Page 50 of Mad Love
“I can’t say that I have, no. And you? Have you ever slept with a job?”
She raises a sharp brow. “It’s my specialty.”
“I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
“It’s not exactly news that female agents have certain attributes that make some jobs a little easier.”
“So…” I lean forward. “That’s a yes.”
“Not like this.” Her eyes find mine. “Never because I wanted to.”
“No need to sugar-coat it, love,” I tell her. “You won’t hurt my feelings.”
“It’s true.” She takes a quiet sip of coffee. “This started out as a simple death-by-seduction, but…” She smirks. “How did you put it? I was dripping more than a wet sponge.”
“Oh, don’t stop.” I grin. “My ego is loving this.”
Her eyes roll back. “Never mind. Just forget I said anything.”
“Wait, go back to the part where you said you want me more than any other man in the history of always.”
She scoffs. “I never said that.”
“Well, that’s what I heard.”
“You heard what you wanted to hear.”
“Or I heard what you so desperately wanted to say but couldn’t.”
She sits back and downs the rest of her coffee. “That’s pathetic.”
I smile and watch as the pink fades from her cheeks. I’m only teasing her and if this were any other girl, that’d mean nothing, but this is Lilah Hart. The fact that I’m able to tease her this way without fearing a fork through my eyeball speaks volumes.
“So, Lilah, what’s your back-up plan?”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Your employer has gone belly-up,” I say. “Once you outrun the wanted posters, you can do anything you want. You could settle down. Leave it all behind.”
She draws circles on the table with her fingertip. “If only it were so simple…”
“What makes it difficult?” I ask. “Find an open-minded bloke. Have some kiddos. Keep them up all night with horror stories of what Mommy did once upon a time. Easy peasy.”
Her head shakes, but her lips curl. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
I haven’t either, to be honest. Not sure why I expected her to.
I reach into my jacket and grip her cell phone hidden inside. As I pull it out, Lilah’s eyes widen. They follow my hand as I lay the phone on the table between us.
“I’m dropping the bounty,” I say.
She picks it up, immediately holding the power button down with her thumb. “Yeah?”
I nod. “On you and your family.”
“So, I can just stand up from this table and walk out of here without worrying about you tracking me down again?”
“Well…” I lick my lips, tasting traces of sweet sugar. “It’d be nice if you and I could keep in touch. Wouldn’t it?”