“But are they criminal masterminds?” Her voice was laced with intrigue.
“Maybe. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Probably not.”
“Oh, I bet they are,” she said. “Most of the time, the cops get it right. They just don’t always get the bad guys. Of course, that depends on how you define ‘bad guy.’” She leaned back in her seat, looking almost smug.
I frowned, the idea that Evan might end up behind bars was undeniably disturbing. But at the same time, the idea that he was cool enough and smart enough to avoid that net … well, I couldn’t deny that just thinking about it got my blood pumping. Like playing chicken on the train tracks or surfing on the roof of a car. Or even like snagging a pair of crappy earrings from Neiman Marcus.
She laughed. “Oh, man, the look on your face. You are so busted.”
I grimaced, but I didn’t deny.
“At any rate,” Kat continued, “all of this is beside the point.”
“I’ve completely forgotten what the point is.”
“The point is that you have to go for it. If you’re really moving to Washington—and I know the way you are with your dad, so I’m not even going to try to talk you out of it—then you need to go for it.”
“Go for it, as in what?” I asked, even though I knew damn well what she meant—and was only a hairsbreadth away from agreeing.
“Take a chance, Angie. You don’t have to be in Washington for a few more weeks, right? So work your magic and get Evan in your bed. If you don’t do it once, you’re going to regret it forever.”
She was right. Not only would I regret it, but I wasn’t sure that I could get through the next few weeks. That I could keep myself pulled together as I moved through the condo that had once been so full of Jahn’s laughter and conversation. As I packed to move to a city I didn’t want to live in for a job I wasn’t sure I’d even like, but that I knew Gracie would have loved.
The nightmares would return in full force. Hell, I could already feel them poking at me, like jabs from behind a dark curtain.
Could I take three weeks of this without needing to break free?
I could if I was in Evan’s arms—I was certain of it.
Without him, though …
Without him, I was terrified of simply crashing.
But that wasn’t the only reason that Kat’s proposal enticed me. The truth was, I simply wanted the man. Wanted him, and was certain that he wanted me, too.
I remembered the way I’d felt when he’d stood close to me in the elevator, the way the air had vibrated between us. The scent of him. The presence of him.
And then I remembered the way he’d shut me down. The way he’d shut us both down.
I shook my head. “I don’t know …”
“What’s not to know? It’s not like you’re going to get arrested—though you may end up on a surveillance tape.”
“Oh, like that’s an enticement?”
She ignored my half-assed protest. “And since he’s already said no once, if he says it again, you’re in the exact same place. And if he says yes, you’re golden, right? I mean, honestly, Angie, what have you got to lose?”
I remembered the feel of his hands upon me in the alley, the way my body had fired and opened to him.
I remembered the smell of cocoa when he handed me the mug, and how the soft glow in his eyes had warmed me even more than the liquid. I remembered the way I’d come awake the next morning, clear and crisp and nightmare free.
What did I have to lose?
That was easy—nothing.
Nothing, that is, except my heart.