Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
He was so close. He towered over her, and she was wearing heels. “I don’t want to never know, Maggie. I can’t never know.”
Her breath caught as she realized he was leaning over. He was going to kiss her. He was going to plant his lips on hers, and then she would know, too. She would know if there was any way this could work. Even for a little while. Even if they had to keep it secret.
Just one secret that could be hers and hers alone.
She could feel the warmth of his breath and…
“Here’s your copy. Tell Joseph I said hello.”
Her father. She stepped back, the moment broken.
Ben stepped away, though the frown on his face let her know he wasn’t happy about the interruption. He took the new drive. “I hope it’s all here.”
Her father’s brows drew together. “I’ll give you that one because of what’s happened in the past, but I would also suggest if you don’t trust my team, perhaps you should find another to work with. You’ve done it before.”
“Yes, and we know how that worked out,” Ben said enigmatically. He glanced over at her. “Why don’t you go change and I’ll take you out for a late supper? I think we should talk more.”
It was everything she wanted. And nothing she could have. She couldn’t simply date the man. She’d figured out a long time ago that she could have stolen moments with him or she could be all in, and there was nothing in between. That was wrong. There was this thing they had now. Purgatory. This was her sexual purgatory. Always close but never once getting properly dicked down. Hell, half the time her twin was actively trying to separate this man from his penis. So maybe she should throw herself into being his booty call. Wouldn’t that be better than this awful place they found themselves in? At least they would know.
Before she could open her mouth to turn him down her father was speaking again.
“The team is moving to London tonight,” her dad said. “We pull out of here in thirty. Good luck, Parker.”
Ben turned and walked away without another word.
Kenzie took a long breath and forced herself to go numb.
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the mission. She’d signed up for this, and she wasn’t going to cry about it now.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know it hurts, but as long as you’re in the field with your sister, it’s not smart to spend even a night with him.”
She forced a brittle smile on her face. “Of course. I was making sure he didn’t cause a scene. I’ve found flirting keeps him from going over the top.”
Her dad sighed. “Sure you were. I was serious about leaving, though. We need to be in London by morning.”
Kenzie strode into the townhouse, ready to deal with her twin, who would likely have an enormous amount of opinions on how she’d handled things.
Kala was in the kitchen, a tub of ice cream and a bottle of vodka in front of her. “Hey, I already packed. I left some sweats out for you to change in to, but I thought you could use some comfort food. And vodka. Are we in a Ben sucks mood tonight or the world sucks because I can’t be with that douchebag Canadian? I’m prepared for either.”
“Kala,” Lou admonished.
But it was just the way her sister was. She’d basically told Kenz she loved her. “I’m in an I need a hug mood.”
Her twin—who was not touchy feely in any way—opened her arms. “I’m sorry it was shitty. I know it’s partially my fault. Come here.”
She hugged her sister and hoped this stupid feeling would go away.
Chapter Three
Ben stood outside the swanky restaurant. Top. He wondered what it meant. His brain had gone straight to the sexual meaning, but then it always did when he was thinking about Ms. Magenta.
He’d kissed her.
He’d finally kissed her and it…
Maybe it was because they had loads of pent-up sexual frustration between them, and it couldn’t possibly be as good as he built it up in his head.
It had felt…wrong.
He’d been a dick. She’d come all the way to Toronto to give him a debrief on the possible attempted assassination of Dr. Rebecca Walsh. Her car had blown up outside her home in Sweden, and everyone knew she had connections to Manny since it had been Manny’s father’s kidnapping of the good doctor that had led to his death. While Manny pretended to admire the famous neurosurgeon, Ben knew the truth. Manny hated her.
So that intel was important, and he’d known she would be the one coming after she’d kissed him in the hospital months before.
He didn’t count that as their first kiss since she’d done it because he’d saved her.
He could still see her body on that fucking table.