“Be serious,” I say in a stern tone, making sure to make clear movements with my mouth. “Focus.”
She stabs a finger at my forearm, nailing me right in one of the spots Heathen shredded this afternoon when I tried to get her into her travel kennel. I glare at the evil little girl. The delight on her face reminds me of Scout anytime he’d torment someone when we were younger.
Twisted psychos.
“Everything going okay in here?” a voice asks from the doorway.
I snap my head to find Landry slowly making her way into the room. There’s a soft expression on her face that I haven’t seen before. With the sun streaming in through the windows and blanketing her creamy features, she’s almost angelic. Her hair shimmers, catching each ray of light and reflecting it back my way.
Find out who the fuck hit Landry.
Sparrow’s text from earlier burns its way into my mind. What kind of dick hurts someone who looks like Landry does? Flawless and innocent. But they did and the slight bluish bruising hidden under layers of makeup proves it.
But who would do this?
I’ve researched and read all about her father. He’s your typical arrogant rich guy, but I don’t get child abuser vibes from him.
Child?
Landry is anything but a child.
Maybe this is the dirty secret Bryant wanted me to expose. I can try to get information from the girls. I’ll have to be careful. I don’t know if this guy has the rooms bugged or not. I’m probably being paranoid as fuck, but I suddenly have the heebie jeebies.
Landry signs something to Della. I miss their entire exchange, not able to keep up with the rapid conversation. Finally, Landry laughs, the sound almost surprised.
“What?” I grumble.
“Nothing.” Landry’s skin flushes. “I just didn’t expect that.”
I frown at her. “Expect what?”
“For Della to, um, like you.”
“Wow. Thanks, honey. Way to stroke my ego.”
She cocks her head to the side, the golden strands of her hair sliding over her still-pink neck. I have the urge to push aside her hair and slide my thumb over the pulsing vein there.
“Sorry about earlier,” she says, pausing to nibble on the inside corner of her lip. “I was being a bitch.”
Sparrow didn’t say anything about her being a bitch. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all aside from the fact he wanted us to find out who hit her. It looks like it’s up to me to get to the bottom of this since I can’t rely on his shitty intel. At least my job has a little more purpose than before. This is something I can get behind, because, dammit, I don’t want that fucker hitting her. I’m going to get her to confide in me through whatever means necessary.
My dick jumps at the thought of her whispering all her secrets to me. All I’d need to do is get my mouth on her pussy. I can guarantee I could get anything out of her at that point. My tongue is my best asset.
“Ford?”
“It’s fine.” I glance at Della. “Snack time?”
She nods and bolts from the room, clearly eager to leave our lesson. When I return my gaze to Landry, her eyes are probing and curious.
“What?”
“She really likes you.” Her lips curl into a smile. “I’m just surprised is all.”
“She only uses me for my cat.”
Landry’s smile grows and I find myself fixated on it. Her mouth is the most interesting thing in the room. Pink and luscious and lips made for kissing.
“Maybe,” she says as she walks over to the window that overlooks the city, “but at least she’s learning.”
Learning?
How to be a brat, sure. But learning anything from me? Hardly. I smother a scoff at her words.
“She was watching you and trying.” Landry looks over her shoulder at me. “That’s new for her. She’s so stubborn most of the time.”
“I wonder where she gets that from,” I deadpan.
“Family trait. Comes by it honestly.” The humor in her voice fades as her shoulders tense. “I shouldn’t be in here alone with you.”
I prowl toward her, unable to help myself. Landry Croft is our mark—the girl we’re supposed to mess with in order to make our uncle happy. This should feel like one of our usual jobs. Cold. Boring. Repetitive.
It’s not.
Like the sun streaming in, blanketing her angelic form, I’m warmed. The heat seeps through my skin and into my bones, thawing chilly parts of me that’ve been ice cold for the past year. I’m grateful our job is to woo her and pull her off track with her “arranged marriage in the making” because I can give in to my selfish craving. I can do this…
Her breath hitches the second my hands find her hips. A tremble quakes through her body, but then she tightens every muscle and goes still.
“What are you doing?” she demands, her voice breathy and confused.
“Touching you.”
“You shouldn’t.” Another shiver. “Seriously.”
Her hands move to cover mine, but instead of yanking them off her hips, she rests them atop mine. Taking this as permission, I dip down, burying my nose in her hair at the side of her neck. She digs her nails into the flesh on my hands. Still, she doesn’t slip out of my hold.
“Fate says otherwise.” I murmur the words near her ear. “We’re in the same classes and I’ve been hired to tutor your sister. Can we really ignore fate?”
“Ford…”
The name on her lips—the fake one—cools my blood. It’s kind of fucked up that we’re leading her on. And while Sparrow and Scout can ignore the guilt, I have a more difficult time.
“How long does snack time last?” I ask, letting my thumbs tease under the hem of her shirt, finding silky skin that needs touching.
“Forever if you’ll let it. She looks for any excuse to leave this classroom.”
“So we have time…”
“Time for what?”
I slide my hand beneath her shirt, gently caressing her stomach. “This.”
“Ford, we can’t.”
The tortured way she says those words has me wanting to lock the classroom door and proving to her we absolutely can.
“Why not, honey?” I murmur, nuzzling her hair.
She melts against me, leaning her head against her shoulder and baring her neck to me. I use my free hand to sweep the hair away and then press my lips to her sun-warmed skin. Her breathing comes in quick, shallow pants as I slide the hand under her shirt, higher and higher and higher. I think her breathing stops altogether when my fingertips tease along the underside of one of her tits.
She’s so responsive and fucking needy.
The things I could do to this girl. So many things.
“I want you,” I admit. I kiss her neck, this time more than a peck, tasting the sweetness of her flesh. “I know you want me, too.”
She doesn’t argue. Not so innocently, she rubs her ass against my dick that’s straining in my jeans. Landry craves for me to make her feel so damn good. And I will. When the opportunity arises, I’ll strip her bare, spread her thighs, and feast on her pussy until she’s on a high she’ll never come down from.
“I like you, honey,” I murmur, my breath hot on her neck. “And you like me too. This thing between us is inevitable. It was the second I laid eyes on you in class.”