Page 108 of My Beautiful Sin

Devlin chuckles. “I was wondering why I didn’t see him in the research room yesterday. He’s become such a fixture, I almost had Tamra call out the troops when he didn’t show up.”

“They seem good together.”

There’s the briefest of pauses before Devlin nods. “They do.”

“What? You hesitated,” I add when his brows furrow in question.

“Just thinking about how much I don’t actually know about Christopher.”

“He’s a writer. Just Google him. Or go to his webpage. Pretty standard stuff. It’s not as if you’re putting him on payroll.”

“True. But I like to keep a healthy paranoia about people. Especially when they’re getting close to people I care about.”

I take his free hand, squeezing gently, so grateful that he’s watching out for Brandy, too.

“Last bite?” he says, and I shake my head.

“You go ahead. A treat before you go back to work.” We’ve made our way back to the foundation, and I don’t want to let him go.

“I very much want to play hooky today,” he says, echoing my thoughts.

“You have work to do,” I say. “And so do I. Lamar finally got an address and phone number for Cyrus Mulroy. I left him a message, and I want to be ready whenever he calls me back.”

“If he calls you back.”

“If he doesn’t, I’ll drop by his house. I’m intrepid,” I tease, making Devlin laugh. “Bottom line, I’m doing a last minute push to find anything I may have missed about him or the connection between him and Peter so that I’m prepped.” I release a breath. “I’m hoping he’ll tell me that trafficking porn wasn’t one of Peter’s vices, but I’m steeling myself for the worst.”

“In that case, how about dinner? We’ll go someplace nice with a view of the ocean.”

“How about we go someplace that’s a dive with great burgers and fries. Also with a view?”

His arms slide around me as he laughs. “I think I can manage that. I’ll change after work and then come get you.”

“I like that plan,” I say, then tilt my head back for a kiss that is significantly less chaste than I’d expected considering we’re in full view of Paul and anyone else who happens to be standing inside the foundation’s lobby.

“You’re mine,” he whispers, once again reading my mind. “And as far as I’m concerned, the whole world should know it.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

I’ve just walked through the door to Brandy’s place when my phone rings, and I pull it out of the back pocket of my jeans expecting it to be Devlin.

Instead, it’s Corbin.

Normally, that would be a huge disappointment. Today, though, I’m eager to answer, and I hit the button to put the phone on speaker. “It’s ready?”

“Yup. You at your computer?”

“I will be in two minutes,” I assure him, kicking off my flats in the hallway and hurrying to my room. My laptop’s on the unmade bed, right where I’d left it this morning, still plugged in, the screensaver admonishing me to Sit Down & Work, Dammit!

I throw myself on the bed, unlock the screen, and tell him I’m ready to go.

“Check your email. I’m sending you a link to a file-sharing server. Download it, then open it, then install it, then wait for me to get back before you do anything else. I’m going to grab a coffee from the lobby.”

“Now?”

“It’ll take about five minutes to download and another two to install. And nothing personal, but I doubt you and I can manage seven minutes of civil conversation.”

I almost laugh. Despite myself, Corbin is starting to grow on me. “Good point,” I say, planning to get my own coffee once the file is downloading.