Page 73 of Passion and Payback

“Bye,” I said, pushing her hard enough to dislodge her from the chair. Despite the attention it drew, it didn’t deter her in the slightest. She just walked away with a cackle.

“So,” Rich said as I stood up. “We’re just going to ignore the fact that you and Brooke were sleeping together, and now you’re sleeping with the boss?”

“By all means,” I told him dryly, “bring that up to Hunter if you’d like.”

“Are you trying to get me killed?”

“Now, why would you say that?”

“Hunter’s a nice guy, but don’t think I haven’t seen his temper. This one time some guy came in and started trouble. Drunk or something and kept trying to start fights. Hunter practically dragged the guy out by himself, and I don’t knowwhat the hell he said, but the guy gave him a dirty look and just walked off.”

“Interesting,” I said. “When was this?”

“Mmm, a few months before you showed back up.”

“I didn’t show ‘back up’ I was…” I stopped myself and shook my head. It seemed Hunter had found a connection with his rougher side a lot sooner than that strangely coincidental meeting with the dealer a few weeks prior. “And if you’rethatworried, you can talk to Brooke about it instead.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re definitely trying to get me killed.”

“Oh, come now, she can’t be scarier than Hunter, right?”

“Definitely trying to kill me.”

I smiled sweetly. “Rich, you wound me. If I was trying to kill you, you’d know it...right before I killed you.”

He stared at me for a few heartbeats before snorting and shaking his head. “You know, even though you’re smiling, I think you might actually be a lot scarier than the two of them combined.”

I watched him squint at me and frowned. “Don’t you dare ask the question you’re about to ask.”

“What was I about to ask?”

“If I’ve killed someone before, and what it felt like.”

“I...wasn’t,” he said in a tone that said he didn’t even believe himself.

“Well, then I’ll count that as a mistake on my part and move on,” I said with a smirk. “Thank you for the coffee. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the next one.”

“Luck, nothing. I’m going to figure it out based on all the other drinks I’ve given you and try to work from there,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll figure this out. There’s a coffee drink for everyone, and Iwillfind yours.”

“You keep up that determination,” I told him with a chuckle.

I wound around the counter and headed into the back. Ignoring the door leading up to Hunter’s apartment, I noticed the office door was closed, which it rarely was. That meant he had subscribed to the game that had sucked good chunks of his life once, or he was doing research instead of work. Either option meant I was walking into his office without warning, raising my brow when he all but leaped out of his chair in surprise.

“Jesus,” he said, putting a hand over his chest. “You scared the shit out of me. What the hell!”

I snorted, closing the door behind me. “You’re jumpy. Feeling guilty?”

He scowled at me. “Did you come in here to give me a hard time about not working? Because I am managing to get work done.”

“I see that,” I said, looking at the desktop screen and then glancing at the laptop in front of him. “Multitasking, I see.”

“I am capable of it,” he said after a momentary huff and opened the laptop more after closing it a little upon my entry. “You’re supposed to be less quiet when you walk around.”

“I apologize for not stomping my way down the hallway like a pissed-off buffalo.”

“You’re goddamn right you are.”

I laughed at that, bending down to kiss him. “And I’m not sure if I should be worried that you’re in here obsessing over more research or if Brooke is right and you’re an addict again.”

---