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“Cal’s a genius,” Nate said. “But don’t tell him I said so. His ego doesn’t need the boost.”
Eden put the power bar wrapper in a sealed bag and then looked around their living space before finally meeting his gaze. Nate had wondered if she’d get around to looking him in the eye again.
He was about to try to put her at ease when she straightened her spine and opened her mouth to speak.
“I’ve decided to have sex with you,” she said.
He’d chosen that unfortunate moment to take a drink, and he choked on the water, wheezing as it went down wrong. His eyes watered as he tried to suck in a breath and he pounded on his chest while she watched him with an arched brow and a patient look on her face.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” he asked.
She bent down and started unlacing her boots, and he watched in fascination as she removed a small arsenal from the space. “You don’t have to look so shocked. It’s not like I’m asking you to commit treason. It’s just sex.”
“Umm—”
“We obviously have a mutual attraction for each other, but the job has to come first. We should put the physical aspect of this relationship to rest so we can focus on the bigger issues. Besides, the friction and shared body heat will keep us warm.”
“Now wait a min—” His mouth went dry as she untied the drawstring on her insulated pants. Who knew a gesture like that could be sexy? He scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to keep his blood in his brain.
“Wait—” He took hold of her hands before she could disrobe any further. “That’s all this would be to you?” he asked, surprised at the hurt he felt. She was offering any man’s dream. “You’re ready for sex after all this time and I’m just supposed to lie down and let you have your way with me?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“A little, yeah.”
She looked at him curiously, her face a mask to hide her thoughts. “I don’t play games, Nate. Not outside of my professional life. Time is too short to try and figure out what other people are feeling and thinking. So I have no choice but to be direct. I haven’t wanted another man since Jonah. Haven’t even been able to think of a man in that way since then. But I want you. I don’t get to choose the time for my body to wake up, or for those beginning feelings of attraction and chemistry and whatever else is going on between us. What else do you want from me?”
“Your trust,” he said immediately. “I want to know that when we’re together on an intimate level, it’s because you know every part of me at a soul-deep level and you’re not waiting for me to plunge a knife in your back. We’ve got enough complications and distrust in this line of work without adding it to our home life.”
“You want me to trust you, but what do I really know about you?” Her hands fisted at her waist. “I’ve got good instincts, but they’ve been wrong before. I’ve got the word of Atticus Cameron—a man I respect and am a little in awe of—who says you’re his best agent. Good agent isn’t always synonymous with a good person. All I’ve gotten from you is a glimpse of the man you want me to see. The one who cracks jokes at the wrong time and who watches me with patient and calculating eyes, while looking at me like I’m your last meal.”
“Sweetheart, I’m an open book,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “What you see is what you get.”
He could practically see her teeth grinding together. “Don’t call me sweetheart. And if you’re such an open book then I should be able to ask you anything I want and get an honest answer. Not a joke or a redirection. Honest. Answer.”
“One—” he said, feeling his temper start to rise. “One question only. And then it’s my turn.”
She hesitated at that, but finally nodded.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Are you Warlock?”
His jaw clenched. “Warlock’s dead. And dead men don’t walk among the living.”
She scoffed. “An open book, huh? And you wonder why I don’t trust you.”
“That’s the problem. Youdotrust me. You’re just too much of a coward to acknowledge it.”
“That’s the first and last time you’ll call me a coward.”
“Or what?” he asked, his face only a hairsbreadth from hers.
“Or you can explain to your boss why I left you in the middle of Alaska and am giving Dynamis a big middle finger as I go back off the grid. I offered you sex. If you don’t want it all you had to do was say no.”
“I’m not saying no to sex,” he said. “I’m saying no to the kind of sex you want. We’ve spent the last several days in each other’s pockets. I’ve told you things about myself that not even my team knows. But I’m not here because you’re ready to jump back on the sexual merry-go-round. No one wants to be used that way.”
“I apologize,” she said quickly, and he could tell she meant it. “Really, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking of it from your perspective. I was trying to deal with my own feelings and I did it poorly. But I don’t think I was put on this earth for a relationship. That’s an area of my life that’s had anything but favor.”
