Midnight Kiss (Men of Midnight #7) - Lisa Marie Rice Page 0,65

of right now.”

Hope’s eyes rounded. “Wait! That’s not …”

But he’d disappeared and all she saw was Felicity’s pretty face. She was pale but had an ironic smile on her face. “That’s the Senior. He and Midnight are the closest things to God on this earth. Welcome aboard the Good Ship ASI. It’s great here.”

Her voice was light, but looking closer Hope could see the lines of fatigue on her face. She was too pale and though she was halfway through a difficult pregnancy, she looked like she’d lost weight, not put any on. Luke had said that though she felt sick, she insisted on working just as hard as she could. If she couldn’t come in to work, she worked from home. She’d clearly gone in to work early this morning.

Hope imagined she’d welcome a hand and was very happy to give it. Happy to take some of the load off. Felicity had always been a good friend to her and now it was time to pay that back.

Plus — a new job. With new challenges. And, um, working with Luke.

Yeah, that.

Luke encouraged her to take it but who knew what he was thinking?

But … working with Luke.

Felicity was staring into the camera, head slightly cocked. There was only one thing Hope could say.

“Glad to be on board, honey. As soon as we —” She drew in a deep breath, searching for the right words. “As soon as we sort all of this out, we’ll be up there and I’ll pick up the slack.”

Felicity blew out a breath. Her face relaxed and she almost looked like her old self. “The company keeps a studio apartment for new hires until they can find something they want. So you’ll have a place to stay.”

Hope blinked. She’d changed jobs and cities twice and no new employer had showed even the slightest interest in where she lived or if she had trouble finding an apartment.

“Wow. That’s ah —”

“Yeah.” Felicity gave her a blinding smile and there was some real relief in there. She was happy Hope was coming but clearly she was also happy that there was someone she could offload some of the work to. “It’s a great place to work. You’ll love it.” She suddenly turned sheet white. “Whoa. Sorry. Gotta run.”

Hope didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, the screen simply blackened.

“She went to barf,” Luke said sadly. “She’s been doing a lot of that. Metal just hates it but he’s helpless to stop it.”

Poor poor Felicity. Hope herself had always been really healthy and had thrown up exactly twice in her life. The experience had been worse than horrible. Vomiting several times a day? For months? No, thanks.

Luke bent and gave her a quick kiss. Lifted his mouth and frowned. Bent and gave her a longer kiss and everything just melted away. All her troubles, the mysteries surrounding the past, the DNA — all of it gone. Up in smoke. It was impossible to remember fear and anxiety while in his arms. The only thing she could perceive was his soft lips surrounded by wiry stubble that gave her that tingle of contrasting textures. His tongue was soft, the hands holding her were hard.

He was hard all over. Holding him never got old. Her mind simply disappeared as she turned into a creature of skin and blood and hormones. Heat and desire.

He was infinitely dangerous. A bomb could have gone off in the room and she wouldn’t have noticed.

Luke lifted his head and frowned down at her. “You’re dangerous, woman.”

Hope laughed and pushed at his shoulders. “I was just thinking the same thing about you. That you’re dangerous.”

“Yeah?” That had him smiling. “I definitely am. I’m a really good shot.”

“Not dangerous that way. My whole life is upended. I am maybe related to a criminal. Someone who wants me dead, anyway. I’m definitely not who I thought I was. I seem to have just accepted a job across the country from my home on the basis of maybe a two-minute interview. And all I could think about was you.”

He was holding her upper arms, which was probably a good thing because her instinct was to just lean forward and rest her head on those luscious pecs. Just let it all go. Relinquish any attempt at control. Let him take care of everything. Which was the most un-Hope-like thought she’d ever had. She was used to taking care of herself, had been doing it for as long as she could remember.