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“Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat and tugged at his tie. Bothered. The man was hot and bothered. And I took way more pleasure in that than I should have. He reached into the bag. “Sweatpants. Your pants are three inches deep in puddle water.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“Had to guess on the size, but they had a drawstring, so—oh,” he trailed off as I pushed my pants down off my hips after kicking off my shoes.
Were my pink and purple polka dot panties the sexiest pair I owned? Not by a long shot. But that didn’t seem to matter to Christopher.
His gaze slid up my legs from ankle to hip, and I swear the skin warmed under his inspection.
It wasn’t until I was wiggling the pants up to my hips that he finally forced his eyes up to my face again. The need was still burning there, and I felt a similar heat spread through me.
Christopher cleared his throat again. “Fit?”
“Yep. Just need to…” I said as I pulled the drawstring tight and tied a little knot in it. “Thank you. I was going to be freezing all day.”
“Pretty sure Brio would pluck out my eyes if he knew I saw you cold and wet and didn’t do something about that.”
“Nah. That’s not an eye-plucking offense.”
“No?”
“Nope, the real issue wouldn’t be your eyes in this case. It’s your hands. Your hands were useless. So those would come off.”
“Know a lot about Brio’s… hobby, huh?”
“Much to my sister’s chagrin, we like to discuss torture methods over the dinner table.”
“You are a mildly terrifying woman, Alara.”
“Stop talking dirty to me,” I teased. But the way his eyes warmed had an ache starting between my thighs. “I’ll get you your money,” I said, deciding the coffee could wait. Because if I spent another second in the room with him looking at me like that, I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions.
“Hey, so do you know anything about wiring?”
“What kind of wiring?” he asked as I dug around for the cash, realizing I hadn’t thought to look for it during my search. But it was right where I left it. It wasn’t even a good hiding spot, so I had no idea how they hadn’t seen it.
“My surveillance camera isn’t working. I just noticed when I checked the feed.”
“Why were you checking the feed?”
“To make sure it was working.” It wasn’t a lie. But judging by the disbelieving look Christopher shot me, I had a feeling he wasn’t buying it.
“I’ll take a look,” he said as he tucked the cash into his breast pocket. “Where is it?”
“The one outside.”
He moved to the door, paused, and shot me a smile so charming, my belly flipped.
“Should I be worried that you’re asking me to look at outdoor wiring during a rainstorm?”
“Huh. I have to add that one to my list.”
“You keep a list of kill methods?”
“What kind of murder enthusiast would I be without one?”
“What’s at the top of your methods?”
“Assuming the victim is a man who is arguably larger and stronger than me?”
