Page 54 of Take the Bait

“Demons chased away?” he murmured.

“Uhh huh.”

He pushed a strand of hair back from her face as she leaned back to gaze up at him. “Tell me about the demons. What was your nightmare?”

“It’s dumb.”

“It’ll make you feel better to tell me about it, no matter how dumb it is. Demons are destroyed when you reveal them, you know.” He kissed his way across her forehead and down her temple to her ear, where he commenced tickling her with his tongue.

Giggling, she demanded, “Stop that!”

“Not until you tell me what made you cry so I can beat up the monster for you and make it all better.”

“That should be interesting. You were the nightmare.”

He pushed away to arm’s length to stare down at her as he asked in horror, “What did I do to make you cry?”

“You married another woman.”

“Ahh.” He gathered her close against him once more. “You’re worried that I’ll get tired of waiting for you?”

“I guess. It was just a stupid dream.”

“Still. It made you cry.” He added reflectively, “Would it make you feel better if I promise not to date anyone else until the Koronov case is done and we’ve had all the hot monkey sex either of us can take?”

“I can’t ask that of you.”

“I promise, nonetheless.”

“Cam—“

“It’s a done deal. Kiss me to seal the deal.”

Their kiss took a long time as they savored every moment, every sensation. It was emotional for her, and she thought it was for him, too. She’d missed him more than she realized, and she was aware of missing him pretty hard.

As he murmured endearments against her lips and as he kissed his way across her jaw to her neck, the silliness of her nightmare became evident. He wouldn’t leave her for anyone else if he felt this strongly for her.

He surprised her, though, when he lifted his head a moment later, saying, “You mentioned being stressed out at work. What’s going on? Can I help?”

She tensed against him. She wasn’t ready to ask him to choose between her and his career. And if she pushed him to reveal the owner of the raspy voice at WMP, that would be exactly what she would be doing.

If he narced on a law firm with WMP’s prestige and power, all the private east coast firms would close ranks against him, and he would never get to leave the D.A.’s office.

She did ask, however, “Have you ever heard any rumblings of impropriety at WMP regarding how they treat their female associates?”

“Is somebody harassing you?” he asked sharply.

“No, no,” she answered hastily. “Nothing like that. I’m just curious why they have no senior female associates and no female partners.”

His whole body went still.

Dang it. He was too fast on the uptake. She shouldn’t have given away even that much to him about her secret investigation of WMP. She wanted to rattle a few bars in WMP’s cage, not get herself into an open war with her employer.

Frantic to distract Cam, she reached for his head and tugged his face down so she could kiss him. Thankfully, the tactic seemed to work. Heck, after a few moments, even she couldn’t remember what it was she’d been hoping to make him forget.

An undertone of desperation punctuated their kiss. They’d stolen this moment, and they both knew that, at all costs, they mustn’t slide any further down the slippery slope yawning between them. How she was going to find the strength to stay away from him after this reminder of how powerfully and perfectly they connected with each other, she had no idea.

As he stepped back from her after one last, lingering kiss of farewell, it felt as if he’d stolen her heart right out of her chest. And when he murmured a quiet good night and slipped out of her place, disappearing down the hall, it felt as if he’d taken her heart with him. She’d never felt so alone, so bereft, in her entire life.

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