Page 14 of When He Protects

“A deal,” Grayson said again. Third time? Did he think it would be the charm for her? “That’s what my boss will offer you. He thinks you have the power to bring down some very powerful individuals. A whole criminal operation that has been working in tangent internationally. He wants you to help us.”

She nodded. “He wants my help because I have such a generous, caring nature?”Do not blow this now, Esme. Stay focused. The goal is within reach. Do not look overly eager.

“Because he thinks you’re embedded in the criminal world up to those lovely, dark eyes of yours?—”

Tyler’s growl cut through Grayson’s words.

Grayson shot him a glance. “What? The woman is gorgeous, but she is a criminal.”

“Alleged,” Esme corrected him. “Allegedcriminal.”

Tyler put his hand down on the table. Not a hard slap the way Grayson had done. Grayson had been trying tointimidate her with the sudden, loud movement. But Tyler just softly slid a hand down on the wood. He leaned in close to her. Seemed to surround her.

She sucked in a breath.

“Sweetheart…”

Oh, that was promising.

“You had the diamonds strapped to your thigh,” Tyler reminded her. As if she needed the reminder. She knew exactly where they’d been. His eyes gleamed at her. “Hard to beallegedwhen you’re caught red-handed.”

She lifted a hand and put it against his chest.Yep, the goal had definitely been within reach.She could feel the warmth of Tyler’s body even through his black t-shirt. Esme could also feel all of those fabulous muscles that belonged to him. “Was it good for you?”

He blinked.

“The kiss. Both of them,” she amended. “The kisses. Plural. Were they good for you? They must be, if you’re calling me ‘sweetheart’ already. Fine, fine, you don’t have to beg. I’ll go out with you. Be warned, I expect flowers. Chocolates. And for you to be a perfect gentleman.”

Tyler just stared back at her.

“Oh, what? You’re going to lie now? Say that the kisses didn’t rock what I expect to be the incredibly ordered world in which you live? Fine. Do it. Lie to my face.” Her voice dipped low as she rasped, “I dare you.”

His pupils seemed to fill the steel blue of his eyes. And it sure looked like that was desire staring back at her. And he wasn’t saying the kisses hadn’t rocked his world. In fact, he wasn’t saying anything. Definitely not the chatty one. But he sure was smoldering. Heat practically rolled off him, and joy of joys, his eyes had just fallen to her mouth.

She could make this easier on him. “They certainlyrocked my world, too.” Her hand fisted in his shirt, and she tugged him closer.

He jerked back from her as if she’d scalded the man. How very rude.

She sniffed.

“You are playing games.” Tyler shook his head. “Lady, I am not someone you want to fuck with.”

Grayson snorted. Or choked. Or something.

Her head angled toward him. “You speak French.” Because that choking of his right then and there? Had to be related to the words she’d deliberately uttered to Tyler before.Je veux te baiser.

Grayson inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Spent a summer in Paris back when I was attending college. I speak enough to get by.”

Good to know. “My recent picture should be scrubbed from the Internet. Specifically, the picture of me, in cuffs. So very unflattering, I’m sure.” She continued to sit on the table. To appear relaxed. Appearances were everything in this world.

Believe absolutely nothing that you hear and only about half of what your eyes can see.

“Step one, get rid of the picture.” A list would probably be important for the Feds. Both for the Fed in the room and for all of those individuals who were—no doubt—watching from behind the one-way mirror on the right. Did they truly think she was clueless? Like she didn’t get how an interrogation room worked? “That terrible picture will cause irreparable damage to my glorious reputation. It needs to vanish, immediately.”

“You have a reputation for being a party girl,” Tyler stated, voice deep and dark and dead sexy. “You danceevery night away, drink until dawn, and spend time with as many millionaires and dukes as you can.”

“Been digging into my life, have you?” She wagged her finger at him. “Stalker.”Oh, if you only knew.

“Do you play with them so that you can steal from them easier? Are they the ones who really get drunk while you stay dead sober and help yourself to their valuables?” Tyler asked. His body was rock hard, as if every muscle had locked down.

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