Page 56 of The San Marco Heist

He inched away, practically snarling, “I didn’t clear you for level two,Eloise.”

“They did that…?”

“Just because they didn’t hit my face doesn’t mean they didn’t have a little fun.”

I stepped closer, but he pulled the shirt on and stormed away from me. All I wanted was to wrap my arms around him and apologize. I’d been so wrong about him. “Why didn’t you say anything, Malcolm?”

“I shouldn’t have had to.” He busied himself with the buttons and picked up his phone to restart the bow tie video. “Emmett told you to trust me, so I’d hoped you actually would.”

“Let me do your tie.”

He tossed the phone onto the table, abandoning his latest attempt. “One more thing the perfect Scarlett Reynolds does better than anyone else?”

I took a sip from my water bottle and returned it to the counter, crossing the distance to him so slowly it was as though I were wading through tar. Once I arrived next to him, I’d have to apologize. It was the right thing, but it lodged even more firmly in my windpipe than my rapidly escalating desire.

Get control of yourself.Do up the bow tie and step away.Don’t slide your hands over his shoulders or down his chest. No inhaling his cologne, either.

He sagged onto a chair, still facing away from me. “I know I’m not your precious Rav, but I—”

“Don’t.” I stepped around the chair, moved his cuff links back, and sat on the low table in front of him.

He looked away from me and gave his head a little shake. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“I’ve got skills. What can I say?”

He snorted and rolled his eyes back to me.

“You’ve done a good job here and I’m…” I picked the bow tie up from the floor and draped it around his neck.

“You’re what?”

I shrugged one shoulder, crossing the two ends of his tie and tucking one side up. “You know.”

“Oh my god, I’ve found something that Scarlett Reynolds sucks at. You can’t say it, can you?”

“Of course, I can.” I tightened the first loop more forcefully than was necessary.

He cocked his eyebrow at me. That son of a bitch cocked his eyebrow at me and smirked. That was another taunt.

“You’re an asshole,” I said, unable to contain the laugh that came with it. I folded the shorter end, pinched and looped the longer one behind it, and pulled it into shape.

His gaze fell to my hands as I finished tightening and straightening the bow tie. “Although I concede you’re better at that than I am.”

“My mom taught me when I was fourteen.” I patted the bow tie, admiring my work.

“Did you ever get to be a kid?”

That was what my girlfriends had been for. They’d been my respite from Mum’s expectations, and to this day, that’s why none of them knew what I really did for a living. I could be me with them. Sometimes with the team, but only while we weren’t on a job.

He put his fingers under my chin and lifted my face. We were too close again, especially when we were alone in this suite. “I don’t know what level this is right here, but—”

“Level two.” I swallowed hard, the heat continuing to pulse through me. “It falls under the shoulder portion of waist, back, or shoulder.”

“We go in at level three.” A muscle in his jaw flexed. “It’s a wedding. We’re pretending we’ve had a few drinks, and I should be able to kiss your shoulder, your hand, and your cheek. You can’t tell me that’s not reasonable.”

“You’re right. It’s reasonable.”

“Does a peck on the lips count? Or is that still level five?”

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