Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Lou. Louisa. That was the name of the sweet-looking young woman with glasses and intelligent eyes. “Why wouldn’t Tash be with her?”
Kara’s gorgeous face turned impish. “Well, now that I’ve seen you again I’m hoping you’ll talk to Dare. Let him know she’s still interested. I think if he was interested, too, she would be up here in a heartbeat.” She reached out and touched his arm. “But maybe you could make her not seem so eager. I shouldn’t have put it like that. Maybe you could say you ran into me and I mentioned my cousin talked about him. Could you keep that a secret? She wants it to be a surprise. Well, I think what she really wants is to see how he feels. If you tell him…”
“He can prepare a reaction.” She had no idea how good he could be at keeping secrets. And he understood. After all, once he’d made a surprise visit to see his fiancée so he could judge whether or not she was having an affair with his best friend.
The fucker.
Manny had no reaction at all. He’d stood there in the hospital, and for the first time Ben had seen him for what he truly was.
He took a long breath and released it because the last thing he wanted was for this woman to catch his anger. It wasn’t directed at her, but it also never seemed to go away. For the last several years of his life he’d had one goal. Expose Dr. Emmanual Huisman for the fraud he was. And he was so close.
So close he should ignore the pull he felt for this woman. Two nights ago he would have told anyone who asked that it would be fairly easy. While she was gorgeous, he wasn’t an animal, and it had been obvious she wasn’t that into him.
Except maybe she was.
Something felt different this time. Maybe she was having a bad night when they met. Maybe she hadn’t felt good. It didn’t matter because it seemed like nothing mattered. His brain had already gone through all the reasons this was a terrible idea, and his dick wasn’t listening. Even to the part about her cousin climbing back into Dare’s bed and potentially distracting the hell out of him.
He had a couple of days. The head of the CIA team wouldn’t be in Australia until then, so he was on his own. What would it matter if he chased after her a few days more? He might actually catch her.
“I’m hoping she can see on his face if he honestly wants her or not,” Kara admitted. Her tongue moved briefly over that plump bottom lip of hers, and he felt it in his cock.
More than that, he felt a tug. Like a string connected them and wanted them closer.
He hadn’t felt it the other night. This was deeper. This was dangerous.
It took a lot to stay on his side of the table. “I’ll tell him I ran into you and ask if it’s okay to give you his number. I know he’ll want her, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for him to take her.”
A brow rose over her eyes. “Why not? Are you worried she’s a gold digger?”
There she was. She’d been so sweet, slightly shy, but there was her edge. It was almost as though the woman he’d met the other night and the one who asked him to join her for coffee were two completely different women, but now he wondered if they weren’t both personas she presented to the world. The angry goddess and the sweet professional. He wished it turned him off, didn’t make him want to figure out who the real Kara Trent was.
What he had to remember was no matter her real personality, she could never know him, could never have a place in his life because his life was dangerous and filled with secrets.
“Not at all. I’m just worried she’s a nice lady, and Dare has a life back in Toronto. Honestly, I’m worried about Dare, too. He’s not the kind of guy who goes through women like candy.”
“He didn’t seem to be,” she replied, that brow arching in a deeply judgmental way. “Unlike you.”
Oh, she wanted to play? “What makes you think that?”
Her eyes rolled slightly, and she gestured his way. “All of you, mate. Every inch of you screams lothario.”
He laughed at the thought. It was good to know she liked how he looked, but she was wrong about a couple of things. “No. I haven’t had some string of random women sharing my bed.” He winced as he realized the truth. “I think it’s been over six months since I had sex. I probably shouldn’t have admitted that.”
His last encounter had been with another CSIS operative. They’d been on a weekend op, and she’d asked if he didn’t mind helping her with stress relief. He hadn’t. The sex had been good, but there hadn’t been this wild desire like he felt for the woman in front of him.