She blinked at him now, kneeling in front of her, her hands still fisted in his T-shirt. His soft hazel eyes were so serious, so worried. He cared about her, too. He hadn’t admitted it, but she could see it all over his face.
But he was still an FBI agent. He was still a man investigating everyone in her company. The information he’d just shared made it more clear than ever that the person they were looking for was someone important in Petrov Armor. This was no swap-out in a truck, no one-time incident. This was someone who’d been undermining the company for a long, long time. It was someone she trusted. Someone her father had trusted.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Davis whispered.
His words made no sense and she shook her head. “You live here.”
He laughed, the tension and worry on his face fading a little. “With you, Leila. I shouldn’t be here with you.” His hand cupped her face, and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into it. “But I can’t stay away.”
Instead of reminding him that she was the one who’d come to his place uninvited, she moved her hands from the front of his T-shirt to the center of his back. Just as he was taking the hint and leaning toward her, his phone buzzed, making both of them jump.
He scowled in the direction of his phone, and she could feel him debating silently before he finally swore and said, “I need to take this.”
He stood, stepped away from her and answered in a serious, all-business tone, “Davis Rogers.”
His gaze was still on hers, the look in his eyes still soft, almost a caress. Then, his gaze shifted away from her and his whole face hardened. “Hang on.” He moved the phone away from his ear and told her, “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She stood slowly as he disappeared around the corner, then used her own T-shirt to dab at the edges of her eyes. Glancing around Davis’s living room—which was a lot more colorful than she’d expected given his mostly dark blue and black wardrobe—she spotted a mirror over a console in the corner. Striding over to it, she looked into the mirror and grimaced.
Her eyes were red and puffy. Her nose, too. The rest of her skin was paler than usual, and Leila realized just how much the past few weeks without enough sleep had impacted her. She’d been avoiding a breakdown ever since hearing about her father’s death. She’d been afraid that once she started, she might never stop. But her outburst of tears on Davis’s chest had actually been freeing. It had lifted some of her ever-present tension, made her feel less like she was moving on autopilot.
Davis had helped her feel that way, too. Just having him around—despite the reason—had forced her to feel emotions, had pulled her partway out of the numbness she’d tried to bury herself in since her father’s death. She was a long way from being finished grieving, but it was a start. Hopefully, when the investigation into her company was over—no matter how it turned out—Davis would still be here.
He’d said he shouldn’t be here with her now, but he hadn’t asked her to leave. He’d been the one leaning in to kiss her when his phone call had interrupted. They shouldn’t date while he was undercover in her company. But maybe when it was all over...
Leila felt a smile burst on her face, huge and unexpected after how hard she’d just wept. Whatever was happening between her and Davis wasn’t a byproduct of her needing someone during her grief. If that were true, she would have turned to Eric, the man she’d thought she was still halfway in love with until he’d told her he wanted her back. Until his words of being together had made her think of Davis, not him.
This was real. From the things Davis had been saying to her a few moments ago, he felt it, too.
They could make it work. Once the investigation was over, they could make it work. It wouldn’t be easy, especially if she had to start over again professionally, after trials and interviews over the traitor inside Petrov Armor. But he was worth it.
She followed in the direction Davis had disappeared, listening for his voice to tell her where he was. Hopefully, he was finished with his phone call. Because she needed to tell him right now that she was willing to wait until the investigation was over, but no longer. That once they figured this all out—together—she wanted him.
“Yes, I know Leila is still officially a suspect.”
Davis’s words, spoken on a frustrated sigh, made Leila freeze and her smile instantly fade.
His voice quieted even more, to a whisper Leila had to strain to hear. “Yeah, I get that, Kane. But we both know it’s not her. It’s someone who wants her protected, even as they steal millions from her company right under her nose. Yeah, my bet’s on the uncle or the ex.” A pause, then, “Yes, Theresa’s still in the mix, too, but she’s at the bottom of my list now.”
Leila’s ears started to ring and she felt so off balance she actually reached out to the wall for support. Given what Davis had shared about the gun sales, she knew the person responsible was someone in a role of importance. She’d even known the people she loved were potential suspects.
But she’d thought Davis had believed her when she’d explained why her uncle and Eric would never, ever betray her father. She’d thought he’d trusted her judgment when it came to Theresa, too.
She backed slowly down the hall, using the wall for support, stepping lightly so he wouldn’t hear her. She needed to get out of here.
Davis had feelings for her. There was no way he was that good a liar. Yet, he would still
