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Now, Haisley had to admit that she was falling for him all over again. Maybe it was time to face the fact she was always going to be in love with him.

Where did that leave her?

The prospect of confiding in him was utterly terrifying. If she told him the truth, would she lose him again? Maybe. Probably. But if she didn’t…wouldn’t she lose him again anyway? How could their relationship deepen if she wasn’t honest?

Besides, not coming clean also meant resigning herself to this frustrating limbo of unresolved feelings and unfulfilled yearning. She’d done that with him once. Did she truly want to do it again?

Haisley didn’t have answers, just a jumbled mix of hopes, fears, and aching needs making endless waves of confusion.

The only thing she knew for certain was that she needed to figure out how to balance her growing feelings with the job at hand. Neither of them could afford distraction when innocent lives were at stake. And Nash inevitably turned her thoughts to mush simply by smoldering at her from across a room.

The rest of the day passed without any peep from him except a frustratingly impersonal text message about needing more time with potential witnesses and Ethan’s lead blowing up, but he’d fill her in later.

Later turned into complete radio silence for over twenty-four hours, leaving Haisley feeling unmoored and unsettlingly dismayed. Clearly, she was in deeper than she’d thought if his one-day absence left her feeling this unbalanced.

Finally, he waltzed into her office on Friday afternoon with a cocky grin that both annoyed and relieved her. She scrambled to tamp down the flutter of relief and giddiness that spread through her at simply laying eyes on him again.

Of course, her facade shattered the second Nash gave her a nakedly admiring once-over. He dumped his messenger bag on her desk and trashed his empty energy drink with a wink. “Miss me?”

Way too much. But she couldn’t blurt that, especially in the office with prying eyes and ears all around. Not when lives were at stake. Their twisted whatever-this-was had to take a back seat.

She scoffed. “You wish.”

His grin widened, and he bent close, under the guise of pulling something from his tote. “Liar. You forget how well I know you.”

Haisley looked down as a flush swept up her face. No, she didn’t forget. She could never forget.

“Did you make progress on the case?” She pretended to schlep papers across her desk.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry it’s been a hot minute since I checked in and updated you. We’re definitely getting somewhere.” He leaned even closer. “But I missed your…skills in action.”

Her heart rate surged. Did he mean that as suggestively as it sounded? “Oh?”

“Yep. More than you know,” he murmured in her ear before he pulled a nearby chair close to hers and sank into it, suddenly business as usual.

Haisley tried to deal with the sudden whiplash. Of course they needed to focus on solving this case, but she’d be lying if she said a reckless part of her didn’t love the idea of unleashing her “skills” for Nash at every intoxicating step. “What did I miss in the investigation?”

“Let’s take this somewhere…private.”

At his insinuation, her pulse leapt. An ache settled between her legs, insistent and throbbing. It had been so long since he’d touched her—since anyone had. Her trusty battery-operated boyfriend wasn’t doing it. Her picky pussy only wanted Nash.

But she didn’t dare invite him closer. As weak as she felt, she’d drop her clothes for him in thirty seconds or less. “The conference room? I don’t think anyone is using it.”

He grabbed his things. “Lead the way.”

She plucked up a few file folders, along with her laptop, and guided him to the executive wing, then inside the small room at the opposite end of the hallway from Mr. Benedict’s office. Together, they sat at the wood laminate table.

As she spread her stuff out, Nash texted someone, then tucked away his phone. “Where were we? Oh, the mall’s general manager. He suddenly resigned yesterday. Benjamin…” He dug through his papers.

“Yuslav,” she provided. “He just quit?”

“Ten minutes before we were set to meet. He apparently tendered his resignation to Mr. Benedict, giving no notice, and hauled ass off the premises. At least according to what the folks in the mall offices told Ethan.”

She winced. “Well, that explains why Mr. Benedict was in such a shitty mood yesterday and why he was shouting at Mila to ‘do something’ ASAP. The poor woman was nearly in tears and started calling everyone she knew…”

“Yep. The timing is awfully shady. Especially since, rumor is, he didn’t leave a forwarding address for his final check.”

“Seriously? I’ll see what I can find out. At the very least, his personnel records should have some contact information.”