of her other fuck boys. I don’t play games. Not the ones she’s used to, at least.
Still, she’s excited. I somehow knew she would be. Adeline would openly deny being turned on by the possibility of what could happen in a moment like this, but her journals say different.
Her dreams.
She stutters over the words. “B-because I d-don’t-“
Taking a breath deep enough for her chest to push out and brush mine, she shakes her head, gaining some control of herself.
“Because I haven’t had a chance.”
My stare drops to her lips. She’s chewing it again. I want to bite her for it. Punish her for the aggravating habit that is slowly driving me insane.
“I love photography,” I admit, “Collect it. If you’re any good, it would be a shame for you to let the talent go to waste.”
I pin her gaze with mine, lowering my voice so she has to give me her full attention to hear it.
“You should bring your camera here. Take those pictures. Do something with them.”
Be the fucking woman that drives me mad day after day.
Adeline blinks, her lips parting, her shoulders moving with every quick breath. How she doesn’t remember me while we stand like this is astounding.
We’ve been here before. In the rain. On a day I should have kissed her and claimed her as mine.
Here we are again.
The temptation is too fucking much.
I step back before I slip and push this further than I intended.
But then she surprises me...like she always does.
The little monster.
“Have you ever been photographed? Professionally, I mean. Not family pictures and phone stuff.”
The question catches me off guard. Voice dipped in suspicion, I ask, “Why?”
More mischief in a face I know can drive me to my damn knees when she gets a wild idea in her head.
“You have the look for it. That broody, dark, ‘I’ll strangle you in your sleep’ look. I’d like to photograph you.”
I blink. Slowly. Open my eyes again to stare at a woman who has no idea what she just said to me. Or how close to the truth she is.
“No, I haven’t.”
The twinkle in her gaze is disturbing. And that says a lot. I kill people for a living. Nothing disturbs me. But being on this girl’s radar drives a shiver down my spine.
She steps closer.
I step back.
What the fuck is going on?
“I’ll make you a deal. You meet me here tomorrow, and I’ll bring my camera.”
My brow arches. “Why would I agree to that?”
Seriousness bleeds into her voice. “Because you’re right. I do need to pick up my camera again. There’s just ... issues.”
Her gaze darts away as if she’s hiding something. I know there’s more to what she wants to say, but Adeline swallows it down before looking at me again.
“So, anyway, it would be helpful if you inspired me.”
She’s nuts. I know that. So why am I standing here looking at her like she’s grown a second head? Adeline doesn’t know me from Adam. She doesn’t realize she should be running away screaming and not begging me to come back here where we can be alone again.
But still, here she is. The woman I remember. Not the watered down version Grant is turning her into.
This is what I want, isn’t it?
Photographs of me are out of the question. I’ll find a way to avoid it, but I won’t be the person to jerk the ground out from under her and tell her no. Not when she’s daring to peek out from behind that fake persona.
Lincoln is going to kick my ass for this.
I’m going to kick my ass.
“I’ll be here. What time?”
Her smile lights up the interior of the mausoleum, so brilliant that I almost smile in return.
“Noon?”
What the fuck am I doing?
“I’ll see you then.”
Adeline
Grant didn’t come home that night. We got into an argument shortly after I left the cemetery. He demanded I take the pills my neurologist prescribed me, and when I refused, he told me he had to work late and that I should plan on eating dinner alone.
He also reminded me of a million and one chores I had to accomplish, like planning another stuffy dinner party for his Japanese investors, shop for a wedding gift for one of his associate’s daughters and remember to get my hair cut because it was getting too long for his taste.
He means well. Grant is an efficient, type-A person. He runs several businesses on his own, manages over a thousand employees and he does so with the expectation that I