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He wanted to pull her into his arms and press his face into her neck. He wanted to feel the pulse of her heartbeat.
She shifted in the bed, and he inched toward her. Knowing how difficult it was for her to fall asleep, he didn’t want to wake her, so he was surprised when she shifted and curled up against his side.
He pulled her snug against him and buried his nose in her hair, which smelled of a flowery shampoo.
All at once, her hands pushed against his chest, and he released her, worried she’d been startled out of sleep. “It’s me, Diana. Sorry if I scared you.”
“Oh, I knew it was you. What I didn’t expect was that you’d smell like another woman.”
Shit. He’d forgotten about the perfume cloud and had gotten used to the scent to the point he didn’t smell it on his shirt. “Sorry. Three women joined Rand, Bryce, and me. I played along with the flirting because I couldn’t exactly be seen pining for you. But nothing happened, I swear.”
She moved closer, but still left several inches between them.
“It’s ridiculous.” She gave a harsh laugh. “Logically, I know you don’t owe me anything. We aren’t a couple. We haven’t made any kind of commitment to each other. But I smelled another woman on your skin, and logic went out the window.”
Her words stirred something in the region of his body dangerously close to his heart. “I’m not sure I can be logical about the idea of you with another man either.” He dared to reach out as he scooted closer. His hand found her waist. He would have stopped there, but she scooted a tiny bit closer instead of moving away, so he cupped her ass and pulled her all the way against him.
They lay chest to chest, her warm breath tickling his neck. His hard-on was instant.
She let out a laugh. “You may be turned on, but I still smell another woman in this bed.”
“I just want to be clear, there is a promise between us. I promised to help you. Hide you. Protect you. That’s my commitment. And I might flirt with a woman, but that’s to serve the ‘hide’ part of my promise. But you’re the only one I want, Diana. And no one but you will satisfy me.”
She pressed her lips to his collarbone. “Okay.”
He stroked her cheek. “My ex-wife cheated on me. I know how shitty that is, and I wouldn’t do that to anyone.”
“We aren’t married.”
“But we are involved. I don’t share, and I wouldn’t demand from you what I’m not willing to give.”
She tucked against him. “Okay. At least it’s a nice perfume.”
“I can shower if you want.”
“No. I um…have to tell you something. It’s important. A shower would just waste time.”
“What happened?”
“Remember how I told you that I authenticated artifacts for Rafiq that first day?”
“Yes.”
“Gardner Holdings just cut a deal with a DC auction house—Gillibrand—to purchase those artifacts for the Historie store’s Signature Line.”
He stiffened as the meaning sank in. “They’re buying artifacts from Rafiq so they can sell replicas.”
“Yes.”
“And it’s going through an auction house, which will get the blame.”
“Yes. And as an added bonus, I told Gardner on Friday during our meeting that I’d appraised a bunch of artifacts for Rafiq that first day. He probably guessed they were the same ones.”
“And so he sent henchmen—possibly Jamal—to your condo to grab your computers.”
“He probably wondered if I’d written up any kind of description after I returned Stateside.”
“Had you?”
