Page 129 of Sin With Me

And I had no doubt that she was. My only fear would be her safety. I’d been thinking about finding the bastard who ruined my and my sister’s childhoods and haunted my parents for years. When I was approached by Hunter and given details about taking a girl out of the city and onto my ranch, I knew her background could only be a bonus. But the man I was looking for was vicious; and honestly, now that I knew it would be Emma searching for him, I didn’t want her anywhere nearhim.

“Julian and Tristan…”

“They’re my brothers.”

“I don’t think they’d give you the case if they knew all the details.” I was backtracking, but the urgency I now felt to keep her a bit further away from my case couldn’t be denied.

Her eyes only sparked with curiosity at my words – that was not my intention.

“Why don’t you tell some of the details then, and let me decide, Mr. Waters?”

“Eric.”

“Eric. I can assure you I’m quite capable of being professional and handlingyou.”

The way she said that zapped through me, collecting like a drug at the bottom of my spine.

“I have a slew of bodyguards and resources, even more than my brothers. And if you want the job done, there’s no one better than me, so why don’t you tell me what youneed?”

What I need is to hold you in my arms, center you on top of me, and feel you contract around my cock. I need to feel and kiss your silky skin and make you detonate with pleasure like dynamite.

“Urgm.” I cleared my throat, grateful that the table was covering how hard I’d gotten for Emma. I had to stop this nonsense. This girl needed to be treated with the respect she deserved, and if I didn’t get a hold of my need to have her, I could lose her before I even got a chance to knowher.

“I’m looking for this man.” I pulled out a photograph of the shaggy-bearded bastard. She took the photo from me, studying it for a moment before she asked. “Why?”

“Do you really want toknow?”

“Yes, I need to know everything about this case. How you’re connected to him, why you’re looking for him, and what you expect to do when I findhim.”

She didn’t say if she found him but when. I adored her confidence.

“Number one, I’m not gonna let you get within a mile of this bastard. Numb…”

She rolled hereyes.

“Please don't roll your eyes, Emma.”

“What is it with you men and me rolling myeyes?”

“It takes away from your beauty and intelligence,” I answered.

“Oh.”

For the first time since I’d met her, Emma was speechless, blinking, while her beautiful long lashes fluttered like fans, outlining her cat-like eyes. Finally she said, “I will try to stop, but it’s a habit, and I can’t promise I will. What I was going to say was, please don’t say ‘number two.’ I can’t stand people listing out their thoughts. Look, I’m the lead on this case. The more information you give me, the safer we’ll both be. I can’t help you if you withhold information from me or treat me like a helpless woman. That’s the last thing I want or need. If you’re going to hire Cross Enterprises, you need to trust that we don’t fail. I don’t fail. I will find this man you’re looking for. Now, from the way the pulse in your neck speeds up when you mention him, this guy’s dangerous, right?”

“Extremely. Does that scareyou?”

She smirked. “There isn’t much in this world that scares me. Why do you want to findhim?”

I took in a deep breath. It was time to share my story with Emma. This was a piece of me not many knew about. The idea of retelling one of the worst weeks of my life to Emma wasn’t as daunting as I’d thought it would be, though.

“He kidnapped my sister when she was young. She’s fine now, but I don’t think she’s ever been able to go on in peace knowing he’s out there. I want to put him behind bars for what he did, which means finding evidence that I’ve never been able to.” That was only half the truth. I wasn’t ready to share with her about the coward that I was and how I was connected to him as well. Deep inside, I knew that if I ever found him, I’d never be able to let the bastard live. Sending him to spend the rest of his life behind bars wouldn’t be enough.

“You’re not looking for revenge?” She lifted her gaze, studying me. Boy, was she evergood.

“I just want justice,” I lied. “He used to live in our town and disappeared just after my parents found out he was the one to kidnap Annabelle. This is the file I have on him.” I passed her the folder full of newspaper articles, clippings, police reports, and the investigation that was dropped too soon due to lack of evidence and a cold trail.

Emma studied the papers for over twenty minutes while I watched her with intent. At times when I knew she’d hit a spot where she wished there was a greater lead, her lips pursed. When she read over what he’d done, at least the part I wanted her to know about, her lips formed a straight line. At the time she was shocked, her mouth opened slightly, giving me the chance to see that perfect gap and her tongue that skimmed her lips as they dried.

---