Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
WRATH
I’m not sure what the protocol is for asking your cleaning company to go in and do some recon on a building you want to burn to the fucking ground for a piece of the insurance claim.
For all the jobs we’ve done and spearheaded, this is a new conundrum for me. I watch as Elodie and her cousin come through the door. They are not moving quite as quickly as they were last week, and I can’t help but wonder if they overdid it.
I would ask, but I don’t want to sound like an asshole, so I pretend I don’t notice.
Pushing off the bar, I move toward them. She’s wearing her sexy skintight shorts and a semi-oversized T-shirt again. She’s got a pair of white running shoes on with white socks pulled up slightly. She’s here and ready to work, even if it might be a little slower.
She begins to walk past me, but I reach out and curl my fingers around her wrist before she heads to the back of the building. I can’t believe she’d want to tackle bedrooms first. She’s a goddamn saint, is what she is.
Slowly, her gaze lifts to meet mine, and I watch as her lips part before they snap closed almost instantly. Her brows furrow together, then she arches one as she waits for whatever the fuck I’m about to hurl her way, and she would be right to brace because I am going to hurl some shit.
“Got an off-duty job I want you to do. Pays well. Partially off books, half check and half cash.”
I know my tone is gruff, maybe a little intimidating, but fuck me, I am trying to stay in fucking control. She looks at me, her eyes searching mine as if she’s trying to figure me out.
“I should say no without even hearing you out,” she states.
She should. But I can tell by the way her eyes are searching mine that she won’t. She’s curious.
I slide my thumb back and forth against her wrist, drawing small circles as my gaze stays connected to hers. Then, I watch as her sexy-as-fuck tongue peeks out and slides across her bottom lip.
Fuck.
I want to suck on that lip right goddamn now.
Biting back the simultaneous groan and moan along with a grunt that I feel deep in my gut, I don’t look away from her. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’ve never felt so fucking connected to someone as I do this woman, even though I know that I absolutely should not.
“It’s a cleaning job.”
“Cleaning?” she asks.
I hum, not sure what she’s thinking, but it’s clear she’s leaning toward a yes without me even explaining the details.
Clearing my throat, I decide that this conversation needs to move a bit fucking faster, or she’s never going to get to work, and I’m going to have to take her into my bedroom and fuck her.
And that can’t happen.
“A cleaning job. It’s a venue. I need pictures. Of everything.”
She blinks a few times and tries to take a step backward, but she fails because I don’t release my grasp on her wrist. I can’t let go of her. I’ve never felt like this before, but I want this woman close to me. I want her naked body pressed against mine. I want to be inside her. I want it all.
“Pictures?”
I hum, my eyes widening slightly, and I hope to fuck she can read what I’m saying without me having to say it. I'll make it a bit clearer. She doesn’t know exactly what we do here, so it’s not like I can spell it out completely. NDA or not, I don’t know how much I can trust her yet.
“Of everything. Ceiling, electrical boxes, floors, walls, everything.”
She presses her lips together in a thin line. “You’re asking me to do this, so I have to assume it’s illegal?”
I shake my head slowly. “You taking pictures after you’ve been hired to do a cleaning job is not illegal in the slightest. The owner will want those to prove you did the job he hired you for.”
“But it’s off-the-books cash,” she points out.
“Off my books and cash from me, and a check from the owner.”
“How much?” she asks.
“A two-thousand-dollar check from the owner, and I’ll match that in cash.”
She looks behind her, back at her cousin, then shifts her gaze back to meet my own. I wait, knowing she’s going to say yes, but I want to hear the words anyway. Then she nods once, her gaze never leaving mine.
“When?”
“Friday night. They have a small event planned, and it will be finished before ten. You’ll go in at midnight and clean, then come here when you’re finished.”
“So, like… at two in the morning?” she asks.
My lips twitch into a smirk. I can’t get enough of her. Every expression she makes is sexy as shit. “Two in the morning, babe.”
She inhales a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then lets it out slowly. “Okay,” she exhales. “We’ll do it. Just clean and take pictures.”
“Just clean and take pictures,” I confirm the job. “The owner will give you his check on Friday when he opens the building for you. My cash will be here when you’re finished.”
I hate that I’m somewhat involving Elodie in my plans, but at the same time, it’s a perfect fucking execution for what I’m going to be doing.
This will also give me a really good idea of how things like this will work out with her in the future.
I don't expect this to be the only time I ask her to do something like this.
“Okay,” she murmurs.
I let my hand fall from her wrist, even though it physically pains me to do so. I want to keep touching her. I want to kiss her, feel her warmth press against my body. I want her spread for me, in my bed.