Page 177 of Lorenzo

For once, I have no quick response.

“So you don’t want me to take the job?”

“I want you to take it,” he says. “I simply know what it may cost me.”

My pulse gives a strange little jump.

“And what exactly might it cost you?”

His eyes move over my face.

“This,” he says quietly. “Whatever is happening between us.”

I set the coffee down.

“You think I’ll end it if I work for you again.”

“I think you may try.”

I stare at him.

“And you came here anyway.”

“My son was targeted,” he says. “Whoever did it is still out there. I cannot let what I want interfere with finding them.”

I fold my arms. “You make it sound as though I’m the only one who might complicate this.”

“You are the one with the rule.”

“And you are the one who came in here and kissed me senseless.”

His lips curve. “I said you might try. I did not say I would make it easy.”

I narrow my eyes. “That sounds suspiciously like a challenge.”

“It is a statement of confidence.”

“In yourself?”

“In us.”

That catches me off guard.

Lorenzo straightens from the desk, but he does not move away.

“You can set whatever professional boundaries you need,” he says. “I will respect them.”

“And the personal ones?”

“Those, I intend to fight.” His gaze drops to my mouth. “And I intend to use every weapon in my arsenal.”

Heat curls in my stomach.

“That sounds less like confidence and more like a threat.”

“It can be both.”

I hold his gaze. “You realize this is exactly why sleeping with clients is a terrible idea.”