She caught his hand with hers. He stopped at her touch, clearly waiting for her permission to continue his wonderful ministrations.
“I’m… sorry.”
Selena groaned and pushed at him. She had no chance of moving the hill of a man with her own power, but he rolled away. He hopped off the back of his bed, looking stunned.
“What?” Maximus managed to get out, a hint of a growl underneath the tone.
There was no threat in it, only an animal-like desire. Another zip flew to Selena’s center. She swallowed and tried to ignore it. They couldn’t continue.
“Y-you’re totally hot,” she sputtered, fanning herself and trying not to throw herself on him and kiss him again. “But I barely know you, and I don’t know if we’re doing this for the right reasons.”
Maximus took a deep breath in through his nose, his mouth twitching like he was trying to calm himself. “Right reasons? We want each other. Isn’t that enough?”
“I don’t know.” Selena shook her head. “Part of me is half-convinced you’re a hot mobster, and I don’t want this to be some weird thing where I’m sleeping with you because of the shoot.”
Maximus gritted his teeth. Her gaze dipped to his tented jeans. The dragon inside must have been large indeed.
He sucked in another long, deep breath and stumbled backward, almost as if drunk before scrubbing a hand down his face. “Damn it.”
“I’m not trying to be a tease.” Selena sighed. “Really. I do like you, but I think this isn’t a good time.” She closed her eyes and groaned. “Maybe after all of this is over, and we’re both thinking clearly.”
“You’re right,” Maximus said quietly, frustration tingeing his words. “I let myself get all caught up in my attraction to you. I need to focus on what I’m here for.”
Selena’s heart kicked up. That sounded ominous. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. If she needed to run or fight, the only way she would have a ghost of a chance was upright. And that was assuming Maximus didn’t pull out a gun and shoot her.
“What you’re here for?” she repeated, edging toward a lamp. “Other than helping some rich guy buy land?”
It didn’t matter how hot a mobster he was. If she bashed his head enough times with a metal lamp, he’d go down, and then all she needed to do was run.
“I shouldn’t be here with you.” Maximus shook his head. “I shouldn’t even be attracted to you.”
“Because of your job?”
Maximus let out a dark chuckle. “Something like that. Yes.”
“You are a mobster, aren’t you?” Selena whispered. “Or something like that.”
“It’s not that.” Maximus shook his head, but he refused to make eye contact. “It’s not about the job. It’s just... you. It can’t be you.”
Selena’s heart pounded. “Oh, oh, oh.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “I should have known. You let your dick get out in front of you before you could think about it.”
“Something like that.” Maximus shrugged. “If I’m being honest.”
“And then you realized I’m not some hot plastic model or Botoxed socialite like you normally date?” Selena spat out.
Maximus blinked. “What? No. That’s not what this is about.”
“Of course it is!” she shouted.
“I wanted to sleep with you,” Maximus said, his voice firm, but not loud. “Damn it. If you offered right now, I still would. But you’re right. We both need to be professionals, and we both have an interest in whatever’s going on in the forest because of our jobs.” He squeezed a hand into a fist. “And so we should focus on that.”
Selena stared at him, her face burning with anger. At herself. At Maximus. At all the dumb men in her life.
She ran her hands through her hair and groaned. “Fine, fine. You’re right. I’m the one who did push you off, and we should be professional about it.” She lifted her chin and did her best to adopt a professional look despite her tousled hair, rumpled clothes, and hard nipples. “I’m still going to the waterfall and checking out the other areas tomorrow. If this was about sleeping with me to get me to not do it, it’s a failure.”
Maximus frowned. “You shouldn’t go out there yourself. It might not be safe. I should still come with you.”
Selena wanted to trust him, but her body wanted him inside her, making it hard to know if she was thinking clearly.
“Fine, come with me,” she said. “I’ll text you when I’m ready.”
There was more to Maximus than he was admitting, but that wasn’t anything pepper spray and a Taser couldn’t solve. And if he was on her side, she would be grateful to have the protection tomorrow. Tonight though, she needed to get him out of the room so she could take care of her newfound ache.
Chapter Eleven
The next morning in his own hotel room, Maximus stared at a message on his phone from Selena. He had a lot of regrets about the night before, but the mission needed to come first.
Meet me in an hour.
He’d called in CJ, Cornelius, and Tiberius. They’d already been briefed the night before, but he wanted them armed up and ready to go for when Selena contacted him.
She sent a map link that would take him down a dirt road that dead ended long before the waterfall she’d marked on the map and the blank areas, some of them positioned on their path before the waterfall. He didn’t pity the film crew that had planned to hike out there with all that expensive equipment. The fact the director wanted to shoot there at all seemed bizarre in retrospect.
Cornelius shook his head and frowned. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“If it’s a trap,” Maximus said, “it’s too elaborate. And if it was the Corps, why would they try and tempt me with some random woman? It doesn’t make sense.”
Maximus conveniently excluded from his briefing that he’d almost slept with Selena.
