Page 44 of In Spades

Loyalty didn’t help me get to the bottom of things, though.

Kristin sniffed, then sighed. Her voice softened as she tilted her head and offered a sad sort of smile. “I’m a camel buried in an avalanche of straw at the moment.”

“Let me take you out for coffee. No pressure. Not a date. But I know you’re not gonna talk about all that straw while we’re still here.”

“Will…” She braced her hands against the desk, only inches from my laptop.

I hadn’t stored it in the safe when I went to bed like I usually would have. Instead, it sat on the desk all night, and now someone other than me stood close enough to touch it.

The expected rush of panic never happened.

Kristin stared down at her hands. “I wish I could. Really, I do.”

“But?”

“But I can’t,” she said, voice cracking. “I have a lot I need to do after work, and I can’t stick around.”

I stepped closer and tucked a loose strand behind her ear that had fallen out of her ponytail. “You’re making it tough for me to earn your trust.”

Kristin bit her lip and leaned into my hand. My heart did that pitter-pat thing that made me question if I was old enough to worry about heart attacks yet. I stroked her cheek with my thumb and Kristin closed her eyes.

“The fact that I’m this close to you,” she whispered hoarsely, “means you’re earning my trust.”

My eyes wandered down to her lips. For a fleeting moment, I wondered what it would be like to taste her.

“Will—”

Still shirtless, I could feel the heat of her breath against my chest. “Tell me I can see you sometime outside of this place.”

Kristin shook her head. “I can’t make promises like that.”

I leaned back against the desk while she loaded the cart with her cleaning supplies, gutted by the pain in her eyes.

Enough public information existed online to investigate her without violating her privacy. I wouldn’t need to hack any accounts or search the dark web to uncover her secrets. But I had avoided doing any sort of internet search on Kristin Boyd. I wanted her to share her secrets with me of her own free will.

Still, the itch to fall down the rabbit hole grew stronger. God, I just wanted to touch her. Hold her. Yank her hair out of that ponytail and bury my fingers into it.

My willpower faded, and I wrapped my arms around Kristin. I expected her to tense up as I pulled her into my chest. Instead, she melted into my arms as if she’d been waiting all day for someone to lean on.

“If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?” I asked, hoping she’d let down her guard.

It was a question I liked to pose to people. The answer they usually said a lot about the type of person they were.

Her cheeks quirked against my skin as she smiled. She wrapped her arms around my hips and closed her eyes. “A nap,” she sighed.

I chuckled and squeezed her shoulders with my biceps. “Wish I could buy one for you.”

Kristin stepped back and smoothed down her uniform. She looked up at me with those warm brown eyes and smiled. “Thanks. I think I needed that.”

“Anytime.”

I watched as she pushed down the wheel locks of the cleaning cart with her foot. She rolled down to the next room, glancing back at me with a half-hearted smile.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Housekeeping!” she announced like always before letting herself in.

I closed my door and buried myself in work.

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