Page 20 of His Pretty Little Thief

She flushes, swallowing thickly as she stares into my eyes.

“Wait, you set all of this up…”

She bites her lip, and then without another second’s hesitation, she presses her lips to mine, kissing me softly.

“You’re wondering why I didn’t just say something to you.”

She blushes, grinning. “I mean, kind of.”

I smile, shaking my head. “I wish it’d been that easy. If it was, I’d have told you loved you right fucking there, because beautiful, I fell in love with you right fucking then, the moment I saw you.” I sigh. “I didn’t, though, because I couldn’t. I knew I was at the top of The Agency’s list, and I knew they were watching me, and keeping tabs on me. If I’d just come out and showed that I was into you, they’d have found a way to get rid of you.”

She pales, and I growl as I pull her close.

“They needed me unattached, to try and get one of their girls with me to get what they were after. If they saw you as a threat to my being single…” I clench my jaw. “Well, I don’t want to imagine what they’re capable of.”

“So, you walked away,” she whispers.

I grin. “Sort of. I made enough of a show of interest in you that you’d at least be on their radar. I asked your manager about you, loud enough that I knew The Agency’s guy loitering in the shop tailing me would hear. I went back when you weren’t working and asked one of your coworkers about you, and if you had a boyfriend.”

Simone starts to grin, her brows raised as she shakes her head at me.

“That is some serious James Bond spy stuff!”

I grin as I lean in to kiss her. “Damn right it is. And it worked.”

Her smile falters for a moment. “God, wait, Bianca…” her face falls. “Knox, you got her into The Agency?”

Okay, it’s true. I’m a devious motherfucker.

“I did. I knew she was your roommate, and also financially running on fumes, and also pretty.”

That flash of jealousy sears across Simone’s face, and I chuckle as I kiss the top of her head.

“Easy, little one,” I purr. “I saw her out, at some club, and I made a very, very weak pass at her, knowing The Agency was watching.”

Simone scowls, and I grin at her. “You know how sexy you look when you get that jealous look on your face?”

She twists her mouth, trying to hide the smile.

“I’m not interested in your friend, love,” I whisper, nodding at the ring on her finger. “I hope you get that.”

She grins sheepishly. “I do.”

“Well, I made a few crude passes at your friend, just pretending to be a drunk rich asshole and telling her how I just wanted something casual, again, loudly. I had my tech guy turn off her credit card, too, so when she went to pay her tab, it came up with insufficient funds. Simone,” I sigh. “Trust me, I owe your friend an apology, but it was all part of the plan. And sure enough, those Agency assholes were on her that very night, recruiting her when she was most desperate, like the jackals they are. They got her to get to me, of course. But I summarily dismissed her the two times she made pretty bad attempts at feigning interest in me out at some club.”

Simone stares, shaking her head before she frowns.

“But, Knox, she…” her face darkens. “God, Bianca did work for The Agency, though,” she says quietly, lips pursing tight. “Knox, there were men she did jobs for.”

There’s a sickly tone to her voice as her face sours.

“My friend had to go seduce three—”

“No.”

I smile, and Simone frowns.

“Excuse me?”

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