Page 13 of Lethal Attraction

I sigh, digging into my blue scrubs as I pull out my device and hand it to her. “This goes against so many HR violations…”

“Not the rule-breaker type, I see.” She smirks as she unlocks the screen, and her eyes widen. “Jesus Christ, couldn’t make the font any bigger? What are you? Eighty?”

I deadpan. “That little font is hard to read with my old-man eyes.”

She hums as she types a number on the keypad. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Thirty-four.”

“Ten years isn’t so bad.” She lifts the speaker to her ear.

“Ten years?” I repeat in a question, but she ignores me as whoever she’s calling answers.

“Hey, Bailey! Quick update. Brooks is trying to—” Her eyes cut to me before she cups a hand over her mouth and turns around. Whatever she says next is muffled. I wait patiently for my phone, brows raised as a small argument ensues between whoever she’s speaking with. “How was I supposed to know! Oh, there’s a normie here, so that’s why I’m whispering. In a hospital. Brooks shot me. Yeah, I told my family. God, is everyone a fucking stickler? Bye.” She slams her finger on the red button, grumbling under her breath as she hands the phone back to me.

Wait, she knows who shot her?

Why does she seem so calm about it?

“What was all of that about?” I ask, masking my growing curiosity with light-hearted conversation. I’m itching to figure this woman out.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would. That’s why I asked.” I shrug.

She gets this suggestive little smile that makes my blood race as she closes in on me. I take a small step back only for her to advance until I can feel the heat from her lithe body. I swallow thickly, blinking as she trails her fingers up my chest. “What do you say we break a few more rules while we’re here, hmm?”

I’m fucking sweating.

When was the last time a beautiful woman looked at me like that—like she wanted to eat me alive? My eyes roam over her pale cheeks and the slight curve of my small nose. Just below, plump, full, pale pink lips are soft and beckoning like a siren’s call. But it isn’t just Thalia’s appearance that has me weak in the knees. It’s all the mystery—the urge to dig down to her center and uncover all of those secrets I know she harbors. She’s enchanting as she is dangerous and tantalizing. And I’m begging for a taste.

I’ve never been one to break the rules. I’m orderly and curt. Everything I do is with methodical necessity, but in her presence, my normalcy seems so…boring. This woman is brimming with excitement and adventure, and I’ve never wanted to take hold of something so fiercely.

I lift my hand to her neck, causing her to suck in a breath as my fingers dance over her flesh until they tangle in the long, flowing locks of her silky hair. I can feel her pulse flutter, her eyes mimicking it as she waits in anticipation. The air is so thick and heavy, and I feel like I’m not taking enough oxygen as I stare down at her.

“If I kiss you…”

She nods, her throat working in a gulp. “Uh-huh.”

I angle my head down to her, pinning her with my eyes. “It doesn’t leave this closet. Do you understand?”

Her head tilts as she stares back at me with half-lidded eyes—the gaze of a vixen. “Will I be your little secret, Reed?”

Fuck me.

Hearing her say my name in that sultry tone has the blood rushing to a long-abandoned part of me. If she were to touch me, I would embarrass myself right here, in the supply closet of the hospital I work at.

“I’m okay with being your secret,” she steps closer, her chest rising and falling with her breath. “As long as I’m the only one.” Her gaze flickers to my left hand. “I don’t see a ring. Any girlfriends I should know about?”

I shake my head. “None.”

She hums as she smiles, her eyes turning wide and innocent. “It’s cute you think I don’t already know that…”

I blink back at her, a furrow in my brow. “Do you know that?”

Her grin turns secretive as she winks. “Kiss me, Doctor.”

I swoop in, reason and sanity blurring as our mouths meet, and I experience something I’ve never felt before. Her mouth is plush and pliant against mine as electricity zaps between us. It sends bolts down my arms, causing my skin to prickle as her taste, light and minty, explodes on me. I lose all control, my hand fisting tightly into her strands as I sweep my tongue over the seal of her lips. She responds with hungry movements, moaning in her throat as she opens for me.