Page 67 of Only the Devil

Those chocolate brown eyes assess, and she gives a quick nod, seemingly reassured. Then she flicks on the trimmer, and the low buzz fills the silence.

Hair falls across my chest and lap. I should probably take over, but I don’t. I like being taken care of—especially by this one.

“Which way are you leaning?” I ask. “You gonna say yes?”

“Probably.” She stays focused on her work. “It’s not like I can’t resign. They won’t own me.”

True enough. She could take the money and still chase her proof. But once she’s a big shot CTO, as time goes by…would she still want someone like me around?

The thought punches low, and I rub my chest. The stray hairs dig into my skin.

She wipes me down with a towel, making a mess all over the floor. Then she steps back, assessing her handiwork.

“You are so incredibly gorgeous,” she says.

I slide a hand over her hip, drawing her closer, then twist toward the mirror. “Whoa.”

She’s cut quite a bit—shorter on the sides, longer on top—but it’s the beard that catches me. She’s left a neat goatee, shorter and darker against my skin. I tug at my jaw.

“If the beard was bothering your thighs, all you had to do was say.”

She laughs, pressing into my side. “What do you think?”

“If you like it, that’s all that matters.”

She tilts her head. “I do.”

Turns out that shower holds both of us just fine—and cleanup might be my new favorite thing.

Chapter 22

Daisy

As I apply lip gloss with the pad of my finger, last night’s memory surfaces unbidden—Jake’s rough finger pushing past my lips, his quiet command to suck. Vivid heat envelops me, all from the memory, and I squeeze my knees together to squelch the fire flaring up my thighs just as a knock sounds.

“Come in.”

Jake fills the doorway, sandy-blond hair tousled, my handiwork from last night—the neat goatee—making him look even better in the morning light. There’s a gleam in his eye that says he’s been thinking about last night too.

Yes, we’ve been carrying on like a couple, continuing to let everyone believe we’re an item. And, in truth, we’re sleeping in the same bed and having sex daily, sometimes more than once a day, but it’s not real in a way that will continue. Or is it?

He’s here because he’s hired by KOAN. Sure, he likes the double salary, but he hates the boredom of building security. It’s beneath him. Once I, or well, if I, tell Rhodes I’m staying here, that I’ve given up on finding dirt on Sterling Financial, that this isn’t the evil bloodsucking racket I imagined, Rhodes will finally see what I’ve been insisting, that he doesn’t need to be worried about my safety. He’ll halt KOAN’s assignment and Jake will be on his way to his next assignment with KOAN, a job he likes.

And that’s as it should be. We’ve been playing house, and it’s been nice, but we’re going in different directions, and chances are we’ll never be in the same place again.

“What is it?” he asks.

He steps inside, and I blink away the emotional blur. One thing I am not is my mother. I’m not one to fall for a guy just because I’m sleeping with him. And I will not make this into something it’s not.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I shut down my computer, something I don’t do every day but… “Like what?”

God, my voice sounds way too chipper. What is wrong with me?

He leans over my desk, taking in the black screen, and I swear I get a whiff of his soap; this understated sandalwood scent that I will probably always associate with Jake, long after we’ve gone our separate ways.

“You done for the day?” he asks, stepping back, and it could be my imagination, but it feels like his eyes narrow and darken as his gaze roams my body. I changed into pointed heels and added a couple of gold necklaces to my black dress. When I reach back for the black business jacket that hangs on the back of my chair, he zeroes in on the fabric’s stretch over my breasts.