Page 21 of Deadly Designs

“Nah,” insisted Christian. “It’s what I would’vewanted.”

He was being kind, but she had no doubt he’d pickedup on her distress. She punched in Jay’s number through blearyeyes, her heart sinking when his voicemail kicked in again. Shedisconnected and handed the cell back to him. “Still notanswering.”

“Is that unusual for him?”

“Very. He’s the definition of reliable.”

Christian glanced at his watch. “It’s late, and it’sbeen a long day. We’ll stop by Jay’s apartment on the way to youroffice tomorrow morning. I want to talk to the rest of your staffand look at the letter and box you received.”

“Okay.”

Aja Blue stood, and the room tilted.

“Whoa.” Christian reached out and steadied her. “Youokay?”

“Sure, just tired.” And a teeny bit tipsy. It wasnever a good idea to drink on an empty stomach. The few bites ofpizza she’d taken didn’t amount to a meal.

Aja Blue looked up, and, oh, how she wanted this man.Much as she had the first time they’d met, she pushed up on hertiptoes and kissed him. Her head swam again, this time from histaste and her lust—a whopping combination.

She couldn’t get enough of him. Her hands roamed hismuscular body, tugging at his shirt.

He broke the kiss. “Aja Blue, we have to stop.”

“No, we don’t.” She kissed him again and ran herfingers over the steely ridges of his abs, smiling when he moanedlow and deep.

Suddenly, the room tilted again, but this time, itwas because he’d swept her into his arms. Good. They were finallyon the same page. Somehow, he found the bedroom, even though sherefused to break lip contact. Aja Blue reached for him when heplaced her on the bed, but he wasn’t there. She shot up andinstantly regretted it when the few pizza bites threatened toreappear. She dropped to the mattress with a groan.

“Christian?”

“Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Her eyes popped open, and she frowned at the closeddoor. Sure, she was slightly drunk, but not so much that she didn’tknow what she wanted. Right now, it was him. She would lay here fora minute and then make him sorry for rejecting her.

#

Christian was simply a man. A human with thoughts andfeelings, made of muscle, bone, tissue, and water. Turning down themost desirable woman on the planet wasn’t easy. It was damned nearimpossible, and he deserved a freaking gold medal or something.

He’d known the instant she kissed him it was wrong,but her taste was like a narcotic, and he couldn’t stop. Christianmight not have been so noble if he hadn’t watched her down a bottleof wine while only nibbling on her dinner. It was never wise to mixbusiness with pleasure, but there was a chemistry between them thatwas impossible to deny. As much as he’d try, he wasn’t sure hecould resist her for long.

Though he’d been tired earlier, Christian felt wiredand restless now. He changed into workout clothes and headed to thegym he knew was somewhere in the house. He found it in the basementand began pumping iron, keeping at it until his muscles screamed inprotest and sweat coated his body, soaking through his T-shirt.

Aja Blue’s door was still closed when he jogged upthe steps. He couldn’t stop himself from gently twisting the knoband peeking inside. She was asleep where he’d left her, a softsnore escaping her lips. Christian smiled and eased the doorclosed.

After showering, he almost fell into bed naked. Itwas how he usually slept. However, it wasn’t a good idea with AjaBlue under the same roof, especially with her roaming hands. He dugout a pair of jogging shorts and then plopped on the mattress. Aremote for the television was lying on the bedside table, so heturned it on and found a game to watch.

Christian finally drifted to sleep, his dreams filledwith everything he wanted to do with the beautiful lady across thehall.

Chapter Six

Aja Blue was having one of thosehorrible dreams in which she desperately needed to use thebathroom, but all the toilets were either out of order ordisgustingly soiled when she pushed the door open. The pressure ofher bladder finally woke her, and she sat up. The room wasunfamiliar. She looked down, surprised to see she was still dressedin yesterday’s clothes. Why was that? She smacked her dry lipstogether and ran her tongue over her teeth. She hadn’t brushed themlast night. Eww. She was a stickler for oral hygiene.

That’s when she remembered where she was. Before shewet the bed, she jumped up and made use of the attached bathroom.As she lathered her hair in the shower, an image popped into herhead of her and Christian getting hot and heavy. Then sheremembered he’d left her alone in bed, totally turned on andultimately unsatisfied.

Aja Blue should probably be glad he hadn’t takenadvantage of her. She had been drunk, after all. But her pride wasdinged that he’d walked away. By the time the shampoo washed downthe drain, so had her anger. Christian was a decent, honest man.Noble. She’d known he was a kind soul the moment she’d met him. Shefelt safe with him and knew without a doubt that he’d never hurther—intentionally.

Since they were going to her office, she dressedprofessionally and secured her hair into a bun. With a light touchof makeup, she was ready to go.

She smelled the enticing aroma of coffee as she lefther room. Christian was in the kitchen, looking at his phone anddrinking from a mug. She refused to be embarrassed for her wantonbehavior last night, so she squared her shoulders and marchedforward.

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