Page 34 of Hot Pursuit
Nate nodded. “I can do that.”
“Finally,” Jo said slowly, leaning a little bit closer, not even trying to hide the mischief she knew sparkled in her eyes, “you have to play by my rules.”
“I wasn’t aware you had any,” Nate answered, leaning forward to put his coffee down on the table, and staying there, so their faces rested no more than a foot apart, close enough for the air between them to heat up a notch…or three.
A sly smile spread across her face. “That’s the beauty of it.”
Nate clenched his jaw, chiseled muscles ticking twice before releasing. “I won’t do anything illegal.”
“What do you take me for?” Jo rolled her eyes.
Nate lifted a brow. “Well, I’ve been banned from mentioning the word.”
Touché. “Nothing illegal.”
“Then done.” He sat up and extended his hand, offering to seal the deal.
“Done.” Jo held his gaze and slid her fingers forward. A spike of fire blasted up her arm as their skin touched, palm to palm. He tried to tug away, but she held on, forcing him to hold her stare. “One more thing.”
He sighed and tilted his head to the side, tossing her a not-at-all-surprised and completely expectant look.Guess I’m more predictable than I thought.
Jo let him have his hand back, though she couldn’t help but notice how her own felt suddenly cold when he pulled away. “Before we begin our grand adventure, I want to establish a little bit of trust. We each get to ask the other a question, one question, whatever we want, according to our previously established guidelines, of course. And we have to answer truthfully. I’m sure you have a whole file on me at the office. You know I have a whole file on you in my securely hidden away computer. I want to dig deeper, even the playing field, stir up some confidence between us.”
He scrunched his brows together, unable to hide the curious twitch of his lips. “Who goes first?”
“Me, of course.”
Jo took another sip of coffee and leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingers on the cup as questions circulated in the back of her mind. She needed something to throw him off a little, to force him to open up.
First kiss?
No, she’d gone the salacious route too much already with him. It was what he’d expect.
Most embarrassing moment?
The edge of her lip curved—it was probably what she’d put him through yesterday. And even if not, she’d teased enough. She wanted something real. Something deeper.
And then she had it.
“What’s the worst rule you’ve ever broken? Ever? In your life?”
Nate was Mr. Goody Two-shoes, Mr. Black and White, Mr. Secret Agent Man. She wanted to knock him off his high horse a bit. Bring him back down to earth. Back down to where she lived.
Well, maybe not quite that low. But still…
“Hmm…” He put his head back against the seat and looked to the ceiling as he rubbed his thumb over his clean-shaven chin, drawing her attention to his strong, sturdy hands. Though she was sure that bit was unintentional, and the part where her mind wandered to what that thumb could do against her body definitely was.
Jo cleared her throat and shifted her weight.
He dropped his eyes to her for a moment, curious, but then a lightbulb seemed to ignite. “Oh, I know. In sixth grade, there was this kid a year above me who was always picking on all my friends because we were smaller and younger. And one day, I’d had enough. So I planned an elaborate ruse to lure him out to the sixth grader part of the schoolyard during recess, and just launched on him before he understood what was happening. I got in a sucker punch right to the nose before he had a chance to fire back. I think I broke it. Anyway, my dad had taught me a few tricks, so I could hold my own against someone bigger than me. When the teachers finally pulled us apart, I blamed everything on him. They knew he was a bully. I started crying to push my point. So, they sent me to the nurse, but sent him home with a one-week suspension.”
Jo stared at him. “That’s it? That’s your big bad? Taking down the class bully. You were probably a hero for the rest of the year.”
“Maybe.” Nate shrugged. Then he shuddered, remembering something she wasn’t privy to. “I was punished when I got home, believe me.”
Jo wrinkled her nose. “You rebel, you.”
“Look, we didn’t all have the luxury of—” Nate cut himself off, curling his hands into fists as his gaze dropped to the ground. But it wasn’t anger written across his face. It was pain.
