Page 9 of Unexpected Temptation

She quickly does as told, then sits back with her hands folded. I get the sense she thinks I’m going to pounce on her. Or maybethat’s just me projecting what I want to do, this deep hunger in me. It’s a primal thing like killing. It’s something I can ignore.

Okay, so I find this woman damn fine. She’s attractive as hell. She’s sassy and hot, and it’ll stay that way—a few observations in my mind. There’s no use pushing it too far.

“How long is your shift today?” I ask, thinking of the sick person back home. Her mom? Her sister?

“Just nine hours,” she replies.

“Just,” I mutter, almost laughing, but I don’t want to offend her. I think about not offending her far more than I ever have with any other person.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

I nod. “But you’re looking for a new start?”

“No, another job.”

My hands automatically tighten on the steering wheel. Otherwise, I don’t give anything else away, or so I hope. I don’t like the idea of Maya working two jobs. It’s none of my business, but I still don’t like it.

“With flexible hours, ideally,” she sighs, reaching into her pocket.

“What’s that?” I say, glancing at the big red letters at the top. “Rafeal’s Red Room.” My stomach twists. Raffie. His strip joint. What business does a woman like Maya—a good person, beautiful,innocent—have being at a place like that? The idea of other men ogling her curves, dammit, it’s making me wild.

“The guy at this call center place gave it to me. He thinks I could be a model. Ha, ha. It’s clearly a strip joint.”

“Throw it in the trash, then.”

I’m on the edge of doing it for her. As I follow the directions on the screen, I almost snatch the flyer out of her hand and toss it right in the trash. Is she trying to make me nuts? But that doesn’t make any damn sense. She’s not trying to makemeanything, no more than I should be trying to makeheranything.

“He was sort of mocking me,” she says with a tired sigh. “Kind of implying that I’m too … well, ugly, I guess.”

“You’re not ugly,” I say a little too loudly. Angry someone would be blind to the beauty before them.

It’s the most Icansay. I can feel myself getting drawn in, starting to care, when I know good and well I shouldn’t get involved.

“Did he say anything bad about you?” I ask.

She looks at me sharply. I’m glad I’ve got the road to focus on. Maybe there was something in my tone that gave my true feelings away. “No. It wouldn’t matter anyway. The world’s full of jerks.”

I pull up outside her restaurant. “Whoa, that was fast. I guess it’ll feel that way, though, right, when you’re used to buses?”

“Did you leave your resumé with Simone?” I ask.

She flashes that sassy look again. The tip of my cock twitches. My balls feel like they’re flooding, honestly. I want to peel down her shirt just an inch, just enough to show the perfection of her body, her plump breasts, her …

Her what?

“Yeah. Well, maybe I’ll hear from you,” she says with a clear sense of irony. “Tell Loki he’s always welcome. Bye.”

She leaves before I can reply. I watch her walk away. Her black pants cling tightly to her wide hips, emphasizing her shape. My fingers twitch. Dammit. It’d be so good to sink my hands into her hips, to let my touch disappear into her fullness.

On the ride back, I remember what she said. The guy at the call center … I know where she means. It’s a front for the Trentinis. I park up outside, deciding to pay a visit. I don’t let myself think about the blood pumping fiercely through my veins, the rage pulsing in me, too, thinking aboutherstripping.

Maya, on a stage, too-bright lights shining on her.

Guido sits up when I walk in. His sleazeball smirk vanishes when he sees me. “Tristan? The fuck you doing here?”

“This place only works if it’s legit,” I growl.

He leans back, raising his hands. “Whoa, who said it’s not legit?”

---