Page 13 of Out of Control

I was usually good at pulling out the charm and building rapport, but something about this specific woman pushed my buttons in all the wrong ways. Worse, something made me want to push right back. But I was a professional, and I could act like one.

Maybe.

I dug deep, pulling as much civility into my tone as possible.

“Athena Kane.” I used her full name, placing a light hand over her fingers on the steering wheel. “Please hear me out.”

She glanced at me, then back at the road again.

“I’m not trying to harass you. I’m trying to save your life and put several very dangerous men behind bars at the same time.”

“I really can’t help you with that, so I think you should just leave me alone and we can both do our jobs in peace.”

“If you answer my questions we can certainly try. We’ll be done. We can go our separate ways and hopefully never see each other again.”

I felt a sudden pain in my chest.

I really needed to cut down on my caffeine intake if I was already having heart problems at thirty-three. My mind flashed back to the picture of her driver’s license and I recalled that she was the same age as me, though she certainly looked a lot more pulled together than I felt.

My eyes flicked up and down her body again. I also really needed to find a new girlfriend because there was no way I wanted to be fighting an attraction to an annoying, belligerent quasi-victim/witness who wanted to ruin my investigation and career all in one go. I couldn’t get distracted thinking about her hot little body pressed against me and my fingers delving into her hot little—

“I’ll think about it.”

She’ll think about it, too? My eyes darted to hers, but she still had that stubborn pout on her lips. She was saying she’d think about giving me real answers, not about anything more graphic.

Was I not being clear enough? Not smiling winningly enough? What the hell was her problem? “Think about what? About obstructing a federal investigation by refusing to answer basic questions, or about trying to ruin a good man’s career with baseless accusations of harassment?”

Wow, I sounded like a gaslighting dick. It wasn’t even intentional this time, but I was just digging myself in deeper with everything I said.

“Pretty much, yeah,” she smirked. She clearly didn’t understand what was at stake.

“Look. Just sit down with me for fifteen minutes. I’ll ask my questions, and if you answer at least half of them, I’ll leave you alone after that. Trust me. I don’t want to be trailing along after someone like you just as much as you don’t want me there. Maybe more.”

“Someone like me?” She raised an eyebrow. “What am I like?”

I paused. “Stubborn.” Aggressive. “Selfish.” Independent. “Reckless.” Fucking hot as hell while she held her own in hand-to-hand combat. She was practically a wet dream when I imagined throwing her against the wall in the middle of a sparring session, then dropping down to my knees in front of her to—

I blinked hard and looked out my own window. I wasnotgoing to think of her fingers in my hair just because she implied I had a boring sex life and that brought to mind anything but boring sex with her. I knew better than to entertain those thoughts; she was the opposite of the kind of woman I usually dated. Even if she wasn’t a person of interest, I wouldneverconsider herin that way.

I would never consider directing her to park in an empty alleyway and dragging her body over the center console to straddle me so I could rip open that demure blouse and see everything right at eye level. I wouldn’t spend a second thinking of that sexy little grunt she made when she landed a hit on me at the airport, and how she would probably make that same sound when I switched things up and bent her over in the backseat. And I definitely wouldn’t give a thought to what expression she’d have on her face the morning after, cuddled together in my bed.

There would be no point because we would never fit together no matter our circumstances.

I was jarred out of my thoughts when the car pulled to a stop. We were parked in front of a tiny little diner.

“Tell you what, Mr. Goody-Two-Loafers. You buy me brunch and I’ll let you ask your questions.”

six

Athena

“Well, Agent Blake, what do you say? Buy me an eight-dollar brunch and I’ll give you what you want.”

I said it with a saucy wink, the double entendre always a fun way to grab attention, and hopped out, slamming the car door behind me before waiting near the hood for him. Hell, if he was nicer to me from the start maybe it wouldn’t have been just a tease. Maybe this would have been a nice breakfast date after an energetic and satisfying evening.

No matter what I implied, the tension in his body, the need to control the world around him, probably would translate into some serious fireworks behind closed doors.

Blake climbed stiffly out of my passenger seat and closed his door much more gently than I had. The wary look in his eyes delighted me. At least I was making him uncomfortable.

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