Page 49 of Reckless Devotion

“Thanks for coming.” She holds a small paintbrush in hand, white flecks splattered up to her slender wrist.

My dick throbs uncomfortably against my zipper at the sight of her standing thereau naturelin denim dungarees and a long-sleeved grey T-shirt that does nothing to hide the curve of her chest. I clear my throat and pull myself the fuck together. “You said it was urgent?”

“Yeah, I found something.” She gestures for me to follow, and I let myself into the eclectic apartment after her—this time making sure the door is shut.

“It’s the sexy feet guy!” a woman with wild ginger curls cries, sticking a purple-tipped paintbrush my way.

I offer the room at large an easy smile, taking in the women all sitting behind easels spread out around a spindly-legged table piled high with a fruit arrangement, the bitter scent of oil paint in the air. “Otherwise known as Chase.”

“Hey, I recognize you from somewhere…” Another woman bedecked in a floaty skirt and bangles presses glasses further up her nose to peer at me.

“Excuse us, we’ll be back shortly.” Pepper grabs my sleeve and hauls me across the room with more strength than I would expect. I don’t miss the intrigue shared between the women in the circle as we pass through them, and I can’t helpbut wonder why she’s trying to keep me away. It’s not like I’m wearing a neon sandwich board that says She Blackmailed Mein big flashy letters.

As we reach a dim hallway, I hear a quiet beep and I’m tugged through a doorway into another room, this one lit by six flatscreen monitors on one wall. A large pin board takes up most of the adjacent wall, covered with pins and slips of paper, some housing pictures and others writing. I’m just trying to follow some of the strings that crisscross over certain points when a roller blind snaps down to cover it.

I lift one brow and turn slowly to face the woman who is now chewing her thumbnail as she watches me take in the room. “This is your den?”

“You showed me yours, so I figured I’d show you mine.” She shrugs it off and goes over to the desk placed behind the monitors, bringing up a password screen.

“That is my favorite deal structure, so remember that won’t you, Peppercorn?” I watch for her eye-roll and catch the exact moment it begins, a haughty little scoff escaping her at my suggestive tone. Riling her up might just be my new favorite pastime.

“Do you ever give it a rest?”

“No, but I’m told it’s quite endearing if you lean into to,” I respond easily, my gaze falling to an open diary on top of a cabinet. It’s laying open on this week’s dates, and I can’t help but notice the bright highlighter blocking out four days annotated with a neat “Holiday with Sunny.”

“Whoever told you that lied.” Her fingertips clatter across her keyboard, confirming that she is still otherwise engaged.

A colorful picture sits in the crease of the spine, folded in two and with several lines of text underneath. When I realizewhat it is, I swipe it and slide it into my inner suit pocket, a guilty weight sitting in my gut.

“Here it is.” She straightens, wiping a stray strand of hair from her eyes and picking up a square touchpad which she uses to guide the mouse pointer with her finger. “I searched your system and found forty-seven other IDs that are AI-generated images.”

It takes every ounce of control not to let my mouth drop open. My company’s systems are sitting behind so many firewalls I lose count, so it’s entirely abnormal that she can access them at the drop of a hat. I make a mental note to check later for any back doors she might have left purposefully open.

“These IDs were used all around the world at different facilities, a lot of them on US soil, and they typically tend to sign in between two and three a.m. when your security is more lax.”

“I should just give you all my passkeys at this rate.” I run a hand through my hair, feeling that familiar lick of anger spring to life as she displays all of the images across the screens.

“Nah, it’s more fun this way.” Pepper grins, sliding gold-flecked mahogany eyes my way. I suddenly fight to keep down a breath, because her free and pure smile is the most bewitching thing I’ve ever seen. She looks great when she’s all moody and sharp, but she looks downright angelic when she smiles. I can almost hear Gabriel himself twanging on his harp.

“It’s a network.” I state the obvious in an attempt to disguise the fact that all of my brain power is focused on the small dimple that appears only in her left cheek.

She nods, her cheeks flooding with tawny copper. I wrench my eyes away, forcing myself to focus on the screen.

“Show me that bottom one with the brown hair.” I take a step closer behind her to get a better look.

“This one?” She clicks on the wrong one, bringing up a list of authorization and entry data.

“No, here.” Without thinking, I reach my arm around her and use the touchpad to go back and select the image I had been referring to. I find myself suddenly brushing her shoulder blades with my chest, her sweet scent so close it’s almost overpowering.

Electricity crackles in the air surrounding us as she freezes, so thoroughly I could swear she stops breathing. My gaze falls to the soft flesh of her neck, the baby hairs there standing to attention.Fuck. I know women, and I know when a woman is attracted. I grapple with something inside, a war raging between what I know is sensible and what I want. God dammit, I want to sink to my knees, spin her around, and hook her leg over my shoulder.

“Chase.” The breathy little sound almost translates as a whimper.

“Sorry,” I manage to choke out, swiftly withdrawing from her orbit.

This is fucking insane. The last person on this planet I should have in my bed is Pepper Quinn. She hates me. More than that, she tried to sabotage everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve. And yet, it’s her warm brown eyes and sharp tongue that haunt my brain every time I take a fist to my dick in the shower.

“This one looks similar to the original.” I shove my fists deep into my pockets, looking anywhere but her warm face.