Duty At What Cost?

She crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up so they swelled just above the opening of her shirt. ‘Well, I don’t. So I’d like you to leave.’

‘I need to ask you a few questions first.’

‘You’re really pushing your luck.’

‘Maybe we should clear the air about that night at Gilles’s wedding.’

‘Us having sex, you mean?’

Her cool indifference again made him wonder just how many other men she had spent the night with, and the fact that he was at all interested only added another layer of heat to his spiralling annoyance. Was she just like his mother, willing to slake her lust whenever the urge arose and with any man handy? The thought made him sick.

‘Yes.’

Her eyebrows rose at his churlish tone and she leant back against the windowsill. ‘What’s to clear up? Have you forgotten how it’s done?’

‘Ava—’

‘Oh, don’t worry, Wolfe. I’m not about to strip off my clothes and ask for a repeat. Unless that’s what you want? Is that why you took the job?’ Her voice dropped, lowering to a sultry purr. ‘Are you going to order me to take my clothes off, Monsieur Wolfe?’

‘I don’t sleep with my clients,’ he informed her sternly, ignoring the lie his body’s response begged him to make of that statement.

She raised a mocking brow. ‘My father will be chuffed to hear that. He’s not into men, as far as I know. Although every family has their secrets.’

Her unexpected humour broke the rising tension between them and Wolfe laughed. ‘Tell me, Princess, what is it about me being your bodyguard that you hate the most if it isn’t our history?’

She threw him a droll look. ‘Do you have a spare year?’

Wolfe took a deep breath and offered up an olive branch. ‘Why don’t we start over?’

‘Pretend we’ve never met?’ she asked, somewhat dubiously.

‘If that works for you.’

She shrugged. ‘As long as you don’t order me around I can do that.’

Could she? He wasn’t sure he could. ‘Good. Take a seat.’ He spoke briskly, indicating the sofa opposite him. ‘I need to ask you some things to help my investigation.’

When she didn’t move Wolfe frowned. Was their ceasefire over so soon?

‘Ava?’

‘You can call me ma’am. And I believe you just issued another order?’

Yes, perhaps he had.

‘So did you,’ he ground out.

‘You didn’t say I couldn’t order you around.’

‘Av— Dammit, you need to cooperate or I can’t do my job.’ His mind conjured up the last time he’d teased her by telling her that he knew how to make her cooperate and he swallowed. Hard.

‘So quit.’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’ve given my word to your father and there’s no one else I’d trust with your safety.’

‘What do you care about my safety? We’re strangers.’

Wolfe sucked in a silent breath. Seriously, the woman would try the patience of a saint. Reminding himself to keep control, he settled back more comfortably on the sofa. The cat sleeping in the corner rose and stretched, sniffed him and then crawled onto his lap.

‘Hey, mate.’ He stroked it absently. ‘You look like you’ve seen better days.’

‘He belonged to my mother.’ Her mouth turned down slightly at the corners, indicating that she was still affected by the loss. In some way he envied the fact that she cared.

The cat nudged his hand. ‘I take back what I said,’ he told the cat. ‘You’re in top condition for a man your age.’

He looked up to find Ava watching him. When their gazes collided she flushed, and he wondered what she had been thinking.

‘I think I hate you.’

Well, that was definitive, and unfortunately the feeling wasn’t mutual. ‘I’m not your enemy, Ava,’ he said softly.

The words but someone is lay unspoken between them.

Her shoulders slumped as if she had the weight of the world bearing down on her. ‘Can’t my father answer your questions?’

‘That depends on whether he knows anything about your love-life. From what I saw of the interaction between you two before I would have said you’re not that close.’

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Why do you want to know about my love-life?’

‘Everyone in your sphere will be investigated.’