Stealing His Heart (Shillings Agency 2)

Oh, crap, she’d forgotten about that…

He turned to her as if in slow motion, and crooked his finger. She shook her head, but he simply repeated the gesture, his mouth pressed tight.

“Shit.” She took a deep breath and got out of the car. “Yeah?”

“What did you do?” he asked, his voice clipped.

“Me?” She concentrated on the New York Giants bumper sticker, trying her best to imitate innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe someone thought you liked them?”

“Doubtful.” His jawline hardened. “And the cats? Would you care to explain those?”

A smile tried to emerge, but she bit down hard to try to stop it. “What about them?”

“Would you like to tell me why I have a stick figure family with me and nine cats, Tara?” he asked, his voice deceptively calm.

She shifted on her feet, her joke now seeming like a way to get her ass handed to her on a platter. If he broke out another one of his so-called punishments, she might die before he finished. “Uh…maybe that someone thought you liked cats, too?”

“I’m going to fucking—” He cut off and dragged his hands down his face. Oh, shit. He was going to kill her. Legit kill her. “Jesus.”

“I can try to get them—”

He fell against the car and burst into laughter. Full-belly, actual laughter—the kind she didn’t think he still had in him. She gaped, unable to believe he was actually laughing. The deep, rich sound sent a fist of need to her core, making her want to leap on him and screw him right in his driveway, cats and all.

“You’re so ridiculous. Cats? Cats?”

He lost it again.

Her lips twitched, and she joined in, laughing harder than she had in years. “It seemed fitting.”

He convulsed at that, and she joined in. When they both finally pulled themselves together, he watched her, his green eyes still lit with amusement. “You’re too much. You know that?”

She grinned, unable to help herself. “I didn’t know you could laugh like that anymore,” she breathed. “I like it.”

“You know what? Me too.” He dragged her close, cupping her ass. “I really, really do. What are you doing to me, Tara?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice breaking. “But I’m having fun with whatever it is. With you.”

“Good.” His fingers were perilously close to her core, and she ached to beg for him to move lower. To touch her harder. He played with a lock of her hair, jerking enough to sting. “You know you’ll pay for this little trick later, right? That there will be consequences?”

Her heart slammed into her throat. “I can’t wait.”

He nipped her shoulder. She shivered and bit back a moan, but he abruptly released her as if he didn’t feel the slightest desire for her. Go figure. She’d never understand how he could just turn it off like a light switch. Reaching out, he peeled the stick figure family off figure by figure. Next went the Giants sticker. “You’re lucky that this wasn’t the Yankees. I would’ve had to spank you in public.”

Unexpectedly, she wished she’d gotten the Yankees one. In the car, he said, “Have you thought more on what you did to get past my code? Or should I take you right to the jail myself?”

Did he ever stop thinking about work?

“I can’t think of a single thing that will help you,” she said, averting her gaze.

The lie was beginning to not come so easily. Maybe she should… No. She couldn’t go against her principles. Not even for him. She’d just have to go to jail. Pointedly, she ignored the panic rising in her chest. How much time would she have to serve? She had no clue, but she was beginning to think she might be finding out soon.

“Is Soltese going to be there?” she managed to ask.

“No, he’s on vacation. We’ll be alone.”

Jake turned out of his driveway, and shortly thereafter merged onto the highway. Tara tapped her fingers on the armrest. “What are we going to be doing?”

“First, we’ll go to my office. You’re going to study the code on my laptop. Then, we’ll go to the location and try to crack it.” He tightened his grip on the wheel. “If we’re lucky, this whole mess will be over by five.”