Our hands collide.
Her fingers are warm and soft against mine, and the touch shoots straight through me like a live wire. Claire freezes, her breath catching, and for one long second, neither of us moves.
She’s so close I can smell her. Something soft and sweet, like vanilla and sleep-warmed skin. Her lips part, and my eyes drop to them without permission.
Kiss her. Just fucking kiss her.
The thought slams into me so hard my jaw clenches. I force myself to release the mug and step back before I do something stupid.
“Go ahead,” I manage, my voice rougher than I intend.
Claire blinks, then snatches the mug like it might bite her. A flush creeps up her neck as she turns away.
“Thanks.”
When coffee is set—me taking it black while she uses a hefty dose of creamer—we walk into her living room. I sit across from her in the chair while Claire takes her spot on the couch.
“I need to know more details about what happened with the senator.”
Claire nearly chokes on her coffee. “Excuse me?”
I watch her put the cup down on the table before I continue.
“I need to know the details. Teddy needs to pay for what he did, but I can’t figure out the best course of action without all the information.”
Claire looks uncomfortable, and I can imagine why. But these are questions the authorities are going to ask, and I want to have the answers.
“I told you last night he tried to do something he shouldn’t. Why do I need to go into the gruesome details?”
“Because people are going to ask, and we need to have a response. The senator is clearly more than meets the eye. The person watching you last night proves that, let alone the fact that he sent me to scare you.”
“He hired me to do a dance. He met me at the club where I work. I needed the money. And when things got too intense, I ran.”
The air is stiff and tense between us. I clench my jaw, trying my damndest not to yell at Claire because she’s frustrating as hell.
Stubborn is apparently something we both have in common.
“No.” She stands up, meeting my glare with one of her own. “I just met you, and I’m not opening up about my trauma to some guy who, less than twenty-four hours ago, was looking to intimidate me for cash.”
I stand too, crossing the short distance between us. Even at her taller height for a woman, I tower over her, gazing down at her in her pajamas with not a stitch of makeup.
She doesn’t back down at all.
“You need my help. So unless you’re actually enjoying living like this—” I gesture around the apartment and then toward herbody, insinuating her day job. “—you’ll stop being a brat and let me help you.”
Claire’s eyes flare wide. The raw fury on her face is impressive considering how sweet she looks in every other situation.
“You jerk! You know nothing about me!” She jabs a finger into my chest. “I’ve lived in this city my entire life, and this is the best I’ve had it, you spoiled meathead. Not all of us have everything so easy.”
She slams her foot down and turns away, stalking to the window.
“My father abandoned me when I was a baby, and my mother turned to booze and work so she didn’t have to look at me. I’m doing all this because I’m trying to finish college. I have nothing but my art and myself to rely on, so sue me if I don’t think jeopardizing all of it to catch a damn senator is a good idea.”
Her words are a kick to the balls. Knowing that Claire’s situation is even worse than I thought has my chest pinching in a way it never has before.
She’s struggling. And that asshole was looking to take advantage of her desperation.
“Claire.” I walk up behind her, keeping my voice low. “I want him caught. I want his career to end for what he did to you. Talk to me so I can make that happen.”
