at him, laying it on thick.
He ignored the insult and compliment and extended his arm so that his hand was on my headrest. “What’s your cop’s name?”
“Why? Are you going to have him whacked?”
Devlin kept his intense gaze trained on me, silence his best friend.
“Baron,” I answered.
“Does Baron make you feel the way I’m making you feel right now?”
“Filled with rage? No, actually.”
“What’s under the rage?” Gently, he slid his fingers into my hair. I’d worn it down tonight. His fingertips massaged my scalp, his blue, blue eyes locked on mine.
Want. Want was under the rage.
He cupped the back of my head in his palm and leaned over the console. “Tell me how you feel.”
I forced my thoughts on the memory of him with Melinda. If I blurted out the truth, I’d have to say “stupid,” because I felt like a grade-A jackass believing someone like him could ever be mine. Holding onto him would be as futile as trying to bottle lightning. I could see him, admire him, but never catch him.
“You took advantage of me.”
He flinched—barely—just a slight lift of his cheeks that crinkled the skin around his eyes, but I saw it. He was too close to hide from me now.
“Melinda picked up the envelope,” he said.
That seemed to prove how replaceable I was so I squeaked out the word, “Why?” Followed by, “Because I was five whole minutes late?”
“Now you’re mad because you didn’t pick up the envelope? I thought you didn’t want to be my ‘mule.’”
I set my jaw and stayed quiet. His calmness was only stoking the fire of my rage.
He moved his hand along my jaw and touched my bottom lip with his thumb. “Were you five minutes late because of Baron?”
A muscle in his cheek jumped. He was jealous. Which I freaking loved.
He sucked in a breath and blew it out of his nose, fanning the hair at my temple. “The guy dropping off the money thought Melinda was you. He handed her an envelope and told her to give it to me.”
I frowned.
“By the time Melinda tracked me down asking why some guy just handed her seven thousand dollars—”
“Seven thousand dollars?” I nearly choked.
“You see my concern.”
Not so fast. “So, you… what? Seduced Melinda into being quiet?”
“Convinced. Not seduced.”
I hummed, not convinced myself.
His hands slipped to my arms and he tugged me toward him. My upper body went, but my butt stayed planted in the seat. “Please?”
I blew out a breath, then gave up and did what he wanted. I crawled over the console and arranged myself until I was settled over his lap—one leg on each side of his thighs. I had to hunch to keep my head from hitting the roof.
“You smell like salad,” I told him, my hands resting on his shoulders.
“You smell like Baron.” He pushed my hair away from my face.
Impossible. I hadn’t touched Baron. Well, maybe it was possible. Baron had worn cologne, and he’d been drying my tears and patting my back while I choked on my mom’s potato-cheese hash. I refrained from bending my head to sniff my shirt.
“Well,” I said, “you smell like desperate blonde.”
His firm mouth flinching into a barely-there smile, he reached for a lever on the side of the seat and leaned us back several inches. He was underneath me, his head on the headrest, and holding my face in his palms.
“Feel more in control now?” he asked.
I did. But I didn’t want to admit it. “Is that what this is about?”
“That’s always what it’s about. Kiss me.”
I pressed my lips together.
“Rena.”
I resisted. In my brain. But when his lips formed my name, I leaned over and touched his mouth with mine. Just the softest brush. I let my eyes close, and he pulled away. Which made me angry.
I fisted his T-shirt and gave him a punishing kiss. Darting my tongue into his mouth, smashing his nose with mine, grinding my pelvis against his. Surprised by the assault, he grunted before his hand tangled in my hair and the other wrapped around my hip. His rough, unshaven face chafed my skin, but even then I didn’t let him back off.
I could have had safe. I could’ve had nice. I could’ve had a guy on the right side of the law. But, no. I’d chosen my devastating and dangerous Devlin over Roy’s safe-and-sound nephew. I’d chosen to be with a man who thought it was okay to have sex with me one night and flirt with a different girl the