Page 20 of Ruthless

“You’re cute when you’re scared.” He stopped a couple inches from me, his body so close—and yet so far. Tension rose between us as his gray eyes held mine, and my breath hitched as I clenched my thighs.

“You don’t scare me,” I countered, though my heart felt like it was beating right out of my chest.

He nodded, a smirk stretching across his face and he swiftly reached out, his hand wrapping around my throat lightly. “So, princess, there’s only two reasons that your heart would be beating as hard and as fast as it is right now.” He leaned down, his nose now brushing mine, his breath tickling my skin. “You’re either fucking terrified of me right now—or you’re excited.”

My head started to spin at his words and his closeness—but I could do this. “Very egotistical to think that it’s you that has me feeling this way,” I countered, forcing a smile of my own. “For all you know, I was just down her thinking about someone else… before you showed up.”

His tongue ran along his bottom lip as his eyes searched mine, his thumb stroking along my jaw. “Oh? And who would that be? Your partner? Or your sadistic stalker?”

“You know what I think?” I said, knowing I might just push him right over the edge. “I think you’d be jealous, no matterwhoI was thinking of.”

His jaw twitched and I braced, ready for him to squeeze the life right out of me—but he didn’t. He let me go, taking a step away from me. “You have no idea what kind of fire you’re playing with,Rachel.Fucking you is the fastest way to guarantee your end.”

“Is it?” I dared him, taking a step toward him. “Because out in the woods, you sure as hell seemed ready to make me yours.”

“It’s dangerous to be mine.” His eyes were darkening, and it felt as though we were doing a dance. “You don’t want to be mine.” Ghost Eyes’ voice was strong as he said the words, but something faltered in his eyes—something that made me think there was more to the beast of a man than he let on. I had been around plenty of cold-blooded killers in my life…

And Ghost Eyes was one—but not the kind that just kill to kill.

“Why’d you change your mind about me?” I pushed him a little harder, both my body and my mind wanting him to come closer again. I wanted to understand him for some godforsaken reason I didn’t understand…

And my pussy? Yeah, well, it was obvious what she wanted.

“It’s none of your fucking business what I do or don’t do—orwhoI do,” he growled, his fist clenching at his sides. I wanted his hands on me again.

And I hated myself for it.

“I just wanted to know why you were having a bad day,” I admitted, finally letting a little of the truth spill out. He was going to be complicated, and while my body wanted to throw myself at his feet, forgetting about all the rest…

I still needed to survive.

Become an asset.

My plan was just not solidified. I was all over the place—and I was feeling it in the moment. I wasn’t sure if he picked up on that, or if the silence was just too much.

“Sometimes I have bad days,” he said, grabbing my attention. “Some days are harder than others—everyone goes through that kind of shit.”

I nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed, letting myself appear to relax in front of him. “I don’t buy that your shit is like everyone else’s.”

He shifted in his engineer boots, and I wondered if the guy ever wore anything else. He was always clad in black Levis and black boots. The only thing that changed was his shirt—and there weren’t many options. White or gray shirt and a hoodie.

“You don’t want to know about my past,” he finally said after a few moments. His voice had an edge of fatigue to it, like the thought of discussing it was exhausting to him.

“I’ll tell you about mine, if you tell me about yours,” I offered, knowing that I had plenty of fucked up stories to share. Not to mention, it might build him up enough to think of me as capable of being helpful.

“So, what? Now you wanna talk?” He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t move, leaving plenty of distance between the two of us. “I don’t think you talking about your past with your little, squirrelly asshole of a brother is going to change anything for your future.”

I folded my arms across my chest, trying to keep my brave face on. “And so that means that you’re gonna kill me then?”

“I just might if you keep being nosy.” As much as the words were a threat, it didn’tfeellike one. It felt like an attempt at banter, and I was gonna take it.

“You know, I get paid to be nosy.”

He chuckled, his upper lip twitching upward. “And do what, exactly? Point out who Jim Dear is fucking on the side? What a job. I bet you have zero trust in the ability of a man to be faithful.”

Damn.

“You’re not wrong,” I said, giving him credit where it was due. “I think most men are incapable of turning down a good piece of ass—I see it every single day. Women always cheat because they want the emotional connection, but men just want to get laid.”

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