Page 61 of Exposed

“I like this, but I liked the stubble too.”

He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. His tongue coasted through her mouth, washing away the unease that lingered from Carlos. “I missed you,” he breathed between kisses.

She reached up on her toes, wanting more, but his palm cupped her cheek, stilling her.

“You’d better not stay long and if we keep doing this, I won’t be able to stop.” His eyes burned like green embers and his palm warmed her to the bone.

Her lips moved into a pout. With Carlos’s intent on sex clear, she only wanted to be closer to Nate. Her teeth sunk into her tongue. She couldn’t lie to him.

“I think Carlos wants me to prove myself to him,” she said softly.

His eyes search her face and a dark shadow deepened the lines in his forehead. “Did he say something?”

“No… not directly. But he came on to me very strongly.”

Nate’s jaw worked in a back and forth motion and dread curled inside her. His hand fell away and he took a step back. “Stall. We only have one more day.” A beat passed. “You have the drugs I gave you right? If he comes on strong, slip it in his drink.”

She nodded. He sighed, and rubbed his palm over his face. A weak smile touched his lips but beneath his eyes, the skin creased with strain. Small dark circles that hadn’t been there before now sat beneath his eyes. “I’m going to be honest, this job is killing me.”

He dropped his hand to the back of his neck, massaging. She stepped forward and replaced his hand with hers, gently kneading the tense muscles.

“I know it’s been stressful.”

He chortled. “You have no idea.”

She stilled her hands and leaned back to raise her eyebrows at him. “Really? Do you have to worry about people wanting to screw you all day? I went through it with Tony, and then Hector, and now Carlos…”

He grunted. “Yeah, that’s pretty bad. But I still haven’t recovered from yesterday. I thought he would kill you before I could get there. Which reminds me, are you aware that there’s about three million dollars sitting in the back of your closet?”

Air sucked in through her lips and she frowned at him. “No. You were in our room?”

“I was there last night, right before they called you up. I went in to do a quick search for audio bugs and found a duffel bag full of money. When Carlos and Hector came in, I had to jump to Dylan’s balcony below.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Nate! You could have been killed.” And she wouldn’t have known what had happened to him. Tears stung the back of her eyes.

He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “I’m fine. I was more worried about what would happen to you. Be careful with him today. I’ll be close, but don’t trust him for a minute. If he tries to take you somewhere too private or sketchy, just lose him and I’ll find you.”

His words burrowed deep in her chest, but relief that he would be near eased some of the tension away.

“I know. I should get going, he’s waiting.”

A hard glint crossed Nate’s eyes and he gave one sharp nod. She rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. His mouth parted and his tongue flicked over her bottom lip. Desire pulsed through her, warming the throbbing flesh between her legs.

“Be careful, dammit.”

She brushed another kiss over his mouth and squeezed his hand.

***

Hours later, herskin tingled from the sun. They’d spent the morning shopping and had eaten lunch at a pretty restaurant overlooking the bay. She fell into step beside Carlos as they boarded the ship. With every sway of her arm the diamond bracelet caught the glare of the sun, and sparkled in her eyes, blinding her.

She made a mental snort. What an ostentatious gift. She was no stranger to diamonds, and something with this carat weight had easily run fifty thousand dollars. Drug lords sure knew how to apologize. If she were any other woman, she’d be drooling over the big cushion cut rocks molded together in platinum.

He’d given it to her over lunch, with a tentative grin on his face—as if she’d bought that. He might really be trying to keep her around for a while, but she wasn’t letting her guard down. She hadn’t seen Nate anywhere. Not even a glimpse of him. Had he sent Dylan or Ashley instead or was he just that slick?

The sun was getting lower in the sky and exhaustion settled deep in her muscles. All she wanted was a tall glass of wine, a hot bath, and bed. Without Carlos.

“Are you hungry?” Carlos’s hand fell to the small of her back as he led her to the elevator banks.

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