Page 92 of Hunt Me, Daddy

I hated him.

I wanted him.

I stepped back, and this time he let me. His hand fell away immediately, no attempt to hold, no tightening, no claim made through force. That almost made it worse.

I adjusted the strap of my bag over my shoulder and looked at the car, then at him. I tried not to envision myself bare over his knee and failed entirely.

“I’m coming because Orlov is a problem,” I said. “Not because you told me to.”

“Of course.”

“And because you have information I need.”

“Yes.”

“And because if you are the man in my Watcher file, I want you close enough to see if you make a mistake.”

For a second, the street between us went quiet in the middle of all its noise. Then he opened the rear door of the car, where the tinted glass and the angle of the door created a pocket of privacyfrom the sidewalk. A controlled space. A perimeter. A choice that was also not entirely a choice.

I looked at it, then at him.

“I’m going to test you,” I said.

“I’m aware of that.”

“I’m going to ask questions you don’t want to answer.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to be difficult.”

This time he smiled, small and dark and devastating.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

My stomach dropped.

“That wasn’t meant to be encouraging.”

“It was anyway.”

I stepped toward the car, then stopped close enough that we were nearly touching again.

“Don’t call me ‘good girl’ again unless you want trouble,” I said.

His gaze moved over my face with reverent attention. Then he leaned close enough that his breath brushed my ear.

“Get in the car, Kit,” he said quietly. “Be a good girl while men are trying to kill you, and after that, you can give me all the trouble you want.”

My whole body lit up. I turned my head just enough that our mouths were almost aligned.

Ivan went perfectly still.

So did I. Neither of us crossed the last inch, which was almost worse than a kiss. It was hotter. Meaner. We had crossed it once already, which I had tried not to think about ever since. Pretending we wouldn’t do it again was the only lie we were both still agreeing to tell.

I held his gaze for one more breath, then slid into the back seat with my bag clutched against my side and every nerve in my body wide awake.

Ivan closed the door.