Page 108 of Crossfire

“And that would be so bad, would it?”

Catastrophic, actually.

“I can’t…” Find words all of a sudden, evidently. “I can’t date a hit man.”Ta-da! There are the words.

“Assassin.”

“Same thing.”

Grayson scanned my face, like he was seeing it for the first time all over again. “It’s not, actually.”

I know. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m trying to brainwash myself into hating you.

“But you are developing feelings for me.” He even had the audacity to keep his tone low and even, like what he said hadn’tjust activated the launch sequence of falling head over heels for him. “Aren’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I claimed, attempting to step back, but he held me tighter.

“Disagree.”

“Why is that?”

“Because, aside from keeping you alive,” he said, drawing his face so close to mine, I could feel the heat of his breath bouncing off my mouth, “your confession has just become the single most important thing in my world.”

Great. I’m pretty sure my panties just disintegrated. Spontaneous panty combustion.

Grayson cupped my face.

“You actually thought I might be guilty,” I spat.

Hold on to that.It was the last thread of my fraying willpower.

“A knee-jerk reaction,” Grayson murmured, too busy studying my mouth to see how angry my glare was attempting to be. “When I sense a possible complication, I have a natural tendency to rule out threats. I apologize.”

More evidence my emotions could not be trusted. I should hate him for his momentary doubt, but all I could do was focus on the warmth radiating from his skin on my cheeks and the way his attention roamed over my face with newfound hope, mixed with desire.

As the October chill drifted across my skin, I felt helpless, unable to fight the current anymore.

He stared at my mouth as he swept his thumb across my lower lip—igniting that fire shooting through my body once more. A jolt of its flames pulsing between my thighs again.

My breathing quickened as I dared another look into his eyes.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Ivy.” Grayson’s voice was husky. “You’re a beautiful contradiction. Small, fragile-looking, even. Yet capable of taking a trained agent to his knees.”

I swallowed. “We would never work together.”

The warmth from his thumb engulfed my throat, my chest swelling with each breath.

“Wouldn’t we?” He arched a playful brow.

“Nope.”

Grayson’s stare did not leave my mouth as he slowly drew his lips closer to mine, one inch at a time.

“So, you’ve thought about us, then?” he whispered.

I’ve thought about what your hands might feel like on my body. What your hips would feel like, pressing against my inner thighs.

“Only about how much it would never work.”

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