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“For fuck's sake, call me Lachlan."
"Are we on a first name basis?"
“Considering we have to pretend to be married, yes, we need to be on a first name basis. I’m trusting you with my life and hoping that whatever chip is on your shoulder isn't going to give away the job."
She squared her shoulders. “It won't."
Her gaze was slightly guarded. She never looked at me directly with those eyes, and it irritated me. Scooting around the desk, I marched toward her. And when she realized what I was doing, she backed up a step. "What are you doing, King?"
"As much as I love hearing you call me King, we're going to have this out. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Me?” She still didn't meet my gaze.
“You won't look me in the eyes. You won't address me unless you have to. I know you're hard as hell on my assessments."
"Ever stopped to think I’m just trying to make you a better agent?"
“You and I both know I’m not going to be an agent. I'm not cut out for it. For me, this is the worst detox of my life. And I got the message. I need to clean my shit up. Fine. So we’ll go to the Winston Isles, we’ll sniff out a bunch of people, we’ll come back, and I'll leave. But this is about something else for you, and I don’t believe for a minute it’s because I shagged a friend of yours. So what is it? Just tell me. The way you're acting it's like we fucked or something. And I know we didn't because I would remember that mouth. You see, I keep having dreams about your mouth and what it’s capable of. So since I know that's not it, why don't you tell me what the fuck it is so I can, you know, get to the business of making you feel better about it and we can move on."
She looked like she'd seen a ghost. She hadn't paled exactly, but she looked stricken. She shook her head, this time lifting her gaze to meet mine levelly. Fucking hell. Those whiskey brown eyes could strip you clean to the soul. And I was the fool who’d insisted she look me dead in the eyes. Bloody fabulous.
“You're right. This mission will get you wherever the hell you want to go. And it'll give me what I want. So let's figure out a way we can work together."
I studied her warily. "So you're going to stop fighting me?"
She glanced at the dossiers. “You understand we're going to be in stupid-close proximity for the next several days. Like there will be no privacy between us. But while I might not be your biggest fan, I’m willing to put that aside for us to do this job. Because it is about to get vulnerable and intimate in a way I’m not sure either one of us really wants, but it can't be helped. The question is, can you handle it?"
