Eric sighed, ran a hand through his blond hair, tousling it the way she’d loved as a teenager. “I swore to myself I’d never tell you, because I didn’t want you to be mad at him. He wanted you to have a clean break when you went to college. I fought with him over it, but he felt like it was important for you to find your own way, learn to be strong alone.”
He lifted his shoulders, a helpless look in his eyes. “I thought one day, he’d change his mind. But then you started working here and...honestly, it was awkward. I didn’t know how to be your colleague. I tried to be your friend. We both dated other people. Then you became my boss, and it was strange all over again. But there’s never been anyone like you, Leila. Never.”
She shook her head, totally at a loss for how to respond. Over the years, she’d dreamed so many times that Eric would change his mind, tell her he was a fool and wanted her back. In her dreams, she’d always leaped into his arms. She’d never imagined he’d tell her that her dad had instigated the breakup. She’d never thought she’d be unsure if she wanted him back.
“I get it,” Eric said, when she stayed silent. “This is a lot. But just think it over, okay? We can figure the company part out. I mean, this was your dad’s business, his dream. Maybe you and I can cash in our stock options and start over, partners in some new venture.” He smiled, his eyes hopeful. Then, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
As she continued to stare mutely at him, his smile grew, then he turned and headed for the door. He glanced back at her once more as he opened it to leave, then almost walked into Davis, who was standing in the doorway, scowling.
“Davis,” Eric said, giving the agent a nod as he maneuvered around him.
Then, Eric was gone and Davis shut the door and strode toward her like a man on a mission. She stared at him, still feeling stunned from Eric’s revelations. But the closer Davis got, the more she realized that he’d been in the back of her mind as she’d told Eric their time was over. The closer he got, the more all the nerve endings on her skin seemed to fire to life, the more shallow each breath became.
It made no sense. She barely knew Davis. Eric, she’d known forever.
“He’s not right for you,” Davis told her as he strode around her desk the same way Eric had.
“What?” He’d been listening in on their conversation? How much had he heard?
Instead of answering, he slid his hands around her waist and yanked her to him. Her body crashed into his, the hard planes of his chest stealing her breath even as she instinctively pressed tighter.
Then, his head ducked toward hers, his lips hovering a few centimeters away, actually brushing against hers as he asked, “Leila?”
She responded by pushing up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms tight around his neck and pressing her lips to his. The softness of his lips contrasted with the hardness of his kisses, then his tongue swept into her mouth. She felt it all the way down to her toes: no matter what happened in the future, this was exactly where she was supposed to be right now.
Chapter Thirteen
He’d kissed Leila Petrov. It hadn’t been some brief passionate mistake that had burned out as fast as it happened. No, the more he’d kissed her, the more he’d wanted. If they hadn’t been in her office...
His ability to look at this case impartially was blown. He needed to come clean with Pembrook, ask her to pull him out. The next logical step would be to get warrants and have the FBI go in full force, the way he’d told Leila.
No matter how quietly they tried to execute something like that, word would get out. Someone would take a video on their phone of FBI agents going into the office or talk to the press. No matter who turned out to be behind this, it would put a stain on Leila’s company that might destroy it. He didn’t want to do that to her.
“You’re getting too close to her.”
Kane’s voice made Davis jerk and spin toward his colleague. He didn’t need to ask who Kane meant, didn’t bother to justify why he’d responded immediately when he’d felt his phone buzzing with an incoming text. Why he’d rushed right over when Kane’s message said they wanted to give him a debrief on the BECA meet. He’d just pulled his lips slowly away from Leila’s, skimming his hands along her skin as he extracted himself. Trying to memorize the feel of her lips and skin and hair, the dazed look in her gorgeous brown eyes. Knowing he couldn’t let it happen again.
He needed to regain his professionalism. Because no matter what he should do, he wasn’t asking Pembrook to pull him out of his cover. He was seeing this case through to the end.
Ignoring Kane’s statement, he demanded, “What the hell happened out there?”
“Melinda happened.” Kane pursed his lips, glanced around like he was afraid their fellow TCD agent would hear, then held open the door to the conference room.
Inside, Melinda was waiting, a laptop in front of her. She was dressed in one of her standard high-neck blouses, her hair loosely styled, with minimal makeup. There was no indication she’d overheard Kane in the hallway, but the tension on her face and the scrapes covering her arms suggested the meet had gone even worse than Davis had realized.
“We think we know what happened with Leila,” Melinda said even before he and Kane were
