Tales of Darkness & Sin - Pepper Winters Page 0,131

excitement. I only got here a minute or so before he did, so I turned on the light in the foyer, but it’s pretty dark where we stopped.

His gorgeous blue eyes gleam, even in barely any light. “Where were you tonight?”

“I… at a bar.”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

I swallow and look away from him. I didn’t want to tell him what I was up to earlier because he’d been a dick to me last time we were alone together and I didn’t feel like playing spies with him anymore.

I still had to crack the case, though.

“I met Ryan for drinks.”

His jaw locks. I note the way it ticks, his irritation growing. “Why?” he clips out.

Instead of telling him, I fire back, “Why do you care? It wasn’t during work hours, so it’s none of your business.”

“I disagree,” he returns, leaning close and angling his head like he’s going to bury his face in my neck. He doesn’t, though. He merely lingers, his voice low. “I think everything you do is my business, especially drinks with fucking Ryan.”

“Well, I disagree,” I say, mimicking him.

“Dunbar Foster has a strict no-fraternization policy,” he reminds me huskily.

I tilt my neck just a little to give him better access as his lips hover close to my skin. “Ah, right. Of course. You’re just enforcing company policy.”

“Exactly,” he murmurs, his lips finally touching the shell of my ear and sending a shiver down my spine. “I wouldn’t want to have to fire you.”

My lips curve up faintly as I wind an arm around his neck to tug him closer. His lips find the curve of my neck and a thrill shoots straight through me.

I almost forget what we’re talking about, but I force myself to focus and murmur back, “You’re not going to fire me.”

“No? Why not?”

“Because that would be stupid, and you’re not stupid.”

He pulls back to look down at me, his gaze probing. “I don’t know,” he says more seriously than I expect. “I felt pretty fucking stupid tonight.”

I don’t know why, but hearing that makes my heart hurt. “Why?”

Putting his hands on my hips and creating a little more distance between our bodies, he demands, “Why did you go out with him?”

My gaze softening, I reach up to caress his granite jawline. “To gather intel—why else?”

His dark brow furrows. “Intel?”

I nod, giving him a look of exaggerated patience. “That’s spy-speak for intelligence. It means I was collecting useful information—”

Cutting me off before I can finish, he grabs me around the waist and pulls me snugly against him. “I know what intel means, you infuriating little temptress. If that’s all you were doing, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to loop you in tomorrow. I wasn’t positive my plan would work, but I don’t know why I doubted myself. Ryan thinks I’m a moron. All I had to do was wear a boob dress and giggle at him a few times and that numbskull was ready to tell me anything I wanted to know. I was duly impressed,” I assure him, batting my eyelashes and placing a hand against my chest with all the cartoonish drama of a southern belle. “Why, he must be a genius to come up with such a clever plan.” Dropping the act, I flash him a smile. “I know where he’s going, who gave him the idea, and who else he’s planning to talk to but hasn’t made it to yet. I figure we should obviously reach out to those clients right away. If he’s confident enough to try to flip them, they must not be one hundred percent happy—”

“Chelsea.”

I pause and look up at him. “Yes, Foster?”

“Stop talking.”

“But you—”

He grabs my jaw, tilting my face up to look at him again. “Stop. Talking.”

I open my mouth to toss back a saucy retort, but before I can get it out, the distance between us vanishes and his face inches closer to mine.

My lips have barely parted when his brush mine. He cradles my face in his hand to get a better hold on me, tugging me closer so our bodies are pressed together. My heart swells in response to the tenderness. It’s the best feeling in the world.

Or I think it is until the intensity of his kiss escalates. I felt the rough passionate kiss when he barged through the door and kissed me, I felt the tenderness just a moment ago, but when they both combine… it’s indescribable.

I’m plastered against the wall with Foster pressed