Page 10 of The Sinner’s Touch (Manwhore #2)

CHAPTER SIX

Angel tried to focus on the passing landscape, but the woodsy scent that was all Kade invaded her senses.

He never wore cologne. His smell kept bringing back old memories, memories she’d worked hard to forget.

Not that she ever really forgot, though.

They haunted her dreams at night. She couldn’t hide from them there.

Like the Saturday he found her on the beach, two weeks after he’d seen her show at The Velvet Room.

What possessed her to wink at him, she’d never know, but the devil in her couldn’t stop from reveling in the open lust burning in his eyes as he’d watched her dance.

Men had stared at her, ogled her body, but no one affected her like Kade.

His gaze lingered on her skin for days. She couldn’t shake him.

She loved lying on the beach, loved the feel of the sun caressing her.

When her friends called and wanted to know if she’d go, she’d dug out her favorite red bikini and sun hat.

An hour later, the three of them were stretched out and admiring all the fine specimens of the male species littering the sand.

Two had already caught her eye, one of which she was engaging in a silent flirtation of stolen glances.

Tall, blond, a surfer. Abs that went on forever.

“He’s so worth it.”

Jasmine’s low whistle made her grin. The girl had sized up Angel’s surfer and found him acceptable.

Hannah seemed to agree. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

Angel had met the girls at the strip club.

While they were both older than Angel, they’d hit it off better than she had with any of her friends from high school.

Most of them had already gone off to college, and the ones who hadn’t seemed to have disowned her for the most part.

They didn’t agree with her choice of employment.

“Screw them all” had been her mantra. Angel didn’t need friends who judged her.

“I don’t know.” Her teeth worried her lower lip as she studied the sun-kissed Adonis. “He seems a little flakey. See the way he flexes when a girl passes by? What if he spends more time in front of the mirror than I do?”

“Girl, please.” Hannah tossed her hair over her shoulder as she sat up. “All you’re interested in is a little fun. You’re too young to get all involved. Live it up and take that boy home.”

Angel laughed. “Could you imagine if I did and Peter walked in on us?”

That earned a snort from Jasmine, but she was stopped from saying anything by the shadow that fell over the three of them. She looked up to tell whoever it was to get the hell out of their view, but her breath caught.

Kade.

The sun at his back made him look like some dark god about to pounce.

Angel gulped, trying to catch her breath.

“Well, hello.” Jasmine’s throaty greeting snapped Angel out of her shock. She shot Jasmine a warning look, which she completely ignored. “I’m Jasmine.”

“Ladies.” Kade tipped his head in greeting. “Enjoying yourselves?”

Angel thought her friends nearly swooned. None of the boys they knew spoke like that, but then again, they were just boys. Kade was all man. One hundred percent bonafide man.

“We are now.” Hannah batted her lashes, a sly smile curving her lips. “Care to join us?”

He flashed Hannah that dimpled smile of his, and it set Angel’s teeth to grinding. A surge of jealousy flared up so fast it surprised her. She didn’t even know the guy, for fuck’s sake, and she was ready to tear into one of her best friends over him.

“Hi, Angel.”

Her eyes swept back up to meet his. Laughter danced in them. “Hi.”

“I, uh…” He cleared his throat, and Jasmine giggled. “Would you want to take a walk down the beach with me?”

“Sure she would,” Hannah answered for her.

Kade reached a hand down to her. “Well, Miss Lemoraux? Would you care for a walk?”

Angel contemplated him from beneath her lashes, her teeth torturing her lip. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry while her stomach quivered.

“Breathe, girl,” Jasmine whispered.

Easy for her to say. She didn’t have those devil eyes boring into her.

“I don’t bite.” Another lazy grin appeared. “At least not right away.”

Fuck. He was flirting with her, and she had nothing. No snappy comeback, nothing. All she could do was stare at his outstretched hand.

“Or not.” His grin lost some of its shine as he started to withdraw his hand.

No, no, no Angel! Don’t let him leave. She shot up, grabbing his hand.

Shit. What was she doing? He was so far out of her league, but when his hand closed around hers and pulled her up and into him, she forgot all about that.

Heat crept into her cheeks, and her lip hid between her teeth as she gazed up into those onyx depths. She felt light, airy, breathless…

“Angel?”

“Hmm?”

“We’re here.”

She closed her eyes, pulling herself out of the memory. This was the second time tonight she’d gotten lost in the past. She needed to get a grip on this.

“Are you okay?”

Kade shifted in his seat so he could see her. She looked pale, worn, and tired. Despite her bravado, tonight had to have knocked on her on her ass.

“Does it really matter?” She unsnapped her seatbelt and got out.

He sighed and did the same, grabbing Angel’s overnight bag out of the back before locking the doors.

“Where the hell are we?”

“Nik’s downtown apartment.” He nodded toward the entrance. “We have to check in at the front desk and collect the keys.”

The doorman greeted them, and Kade nodded abruptly, pushing Angel through the doors ahead of him. The front desk was occupied by a young woman in a brisk business suit. Security took up the position beside her, the man’s eyes on the monitors.

“May I help you, sir?” She smiled politely at them.

“I’m Kade Kincaid. My brother, Nikoli, said he called ahead to let you know we’d be staying here for a while?”

“Ah, yes, Mr. Kincaid.” Her smile brightened, and her eyes took on a hooded look. It was one he’d seen more times than he liked to count. “We’ll just need you to fill out some forms, register your vehicle, and let our security officer here take a photo for our files.”

“Photo?”

“Yes, sir. It’s an extra layer of security. Our goal is to keep our residents as safe as we can.”

He wasn’t sure how taking their photo kept them safer, but he wouldn’t argue if it meant getting the keys then raiding Nik’s medicine cabinet for some ibuprofen. His headache had morphed from unpleasant to jackhammer sharp over the last hour.

It took them about twenty minutes to fill out the paperwork and get the SUV registered.

The front desk lady took his keys, informing him they’d park the car for him tonight.

He could come down in the morning and someone would show him where Nikoli’s parking spots were.

He wasn’t too pleased about them keeping his keys, but when they handed over the set of apartment keys, it almost made up for it.

“One more thing. If anyone calls asking if I’m here, or Miss Lemoraux, the answer is no. It’s a police matter.” He flashed his badge.

Kate, as her name badge read, nodded, unfazed. “Of course, sir. We do not give out information about our residents or their guests.”

Once he was satisfied, he picked up Angel’s bag, and they walked in silence to the elevator.

He slid in the key for the elevator and turned it before hitting the penthouse apartment button.

Nikoli hadn’t been kidding when he said the place was secure.

No one could get up to the penthouse floor without a key.

That didn’t mean his unsub wasn’t capable of lifting a key from the staff.

He watched her from the corner of his eye. She hadn’t said a word since they left her apartment. Her silence unnerved him. Angel was a chatterbox. She could fill the most awkward of silences with nonsense small talk. It was one of the things he loved about her. To see her so quiet didn’t sit well.

The elevator door dinged, and she all but ran out. He cocked his head. Was he misinterpreting her mood? Maybe she was running for the same reasons he’d tamped down all night.

Or she really did hate him.

Either way, she was stuck with him. He found her leaning against the wall, eyes closed. He stopped and studied her profile. Old feelings fought to surge up. Feelings he’d never dealt with. Feelings he didn’t deserve to have. Not after everything he’d done.

But his instincts refused to listen to him. He wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to promise her nothing bad was going to happen. But he knew that was a lie. Bad things happened all the time.

Kade unlocked the door, startling her. She gasped when he brushed up against her.

Stifling a grin, he opened the door and flicked the lights on as he entered.

A massive room spread out before him. A large kitchen took up the back side, and the living area had been decorated in warm colors.

Lily’s touch, he’d guarantee it. Nik preferred darker colors.

The place still looked sparse, utilitarian.

Then again, they were moving to New York after graduation.

Why invest in making it homier when they were only going to sell it anyway?

“Your brother lives here?”

The awe in Angel’s whispered comment made him laugh. “No, the kid stays on campus most of the time. He comes here to get away from all that for a little while.”

“I don’t understand.”

His eyes flickered to her, and she looked lost. He’d bet money she had no idea Nikoli owned his own gaming company and made millions every year.

“He makes good money.”

“He’s a student.” She turned, taking it all in. “This is…”

“Too big, too sparse?” He set the bag down and went to the fridge. He found three bottles of water.

“Expensive.” She walked over to the bank of windows and looked out over the Boston skyline. He could see it from here, lit up with Christmas lights. Gorgeous. But not nearly as gorgeous as the woman admiring the view.