Page 97 of His Ruthless Match

“You know what happens to hustlers, Delgado?”

Her eyebrow arched, though I didn’t miss the slight quickening of her breath or the pink creeping into her cheeks. “What’s that?” she asked, her voice steady but quieter.

I leaned in, close enough to feel the heat radiating off her skin. “They get punished,” I murmured, my voice a low rumble.

The noise of the bar faded into the background as we stared into each other’s eyes. There was a challenge in her expression,and it pulled me in, making me forget everything but how she looked at me in that moment.

Eva swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

The moment stretched out, heavy and charged, until someone in the group called out, breaking the spell. Eva turned away quickly, her composure snapping back into place. I stayed where I was, discreetly adjusting my pants.

As the night wore on, I kept a close eye on her. Every time our gazes met, heat coiled inside me at an unspoken desire simmering just beneath the surface that neither of us could ignore.

27

EVA

Giggling, I stumbled out of the bar. Jareth traversed the sidewalk as if he hadn’t drunk a drop, which was super fucking unfair in my opinion. He grinned at me, which made his dimples show.

“Admit it,” I teased, nudging him as we turned down a quieter street. “You had fun tonight,Detective.”

“More fun than I thought I would.” His hand brushed mine as we walked, and I felt the tiniest flicker of something—not quite electricity, but a warmth that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

“That’s because you were drinking,” I countered, laughing as I tilted my head back to look at him. He was taller than he had any right to be, and his stupid face was too handsome in the glow of the streetlights. He had absolutely no right looking so good with his wig back on. It was annoying.

He had made the night exponentially better, and I didn’t want to admit it. Was this how it felt to bring a partner to social events?

“No argument there, though the drinks don’t have quite the same effect on me,” he said, his grin widening. “Your lawyerfriends are… interesting. Especially that guy with the football tie. What was his deal?”

“Greg? He’s harmless. A little too into his fantasy football league, maybe, but harmless.” I waved it off, though I didn’t miss the way Jareth’s mouth twitched at the corners.

“Sure, he’s harmless now. Get a few more shots of tequila in him, though, and he’ll be challenging me to arm wrestling.”

“You’re just mad because he kept calling you Detective Handsome.”

“Is that what he said?” Jareth’s voice was full of faux disbelief, but there was a flush creeping up his neck that gave him away. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear that.”

“You’re such a bad liar. Speaking of… how were you so convincing back there? You had everyone eating out of the palm of your hand with that whole detective persona.”

He shrugged, the motion fluid and lazy in a way that made me wonder just how much practice he had at this sort of thing. “You learn to lie when you have to go undercover as often as I do. Comes with the territory.”

“Noted,” I said, arching a brow. “That’ll come in handy when you’re trying to pull one over on me.”

“Don’t worry, Eva,” he said with a sly smile. “If I were lying to you, you wouldn’t know.”

Before I could come up with a witty comeback, a glow in the park a block from my building caught my eye. I’d forgotten they regularly held movie nights here.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, grabbing Jareth’s arm. “That’sCasablanca!”

“And?”

“It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. We have to stop and watch.”

“It’s almost midnight,” he said, but he didn’t seem particularly against the idea.

“So? It’sCasablanca. And we’re celebrating!” I was already pulling him toward the lawn where people were sprawled out on blankets and lawn chairs. Ingrid Bergman’s voice carried through the night.