“Everyone knows that’s wrong,” I said, wrinkling my nose as if he was a fool for even asking.
He stepped closer, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans. I held my ground, though my heart sped up exponentially. When was the last time that had happened? Even as I fled the scene of the crime after a punch in the face, my heart hadn’t beat much harder than what a brisk walk might cause.
“So you intentionally do what you aren’t supposed to?” The words were enticing, spoken with a hint of awe and a lot of interest.
“Don’t confuse the two of us,” I returned haughtily, straightening. I would admit nothing.
“You’ve skipped all your meals today. That little tigress in the alley wasn’t afraid, so why are you hiding?” This SOB specialized in taunting.
“I should ask you the same.”
“Avoidance. . . always a sign one is on to something,” he replied smoothly. “So I’ll ask again. Why are you hiding?”
“You go first.”
“Sugar, I don’t hide from anything.” Drew was so smug that I actually believed him.
“I’m battered. What do you think I’m hiding from?” The half-truth felt wrong, considering how the women I’d met here so far had accepted me. Not only accepted me, but even though I hadn’t talked to many of the girls, hadn’t learned about their story—why they were here with nowhere else to go—I was still humbled. I shook my head. Why is he here again? Drew moved to the racks, scanning them until he found what he wanted.
“Put this on,” he commanded, shoving a coat at me.
“Why? It’s warm in here.” I didn’t move, and he held it against me, our eyes at war with one another, battling for who would give in first.
“I didn’t take you for one of those, the kind who needs help putting on a coat.” He rolled his eyes and held the jacket open for me.
“Not until you tell me where we’re going.” I crossed my arms, and he groaned, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“Outside. Now put it on.”
“Bossy much?” I found myself shrugging into the fleece-lined jacket, the soft warmth enveloping me.
He grabbed my hand and quickly led me out to the back alley where we’d met yesterday. The blast of cold hit me in the face, the temperature much cooler than it had been the day before. I shivered, grateful for the jacket, though my feet were freezing and already hurting from the stilettos.
“My feet are cold,” I complained, just for the sake of it.
“I figured if I tried to take those shoes off, you might get violent,” he said with a smirk.
He had my back against the brick wall in seconds, pinning me to it, his face an inch from mine. Damn, he smelled good. Had I noticed that yesterday? Now wasn’t the time to let a man like him get under my skin. It was supposed to be the other way around.
“You bring me out here to attempt to seduce me?” I asked, lifting my leg and rubbing my calf against the back of his jeans-clad thigh. His eyes sparked with desire, though he didn’t move any closer. He had a hell of an erection, and that meant I had all the power. Power I had no problem using to my advantage.
Drew caught my leg and eased it back to the ground. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Sonya?”
He looked triumphant at knowing my name, but the odds had just stacked even more in my favor. The man had taken enough interest in me to find out who I was, had sought me out this afternoon, and very obviously wanted me. My plans were quickly falling into place.
“No.”
He laughed sardonically, backing away to dig in his pocket. Immediately, I missed his heat, lifting away from the wall to follow his warmth. Minus a point for me, but I could get that under control. It would be a bonus to be attracted to a mark. I ignored the warning flag my mind threw up.
Drew put a cigarette between his lips, goading me as he deliberately returned the pack to his pocket and drew out a silver lighter. He lit the end, pulling a drag into his lungs, then tilted his head back to release a stream of smoke. My mouth watered as I zeroed in on the temptation. He didn’t ask if I wanted it, just placed it between my parted lips. My automatic response was to close them around the filter and suck.
I actually moaned when the nicotine hit my system. Drew made no move to retrieve his cigarette, and I let it hang between my lips for a moment before taking another long inhale. Just this one. It was a promise to myself I was damn sure I wouldn’t keep, especially around Drew. He was pure temptation, and he had my number. Another point to him.
He took the cigarette, and I whimpered with unabashed envy when he put it between his lips. Drew held in the smoke, leaned in, and pressed his mouth to mine, blowing it into my mouth. It wasn’t the shared nicotine that had my system lit up. The shock of his rough lips had my eyes wide open, staring into his. I’d kissed loads of wealthy men. Another thing they had in common besides their money was soft lips. But his almost felt weathered, like what I envisioned a real, tough, rough-and-tumble man’s would be. Something inside me melted, calling to the woman who lived for pushing the envelope and skirting the edge of danger.
The cigarette was no longer of interest to me. More of that rough mouth was. For a second, I forgot I was playing a game as I moved my lips against his, inordinate pride filling me at the heat in his gaze. Just before I made the mistake of tasting him with my tongue, I eased the cigarette from between his fingers, peeled my lips from his, and put the filter firmly in my mouth.
I grinned, sphinx-like, while my heart thudded furiously in my chest at his momentary anger.
“My little tigress,” Drew said, amused, tugging on one of my errant curls. “Is there anything you won’t do to get what you want?”
My expression turned serious as my eyes went hard. “Nothing.”
“That makes two of us.”
Chapter Twelve
Drew
Where had she hidden my wallet in those pajamas?
I still hadn’t figured that out or when she’d returned it to my back pocket without my knowing. After a quick inspection, I found she hadn’t taken a thing. A thief with a conscience? Or was she just letting me know she could play with me as she pleased? For once, I didn’t find it so unappealing to be at someone else’s mercy and was curious to see what she would do next. Oh, I still didn’t like her. Not at all.
She already had me by the balls, that briefest touch of her lips against mine making me determined to have more. And make no mistake, I would have her. She could play all the games she wanted, but I would know what it was like to fuck her senseless. Have her at my mercy.
I didn’t need to get involved in the complications Sonya had following her around. She brought it on her all by herself. Hell, I could sense her craving for it, and that was just another thing we had in common. We would go out in a blaze of glory, both of us too addicted to mayhem to save one another from it.
She already had me hacking into the Paths of Purpose system to find out more about her and nearly getting busted too. I’d covered by pretending I was collecting the trash from the administrative office, and once I was in the clear, I kept asking myself what in the hell I was doing. This place was keeping me out of jail. If I got kicked out, and all the shit I’d done caught up to me, I’d be there for a very long time.