Page 12 of King of Temptation

Walking through her parking garage with an actual mobster and a gun pressed against the small of her back was unnerving, to say the very least.

And yet, there was a part of her that was undeniably enjoying poking at him. She was still about ninety-nine percent sure he didn’t plan on killing her, or even actually hurting her, which was enough for curiosity to win out over terror.

Curiosity might have killed the cat, but she was convinced the cat had a damn good time in the process.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and she stepped inside with him right behind her. As the doors were closing again, she ignored the pounding of her heart and that one percent of doubt to move closer to him, snuggling up against his side.

He tensed, every muscle in his body going rigid, and it took all of her willpower not to burst out laughing.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Oh, yay. Growly Brody was back.

Yum.

“You said we’re supposed to look like we just got home from a date,” she explained with a faux innocence she wasn’t convinced he was going to believe. “Nobody’s going to buy that if you’re standing there looking all pissed off at the world.”

He hesitated, and she swore she could hear the wheels in his head turning as he weighed the truth of her statement.

But then his hand shifted, the cool metal of his firearm pressing against her hip now as he pulled her closer. “You’re getting better at this, menace.”

God, she didn’t want to love the way he called her that. Didn’t want her entire body to ripple with pleasure whenever that insulting nickname slipped from his lips. An annoyance, he’d called her, and judging by the aggravation in his voice whenever he spoke to her, he’d meant it.

And yet, here she was, ready to shove him up against the wall of an elevator and beg him to fuck her.

If he didn’t have a gun pushed right up against her hip, she might have.

What was wrong with her?

Confused both by herself and him, she waited for the elevator doors to open again. When they did, she threw back her head and laughed, good and loud, as if he’d just cracked a hilarious joke. The move was meant to annoy him, to push more of his buttons.

But when they stepped off the elevator, he looked down, a hint of a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. And for a split second, she could almost believe they really were just a brand-new couple, caught in the first throes of love, coming back to her apartment after a lovely date.

But then he looked away, his face turning to stone once again, and the moment was lost.

Dammit.

Thankfully, the parking garage was connected to the lobby of her building, so she only had to wallow in the confusing feelings he was inflicting on her for a few moments before they reached the door.

“The code is⁠—”

“I know the code.”

Fear tightened like a vice around her chest as that ninety-nine percent certainty that he didn’t plan to hurt her dipped down to about eighty-five percent. “How do you know the code to my building?”

“I have my ways,” he said breezily, as if it was completely normal for a man to casually tell a woman he already knew how to gain access to her heavily secured apartment building.

Indignation rose up inside her, and she couldn’t keep it out of her tone when she spoke. “That’s really fucking creepy. Are you stalking me, or something?”

The irony of her words was not lost on her.

Or him, judging by the way he stopped to glare down at her. “Really? You’re going to get all self-righteous about me stalking you after you’ve spent weeks trying to do the same fucking thing?”

“Well… yes.” She jerked her chin up defiantly, though she didn’t feel remotely defiant with her heart pounding like a drum in her ears. “That’s different.”

“How so?”

“It just is.”