was on skin.
“God.” She ripped her mouth free. Her breathing was fast, and she pressed her forehead to his chest. “You should come with a danger warning for women.”
He stroked a hand down her back, trying to get a lock on the raging desire twisting through him.
“That should be enough of a show,” he said.
“A show. Right.” The light leaked from her eyes.
“Aspen.” He grabbed her hand.
She tugged. “We should—”
He yanked her close, and she bumped against his chest. “You think lust like that can be faked?”
She just stared at him.
“You ever just let loose, Ms. Chandler?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Especially not when I’m working.”
“That kiss was real. And I’ll show you more.”
“We are not getting personally involved.”
He smiled. “We already are.”
“Your persistence isn’t cute.”
“And yet, your pulse is racing.”
He tugged her inside. His phone dinged, a reminder from his calendar. Aspen’s phone dinged at the same time.
With a huff, she pulled her phone out. Liam checked his. Crap. With everything going on tonight, he’d forgotten the Wounded Warriors fundraiser tonight.
Aspen tapped furiously on her phone.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m refereeing an argument between my sisters.” She stabbed at the phone and pressed it to her ear. “I don’t care who cooks dinner, as long as someone does.” A pause. “No, Briar. Tell Juno I said no as well. Uh-huh. No.” She growled. “I swear to God, you two are nineteen, not five, sort it out.” Aspen rolled her eyes again. “I love you, too.”
“Your sisters live with you?” he asked.
She nodded. “They’re both at college here in the city. I have a spare room. They drive me crazy most of the time.”
And it was clear she loved them to pieces.
“Aspen, I have a charity dinner tonight.”
“Okay. You should take some security with you. There’s no telling what else Doyle has up his sleeve to ‘convince’ you to give him what he wants.”
“A good idea. I’ll take you.”
She froze. “What?”
“Come as my date. We’ll kill two birds. This will be convincing for Doyle, showing him that I’m infatuated with my beautiful, wily blackmailer. And you can protect me.”
“I can’t be seen at an event, Liam. If I’m identified—”
“So wear a wig. Surely you private-investigator types are good with disguises. Besides, if you wear a fabulous dress, no one will be looking at your face.”
Her nose wrinkled. “That’s sexist as hell. Besides, I don’t have a fabulous dress.”
“I’ll take care of the dress.”
He saw the battle on her face. “Okay, fine. Just because it’s best for the investigation.”
“Great. Give me your address. I’ll have a dress delivered, then I’ll pick you up at seven PM.”
“No. I’ll meet you there. Where is it?”
Shit, she was so stubborn.
He thought about what she’d shared of her childhood. He suspected Aspen Chandler had been forced to grow up far too young. Even now, she was still caring for her sisters. What she’d gone through had made her strong, tough. Maybe too tough sometimes.
“It’s at Gotham Hall,” he said.
“Of course, it is.”
The impressive neoclassical building was in Midtown, and had once housed a bank. Now it was renowned for hosting exclusive weddings and events.
“And no more kissing.” There was a glint in her eye.
“We’ll see.”
Liam
A few hours later, Liam found himself in his tuxedo, sipping Scotch in the opulent grandeur of the grand ballroom at Gotham Hall.
The gilded ceiling soared overhead, with its stained-glass centerpiece. The granite walls were lit up with blue light, and impressive columns at the end of the oval hall just added to the sense of splendor. A dance floor and band stood at one end, and several high tables were dotted around the center of the space, lit with golden lights. The bar and food tables were stretched along the sides of the room.
Liam thought he’d found a private corner, but people kept stopping by for a chitchat. Or the hopes to make a time to meet him to discuss a business deal.
He glanced around, but he wasn’t seeing the fancy party, he was thinking of Nexus. Out there, somewhere, stalking like a predator.
He was going to help Aspen and bring them down.
He wasn’t letting those photos hurt his family, and he was making sure Jake was back with his wife.
Liam glanced at his watch. Where was Aspen? She was late.
He wished that Mav and Zane were here. Zane had declined to come. No doubt he was snuggled up with Monroe. Mav was probably locked in his lab, cooking up his next million-dollar invention.
Actually, it was good