Page 20 of Seduce Me in Shadow

“Take it slow. Get to know each other, then decide if we want to proceed, so we don’t jeopardize our working relationship.”

“Hmm. Very mature and gentlemanly.”

I hope she believes me…but one look at her and I resist the urge to wince. Something is going on in that head of hers.

“But let me make certain I understand. I’m to believe that you’ve had lascivious thoughts since meeting me, but hid them until you…either broke into HR’s records to find my address or followed me home, either of which shows an amazing dedication to seducing me. Then, rather than asking me to lunch or coffee during the workday, you knocked on my door on a Saturday morning and looked me up and down as if you’d like to strip me bare in the foyer. And you did all this so that we can take our relationship slowly? Have I got that right?”

Bloody hell. I should have guessed she would see through my ruse. I clench my fists. My brain goes into overdrive. How do I repair the damage and salvage my mission?

I clear my throat. “What I’d like to do and what’s wise are two different things.”

“Often, yes. But let me tell you what I think is happening: You insulted Jamie because he’s a slacker, and you object to them as a rule. Very against your military background. You want to be a part of the magickind war story for some reason, and you’re fixated on my source of information. When I refused to let you tag along, you decided to resort to a halfhearted seduction in an attempt to hoodwink me into changing my mind. Is that closer to the truth?”

Fuck. I’ve been involved in undercover missions easier to pull off than this. She’s definitely too smart. I have to step up my game…or go down in flames.

“What’s happening is that I’m far more attracted to a colleague than I’m proud of, and the things I want to do to you would make every one of your pert little freckles blush. I triedto stay professional because I need this job, but when I realized the attraction was mutual, I couldn’t stay silent. I didn’t mention my feelings at the office because it’s inappropriate. Neither of us wants to start gossip, right? And as much as I’d love to strip you naked in the next three minutes, I don’t want to simply shag you. That wouldn’t help me to know you better. Yes, I’m interested in your source about the magical war story because I understand war, and let’s face it, a woman claiming such things is intriguing, if a bit mad. But I’m also not trying to rush you to bed because I don’t want to build artificial intimacy simply to get my way. I want you to choose to make me your partner at the office, regardless of our personal relationship.”

There. That sounds logical. And even a bit closer to the truth.

Sydney sends me a considering stare. “What do you recommend next?”

“An early lunch?”

“Actually, I was about to toss together a sandwich. You’re welcome to join me.”

“I meant to take you out.”

“Wouldn’t staying in allow for more privacy? If we’re going to…get to know one another, that’s harder in public.”

And far too easy to succumb to the temptation to put my hands all over her. “If you like, but?—”

“Perfect.” She rises to her feet and heads for the kitchen.

I follow.

“Tell me about your parents.” She starts grabbing ingredients. “Are they still alive?”

Wait. I’m supposed to be getting to know her, finding ways to make her trust me, not the other way around. “They are, but I was a late-in-life baby. They’re quite elderly. Yours? I came to learn about you.”

“In a bit.” She waves off my question. “So you’re caring for your brother because your parents can’t?”

“Precisely.”

“No other siblings?”

Not anymore, and not for anything will I dredge up that terrible story. “No. You? Any siblings?”

“Only child. Stop changing the subject,” she admonishes, opening a jar. “Mustard?”

“Please. I really want?—”

“How much older is your brother?”

Three hundred sixty-seven years, but I doubt she’ll take that information well. “More than a decade.”

“Significant, then. Tell me more about his illness.”

“Lucan is unconscious. The doctors have little idea how to help him since the onset of this illness was so sudden. And when did ‘getting to know you’ become the Inquisition?”

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