Sami’s smile faltered just for a second, but Baz had caught it all right.Did he sense a weakness there?Did Sami have morals after all?
“Oh,” Sami said.
“Yes,oh.I know you cut a deal with the devil to avoid dealing with the consequences of your own actions.Like a coward.Where I’m from, there is a little thing called integrity.Accountability!”
Sami nodded heavily, his lips pursed.“You must be pretty perfect yourself to be this quick to judge me on such surface level facts.”
“Sometimes, scratching the surface is plenty.”The evidence spoke for itself here.
“Except that you miss out on a little thing called context.”
“So you weren’t selling drugs to college kids and had Ian get you off the hook?”
Sami made a face like he was considering that.“Well, no.I suppose that is what I did.”
“Case closed then.”To emphasize his point, Baz took a generous sip of his drink that buzzed inside of him.
Sami’s hand glided over the counter, stopping a breath away from Baz’s.“Are things always this simple for you?”
“I’m rarely wrong.”He had been right about making Aya his mentor.He had been right about being able to handle the TechNova case.Hell, he was right about Jack.He’d be right about Sami too.
The smile returned to Sami’s face, amused rather than mocking.“And I am always happy to be someone’s first.”
Baz wanted to glare at him.His eyes got stuck on that damned dimple, perfectly carved into his flawless skin.Oh, to trace it with his tongue, to feel the scruff of Sami’s beard against his cheek…
Baz swallowed.“First what?”
“First whatever.”Sami’s cold fingers traced along Baz’s wrist, dipped under his shirt.Baz failed to catch the gasp before it escaped, much to Sami’s delight.
“Whatever you want,” Sami added in a low, husky voice that had Baz shivering.
Definitelyflirting.But why?
Baz should swat the intruding hand away, should tell him to get lost, but he couldn’t help but wonder where this would go.
“Bold of you to assume I want anything from you,” he said before his brain could authorize the words.
Sami’s hand dropped to Baz’s knee.A lightning bolt chased up his thigh, tantalizing his lower body.His pants grew tight.He suppressed the urge to adjust himself.
“I was kind of hoping you’d reciprocate the offer.”
“First you call me stupid, now you’re hoping to trade favors?You got balls, I’ll give you that.”
The raw melody of Sami’s chuckle made the breath hitch in Baz’s throat.“I do.I’ve been told they’re pretty great, too.Are you into ball games, Baz?”
Was that an offer?
Baz bit his cheek to keep his jaw tightly locked.Whatever this was, he couldn’t fall for it.He couldn’t…
“If it makes it better,” Sami carried on, “I actually called your boss stupid.I called you not up for the job.But don’t worry.You’re not the first to get ahead on good looks alone.”
Sami’s wink lured a laugh out of Baz despite himself.Oh, Sami had no idea.
“Charming.I bet you say that to all your girls.”
Sami’s eyebrows shot up.“Girls?Plural?Wow, thanks for that credit.Not that that’s what I’m after.”
“Which one, girls or credit?”
