Page 144

“You’re avoiding my question.” He parted the dress, exposing her back. “Were you going to dump me this morning?”

It took everything she had to not lean back into him, offering her skin up for his touch. “Dumping you implies we had a relationship to begin with.”

“I thought we made a connection. Was I wrong? If you can tell me you didn’t feel anything last night, I’ll figure out a way to make this thing work. I’ll sleep on the floor if I need to.”

She wanted to tell him that no, she hadn’t felt anything, but it would be a lie. “Fine. I was going to ask you if we could see each other when I got back.”

“Then let me kiss you.”

“I told you I don’t sleep with coworkers.”

“Nina, baby, we’re not coworkers. I’m the guy you’re going to try to keep in line while you work. I’m your cover, not your partner. Once this job is over, we won’t ever have to work together again. Not in this way because I fully intend to stay away from all the spy stuff.” He went to the rack and pulled the emerald green cocktail dress off. “I think this one first.”

Yes, he would pick that one. It had the lowest neckline. She took the dress from him and slipped it on. “I had a relationship with a coworker that went bad. I can’t have another job go wrong because I was too busy thinking about a guy.”

“You won’t have to think about anything but getting the job done. I’ll handle everything else,” he promised. “That looks beautiful on you. Can I ask you a question?”

She looked in the mirror and had to admit the dress looked good on her. “You don’t seem to have a problem with those.”

“Do you want to see me again? Or has the day we’ve had shown you a different side of me? A side you don’t like.”

She turned, the dress forgotten. “No. I do want to see you, but I can’t afford for this job to go sideways because we have feelings for each other. So I think we should wait to move anything forward. Maybe once we get on the other side of this job, we can reevaluate.”

He got into her space, forcing her to look up at him. “It’s too late. At least it is for me. I’ve already got feelings for you, and that’s not going to change even if you tell me I can’t kiss you again.”

He was so close. So gorgeous. He was her every fantasy and he was standing right in front of her. Was she really going to let him go because of something Roger had done? “I should think about this. Introducing sex will merely complicate things.”

“Sex has already been introduced. And now that I know you’re a sub, I won’t be able to think about anything else.”

“I didn’t tell you I was a sub.” She’d tried to avoid that whole line of conversation because he’d been right. He had basically topped her the night before, and it had been fabulous. What would it be like if they could be a formal D/s couple?

“You didn’t have to tell me.” Every word came out of his mouth on a silky glide of his tongue. “I knew you were sexually submissive because of the way you melted for me. I didn’t know you were an experienced sub, but I knew damn straight I could give you what you need.”

“What do I need?” It wasn’t his money. It wasn’t his family.

“You need a man who lets you be the badass you are in your everyday life, and who helps you let it all go at night. You need a man who supports you in everything you want, including being his dirty little sex toy every night you’re in the mood. Let me kiss you.”

She’d promised herself this wouldn’t happen again. Not until they weren’t working together. “It’s going to make things harder.”

“I can’t get harder, baby.” His hands molded to her hips, his lips hovering over hers. “And I know you weren’t talking about my cock. You think it will be harder to manage the mission, but we’re going to be side by side every single day and every night. Do you really think we can stay away from each other?”

“We have to. Once we get there, I have to concentrate on the job.”

“Not every minute of the day. That’s why you have backup. No one can keep that kind of concentration up. You will need to relax.” He loomed over her. “That’s where I come in.”

His words were hypnotic, almost as mesmerizing as his presence. “You’ll help me relax?”

He was staring at her like she was something precious, like he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “I’ll play things any way you want when you’re working, but you get a couple of hours a day when I’m in charge. Of course, you know you’re still in charge deep down, but during that time, my goal will be to get you out of your head, to force you to let go of all the stress that comes with being the person you are. Strong. Brave. In control.”

It was everything she’d ever wanted. “And what do you get out of it?”

“I get to concentrate on you,” he said. “I get to let go of everything that makes me tense and crazy and focus on something that makes me happy. You.”

He was too much. How was she supposed to believe him? Or should she go with the fantasy of him since in two weeks she would be back in London? What could it truly hurt to sleep with him for a couple of nights? Staying close to him was good for their cover, and if she was in the same room with him, why shouldn’t they touch each other?

“I’m not getting serious about you,” she explained. “My life is in London.” What there was of it. “I’m going to be here for a few weeks and then I’ll be back home.”

Back to real life, which didn’t include a hot cowboy god of a Dom. She would be back to watching all her friends have kids and settle down, to worrying about her friends who were in trouble and didn’t want to be found.