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“No. Not necessarily.” She rubbed her forehead. “When I got a call in the club. It was the emergency number I’d set up for my… husband. If he ever needed to get ahold of me urgently. He hasn’t used it in the six months since he got me to set it up, but he’s… well. I wouldn’t want to implicate you in anything he might find out about.”
I shot her a concerned look. “Are you okay? He’s not—”
“It’s nothing serious.” She sighed, dropping her arms on her lap, leaning forwards. “He’s just being… him. And he’s as likely to shove his nose into things as your Miguel is. So you’re probably right. Best to keep it quiet.”
I didn’t say anything for a while before I heard myself asking, “Do you… have a safe place where you’re staying right now?”
She gave me an odd smile. “You’re very sweet, aren’t you, London? Yes, I do. I told him to keep the damn house, and I signed a lease on an apartment not far from here. Close to Fontainebleau. But I’m looking forward to having a new place that’s properly mine.” She gestured to the suite around us. “This one’s certainly not bad.”
“But, of course, we do have some other options lined up that I think you’ll like.”
She smiled lightly at me before she stood up, stretching her arms over her head. She really was glorious naked. I took her in, knowing it was the last time I’d get to catch her like this. “Well,” she said, “I know you’re right. And we shouldn’t push our luck. But… I’m still going to wear my best next time.” She winked at me, and it made my stomach drop out again, a primal hunger in my chest. “And you can know.”
Moving like I was in a trance, I stood up with her, and I heard myself speak in a low voice. “Well… it would be rude of me not to reciprocate.”
She bit her lip. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, running her fingertips over my side. It lit me up as if we hadn’t just had a round of intense sex, and I let out a quiet moan without meaning to. “If this is our last chance…”
“Please, Cameron,” I whispered. I didn’t even know where it came from. I didn’t need to know, though—her eyes gleamed, and she met me in a kiss, fiery, passionate, wanting, and I gave myself over to her.
Chapter 8
I pushed my finger into the palm of my other hand, feeling the solid, physical sensation of it. Pressure felt right. The slight dig of my fingernail into my skin.
“Something on your hand?” Ruth said, pausing in the hall next to me. Inside María’s office, I could hear her having an exasperated discussion with someone from outside the firm. I waved off Ruth.
“Reality check. Making sure I’m not dreaming.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh… the lucid dreaming thing? What, are you actually interested in that stuff? I thought it was just a way to get Garcia’s favor.”
I leaned back against the wall, kicking one foot across the other. “It was. But I don’t know. Stuck with me. Maybe that’s what helped me get Garcia on board anyway.”
She sighed, sinking against the wall next to me. “I ought to get you to give me lessons. You’re damn good at this.”
“I don’t know a lot more about it than you do. Just the stuff Garcia talked about.”
She elbowed me. “Not that. About selling people.”
“Er… that’s human trafficking.”
She rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. “Lord have mercy. I don’t know why I talk to you.”
I shrugged. I could have sat her down and talked about everything I did—everything I considered when going in to close someone—but people weren’t asking questions like that to actually hear advice. Nobody was that genuine. “I think you’re good at it, too. Different people just have different approaches that work for them. I was the right person to close Garcia. You’re the right person to close someone else. Nothing complicated…”
“What are you creeping around Mother Goose’s office for, anyway?”
I tried to put on a natural expression. “Reporting back. I had the first meeting with our big client.”
She smiled. “So if I hang around, too, I’ll get juicy intel on who it is?”
I waved her off. “Now that we’ve actually met, it’s fine. Cameron Mercier.”
Ruth went wide-eyed. “The lingerie designer? You met her? What’s she like?”
Well, that was a hell of a question. My wet dream was probably off-limits. “Willful,” I said, after a second of consideration. “What you’d expect from a woman with her level of success. She’s learned not to take anything from anyone, and how to project her will. But despite that… surprisingly human.”
“Oh, yeah? That means you found a weird interest of hers, too.”
I laughed. “Nah. Not really. Just… she was so excited about the property.” I rested my head back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. “It was nice to see, you know? Someone genuinely excited about it all.”
