“You aren’t some wicked thief. I get that. You made mistakes with me.”
“I have not. I don’t make mistakes.” Now he was just being insulting. This after-sex experience was not as blissful as she’d hoped. Granted, it had been a while since she’d been in an after-sex situation, but she didn’t remember the experience being as fraught with conflict.
Ryan quirked a brow. She tried to keep looking at his face, but her traitorous gaze liked to keep darting down to his tats. Such a shame that she had not gotten to lick them.
Woman. Focus. “Fine,” she huffed. It was time to put the blame where it belonged. “I should have checked the gallery more thoroughly on my second visit inside.”
“Visit?” Ryan seemed to strangle on the word.
“Uh, yes, visit. My first visit was with you. Remember, when you set off the alarm?” she inquired sweetly.
He grunted.
“Anyway, I wasn’t quite as mission-oriented as I should have been during my second visit. I should have checked the perimeter more thoroughly. I should have realized Alexei was inside.” A visual of his dead body flashed through her mind. Her grip on the broach and earrings tightened. She’d never forget taking them from the dead man. Her shoulders rolled back. “You distracted me. So the mistake rests entirely on your shoulders. Your fault.”
Ryan’s lips parted, but he didn’t speak.
“I don’t get caught retrieving targets. You distracted me and…okay, why are you smiling?”
Because he was. His lips had just curled up in the most heart-stoppingly gorgeous grin. The grin lit his dark eyes. Took him to a whole other level of handsomeness. Damn him.
“I’m smiling because…” His deep voice seemed to sink right into her. “You just admitted that you’re utterly and completely fascinated by me.”
“I did no such thing!” Simone remembered her words. She’d said nothing about being fascinated with him. Zero about that.
“Yeah, you did.” A nod. “Never been distracted before, super high success rate?—”
“I’d had a one hundred percent success rate until you stalked into my life.”
“You were the perfect thief, but I got into your head. Got into your body, too.” He winked at her.
She frowned harder at him. “Retrieval specialist,” she corrected.
“Be careful, Simone, or I might just sneak my way into your heart.” He paused. “Like a thief in the night.”
Instantly, she retreated. One step. Two. Three and the back of her leg hit the nightstand.
His brow furrowed. “Are you running from me?”
No. Maybe. “You’re not getting into my heart.”
His smile was gone. He looked away from her. “Yeah, I get that. Relax. I wasn’t looking for some undying declaration of love.”
Her heart raced far too fast.
He lifted his right hand and yanked his fingers across his jaw. “Know what? This chat has been derailed.”
Why would her heartbeat not slow down? And why did her cheeks feel hot?
“Let’s get back to the fact that I know you’re not some wicked villainess with an icy heart,” Ryan directed.
“Why do you keep talking about my heart?”
“Maybe because I want it.” He blinked.
“What?” She’d heard wrong.
But he looked just as shocked as she felt. And then?—
