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“One should be enough.”
“You sure?” I eye her.
She immediately looks away.
With a frustrated grumble, I set her purse aside next to her hip and catch her chin. I won’t force her, but I nudge her to meet my eyes, searching her face for the lie. She must be able to lie so easily, to make me believe her response to that kiss.
“Do not lie to me, Elle Lark,” I order firmly. “If you’re feeling like a worn heel, you need a doctor.”
But there’s no trickery in that sweet expression she wears.
No deception in the gentle tremor of her eyelashes, or the startled part of her lips.
No manipulation in the way she colors, or the soft, confused stammer of her voice.
“I ...” She stops, licking her lips. Her mouth glistens coral pink. The same color is probably still clinging to my mouth after the way our lips were pressed together. “I promise. It’s not bad enough for more than one.”
I shouldn’t be grasping on to her like this.
I shouldn’t be pressuring her and making demands.
To me, she’s little more than an employee, a contractor filling specific needs.
So I let her go. Quickly, and yet it does no good when the softness of her skin stays imprinted on my fingertips.
Without a word, I shake out a pill from the bottle, put it away, and offer her the little capsule.
Elle hesitates.
Then she opens her mouth like a baby bird asking to be fed, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
“Are you serious?” I scowl, glaring down at her.
“My hands are full. And slippery. I might drop it.” She holds the water bottle up with a grin.
Wide, innocent eyes.
Goddamn.
She’s definitely faking it now.
It’s annoying that it’s so obvious. The girl couldn’t lie if someone paid her, even if that’s exactly what I’m doing. I need to believe that any attraction she might feel toward me is feigned for her own ends.
That’s all.
But she’s still looking up at me with that little smile, while Rick keeps pretending not to watch us in the rearview mirror.
I meet his eyes and stare.
“Just drive,” I mutter. “We’re taking Miss Lark home promptly.”
Then, turning that glare on her, I pop the pill into her mouth.
My thumb accidentally brushes her lips—just barely—right where they’re silkiest.
I jerk my hand back like she’s a thousand degrees, folding my arms over my chest because I have nowhere else to put them with her in my lap.
“You’re feeling better. Good,” I growl.
