Page 16 of Provocation
It wasn’t the right time for something like that, I want to tell him, but Daisy’s small smile makes me pause. She isn’t anywhere near as tense as she was earlier. Her movements are almost languid as she sits cross-legged on Blake’s bed and opens the top pizza box.
He gives me a wink and takes out his phone.
Mine and Mav’s phones buzz and I glance at the screen.
You’re welcome.
I frown at him.
Whatever he was doing just now that had her making all those delicious moans and cries has my dick hard as a rock.
After the night she’s had, the fact that I want to fuck her right now has shame coursing through me. What the hell is wrong with me? Besides all the shit my dad put her throughtonight with that dinner, she was literally told she’s marrying Joe Banderville and then got assaulted by the fucker.
I try not to make it obvious that I’m watching her closely as she peruses the pizza slices in the box and makes a tiny sound of happiness as she picks one up and takes a bite.
My phone buzzes again. It’s Mav.
She was lowkey freaking out ten minutes ago. What did you do to chill her out like that?
Blake shrugs and grins to himself as he leans over the bed.
‘Can I have that one?’ he asks.
‘What?’ I glance at Mav, but he looks just as confused as I am.
But Daisy peers at the piece he’s pointing at and then nods. ‘Yes. The pepperoni pieces aren’t as crispy. It’s a dud.’
He reaches down and grabs it, kissing her on the top of her head as he does.
She lets out a small sigh and I pull my phone back out.
No seriously. What did you do to her in there? Give her a massage?
He sees my message and barks a laugh, choking on his pizza a little.
Kinda.
But he doesn’t say anything else. My eyes narrow on him.
‘What time do you want to go tomorrow?’ I ask Daisy.
She finishes what’s in her mouth before she answers. ‘As early as possible. The first batches will take the longest and we shouldn’t distribute unless we’ve done… well, sort of clinical trials, but not actual clinical trials, obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ I agree. ‘I have some people we can use as guinea pigs.’
She frowns at me, the pizza in her hand forgotten for the moment. ‘People?’
‘Daisy,’ I hesitate, running a hand through my hair. ‘We don’t have time to…’
Her eyes bore into me. ‘There are things you haven’t told me,’ she murmurs.
‘Yes.’
She takes another bite of her pizza and chews, looking thoughtful. She swallows and surveys us.
‘I’ve noticed that you have been…getting nervous in the lab lately. You’re on some sort of deadline, aren’t you?’
I see the other guys looking surprised, but I’m not. Not at all. It may not seem like she’s paying attention sometimes, but her conclusions are usually right. She just gets to them in a different way.
