”
She was going to have to live up to her name and be blunt with him. “I don’t fuck where I work. I learned that the hard way. And you’re avoiding the question. I asked about your brother.”
“You’re avoiding my question.” He parted the dress, exposing her back. “Were you going to dump me this morning?”
It took everything she had to not lean back into him, offering her skin up for his touch. “Dumping you implies we had a relationship to begin with.”
“I thought we made a connection. Was I wrong? If you can tell me you didn’t feel anything last night, I’ll figure out a way to make this thing work. I’ll sleep on the floor if I need to.”
She wanted to tell him that no, she hadn’t felt anything, but it would be a lie. “Fine. I was going to ask you if we could see each other when I got back.”
“Then let me kiss you.”
“I told you I don’t sleep with coworkers.”
“Nina, baby, we’re not coworkers. I’m the guy you’re going to try to keep in line while you work. I’m your cover, not your partner. Once this job is over, we won’t ever have to work together again. Not in this way because I fully intend to stay away from all the spy stuff.” He went to the rack and pulled the emerald green cocktail dress off. “I think this one first.”
Yes, he would pick that one. It had the lowest neckline. She took the dress from him and slipped it on. “I had a relationship with a coworker that went bad. I can’t have another job go wrong because I was too busy thinking about a guy.”