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“Why the rush?”
Her eyes flick to the side as she thinks. Finally, she whispers, “Kordin won’t be in the hospital forever.”
I want to ask her what she plans to do when he does get released. Will she leave him? Or will she stay? What’ll happen if she stays? Will they go back to normal? What is their normal? Is it what I’m thinking? Because what I’m thinking is a lot like what happened in her office yesterday but with a hell of a lot more touching, and licking, and—
Fuck.
It’s none of my business. They’re married. She’s married.
To a fucking asshole who only fucks her from behind. Now that I’ve seen Lex’s front up close for myself, there’s no way I’d let that shit slide. I’d put her in every position imaginable, and ever since facing off with her at The Playground, I’ve come up with a lot of positions.
A. Lot.
She looks up at me suddenly.
“Is that all?”
I swallow before sliding the hardcover in my hold across her desk, propping it upright to keep the flower behind it hidden from view of anyone walking by. Thanks to the flower’s massive size, I had to spring for a hardback edition.
Lex eyes both items like I just handed her a pile of shit, not a thirty-two-dollar book and a flower my mom had to special order from her supplier.
“What is this?” she asks without moving to accept either.
“A book I thought you might want to read.”
She studies the couple on the cover. I purposely chose one with one woman and one man, none of that sharing shit everyone around here seems to be doing lately.
“I only read non-fiction.”
I bite back my smile to tell her, “The books at your house weren’t non-fiction. The book in the bottom drawer of this desk isn’t non-fiction.”
Eyes a mix of silvery blue-green like the leaves of the Sterling Silver variety of Caryopteris trail up to mine as Lex tilts her head. The lump I just swallowed returns, doubling in size, but I refuse to show it, only ignoring it to tilt my head, too. What does she think about me now?
“And the artichoke?” She glances at the flower.
Clearing my throat, this time I do smile. “It’s not an artichoke. It’s a flower in the Proteas family called King Proteas, named after the Greek god Proteus. He was a shapeshifter.”
Lex’s gaze slingshots back to mine.
My smile shrivels up, my elbows coming down to rest on my knees as I lean forward to explain, “The son of Poseidon, Proteus was known for his wisdom. He supposedly knew everything past, present, and future, but he didn’t want to share any of it, so he’d change his shape and escape whenever anyone would try to make him.”
Like everything else with this woman, the silence that follows confuses me. Does she understand what I’m saying? As soon as someone gets close to something Lex doesn’t want known, she changes to a different personality. No, not just a personality. A differentperson. She’s a modern-day shapeshifter.
“Consider it an olive branch.”
“For?”
“Bad first impressions. And… I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“You have…” Fuck. This is harder than I thought it’d be, especially with the full weight of Lex’s attention on me. “You have money.”
“You—”
“Money gives you connections,” I add quickly. “Connections to places. Stores.” Right? Isn’t that how that shit works?
“Spit it out, rook.”
