“This arrangement isn’t for me.” The smooth timbre of his voice rumbled through her. “It’s for you.”
Yeah, right.
“Sly, like a fox,” she said.
“Your job is to uncover the truth,” he murmured, his warm breath heating her forehead. “Mine is to bring you pleasure, over and over, night after night.” He tipped her chin, gazed into her eyes with an intensity that left her breathless.
Her insides were quivering, the desire to fuck him hijacking her thoughts.
“I’m gonna take such good care of you, you’ll never want to leave me,” he whispered.
That smacked her back to reality, and she reeled back.
Fooled me once… never again.
The group of guys from the bar walked outside.
“Hey, it’s the sexy dancer with the great tits,” said one of them.
“Honey, why don’t you come home with us?” asked another.
Ignoring them, she said to Carrera, “As much as Idon’tlike this partnership, let’s talk tomorrow?—”
“Dinner, my place,” Carrera said.
The guys moved close. She reached into her duffle, pulled out her switchblade, and snapped it open. “If you think I’m joking, try me.”
One of them backed up. “I’m out.”
The second laughed. “You’re outnumbered.”
In less than two seconds, she had him in a chokehold, the knife poised at his throat. “If you so much as breathe in my direction, I will make your scariest nightmare come true. Now, get the hell out of here.”
The third guy grabbed her arm, yanked her away. “You’re fucking with the wrong guy, bitch.”
Carrera moved so fast, it was a blur. He had the guy pinned against the wall of the building. “Go home, asshole, and leave the lady alone.”
“She’s no lady, she’s a whore.”
Carrera clocked him in the face.
The guy rubbed his cheekbone. “Motherfucker, I’m gonna have you arrested for assault.”
“His name is Anus,” Slash said. “Mr. Anus to you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carrera biting back a smile.
She shoved the guy she had in a choke hold into the one Carrera had just punched, then she walked backward into the parking lot, her switchblade still in hand. “Mr. Anus, you’re with me.”
At her SUV, he said, “I’m following you home.”
“I can’t shake you, can I?” she asked before climbing in.
He leaned in, kissed her goodbye. “We’re gonna have some fun in that club, you and me.”
“It’s you and I,” she said, and pulled the door shut.
She couldn’t miss his smile as she backed out of the spot and drove away.
