Page 29 of Forbidden Bond

I open my mouth to answer him but he stops me.

“Wait, let me guess. You probably used to go to museums a lot and you watched a lot of documentaries involving excavations of past relics when you were little.”

My lips curve into a smile. “That’s mostly accurate.”

“Damn, Katie. You’re pretty cool, you know that?”

“Why?” I drawl, leaning against the desk and looking up at him.

He’s so much taller than me. It should be intimidating, but it’s not. It simply adds to the attraction I refuse to acknowledge. But it does make me wish I liked wearing heels more. Instead, I’m in black sneakers. Which is honestly more practical considering this is an auto-mechanic shop.

“You go after whatever you like. You turn your dreams into reality.”

“That’s a pretty generous spin on my inability to choose something and stick with it,” I say, my voice doing nothing to mask the self-loathing I’ve felt in the past couple of weeks.

“Bullshit. It’s admirable that you can do so much. It’s pretty sexy, actually,” he says with a wink.

There he is. That’s the Topher I met months ago. The one that’s constantly trying to charm everyone around him. I almost smile back at him, but I refuse to let him know he has any power over me. I roll my eyes instead.

“My indecisiveness is not sexy. I chose archaeology because of all my probable career paths it was the most passable one. The one my dad wouldn’t have fought as hard against.”

“What did he want you to do?”

“Become an FBI agent,” I reply.

“Hmm. Then I guess it’s fortunate you didn’t. For the sake of everybody here.”

“Why not?”

He leans closer. The movement is so slight, I’m not sure he even realizes it.

“Because then you’d have been trying to get all my secrets,” he whispers. “And I have many secrets.”

My eyebrows rise in challenge. “How can you be so sure I’m not trying to get all your secrets regardless?”

“That’s the intriguing thing about you, Malone. I can’t be sure of anything when it comes to you.”

With those words, he takes a step back and head toward one of the cars in the garage.

“Get to work, Katie. I already arranged a couple files you need to get through on the laptop. And there’s a list of people you need to call to inform them that their cars are fixed, and potential orders we might have to place from other countries.”

Topher and I work in silence for the next hour until the third person I saw working here yesterday arrives. I stand up to introduce myself.

“Hi, we didn’t get to meet yesterday. I’m Katherine. Or Katie, if you want,” I tell him.

“Ellis.”

Ellis is an extremely tall man with dark brown complexion, black hair and brown eyes. There’s a perpetual frown on his face but he has warm eyes and a calming countenance at the same time.

“Welcome aboard, princess,” he tells me, managing a small smile.

Topher chuckles at the nickname and I roll my eyes. Ellis gives me one last smile before he heads over to an area of the garage to change.

“It’s just Katie,” I call after him.

“Katherine,” Topher says on a laugh. “Let it go.”

I groan, heading back to my desk. I’m not sure if I like it or hate it here. But I liked speaking with Topher and having a conversation with someone that seems to actually get me.

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