Page 63 of Lust
His gaze leveled on her.
Not so much fun when the spotlight’s on you, huh?
She stole a piece of his beef and popped it into her mouth. “What’s got your panties in a twist, anyway?”
“Nothing you can help with,” he murmured with a dark look at his food.
Oh. This was serious.
It suddenly occurred to her that maybe he’d never talked much about his problems, because she’d never offered to listen, and she never told him her problems. Not the real ones, anyway. If she wanted him to open up, she had to do the same. By the end of the night, she resolved to let him know more about her family.
“Hey,” she said. “You’d be surprised at what I can help you with. You won’t know unless you tell me.”
He shook his head, seemingly throwing off his tension, and then removed his suit jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. He sprawled long legs and loosened his tie. That’s all he did. But the paring of his decorous mask revealed rampant masculinity. A sliver of heat unfurled in Liza’s lower belly, and she allowed herself a moment to appreciate him in a way she’d neither the propensity nor courage to do in the past. Her gaze lingered on his long legs, moved up his trim torso, snug in a button-down shirt, and then shifted to his sleeves rolled to the forearms. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he ate. Rough scruff grew dark and thick along his square jaw, accentuating the angle. He would need a shave soon. She’d like to be the one who shaved it. And then she’d lick that neck. Maybe she’d lick it now.
A blush hit her cheeks.
Another spear of desire pooled low and insistent between her legs.
She squirmed a little and kept eating. After a few more moments of companionable silence, she said, “This is nice.”
When his obsidian gaze met hers, she couldn’t decipher his thoughts. His finger rimmed the wine glass while he watched her with unblinking contemplation that made her want to squirm.
What was he thinking? Feeling?
She knew she’d never sensed his lust, but it had always been there. Other moments like these popped into her mind—when he’d simply stared at her while toying with the rim of a soda can, glass, or something else.
“What are you thinking?” she blurted.
“I’m thinking you need a straw.” The gravel in his voice shuddered down her spine. “You usually use a straw.”
Her breath hitched.
A breathy sound came out of him. It reminded her of something an animal made when it warned another from its food. A short, sharp grumble of warning. His eyes weren’t on the food. They were on her lips.
He cleared his throat and pointed at the box of case files. “What did you bring?”
Whatever tension had been hanging in the air was gone. She frowned, shoved the last mouthful of food in, and then shifted over to the box on the floor. The surface area down there was the biggest, so she laid down the forensic crime scene shots and placed the sketches beside them.
Over the past few months, Evan had been amassing quite the collection of dream sketches, or she should say nightmare sketches. Included among the subject matter were faceless women lined up, sleeping, often with strange faces looming over them. There were also pregnant women crying through shallow holes for eyes. And through it all, Evan’s hurried frenzied charcoal strokes and smudges cast an all together haunting aesthetic. One could almost believe they were simply art pieces in a horror show and not windows into the future.
When Evan had drawn the likeness of Liza’s assailant, he’d been struck with familiarity. He’d recognized the same man from previous sketches and had retrieved a few for Liza.
“Evan dreams the future,” she murmured, laying the last of the pictures out. “He’s seen the Syndicate taking women, and Daisy has confirmed it.”
“Daisy?”
Here goes... sharing.She could do this.
“My sister.”
“You mean, Sloan?”
“No. I have another one.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“She’s the last, but... we thought she was dead. She wasn’t.” Liza picked up the sketch Evan had drawn of Daisy in peril. “You might have seen her when the Faithful attacked in the street. She helped put them down. That was the first day we’ve worked together, on the same side.”
