Page 31 of Close to the Edge

“Lily?”

I snatched in a breath, schooled my expression and turned. “Yes?”

“You done?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh-huh.”

“Good. Time for lunch.”

As we entered the elevator, I remembered other fragments of our conversation upstairs. “You said you had questions.”

He was watching me with hooded eyes as if he knew the thoughts running through my head. “Yeah,” he replied absently.

“What kinds of questions?” I asked.

He slid his hands into his back pockets. “Different kinds. Personal and professional. Wanna start with the personal?”

My breath caught. “I—”

“Great. When was the last time you had sex?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Caleb

“YOU’REGOINGTOhave to answer me sometime.”

After a sharp intake of breath and a furious blush, which took all my severely tested control not to trace with my fingers, she’d clammed up.

To be fair, having a couple of SDM employees join us in the elevator had put the brakes on that conversation.

But she’d maintained silence in the SUV and all the way to the restaurant.

I parked in front of the Japanese restaurant, ignoring the valet waiting for us to exit the vehicle.

“I’m happy to repeat the question if you want? Sex, Lily. When—?”

“I heard you the first time,” she snapped, puffing out an annoyed breath as she reached for the door.

I stepped out, a little annoyed with myself, too. Truth be told, I didn’t intend to ask her that. Not immediately.

But as suspected, with every revelation of her brilliance, I grew more attracted to Lily Gracen. I’d come within a whisker of calling bullshit on my own rules and kissing her in the Faraday Cage room. After that little cock-teasing incident in the elevator, who the hell would’ve blamed me? Shit, I was getting hard just thinking about the way she’d worked me between her legs.

And yes, I was a little peeved that she managed to get herself under control before I did. All the same, this was a subject that needed addressing, so why the hell not?

I made eye contact with the two-man security team I had Maggie send ahead, and escorted Lily into the restaurant. The waiter showed us to the private booth I requested.

“Lily.” Maggie called this my rumbling volcano voice. “This will go a lot faster if you didn’t stop to dissect every question or take offense at it.”

She barely blinked at my don’t-fuck-with-me tone, studied the menu for a minute before she closed it with a snap. “What has sex got to do with anything?” she hissed.

I shrugged. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I thought you were in a hurry for this to be over?”

“I am, but—”

“How old are you?” It was another pertinent question I hadn’t yet asked. She was over the age of consent but the flashes of innocence I spotted every now and then demanded investigation.

“Twenty-four,” she answered with a frown. “How old areyou?” she tossed back.

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