It took only a few seconds before it clicked. Of course, what helped was the look in his eyes, the placement of his hands, and his presence in my private room.
That was how long he was giving me to get my ass to Lush.
The amount of time he’d chosen was calculated. Somehow, he knew it took seven minutes for me to drive to the club, another minute to park and get inside. I had a two-minute buffer in case I hit all red lights or an employee stopped me to chat.
If I didn’t show in ten minutes, I assumed I was in for a punishment.
And as if he were inside my head again, that assumption was confirmed when his eyes narrowed, his tongue slowly grazing the inside of his bottom lip.
A mouth that turned more feral as his tongue gradually dragged across it.
He ran his hand over his beard—hairs that were triple the length from when I’d last seen him, wild and unruly.
Wetness now soaked the silk robe beneath me.
What is he doing to me?
How can I allow him to make me feel this way?
After what he had done.
After what he had continued to do for three weeks and three days.
Even so, I had to fight the urge of sinking my hand down my body and fingering myself until I came because the moment he mouthed,Nine minutes, I knew I was fucked.
TEN
Bale
Ihad two choices.
I could either ignore what was about to happen or I could take care of it.
But—fuck me—the latter would put me right in the middle of a situation, and situations were always things I avoided as a watcher.
I couldn’t draw attention.
I couldn’t be more than a ghost.
And it seemed the moment I had taken on the job that involved Pepper Michaels, I’d become more present than ever, and my whole fucking world had changed.
I wasn’t just watching the fire. I was in the goddamn center of it.
Shit, I almost hadn’t left her the morning I took off.
Every ounce of me had wanted to stay.
That was why I knew, why I felt in my entire body, that I hadn’t really been faced with a choice at all.
I had to handle things.
For her.
But even more, for me.
By doing that, there was only one way to gain Pepper’s attention.
It wasn’t calling her. It wasn’t stopping by her house.