Page 16 of Corrupted Deception

She knew that wasn’t what I’d meant, but if she wanted to pretend we were strangers, so be it.

“You stepped on my toes tonight,” I said, meeting her gaze head-on.

“No, I slammed my heel into your thigh. But semantics?” She shrugged.

Not before I had your ass rubbing against my cock.

She glanced over me from head to toe. “It seems it’s left you no worse for wear,” she replied flippantly.

Still the same old Charlotte from before.

“What did you give Marín?” I asked because the question had been eating at me since I’d found the asshole staring up at the ceiling like he’d found the secret to eliminating the male refractory period up there.

Charlotte’s puffy lips quirked. “A modified form of MDMA.”

“You gave the asshole ecstasy?”

She shrugged. “I was fresh out of truth serum. And besides, it looked like the guy could use a good time.”

She spoke with such a straight face it was hard to decipher whether she was lying.

“Okay, well, this was fun,” she said, hopping down, sliding sideways to land next to me and tucking her gun into the back of her pants.

The scent of jasmine and vanilla wafted from her, the warm and sensual wrapping around me the same way it did back in the hotel.

“It was great catching up, Cielo. We should do it again… in another decade or so.”

This deranged reunion was anything but great. If it was so “great” then I’d be balls-deep inside her already. Then I could get my head clear and figure out what to do with the girl who’d disappeared on me only to reappear ten years later in Marín’s hotel room.

I had a feeling the solution had something to do with handcuffs and neck wringing. But also fucking. There would definitely be a lot of fucking.

Unfortunately, I had a job to do.

“Who is Cade Finley?” I asked abruptly.

She pressed her lips together, and I swear her eyes darkened like storm clouds brewing.

“He’snot your concern,” she said eventually, then turned to walk away.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her back with enough force that her body slammed into mine. Her body was warm, and her full tits pressed hard against my chest, pumping pure arousal through my veins like an adrenaline shot to the heart.

Her breath came out in a rush, her lips parted. She didn’t pull away, didn’t move.

I swear I could feel her heart beating, harder than it should have been. Faster. I’d never had her this close, never imagined I ever would.

“Are you finished manhandling me yet?” she deadpanned but her voice sounded a little breathless. “Or do you maybe want me to spin in a circle and you just grab at whatever strikes your fancy?”

I smirked.Tempting.

She yanked her arm out of my grip and took a step back.

The dog—who’d managed to work half his body beneath the picnic table—shifted agitatedly but maintained his position.

“We’re not finished here, Charlotte. What happened tonight is a problem.”

“Right… stepping on toes and all that shit?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “How about this: You give me a list of all the scumbags who are off-limits, and I’ll do my very best to steer clear of them. Does that work for you?”

I stared at her, far more intrigued than I wanted to be. “You’re mouthier now. I like that.”

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