Page 29 of Hot & Bothered

He snorted again. “Okay. We can just cuddle.” He went to pick up his curry but then paused, snapped his fingers and stood up, heading for the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back in ten minutes, I swear.” Then he was out the door.

She took his mysterious absence as an opportunity to go dump out her disc. Day two was a heavy day, and she was having to empty her disc every two or three hours. She also wore a pantyliner, just in case. Being a woman sucked sometimes.

She had just poured them both a glass of wine when he buzzed her phone to be let back up.

Her appetite was returning, so she sat down on the couch with her wine and finished the rest of her spring roll. The front door opened a moment later.

“Where did you go?”

“Seven-Eleven,” he said, ditching his boots and bringing with him the crisp, cold scent of outside as he sat down beside her. “For chocolate.” He dropped four Lindt chocolate bars on her lap. There was a salted caramel one, an orange chocolate, a straight up milk chocolate and a hazelnut. He picked up his curry from the coffee table.

She stared at the chocolate in her lap, and warm ribbons of joy spun through her as she looked up at him. He grinned at her.

Then, sending the chocolate to the floor, she lunged at him, climbing into his lap and forcing him to quickly set his bowl on the other arm of the couch. She kissed him silly.

His hands wrapped around her back. One worked its way up her neck, holding her in place with gentle possessiveness.

“Thank you,” she said, unable tonotgrind against his growing erection.

“Anything for you,” he said with a rasp.

She bit his bottom lip and tugged slightly. “I’m really falling for you, Jace Shepherd.”

“I fell for you ages ago, Peyton Doucet.”

Then, they made out on the couch like teenagers, ate Thai takeout and chocolate, and talked until midnight.

It was the best date of her life, and by the time they fell asleep in her bed, she barely thought about Bronwyn, Tiberius or the Six of Cups.

She’d pull both her and Jace cards from the deck tomorrow.

That would help them figure out what to do about Tiberius.

She hoped.

With a Lindt chocolate bar in her purse, Peyton parked her car in the underground parking garage near her work, hit the fob to lock it and clutched her keys in her right hand.

Then, because she was on the lookout for Tiberius, she reached into her purse and grabbed the pepper spray, too.

She held onto each weapon, remaining alert as she headed for the stairwell that would take her to the street.

She was nearly at the stairs, making sure she glanced around her and behind her as much as she could, when out of the shadows came a man who fit Jace’s description of Tiberius perfectly—birthmark and all.

“So you’re his new hot piece of ass?” Tiberius grumbled, eying Peyton with curiosity. There was no malice in his gaze, though, or his body language. Nothing about the man said he was preparing to attack or harm her.

But that meant very little. He could be trying to lull her into a false sense of security.

She remained on guard and flicked off the safety of her switchblade, keeping it tight in her fist.

“I … I don’t know what you’re talking about. Excuse me, please. I need to get to work.” She tried to step around him, but he was a big guy and stepped to block her passage to the stairs.

“You knowexactlywhat I’m talking about. Thatpig,”he spat. “The one who put me away.”

“I …”

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