Page 103 of The Boss

There had to be a reason. Perhaps thugs had climbed over the top at some point. I could definitely see that happening.

Being here stirred so many memories. So many.

I instantly froze when I sensed a presence behind me, but I didn’t need to be scared. His intoxicating aftershave gave him away. A huge part of me wanted to remain angry with him, but I’d overheard enough to realize Dimitrios did care about me. Maybe at the end of all this I was just his best friend’s little niece, but it felt like so much more. Was I reading too much into my feelings and his?

“Don’t you know that stealing cookies is a crime?” he asked.

His question caught me off guard. “I didn’t steal any cookies.”

“Turn around and tell me that.”

I pursed my lips, trying to keep from laughing as I obeyed him. There was an impish grin on his face, his deep blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon sun.

He narrowed those sexy eyes as he walked closer, lifting his hand and curling every finger closed slowly but his index. Very gently he brushed the rough pad across the corner of my mouth. I could easily see the cookie crumb gathered with his tip.

“Uh-huh. You need to learn the art of lying, little dove. You suck at it.”

For all his ruthless ways, his dominating side, the joke he made caught me at the right moment. I burst into laughter and rolled my tongue all the way around my lips.

“At least now I can start calling you a cookie monster.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

His grin sent a ray of sunshine as well as burning desire straight through me. “You want to make a bet on that? You know I never lose.”

“No, it seems like you don’t.” I noticed he was hiding something with his other hand. “Whatcha got behind your back?”

“Who, me?” He swept the cookie crumb finger into his mouth, making exaggerated sucking noises to tease me. Where had this man come from when an hour before he’d wanted to beat the crap out of my uncle? Well, maybe it had been a little bit the other way around, but as Dimitrios had just said, he never lost.

“Yeah, you. If you think I’m a bad liar, you’re terrible at it.” Actually, my guess was he was damn good at keeping a poker face while telling his enemies what they needed to hear.

Right before he slit their throats.

“A surprise, but you need to come get it. Carefully.” His finger was suddenly pointed toward me again. “I don’t need to cart you back to the hospital.” He backed away, taking careful steps.

Of course I was the kind of woman who never resisted a challenge. When dared to take a risk as a kid, I’d done so, muchto the chagrin of my mother. She’d always said if someone asked me to jump off a bridge for big dollars, I’d do so.

I danced from right to left as he switched whatever he was holding from hand to hand. Laughing felt both good and terrible. My side was still tender, laughter reminding me all over again what we’d been through. It seemed like a lifetime ago. When he finally held it over his head, I couldn’t resist and punched him in the stomach.

“Ouch. What was that for?”

“For being so incredibly mean.”

He had the sexiest grin of any man I’d ever met. When he lowered the baggie full of sugar cookies, I snatched it from his hand. “For me?”

“My sweet mother noticed you were in the kitchen. She witnessed your crime. You should know better than to try and get away with something so egregious around her.”

I couldn’t help myself, opening the baggie and pulling out a cookie. They were still warm, the aroma even stronger.

“When I went to your room and you weren’t there, I was disturbed.”

“So you had to find me.” Uh-oh. Had he read the poems? If he had, he’d know exactly how I felt about him. Right now, all I felt was confusion.

He eyed me as if he wanted to devour both me and the cookie.

“Do you want one?”

“What I want I can’t have. Yet.”

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