Page 91 of His Ruthless Match

As we grabbed our jackets and headed out, I could feel Jareth’s glare. I turned to him with an innocent smile. “What?”

“You could’ve saved me sooner,” he muttered.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

We slipped on our wigs as we got to the door. As we walked through the city, the late-afternoon sun cast long shadows over the streets, and the faint sound of honking taxis punctuated the steady hum of foot traffic. Jareth walked slightly ahead, his stride lazy but purposeful, while I followed a step behind, scrolling through my phone to check for updates from Genevieve’s hotel.

We passed the library, its grand stone façade and towering windows standing out against the modern architecture around it. Jareth stopped abruptly, turning to look at the building with a gleam in his eyes that immediately put me on alert.

He waved lazily at the doors, his golden-brown eyes sparkling with mischief. “Need to pop in and grab some lady porn?”

I didn’t even dignify that with a response as I strode past him.

“Oh, come on,” he called after me, his voice laced with exaggerated innocence. “You’re not even going to deny it? I figured you’d be all about those steamy paperbacks with shirtless men and questionable plotlines.”

I pulled out my phone and started tapping out an email, hoping he’d take the hint. He didn’t.

Jareth jogged a few steps to catch up with me, falling into step beside me again. “You know, they probably have audiobooks now. Save you some time.”

I let out a long-suffering sigh, but I had to work real hard to keep from smiling. “Do you ever shut up?”

“Not when I’m right. And I’m definitely right about this. You strike me as a woman who appreciates a good, smutty plot twist.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Thank you,” he said with a mock bow, clearly pleased with himself. “So, what exactly are we doing at the courthouse today? It wasn’t on your schedule.”

“I need to pick up some transcripts from another case I’ve been working on for months,” I explained. “Tomorrow is the final hearing, and I want to review something I brought up last time.”

“Couldn’t a paralegal have done that for you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, but I needed a change of scenery.”

As we walked, I called the front desk at Genevieve’s hotel, making sure to keep my voice professional. “Hi, this is Eva Delgado. I need pest control sent to Ms. Biggerstaff’s room as soon as possible. She’s seen a rat on more than one occasion, and I’m sure you can agree that this is unacceptable, especially at an establishment such as yours. We wouldn’t want the general public to know.”

Jareth choked on a laugh.

“What?” I hissed, covering the receiver with my hand.

He leaned in, his breath warm against my ear. “Biggerstaff.”

I ignored him as I finished the call. Once I hung up, I smacked his arm. “Seriously?”

Jareth grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “Just saying, I’m a pristine example of a bigger staff.”

I couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough, though I knew from firsthand experience that he wasn’t exactly joking.

Shit. Why did I allow my brain to go there? Now, all I could picture was Jareth naked and his huge cock halfway down my throat.

“Here we are,” Jareth said, pulling me out of my dirty thoughts.

We made our way inside the courthouse. The lobby was cold, almost sterile, with polished marble floors that gleamed under fluorescent lights.

I stood at the counter, waiting for the clerk to return with my requested transcript, while Jareth wandered off to look at the art hanging on the walls.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw him standing in front of a massive landscape painting. It was filled with trees—too many trees, in my opinion. Jareth tilted his head, hands tucked into his jacket pockets, as if he were some kind of art connoisseur.

“Do you think the artist actually loves trees this much?” he called out, his voice carrying through the quiet lobby. “I mean, I don’t know much about art, but that’s a lot of damn trees, don’t you think?”