“I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I met you.”Jesus, Kincaid. Forward much?
Her hand stilled against her collar. For half a second, something unguarded flickered across her face. Like it flattered her, and maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way. But then her teeth caught that bottom lip, worrying it the way she always did when she struggled for words.
She finally looked at me then for five long-assseconds. Her mouth opened, but closed just as quickly, and any hope of her saying something more died when she stepped into Axel’s penthouse.
We walked into the foyer as if we hadn’t just been devouring each other seconds ago.
Axel emerged. His pants and torso were dripping wet (what the fuck?), and, man, he was irritated as hell.
“The hell are you two doing here?” he barked.
Dakota emerged from the hallway, wearing nothing but a towel, clearly attempting to sneak toward Axel’s bedroom. She froze mid-step when she spotted us.
Faith’s gaze traveled over Axel’s predicament before snapping to Dakota. A smirk bloomed across her face. “Well, looks like you’re feeling better.”
It gutted me, seeing how effortlessly she slipped back into her strong, sarcastic self. In my line of work, I’d seen this kind of behavior from victims of violence. Skilled and conditioned to hide things. To hide horrors behind half-truths and smiles. I hated that I was seeing something similar play out in front of me now.
Don’t get me wrong; I was proud she camouflaged her pain behind strength and sarcasm, but I wondered what all she’d been through.
And would she ever trust me enough to share?
“What are you doing here?” Axel repeated angrily.
I cleared my throat, trying to summon my professional voice while my mind kept replaying Faith biting my lip. “The police are downstairs.” At least they should be here by now. “Remember how I arranged to have you give your statements here rather than at the station?”
“I thought they were showing up later,” Axel said.
“Itislater.”
Faith’s eyes glided over Axel’s wet pants. “Did you get … distracted? Time run away from you?”
Axel shoved his hands down in front of his crotch.
Faith’s smirk widened as she winked at Dakota. “I can see what the appeal is. Congrats, girl.”
“Faith!” Dakota protested, her cheeks flaming.
Faith shrugged, completely unrepentant. “If you have to be fake engaged to him, at least you’re getting the real perks too. Big ones. Good for you.”
Axel looked up at the heavens like he willed them to swallow him whole. I knew the feeling. I was currently willing the floor to open up and drop me back into that elevator, where I could continue what Faith and I had started.
“Want us to reschedule?” Faith waggled her eyebrows. “I mean, we could always tell the police you were … indisposed.”
Dakota’s cheeks incinerated. “No,” she said quickly.
“We can’t reschedule,” I chastised, forcing myself back into responsible attorney mode. We had statements to give. I couldn’t think about how perfectly Faith had fit against me or how I’d seen something real in her.
Axel looked distinctly disappointed at my professional assessment.
“What are you two doing together?” Dakota wondered aloud.
My pulse spiked. Could she tell? Was there some neon sign over our heads, screaming,JUST MADE OUT IN YOUR ELEVATOR?
“Bumped into him downstairs,” Faith explained smoothly. Again, it bothered me how easily the partial truth came. What else had this incredible, powerful woman forced herself to bury? “I was coming here to check on you.” She smirked at Dakota. “Looks like you’re feeling great though.”
After a few seconds of what looked like an internal argument with himself, Axel pinched the bridge of his nose. He told us to sit in the living room while he went to change.
As Faith and I moved toward the couch, I caught her eye.
