Page 18 of Dance for the Dragon
“Why?”
Kohl shrugged. “So no one else can build on it. It’s a safe place.”
“Safe for whom?”
“For me. For the animals that lived here first.”
She eyed him strangely for a moment, and again, he wished he could reach into her head so he’d know what she was thinking. Then she looked down at the food he’d spread out on the blanket. Her stomach growled, and she kneeled down on the edge, brushing off the loose grass before she sat cross-legged and picked up the bag of sliced French bread. She layered soft cheese on top, folded it together, and took a bite. “This is amazing, Kohl,” she said between bites. “Thank you. I’m starving.”
“Are you cold? I can build a fire.”
“I’m good.” She patted the blanket beside her.
Kohl sank down beside her, leaning back on his hands and stretching his legs out in front of him.
He watched her mouth as she ate. Watched her eyes close with pleasure at the taste of the food. Her joy with something so simple was palpable. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t sure what I should bring.”
Her hands, each holding a chunk of bread and cheese, fell into her lap as she looked out over the water and sighed. “This is perfect.”
She was beautiful sitting there in the glow of the lantern. And when she looked back at him, her eyes exuded a warmth Kohl wasn’t sure what to do with. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been with women before, of course he had. He’d had his share of women all over Texas. Not that they would remember, because he’d always had Hawke wipe their memories when he was finished. But he’d never been this affected by them. Not like he was with Devon.
Needing something to quench the thirst that had suddenly erupted in his soul, he reached for the closest bottle of wine and popped the cork. Tipping it up to his mouth, he took a healthy swig.
Devon was staring at him when he lowered it again.
“What?”
“You can drink wine?”
Puzzled, he just nodded.
“Do you eat?”
He shook his head. “I thought you knew about us. About me.”
She grabbed a French fry he’d gotten from the fast food joint down the road from her apartment and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. “I never worked directly with…people such as yourself.”
It was the perfect opening to find out what he needed to know, but he wanted to tread carefully. “You worked at Parasupe, right? What did you do there? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I worked internally. With network security.”
“So, you’re a hacker?” It was hard to imagine.
She gave a small shrug. “Sort of. But mostly I just kept the network safe so no one could penetrate our system. Of course, to do that”—her lips curved up in a little smirk—“I needed to understand how they did it.”
He handed her the bottle of wine and watched her look around for a glass, then tilt the bottle to her mouth when her search came up empty. There were cups in his saddlebag he’d forgotten, but he found he liked watching her drink from the bottle. Or, maybe it was knowing her lips were touching the glass where his had just been. “Can I ask what happened?”
Lowering the bottle, she licked away a drop of wine from the corner of her mouth.
Kohl’s upper lip twitched, his fangs quickly descending just from that tiny gesture with her tongue. He forced himself to focus. He wasn’t here to get off. He was here to get information. That was all. Devon wasn’t a woman he could fuck and never see again.
“I found out my boss and her minions were doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.”
“Something against company policy.”
“Something against my policy.” She took another drink. “And, technically, the company’s. It was just…wrong.”
He waited, giving her time to decide how much she should trust him. It didn’t take her long, and his patience was rewarded a few seconds later.
