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“Um, Vauxhall Cross, please.” Once there, I’d simply return to my office on the fifth floor under the guise of forgetting something I desperately needed. Not that anyone would be paying attention or even notice me. It hadn’t been that long since I moved to the upper floor.
I rested my head against the back of the seat, closed my eyes, and groaned. Why in the bloody hell had I reacted the way I did when Iris said she’d been with Ares the night before? We were colleagues, for Christ’s sake, not lovers. And we never would be, no matter how much being with him made me want it.
God, I was doing itagain. Same story. Different man. Both I’d worked with and were, frankly, out of my league. It was the work aspect that truly mattered, though. Why hadn’t I learned my lesson about shagging where I ate—or whatever the ridiculous expression was? At least the last time, I’d waited until our investigation was coming to an end. Ares and me working together had barely begun.
It wasn’t fair that someone like Iris could hop in and out of his bed without a care about investigations or men being out of her league. And why was that? Was it her bottle-blonde hair or her D-cups? She wasn’t even pretty, in my opinion. Maybe to someone like Ares, she was gorgeous.
“Here we are,” said the cabbie, pulling in front of the building. Not wanting to waste time waiting for change, I handed him a £20 banknote and told him to keep the balance.
I was almost to the lift when I heard Ares shout my name. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him rushing my way. What had he done, run all the way here?
When the lift door opened, I thought about jumping in and crossing my fingers it would close before he reached it. With my luck, it would, and then I’d look even sillier for not waiting for him.
“What’s going on?” he asked when he got close enough to speak in a normal tone of voice, albeit one that was out of breath.
“I received a message saying I was needed back here,” I lied.
“From whom?”
I reached forward, pressed the button for the fifth floor, and swiped my badge near the card reader. “Are you going to six?” I asked when he bent over, put his hands on his knees, and took several deep breaths.
“I’m coming with you. Damn, I didn’t realize how out of shape I was.”
I quirked a brow and smirked. “Right,” I muttered.
He stood up. “I’m serious. Do you hear how out of breath I am?”
Of course I could. It was all I could focus on. Which was why I folded my arms across my chest in an effort to hide my hardening nipples. “I can’t do this,” I said out loud, not that I’d intended to.
“Can’t do what?”
“Nothing to do with you.”
He stood up and leaned against the back of the lift. “Nothing happened between Iris and me.”
I wasn’t sure which outraged me more. That he’d outright lied or that he thought I cared. I mean, Ididcare. I was just aghast he knew it. “None of my concern.”
“She was waiting for me at the hotel last night—”
“Stop!”I raised my hand. “Do not say another word.”
“Nothing happened.”
If it wouldn’t make me look like an idiot, I’d put my fingers in my ears. “I’m not interested in hearing about anything that happens outside of work hours.”
“She came on to me, but I turned her down.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Did this man not hear me just say I wasn’t interested in hearing about his after-hours exploits?
When the lift door opened, Cayman and Puck were standing just outside.
“Where’ve you been?” Puck asked.
Cayman elbowed him. “One of the Bulgarians decided to talk.”
I wanted to reach up and kiss the man. Rather than thinking I’d stormed off in a snit, like I had, Ares would believe my saying I had to return to the office.
“Shall we meet here or go upstairs?” he asked.
