Page 22 of First Comes Revenge

I suppose that’s bullshit. Because uncovering Charli is also going to help me get back at the Vanderlesh assholes. I can’t pretend I’m in this for the right reasons.

“Um, no,” I say. “I don’t have to pretend to like you. I’ll have to pretend I don’t want to drag you straight back to my place all night.Youwill be the one learning to pretend to like me.”

I think I can hear a smile in her voice. “That’s a big task. I’ve never been a good actress.”

“Good. If you ever decide to get beneath me, I won’t have to worry you’re faking.”

“Is that a common problem for you, Mr. Wolfe? Women faking it in bed?”

I smile and run my thumb across my lip.Damn.I really do like this girl. “I guess you’ll have to give me a shot. You can tell me what you think after we’ve gone a few rounds.”

“You’re talking like it’s a foregone conclusion.”

My cock seems to think so. It’s already rock hard from the brief flirtation. “Call me an optimist.”

“My sister complains that I’m too optimistic, too.”

My smile widens. “You have a sister? See? This is why we need to spend some more time together, Charli. I barely know anything about you.”

“Ah, I see. So this is a fact finding mission? You’re not trying to seduce me. You’re just trying to gather intel?”

“I never said I wouldn’t try to seduce you.”

She pauses, and I picture her biting her lip. Maybe her cheeks are even going red in that sexily innocent way of hers. “What would we do for this hypothetical date?”

“It would be the lady’s choice. I’m a rogue, not an asshole.”

“Do rogues eat ice cream?”

“I’ll eat anything you put in front of my mouth.Anything,” I add, because a very vivid image pops into my brain at that moment. An image I wish I could make reality.

“Okay, then,” she says, sounding breathless. I imagine her hand between her thighs and a warm tingle running to her belly. I imagine she wants it just as fucking badly as I do, and I like where my imagination goes. “Ice cream. Should I meet you there?”

“I wouldn’t let you roam the city all by yourself at this time of night. I can be outside your building in ten minutes. You just make yourself look nice, put on your favorite underwear, and meet me out front when you’re ready. I’ll wait.”

“I’m not changing my underwear for you.”

“Already happy with our choice? That’s even better. I can’t wait to see what you went with.”

“I’m hanging up,” she says, but I can hear the slightest touch of humor in her tone.

“And I’m on my way, sweet–” She ends the call before I could finish.

There’s a pep in my step as I make my way to her place. She lives in Manhattan, conveniently placing her near where I work. It’s just another reason we’re meant to be, I decide. And if we’re not meant to be soulmates, we’re at least meant to share a bed together a few dozen times. That much is certain.

Her building is in Murray Hill. It’s a huge, unremarkable thing in the middle of a busy area. I post up on the street in front of the building with my hands in my pockets. The door is locked behind an iron gate, so I’m stuck outside. It’s alright, though. It’s late October and the weather is pretty perfect this time of year. Chilly without being too chilly.

I wait, smelling the roses again because that’s apparently my thing these days. I watch the same things I see every day, but I actually notice them. People give the finger to honking cars as they move through crosswalks, people arguing over a cab, and a guy is playfully singing to a woman somewhere high up above on an apartment balcony and she’s laughing at how bad it is.

It feels like an eternity before the gate creaks and I turn to see Charli.

She is wearing a beige faux leather jacket, jeans, and a shirt that shows her midriff.

“Fuck,” I say aloud, eyes roaming her body.

Her cheeks go red in that way I’m already coming to love. “What?” Charli asks. She folds an arm across her stomach, so I step closer and take her by the elbow, gently pulling the arm away.

“You look incredible is what. Why are you hiding?”

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