Dare to Tempt - Carly Phillips Page 0,10
shit,” she said, staring at a photo of herself in Damon’s doorway in an extremely intimate-looking position. Only she knew she’d been checking the adhesive on his skin. To everyone else it appeared as if she was reluctant to leave and had sidled up close behind him, her face and lips close to his back and neck.
“It’s actually good news. You two pulled it off. TNZ is probably figuring out who you are as we speak, and now you can go anywhere with him and it won’t seem odd. Get your list together and somehow we’ll try and get you to meet the people you suspect as having something to do with Damon testing positive.”
“Okay.” A beep signaled another call was coming in. “Bri? I need to take this call. I’ll get back to you later.” She disconnected and glanced at her phone, immediately taking the call. “Damon?” She was surprised to hear from him despite the fact that they’d exchanged numbers last night.
“Hey,” he said. “I suppose you’ve heard the news?”
“That we’re an item?”
“TNZ posted it on their site and every social media outlet they have a presence on. The fans took it from there. We’re viral.”
“And you? Did you share the information about us on your page?”
He chuckled, a low, rumbling sound. “No, I figured we can take a picture together and announce things our own way.”
She laughed. “I like the sound of that.” She could use some control in her life, and this would be one way of taking some back. Even if it was for the job.
A knock sounded at her door, and she walked across the apartment to answer it, wondering who would show up without calling first. She looked through the peephole, but no one was there. Frowning, she opened the door and caught sight of a box left right outside.
Still standing in her doorway, she knelt down and picked up the long box.
“So, I was thinking we could get dinner and talk about who could have framed me some more,” Damon was saying as she lifted the top off the white box.
“I—” A familiar spray of yellow roses, her favorite, was in the box.
John used to send her yellow roses. Before she could process that thought, a garden snake popped out of the long green stems. The unexpected sight caused her to scream and drop the box along with the phone and back away from the gift that had been clearly meant to catch her off guard.
“Evie!” she heard Damon yell from her phone.
Shit. She picked it up and spoke to him. “I’m here.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” She was a private investigator he’d hired. No reason for him to think she couldn’t handle herself.
“Bullshit.”
“I saw a snake,” she said, figuring that would end that.
“Inside your house?” He sounded skeptical.
She bit the inside of her cheek.
“What’s your address? I’m coming over.”
“What? No.” She didn’t need hand-holding.
She’d just been shocked, which had no doubt been John’s intent, but she’d moved since he’d bothered her last. And now he’d found her and the harassment was starting all over again. He resented the fact that he’d lost his job thanks to her, lost his license as an attorney, conveniently ignoring the fact that he’d physically hurt her. But he’d pulled enough strings to get himself off with some slick deal. Somehow.
“I can call Bri and get your address,” he reminded her.
“You’re overreacting.” She glanced at the gift, and since the snake was still wrapped in the flower stems, she had no intention of picking it up. She quickly put the top of the box back on.
Inside she was still shaking, and she didn’t doubt he heard the fear and panic in her voice. Her hand went to her arm, the reminder that John’s pranks could escalate quickly.
“I’m waiting.”
“Fine,” she muttered and gave him her address. “It’s a garden apartment. I’m on the fourth floor. Four oh two. The top floor.”
“See you soon.” He disconnected the call and she slammed her door shut, not wanting to give the snake the opportunity to come inside.
Either snake. Her ex or the slithering reptile outside.
* * *
Evie’s scream still reverberated in Damon’s ear, sending chills through his body. He didn’t give a shit if he had concussion symptoms, he needed to get to her. He had a mother and a sister. He knew when a woman screamed in shock over a bee, a bug, or a snake. He also knew terror when he heard it. So he didn’t think he was overreacting heading