Page 58 of Six
“Violetta,” he said.
Luck was apparently not going to be on her side. She held in a sigh. “Heather is coming at eight tomorrow morning Not only do we have to start drafting the complaint, but we also need to work with the FBI contact Franklin set us up with to coordinate the intel we have on both the DePalma family and Shanti Joy. It’s been a long few days, Gavin, and you need to rest your leg. Go, I’ll finish up here.” They’d done so much research in the past few hours that she felt confident that the civil complaint Heather would file would be complete. But there was still much more that they needed to do for the federal criminal charges.
Gavin let out a long breath. “I know you’ve only known about me, about my real role, for a few days, but you’ve known me for several months. You might not have had the advantage of having my files in the same way that I had yours, but youknowme, Violetta. I want to know why you’re pushing me away.”
Six glanced over her shoulder as she slid a cutting board back into its place. “I’m hardly pushing you away, Gavin. You’re staying the night,” she replied, being intentionally obtuse.
“Why are you evading this conversation?” He straightened and walked toward her, stopping less than a foot away. The countertop pressed against her lower back as she leaned away from Gavin.
“We’ve talked through everything we can talk through tonight,” she said, knowing full well that she was a coward, and that Gavin wouldn’t let her get away with it.
“You trust me, you respect me, and you’re attracted to me—”
“That last one isn’t all that special, Gavin. I suspect a great many men and women are attracted to you,” she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. Gavin didn’t bite, and his brown eyes seemed to darken as he studied her. His hands came to rest on her hips, but other than that, he didn’t move.
“What do you want from me, Gavin?” she asked.
He tipped his head. “I haven’t heard you ask a dumb question yet, Violetta. Don’t start now.”
She opened her mouth to snap back, then shut it. He was right, it was a dumb question. She knew exactly what Gavin wanted from her. Not just tonight, but in the long term. He hadn’t ever said a word, and god knows she hadn’t—wouldn’t—either. And yet, she knew.
“It’s not a good idea, Gavin,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Because we work together?”
“That’s part of it.” That was the whole of it, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it because then she’d have to explain.
Leaning forward, he brushed his nose below her ear, and his lips grazed her skin as he asked, “And what’s the other part?”
It would be easy, so very easy, to give in to him, to what he—what they—wanted. Unwittingly, she tipped her head to the side to give him better access, and his fingers tightened on her hips. His lips trailed a line of butterfly kisses from below her ear to the edge of her collarbone.
“Talk to me, Violetta.”
“I don’t want to,” she managed to say, drawing a huff of a laugh from him that caressed her skin. He kissed his way back up her neck, then along her jawline until finally, his lips brushed hers in a touch that was more innocent than even her first kiss.
“I can feel your pulse under my lips, Violetta. I can feel your quickened breaths against my chest. Even without seeing how you responded to me getting hurt today, I know you want me as much as I want you. Give me a reason—a real reason—this shouldn’t happen.”
She had one. A good one. Or at least shethoughtit was a good one. It was getting harder and harder to remember that as the moments dragged on and Gavin didn’t release her.
“Violetta,” he said one more time. The first time he’d said her name, it had sounded like an entreaty. This time, his tone held a hint of a warning.
She leaned back to look at him and met his gaze. They were inches apart, and his pupils had dilated so much his eyes were almost black. Without warning, he slid one hand up, fisted it in her hair, and brought his mouth to hers in a kiss that was anything but innocent. She didn’t need Gavin to call her a liar; her own body betrayed her, and in an instant, she was kissing him back.
A grunt, or groan, or some noise of satisfaction escaped from him when her hands gripped his waist. She didn’t have the wherewithal to identify it, she just knew that she liked it. She liked it more than she’d ever admit.
Using his grip on her hair, he tilted her head to the side and began dragging his lips down her neck. He nipped her earlobe as he pressed against her, trapping her between his hard—very hard—body and the counter. For a moment, she didn’t care. She didn’t care that they worked together. She didn’t care that she’d made a promise to herself not to get involved with someone until she was well out of her career with AISE. She didn’t care that she’d been hurt before.
“Talk to me, Violetta,” he whispered.
Those four words were like a bucket of cold water, and she pushed him away. To his credit, he said nothing, just stepped back. She didn’t want to talk. But she also didn’t want to continue down the path they’d been traveling seconds ago. No, scratch that, continuing down that path was something her body very much wanted. But she knew Gavin well enough by now to know that if she wasn’t all in—body and mind—he wouldn’t accept that. And he shouldn’t. He wasn’t looking for a one-night stand or to let off some steam. Hecaredabout her, of that, she had no doubt. And because of that, he deserved someone who cared for him.
She shook her head and tried to move around him, but he stayed her with a hand to her arm. They both knew that if she wanted to walk away, she would and he wouldn’t stop her, but the mixture of concern and heat in his gaze held her in place.
A beat passed and then another. Neither moved as he gave her space to consider her response. He might not be pushing her, but he wasn’t going to make it easy either.
“I’ve been here before,” she finally managed to say.
His eyebrows dropped in confusion. “What do you mean?”
