Page 70 of A Dangerous Proposal

Is this how she looks when she’s interviewing people? It’s hot.

“Will you hurt me, Alex?”

Her words snapped him back to the moment.

“I have to tell you, Angel, this isn’t a great interrogation technique. If someone wants to lie, then they’ll just tell you what you want to hear.”

“You’d be surprised how many people struggle to lie while looking someone in the eye.”

“And you think I’m one of them?” He smiled, amused despite himself.

“No. I think you could lie without the slightest flicker of guilt.”

“Ouch.” He pressed a hand to his chest and made an exaggerated wince. When she continued to hold his gaze, a foreign, uncomfortable feeling spread through him. “I won’t lie to you, Angel. You can trust me.”

Her eyes remained locked onto his, and for a moment, Alex felt completely untethered.

How had he lost the upper hand here?

“Say it again.”

“You can trust me.”

Madison searched his eyes for a few more moments, and then her lips lifted in a soft smile that took his breath away.

“I could be lying,” Alex warned—needing to take back control of the conversation. “You were right. I lie as easily as I breathe.”

What am I doing? Trying to convince her not to trust me?

Idiot.

“I still believe you.”

“Why?” The word sounded strangled, and he cleared his throat.

You’re getting what you want. Shut the fuck up.

“I’ve interviewed a lot of people for my job. Both as a social worker and for the podcast. A lot of them were terrible people. Evil even. You recognize…” Madison’s eyes turned haunted, and he had the sudden urge to ask for the name of every bad person she’d ever come across.

Her eyes strayed to Jax. “His father is right there at the top of the list.”

She rolled her shoulders as if trying to pull herself physically away from whatever she was remembering. “I don’t doubt you’ve done bad things. Maybe Iamcrazy.” She pushed her hair behind her ears. “But I believe you when you say I…Wecan trust you.” She took a deep breath. “I have a few stipulations of my own.”

A wave of exhilaration swept over him.

He had her.

“I don’t want there to be open fighting around Jax. I know this situation isn’t normal, but I don’t want him to have a chaotic home life.”

“I have no intention of fighting with you.”

“Not just me. I don’t know who you have traipsing through here, but I don’t want him to see bodies being dragged out in the middle of the afternoon.”

“I generally like to keep body disposal to the twilight hours.”

Her eyes narrowed again. “Not funny.”

Nor was her assumption about how he lived his life, but he couldn’t say he blamed her.

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