Page 18 of Entwined With You

Frustrated, I order myself to ignore the way my nipples stiffen against my bra as well as that sweet, tingling sensation between my thighs in anticipation of an even more delicious touch.

I pull away, forcing myself to meet his eyes—hoping he can see the coldness in them as I say ever so sweetly, “Careful what you start, baby. Whatever Darrin may be hoping for, you know I’m not into exhibitionism.”

The corner of his mouth curves up, and his hazel eyes aren’t cold at all. Instead, they’re gold with flecks of green, and I see reflected in those deep, warm pools a desire as deep as my own.

Not good. Really, really not good.

Across the table, Darrin’s looking at me with interest, but despite all the classes I’ve taken on human psychology and how much I’ve practiced reading expressions, I can’t read his. Perhaps he’s turned on. Perhaps he’s shocked that I could still want this man after what he did. Perhaps he knows perfectly well that we were faking.

Except right now, I’m not sure that Brax was faking. For that matter, I’m not sure that I was either.

Thankfully, Darrin’s low chuckle grounds me again, letting me abandon that line of thinking.

I settle back into the booth and flash what I hope is a heat-filled look toward Brax and then a smug glare toward Darrin. “As I was saying, Brent’s part of the team. I trust him. You should, too. And with Tim in the ground, we need him if we’re going to ace this job. Something we missed by a pretty wide margin fifteen years ago.”

“Go on,” Darrin says.

I lift a shoulder in a casual shrug. “I’ve already said my piece. We’re part of the team. You know that as well as we do. I assume you’ve already got Jorge on deck, right?”

I shoot Brax a self-congratulatory smile. During the drive, I’d had him quiz me on the names of everyone who’d been involved the first go-round, so I wouldn’t confuse Jorge with Jose again. I know the names perfectly well, of course. But I don’t want to give Brax any reason to question my story. Not yet.

Eventually, of course, I’m going to reveal all and then rip the heart out of this man who’d betrayed me after swearing he loved me.

Eventually.

But not quite yet.

I return my attention to Darrin, watching as he digests the silent demand I just put on the table: either pull Brax and me into the heist he’s planning or run the risk of finding out that somehow the cops learned about what’s about to go down.

There’s not a sound at our table for over a minute. We’re like a bubble of silence surrounded by the ambient hum of a crowded bar. Then—when I’m starting to think he’s gone mute—he finally speaks.

“Looks like the old gang’s back together,” he says. “Seems like a damn good omen to me.”

“Almost the old gang,” Brax says. “We had a team of five originally for a reason. Tim clearly won’t be joining us.”

“Guy never could hold his temper. Irritated the wrong guy. Got a shiv for his trouble.” Darrin shudders, then waves his hand as if washing all that unpleasantness away. “But it’s not a problem. Jorge’s in for sure. As for Tim’s replacement, I know a few guys. One of them should be able to handle it.”

“Don’t bother,” Brax says, and both Darrin and I turn to him. “I’ve got it covered.”

“Wh—,” I begin, but Darrin gets there first. “Who is he?”

“She,” Brax says. “We’ve worked together before. She’s solid. And she’s got incredible fingers.”

Darrin’s eyes narrow. “I’m not sure—”

“No, it’s fine,” I say, speaking more forcefully than I intended, as if to make my words that much more true. As if by agreeing so readily I can cap off the jealousy that’s pressing at my ribcage like an oil well about to turn burst into a geyser.

Jealous?

No. No way. No fucking way. I’m over this man. I’ve been over him for years.

More important, I don’t trust him.

And this man doesn’t even know I’m me.

“We’ll want to meet her,” I add once I realize I’ve let silence linger a few beats too long. “Me and Darrin and Jorge.” I shoot Darrin a sideways glance that I hope conveys that he needs to keep his mouth shut. “We need to make sure she’s a fit for the team. But,” I continue, turning my attention from Brax to Darrin, “Brent headed up security last go-round. So he should pick his team.”

While Brent and I had hacked the museum-wide security system to allow for, among other things, a full-failure of the lock-down system, Tim had been on-site in the uniform of an actual security guard while Darrin had posed as a docent.