“Are you okay?”
“Um, sort of,” she says cryptically, and I’m unsettled.
“Tell me.”I bend my head to rest my head on hers.
“Thank you.”Her hands frame my face as her dark gaze roams mine in search of something.“I’m just really confused.”
“About what?Hummel?”It’s pretty obvious to me.He’s a predator and dangerous.
“No.”She looks over my shoulder toward the police, Hummel, and the others and then back to me.“Can we talk?”
“Of course.”Straightening, my large hand engulfs her petite one and we speak briefly to Mike and the police, ensuring they have what they need to arrest Hummel.Again, he’ll likely be out in twenty-four hours or so, but every bit counts in making our case against him.
Wordlessly, we head to the car idling at the front of the building, my driver holding the back door open.The pads of my fingers skim the silky skin of her back as I nudge her ahead of me into the car and she trembles.Her back is bare save for a thread-like string tied at her neck.
Jesus Christ.
Gorgeous.Her back is exposed.Braless.Her skin smooth and soft.
All I can think about is her naked beneath me, one of my hands wrapped around her hair, and my pleasure at stroking her bare back while I take her from behind.
She slides into the car and I quickly follow suit, the door closing behind me.Alone at last.Before I can comment on her outfit, she begins, “I’m sure you figured out I wasn’t too happy with you this morning.”She nibbles at her bottom lip.
I chuckle and nod.“It wasn’t lost on me.I got the message loud and clear.”
She inches farther away from me, her back now resting against the car door.“I really am grateful for what you did out there but I have to ask…Why’d you tell Donovan about our arrangement?Or better yet, why didn’t you tell me he knew?”
“What?I didn’t tell him.”He’s the last person I’d confide in about anything, especially our deal.
“Then how did he know our relationship is fake?”She starts to curl into herself and I nab her wrist gently, pulling her toward me.Suddenly her behavior earlier today is beginning to make a whole lot of sense.
“He told you that?”I sift through past conversations with him, trying to figure out how this is possible.
Walker knows about my trust and the deal—he figured it out when he first met Paige—but he’d never tell Donovan.Those two barely tolerate each other.Then it hits me.There’s another plausible explanation.
“Yes, and then some.”
“What did he say?”I clench my teeth and my jaw ticks.
“It doesn’t matter, but he totally caught me off guard.If you didn’t tell him then who did?”
“It wasn’t me.”
Suddenly the scene from the other night, catching them together and the weird, intense vibe, is making a lot more sense.“I’ll speak to him.”Still holding on to her, my free hand rubs down my face.
“Don’t bother.Drawing more attention to our deal will only cause more problems.Who?—”
“He needs to be set straight.”I cut her off before she asks her question again.
Getting into that would only derail this conversation and take us in another direction even more dangerous than this one.
“How are you going to set him straight by confirming what he already knows?”
“I’ll tell him there’s nothing fake about our relationship.”
This time she pulls a little harder, shaking her head in disbelief, but my hands grip her hips.At the same time, the car turns, aiding in my efforts to secure her in my lap.
“Like he’s going to believe you.”
