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Did it even matter? She had to seduce him. He was the path to her freedom.

They passed a glowing sign. Leah’s lips curved. “What’re you doing after this?”

Lucy’s brows drew together. “Dunno. Dinner. Watch some TV.”

“Want to go shopping?” Sometimes her best ideas came while shopping.

A matching wide smile from Lucy. “Yes, but food first.” Her stomach grumbled, and they both laughed.

“Deal. Food first.”

This was a mistake, Julian told himself, even as his feet took him to Leah’s office. Seeing her would be a mistake. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself. He had just showered after meting out justice to two vampires who had drained a family within city limits.

He scoffed. Meting out justice. Since when did he window dress his job?

He’d killed the vamps in cold blood.

The only thing he’d craved after the fight was Leah’s warmth, so he’d showered and dressed in clean clothes before coming down to her floor. He’d sensed she was still in her office.

What was she doing still up? It was almost midnight, and she worked during the day. He preferred it that way. It had made avoiding her easier.

The second he set foot on her floor, her honeysuckle and cinnamon scent wrapped around him. His world was right side up again. The ice encasing him cracked, allowing in light and warmth, warmth that Julian craved more than anything.

He was alive again.

She was dangerous. Too dangerous for his sanity. She’d only been here, what, a week? And he was addicted. He couldn’t keep going like this.

Three weeks. He had to last three more weeks. Leah’s contract was for a month with an option to renew. Thank the gods he’d had the foresight to limit the time.

Tomorrow, he’d move her office to one of the secondary Towers, which would stop her scent from invading him wherever he went.

The farther away she was, the better for both of them.

Julian stopped at her open office door, wondering how she’d react at seeing him. Was she still annoyed at him for making her change the conference rooms? He’d received new invites earlier this evening, switching the meetings to conference rooms with windows.

He hoped she was mad. He liked the fire in her eyes when she was angry.

What greeted him, though, was nowhere near what his imagination had conjured. His lips curved into an amused smile as he leaned against the doorway. Leah’s head was buried in her arms on the desk, her brunette hair spread out behind her. Judging from her breathing pattern, she was asleep.

He took the time to survey the room. Other than the two office chairs and the desk, the only other piece of furniture was a five-level bookshelf stacked with papers and binders. His brows rose at the shopping bags stacked in the room’s corner.

Gucci. Louis Vuitton. Chanel.

He hadn’t pegged her as someone with expensive tastes.

The rest of the office was clean, the walls devoid of decorations. But Leah’s desk was another story. Papers, stationery, and pens spread everywhere haphazardly. He scowled, the mess rubbing him the wrong way.

He read her open planner—”Send Blackmore new invites”. Beside his name, she had drawn a little devil stick figure.

The amusement returned. Julian nudged her shoulder, resisting the urge to rub it. She moaned, the sound sending pinpricks of heat throughout his body. “What? What is it?”

“Sleeping on the job?”

Her eyes fluttered open. They were greener today. She blinked twice before the cobwebs of sleep cleared. Covering her mouth with a hand, she asked through the yawn, “What are you doing here?”

Her hair was mussed from sleep, making him wish it was mussed for a different reason. Her left cheek had indentations from her sleeves where she’d slept on it. Something shifted in his chest as he observed the dark circles under her eyes and the exhaustion weighing on her shoulders.

“Do you always work this late?”