Page 39 of Speed Trap

Fortunately for me Benson couldn’t tell a fake expression from a real one.

“Thanks.” He waved away four straight days of work with a flick of his manicured fingers. “I wanted to see what you were doing this weekend.”

I blinked. My planning hadn’t gone beyond my inbox and the media releases. “Ah— let me see.” I flicked open my calendar. “Saturday is booked—there’s a shoot at the track with you, then the press afterwards, with you and Hawk…” Both of us grimaced, though I suspected it was for grossly differing reasons. “And Sunday…I have other work.”

“Your client list?” Benson’s jovial tone closed down somewhat.

I shook my head. “I’ve barely had time.” Or made time. “I’m working in my sister’s soup kitchen. They’ve had a shortage of workers and I promised I’d help.”

“Charity is good for the soul,” Benson intoned. “And for the reputation. Can I take you out to dinner afterward?”

“Oh, hell. Have I missed putting something in my calendar? Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Iknewthere was something I’d missed. You know when you have that thing—like a void in your head—when youknowyou haven’t written something down? One of those.” I opened Sunday’s calendar and poised my fingers over the keyboard. “Okay, ready. What’s it for and who’s it with? Oh, and the dress code. Please.” My head chose that most inopportune moment to be scattered as hell.

Large, smooth hands settled over mine, a body pressed to my back. “A date. Dinner, just you and me. Dress…” Benson paused long enough for me to look up at him. I tried and failed to hide my shock at his words, but the way his gaze coasted over me, how he licked his lips like I was a meal he was about to rip into sent a wave of revulsion through my body. Benson’s smile was nothing short of predatory, and not the good sort. “In something sexy.”

I ducked one shoulder and twisted out of his grip in a move that would have made my old dance teacher proud. “Thanks but…I’ll be exhausted after a day in the kitchen. And gross. I don’t know what time I’ll get off—”Great choice of words, Cooper.Benson didn’t miss the double entendre either, his smile widening as I backed away from his advance. “—and I’ll smell horrible. I’ll be terrible company.'' For every step I took backward Benson took two forward until my back hit the door.

I scrambled for the handle as he loomed over me and I closed my eyes.

This is it. This is where I walk out and ruin any potential my career has right now.

I hated working for Benson. The lightbulb moment drew away the veil I had used to cover my life for the last weeks. All itrevealed was a heart broken girl trying to dodge the terrible boss she had worked with for far too long.

“Then Monday.”

What was Monday? “Nope. Press before the first race.” The handle of the door jarred my spine.

“Tuesday.” Benson’s smile grew wider as his hands slapped the painted door either side of my head.

I jumped, wrestling with the damn lock. “I think—”click“I have—”turn“something on. But I’ll be here in the office every day.”Until I can think of a way to get out of my contract with you.

The handle turned beneath my palm and I sent a silent prayer heavenward.

Cold air whooshed past me as Benson stumbled under the unexpected motion. Several figures I didn’t bother to focus on froze in the hall, watching our boss tumble out of my office.

“Great chatting with you,” I called as I closed the door behind me.

I contemplated the lock for a long minute but I judged the chances of Benson coming back after that ignominious exit were less than slim, and more in the realm of none.

My first step away from the door felt like freedom. Without Benson breathing down my neck and offering random dates, I could think. Naturally, the moment I stopped pacing and halted in the center of the room, my mind went blank.

I would have laughed at myself if the familiar edge of panic hadn’t brushed my heart. I had to find that contract, and find a loophole in it. I had to?—

A hand wrapped around my elbow and turned me in a dizzying circle. My shout died in my throat as the face of my assailant came into view. Thankfully, my brain recognized Hawk before my mouth did.

It didn’t work out so well for my hand. Or his face.

My palm cracked across his cheek before I could lessen the blow, my apology tumbling out of my mouth as I launched at him.

“Whoa, Coops. I didn’t know you hated me that much.” His tone was light as he swiped his knuckles over his cheek and sent me a sharp grin. “You’ve got a damn good swing, though.”

“For a girl?” I raised an eyebrow, all banter and sass.

How easy it was to fall back into this vein with him. Too easy. Tears rolled down my face as my heart broke all over again.

“For anyone.” He brushed my tears away, cradling my face in his hands. “I’ve missed you, Coops.”

A small hiccup escaped my lips. Was it really that easy? I searched his gaze but there was nothing closed, or predatory, or hidden in his eyes. “I missed. You. Too.” I punctuated each word with a thump to his chest. “My heart still hurts.” If he was open and honest, then the least I could do was repay the favor.

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