Page 174 of Red Marked

I don’t want her sympathy, so I keep going. “Furthermore, last night was a mistake. I should never have fucked you.”

“You shouldn’t have left me hanging. The fucking part was fine.” She lifts one shoulder. “Angry sex is the best.”

I swear she’s going to kill me. It’s going to happen.

I have never had sex with a female without a condom. Not once. Not ever. Last night, I didn’t even think of one. I almost came inside Star. I was a couple of strokes away from doing it.

She makes me lose my fucking mind.

“I’m your boss. We can’t be intimate.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispers.

My dick starts to get hard.

No! Fuck no!

I will it back down, thinking about her near-death experience. It works.

“Stop calling me that.” I pull in a breath and let it out slowly. “I’m letting it go, but we do need to move forward. What did Holt mean when he said Veridian Bridge? Do you know?”

She yawns into her hand. “Oh, shit! Sorry. It took me a while to fall asleep last night. I was a bit wired.” She widens her eyes. “I wonder why.”

I smile. “So, you didn’t touch yourself, then.”

“No, I did not. I can follow orders, Flint.” She drops her hand, and the teasing goes out of her eyes. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I really am. I will follow every order you give me, to the letter, from here on out. I promise.”

“Good. Fine.” I have to look at the wall for a second. “What does Veridian Bridge mean? Please tell me you know.”

“I think I might. It rings a bell, but I can’t quite place it. I was about to do some research.” She gestures at the laptop open on her desk. It’s company-issued, the same as the one in my office. There’s a notepad next to it with Veridian Bridge written across the top and underlined twice. “I could make us something to eat, and we could⁠—”

I shake my head. “Thanks, but no. That’s not a good idea.”

I can’t be anywhere near her. I might mess up.

Last night proves how weak I am when it comes to her.

Star’s eyes widen. “We can eat and work. I didn’t say anything about having sex, although⁠—”

I groan. “Last night was a mistake. I told you that. We have to work together, and the lines are blurred as fuck. We should never have crossed them in the first place, and certainly not now that we’re at the clinic. Pryce would have both our jobs.” I pull in another breath. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll come back tomorrow, and you can tell me what you’ve found. We won’t be able to do anything for a couple of days anyway. Not while we’re still on rotation. Chances are good our next steps will be in Mistveil City, not here. That means we have time.”

“Suit yourself.” She pulls out the desk chair. Then she nods at the brown box in my hands. “What’s that?”

I’m tempted to tell her it’s nothing. Instead, I hold it out.

Star takes it, frowning. She turns it over, looking for a label.

“Special delivery,” I tell her. “It’s your order.”

“Oh!” Her whole face lights up. She hugs the box to her chest like it’s Christmas morning and she got everything on her list.

It pisses me off.

“You can take it out of the box. You can look at it in all of its purple glory. But you can’t use it, Star. Don’t you dare use it!”

“What?” Her mouth falls open.

“You heard me. You don’t get to use your new toy. You still don’t get to come.”