Page 19 of Ruthless Love

Best option? Don’t walk away. Run. Seriously, I need to mind my own goddamn business, hit the road, and get on with my day.

Instead, I ask, “So ... you, uh, like my work?” What work?

Confusion knits her brow as she gives Dimitri a quizzical look. “I do?”

“You said you loved that building in the heart of Dallas. Well, this is the man who designed it.”

Now I’m even more taken aback, and I hate myself for being a little flattered. “You tracked me down from the new headquarters for the Valor Group?” My question rings of genuine surprise.

“It came up on my feed, and I want Evelyn happy. I have a feeling your touch will do just that.”

With his recent conversation still fresh in my head, I’m more than a little alarmed by what he may be suggesting, and realize my hand is still locked in the comfort of hers. Quickly, I pull it back, pocketing it.

“So,” she says with an excited hope lighting her beautiful eyes, “can I give you a tour?”

Stalling, I rake a hand through my hair. This whole situation has bad judgment written all over it. I can’t help but huff out a laugh when her lower lip pushes past the point of fair play. But then I see Dimitri and remember the part I have to play.

Firmly, I say, “I can’t.”

I stand my ground ... for about thirty seconds until those big eyes start their own Jedi mind tricks, leveling me with a slow bat through lush lashes.

Fuck. “I mean, I can’t ... start anytime soon.”

“We’re in no rush,” she says with a smile that will be my complete undoing if I don’t get the fuck out of here.

Every instinct in my body tells me to toss her tempting body over my shoulder and carry her the hell out of here. But Dimitri has two armed guards on the doors, one pacing along the roof, and his own weapon tucked in the back of his shirt.

Still, I’m debating it, but then it’s too late. Dimitri whisks her into his arms like he owns her—and for all I know, he does.

“Happy?” he asks in an eager-to-please tone that half makes me think the man’s capable of caring for the girl.

She hesitates for a moment before nodding. Their kiss is enough to convince me to get my ass in gear, and two seconds, I have my gloves on and helmet secured.

“I’ll be in touch,” I say before revving the bike with blatant disregard for their little love fest.

When hell freezes over.

Chapter Ten

EVIE

Austin roars off on his Harley before I can say good-bye because I’m stuck gagging on Dimitri’s hot and invasive tongue. I don’t deny his hand on the small of my back or his protruding cock pressing against my gut because I can’t. I’m defenseless against a man whose touch makes my knees Jell-O and sends my panties straight to a pool on the ground.

But one whiff of a woman’s cheap cologne on his collar stops my needs cold and snaps my coochie shut. Really? For all I know, his side piece (or pieces) is still here.

His hand slides down, cupping my ass more delicately than I’m sure he’d prefer. “Let’s go inside,” he says like I’m an idiot. “Before I take off.”

“You’re leaving again?” I ask, dizzier from his kiss than I want to admit.

“I leave for the airport in an hour. But an hour’s plenty of time,” he says with his lips against my neck, tearing down each of my feeble defenses breath by mind-wrecking breath.

“I ...” Seriously, I’m trying to resist, but as his thumb grazes my nipple, I realize I’m in way over my head. His thigh wedges between my legs as I’m struggling for my next breath.

That is, until I hear—and feel—another breath.

Alexei, Dimitri’s six-foot-five, three-hundred-pound personal bodyguard, doesn’t seem to know how to interrupt except to heave an open-mouthed breath right on me. The warm moisture ruffles my hair, reeking of cheap cigarettes and Big Macs.

Dimitri pulls away from me, and I see the phone Alexei holds, noticing both the caller’s name and that the mute is on. Dimitri’s eyes narrow and I sink, knowing his dick is in the painful state of rapid deflation.

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