Page 9 of Locked In Ice

“Will do.”She saluted him with her beer.

Without another word, Memphis turned away and vanished into the crowd.Lane glowered after him.She took that moment to study him again.Or, to drink him in.Because she hadn’t been lying before.Lane Lawson truly was a beast of beauty.Movie star handsome but in a rugged way.Hard jaw with a line of stubble.Thick, dark hair that framed the fierce angles and planes of his face.Killer cheekbones.She suspected people would pay crazy amounts of money for that bone structure.Firm lips.And those eyes…

His attention slid back to her.

What a wicked, wicked gaze you have.For just a moment, she knew exactly how Little Red Riding Hood must have felt when confronted by the wolf.Gonna eat me up?Pretty please?Her hand slid down the cold neck of the beer bottle.“I don’t bite.”Do you?

“Why the hell would Memphis think you were the best person for the job?”

So insulting.“Because I’m amazing?Because I saved the day for you?Because I’ve saved his ass multiple times, too?”Ophelia winked.“Does that make you feel better?That little old me also saved big, bad Memphis, too?Will that heal your pride?”

A furrow lifted his brows.“My pride has jack shit do to with this.”And he eased into the booth.Not the spot Memphis had vacated.He sat right beside her.

Got all into her space.

So much for following social norms.“Please,” she murmured, “do make yourself comfortable and tell me how you truly feel.”

“That bastard today outweighed you by a hundred pounds.He slammed you onto the floor.If I hadn’t gotten out of those ropes when I did, he would havehurtyou.”His eyes glittered.“You put yourself into situations like that often?Whereyougo in without backup and face off against freaks who get off on hurting women?”

Well, well.This was an interesting development.“You were worried about me.”

His lips pressed into a thin line.

“That is so sweet,” she added.Her left hand extended so she could pat his arm.“So very—” She stopped mid-pat because a charge of heat had just pulsed from the tips of her fingers all the way up her arm and was ricocheting throughout her body.

Dammit.

He blinked.

She snatched her hand back.“Sweet, but incredibly unnecessary.”Her hand dropped to her lap.Fisted.Ophelia blew out a slow breath.“I had total control of the situation.”

“Right.”He angled his body toward her.His scent teased her.Sandalwood?Amber?A mix?Definitely masculine.Rich.Sensual.

Her nostrils flared as she drank him in.Then she caught herself.

“If I’m going to be paying an obscene amount of money for you,” Lane snapped, “I’d like to know that I’m going to get my money’s worth.”

Her eyes widened at that blunt statement.“Want to rephrase that?”Ophelia asked him, voice silky.“Because it sounds like you’re trying to pay me for sex.”

Whatcouldhave been a faint flush rose in his cheeks.She held his stare and didn’t so much as blink even as Ophelia added, “Though, for the record, I am always worth it.”

He swallowed.For just a moment, that mask of his seemed to crack.Ophelia leaned toward him and wondered if she’d see the real Lane.Finally.Show me what’s beneath the mask you wear.

“Why,” he gritted from between clenched teeth and Ophelia realized she was going to absolutely adore pushing every single one of Lane’s buttons, “is Memphis so certain that you are the best trainer for me?”

“Because I know killers.Inside and out.”She had the scars to prove it.“Before I hung out my PI shingle, I was one of the top recruits at Quantico.My superiors said I had a knack for seeing evil.”But it had never been as simple as that.“You’re a man on a mission, Lane Lawson.”Did he think she didn’t understand?That Memphis didn’t?She’d witnessed Lane in action firsthand tonight.“You want to hunt.”

A muscle jerked along his clenched jaw.

“You want to take down the worst of the worst.The killers that hide and escape their punishment while they destroy others.”Her voice was low.For him alone.“That’s why you went after Bass by yourself earlier.You wanted to make him pay.”

“I wanted to stop him.”

“Because you’re tired of the innocent being punished while the guilty get away with their crimes?”She was making her own profile of him.Not that she’d tell Lane.Not yet.

His head moved in a jerk that could have been a nod.

“If you want to know how to find the baddest of the bad, then you’ve come to the right place.Or rather, to the right woman.”She rolled her shoulders in a careless shrug.“You see, twisted killers are my specialty.”Every woman needed a hobby, right?“If you stick with me, I can teach you everything that most peopledon’twant to know about them.By the time I’m done, you’ll know monsters inside and out.”Her hand lifted.This time, she schooled herself before she touched him.Ophelia’s hand skimmed down his cheek.The surge of heat hit her, but she didn’t let it show.“I can assure you, my lessons will be worth every dime you pay.”

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