“Fear isn’t always a bad thing; it probably saved your life,” he countered. “But what you did was brave. Tell yourself that.”
Their gazes held for a beat. Then she gave a firm nod.
“Keep telling yourself until you believe it,” he told her, lifting her hand to kiss her palm. He’d fought so hard to have Lottie in his life. While his instincts wanted to shield her, he wanted this cleaned up too. He grabbed his cell off the nightstand and fired off a text to Elise:What’s the chances you could get Leo’s phone number?
Elise responded:I’ll have it for you by morning.
You’re the best.
“We’ll have your brother’s phone number by the morning,” he said, sliding his phone back on the nightstand. “For this meeting tomorrow, I’m coming with you.”
“Never going to happen,” she snapped, firmly shaking her head. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you get involved more than you already are.”
“Lottie.”
Her eyes flared. “No, Hunt, not negotiable.”
He watched her closely, realizedagainshe was trying to protect him. Christ, he liked that. Didn’t mean he’d put up with it though. She squeaked as he gathered her in his arms, scooting her beneath him.
“What are you doing?” She laughed up at him.
“Oh.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek…her neck…her collarbone, feeling her melt beneath his hands. “I’ve got ways of convincing you that my way is the best way.” He curled his tongue around her taut nipple, and she lifted her hips, rubbing her sex against him, hardening his cock so fast he groaned.
He nipped the bud, smiling to himself as she arched her back. “You have one thing working against you.” He dragged his tongue down the center of her stomach.
“What’s that?” she rasped, circling her hips.
Lowering himself between her thighs, he met her gaze drenched in lust. “I know this body. I’ve studied it. I’ve watched every…single…thing that makes you squirm, and all the things that make you come, and Iwilluse that to my advantage.”
He kissed her inner thigh gently. Then the other. “Hunt,” she gasped, arching her back, as he blew gently across her sex.
Slowly, he licked over her hot flesh, teasingly, lightly dragging his tongue along the silky wetness of her lower lips until he reached her clit, never giving her what she wanted. Staying near the bud but never connecting. “You know what I want,” he told her. “What do you want, Lottie?”
She shivered, her chest rising and falling with her heavy breaths, her fingers threading in his hands, tugging him closer. “Your tongue, damnit.”
He chuckled, and again, he blew on her hot slit, feeling the tremble of her legs against his arms. When her breath hitched, he flicked his tongue against her clit, and she bucked against him but cried out in frustration as he pulled away.
“Fine, you can come tomorrow,” she said roughly. Then she lifted her head, eyes blazing, her hands pulling his face closer. “You play dirty.”
“Yeah, I do, and you fucking like it.” He dipped his tongue inside her, and her answering moan told him he was right.
8
“The package came from your father’s lawyer,” Hunt said as they stepped into her condo after her morning dog walks.
Lottie processed what she’d heard. Then she repeated the words back to herself again. “Elise found that out?”
Shutting the door behind him, he nodded and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “She got a copy of your father's last will and testament. Upon his death, the box was to be sent to you.”
“So, the lawyer found me?”
“Elise said a PI out in Chicago did,” Hunt explained, moving toward the kitchen and fetching glasses out of the cupboard. He poured them both a glass of water. Turning to her, he offered her a glass. “Obviously, Elise isn’t the only one with a good hacker on her team.”
“Damn,” Lottie said. “Can Elise—”
“It’s not something we can discuss,” Hunt said, “but knowing Elise, I would imagine she’s already ensured that Marissa Ricci cannot be found again.”
Lottie exhaled a long breath of relief. Even on the dog walk, she was looking over her shoulder, seeing if Leo was following. She saw Hunt doing the same. He hadn’t said a word on their walk, always on guard. Last night, he’d slipped his gun into the nightside table. All of this grated on her last nerve. She thought she’d left all this behind a long time ago. She’d moved on.
