"I was right about one thing: you're witty when you finally start talking."
He grinned, and I knew I was done for.
4
Kinsley
Oddly, I found it easy to talk to Burke over dinner. The white-uniformed man kept appearing and disappearing, but I didn't ask his name or position. I would only get one chance to spend a little time in Burke's world, and then it would be over.
He kept a respectful distance from me, never touching me at the table. I wouldn't have minded him brushing my hand with his fingers as he passed the potatoes, but he didn't even do that.
"I can't believe that's even a reference you would get," I said with a laugh.
"Why not? I watch movies."
"When does Burke Gallagher watch movies? In between buying other planets and changing the course of the stock market?"
"I don't do either of those things."
I caught the sparkle in his eye, telling me he was amused, but I stopped talking. No, he didn't buy and sell properties. He bought and sold illegal weapons, drugs . . . people. I didn't know for sure.
"Ah, I can see I've hit the wall with you."
Shaking my head, I insisted, "I'm just tired, that's all. I didn't sleep well last night."
"I don't know anything about what happened to Officer Hawthorne, honestly, but I can ask around if it would make you happy."
Would it make me happy for him to use his connections? No, I didn't think it would because then I would owe him. "That's okay. The guy drove off, but they have his license plate on the dash-cam footage from Dad's cruiser."
"Good." Tilting the glass of wine he held, he remained silent for several seconds and studied me. I'd only accepted water to drink. "Kinsley, why do you resist every offer I make?"
"What other offers have you made?" I asked flippantly, reaching for a roll. Breaking it in half, I then crumbled the piece I held. Though I knew the answer, our lighthearted conversation had taken an uncomfortable turn.
"We both know the only reason you're here tonight is because I picked you up off the floor while unconscious."
"Yes." I couldn't meet his gaze, but I could feel it drilling into me.
"I tried to ask you to dinner last night, and you turned me down."
"Yes," I said again. He would make me say it, wouldn't he?
"Kinsley."
The way he said my name made my breath catch in my throat. "You aren't interested in me, not really. I'm boring, and you're . . . not. I'm a good girl, and you're . . ." Trailing off, I realized I couldn't decide on an appropriate word to describe him.
"Not."
"Right." I frowned at the crumbs on the table. "You'll leave after—after things here are tied up, and I'll never see you again. That's the only reason there isn't a Kinsley-shaped hole in the door. Dinner is all I can give you, here and now."
"What if there's more to it than that?"
Looking up at him, I regretted it instantly. Every inch of him was devastatingly handsome and entirely too charming. "Lines won't work on me."
He heaved a sigh. "You're so stubborn."
"I suppose I am."
"Why do you resist what I'm offering?"
