She tips her head back and laughs so hard she shakes in my arms. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
Her laughter dies away, and she looks down at me. “Asher, you are the most lovable man I’ve ever met, and my dad doesn’t like you. Gable won’t stand a chance.”
She might be right, but I also know Gable. He’ll make an effort if I ask him to, especially if it comes to us getting the hard drive and the hell out of here. The more suspicious Guy is of us, the harder it’s going to be to stay under the radar.
“Gable can be charming when he wants to be.”
She scoffs. “And that’s the problem: does heeverwant to be?”
“I’ll convince him,” I say, placing her on her feet. “What do you say? It might be fun.”
Ella grimaces. “You and I have very different definitions of fun. But sure, I guess we should. Maybe I might even grow to like Gable, too. If he’s quiet. And obedient. Or, better yet, if he doesn’t show up.” The doors open on herfloor, and she pushes herself onto her tip toes to kiss me. “Bye.”
She turns to leave, and I take her hand. “Whoa, that’s all I get? ‘Bye’? Where are you going?”
“I have to write!” She laughs as I throw her over my shoulder. “Asher, you’ll just be bored watching me type.”
“Impossible,” I say, carrying her down the hall.
There’s nothing I want to do more.
Placing her on her feet in front of her door, I kiss her as she fumbles for her keys. She grins against my mouth, and it’s another world-blowing, mind-bending kiss. It’s soft at first, a brush of our lips, one of my hands on the side of her neck, my thumb slowly stroking her jaw, the other hand slipping around her waist to pull her close.
And oh God, it’s heaven.
She parts her lips to allow my tongue to stroke hers, and how I don’t moan is a damn miracle. Someone should do studies on my restraint, because I’m seconds from tearing her dress off.
“Fuck, you taste good,” I whisper against her mouth.
She laughs, biting her lip. “I taste like pasta.”
“You taste like you.” I kiss her again, the urgency taking my breath away. Her back meets the door, and she slides her hands up my T-shirt. My abs flex against the warmth of her palms, and my dick is rock solid already.
“Ella …” I pull my mouth from hers and exhale. “Fuck, we should?—”
We’re plunged into darkness.
I pull Ella to me, reaching for a gun I don’t fucking have. I left it behind because there was no way to discretely carry it, and that’s a decision I’m regretting.
“It’s just a power outage,” she says. “It happens sometimes.”
I glance down the hall but don’t relax. “How often?”
She shrugs. “Once a year, maybe? It’ll be on in a few hours.”
That seems too much of a coincidence. Gable and I have cut the power in places before, it helps with staying covert and removes the issue of security cameras, so I know other contract killers do the same.
I keep Ella close and scan the dark hallway, as if waiting for the boogeyman to jump out of the shadows and fire two bullets straight through her head.
“I’ll stay with you until it comes back on.”
She chuckles. “You really don’t have to.”
I force a smile. “I insist.”
Chapter 10
