Page 62 of Breaking the Sinner

She huffed, focusing on the bold black letters of his HOLT shirt. “Because I like you. A lot. And I know you’re only helping me out. But I…” She bit her bottom lip, unsure if she could say what she really felt. “I shouldn’t feel jealous if you wouldn’t feel jealous too.”

Cobra’s eyes darkened, his hands sliding down the dip in her waist to rest at the swell of her hips. “You don’t think I would?”

She shrugged. “I doubt it. I mean…it’s me. There’s nothing to get jealous over.”

He laughed a little, but it sounded incredulous. “Red, you have no idea, do you?”

“What?”

“How beautiful you are.”

His words floated through her, like fall leaves on a gust of wind. It was poetry—and also foreboding. Part of her didn’t want to believe him. The other part wanted to take his buried meaning and run with it.

“I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

“I already told you.” His thumb grazed her jawline as his eyes rooted her. Swirling with depth. An intensity that made the rest of the world fall away, as only he could do. “You’re mine.”

She covered his hand with hers, loving the soft scrape of his rough fingers against her skin. The way his touch could soothe and electrify at the same time. “And?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he objected at her drawing the words out of him. “And maybe I’d get fucking jealous.”

“Maybe I’ll go hang on some strange man. Just to see.”

He cupped her face with both hands, bringing his face to hers. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

She giggled as their lips brushed. This feeling—right here. She could get used to it. They kissed for a few glorious moments. All the tension of the morning fell away, but one thing remained.

“I forgot to ask you yesterday,” she murmured against his lips. “Why did you draw a picture of me and throw it away?”

Cobra’s face fell. “You found that?”

She nodded.

“I don’t like other people seeing my drawings that much.”

“Cobra, it was incredible. I want to see more.”

Something skittish danced over his face, as if he was a breath away from just turning and leaving. “I’ll show you if you want. You’re the only one though.”

“Yeah?” She gripped his hands in hers.

He nodded. “You’re probably, like, the third person ever to see what I draw.”

The designation meant more to her than she could express to him. Emotion shuddered through her. “Well, I want to see all of it.”

Cobra ran his thumb over her jawline. Maybe he didn’t want to let go of her. “I’ll see you at lunch. Okay?”

She nodded, and he gave her one last searing look before letting himself out of her office.

The work day plodded along. Gen managed to escape into a pleasant cloud of numbers and account reconciliation before she realized it was time for lunch. Her belly grumbled hopefully, but more potent than her hunger for food was her hunger for Cobra.

He was all she could think about anymore. Seeing him daily didn’t seem like enough. She wanted more of him.Allof him.

When she pushed into the employee lounge, he sat with his back to her, across from Lex. Lex’s face lit up, tossing her a friendly smile.

“Your girlfriend’s here,” Lex said, clapping Cobra on the shoulder. Gen felt her cheeks flame at the designation. With the way her heart raced, she wanted it to be true.Cobra is my boyfriend. The very words in her head sounded like poetry. Sacred. Illicit, somehow, too.

Gen tried to smile, to play it off, to give that cool, unaffected look the leads in the movies always gave. But when she spotted Cobra’s face on her way to the fridge, shadows lurked there.

---