Sunshine burns into my eyes, waking me from a deep slumber. I blink rapidly and groan when I realize how damned hot it is in here. It takes me a good minute to realize the reason it’s hot is because there’s a big, hard body wrapped around mine. My eyes pop open and I gasp. Raide. I’m in bed with Raide. I slept with Raide. Oh dear Lord. This is bad. Very, very bad.
I try to shift out of his hold, but he’s got his arm around my middle, large chest pressed to my back. One of his legs is tangled with mine. Dammit. I start with his arm first, gently lifting it and attempting to push it off, but it quickly tightens and hauls my body closer to his. Shit. “Thought it was supposed to be the man who snuck out,” he rumbles into my ear. I shiver all over.
“I, ah, I need to pee.” Such a liar.
“Mmmmm,” he mumbles.
I push out of his arms and swing my legs over the side of the massive bed. My ankle is throbbing and I have to hobble the entire way to the bathroom. When I’m in, I shut the door and press myself against it, clenching my eyes shut. What’s wrong with me? I had one job: to bring him in. How did it get so messy? I rub my eyes, trying to fight back the guilt and heavy disappointment lying on my chest.
I’m a failure.
If Don ever found out—God, if my dad ever found out! They’d be so let down. It shouldn’t have come to this, and yet I can’t make myself regret what happened last night with Raide. I can’t stop thinking about his body, his mouth, the way he made me feel. I swallow back the tears threatening to spill over, and force myself toward the sink. I’ve screwed up, but I can fix it. I’m in the perfect position to bring Raide in.
I just have to make the call.
Something angry twists in my chest, and I realize it’s pain. What is wrong with me? I shouldn’t be feeling sorry for a man who is possibly a murderer. Who am I kidding? I know he’s not a damned murderer. I don’t know how I know this, but I just do. Something deep lies behind Raide’s story, but that’s not up to me to decide. It’s up to a judge and a courtroom, and my only job is to get him there.
I wash up, trying to avoid thinking about anything else but finishing this job so I can move on.
I avoid Raide’s eyes as I rush back out into the room, dressing and gathering anything that I left behind. I find my phone and realize it’s dead. Just great. I’ll have to go into work and call it in that way. If Raide will be here for the next hour, it won’t be hard. I’d hoped to be there for the takedown to make sure it went smoothly, but maybe it’s better if I’m not. I don’t know if I could bear it.
“You always run out on men without even a good morning?” he murmurs from the bed.
I don’t look at him. I can’t.
“I, ah, I have to work this morning.” Liar.
“Right,” he mutters.
Swallow back the pain, Grace. Do your job. This is your choice. This is your career. This is what you signed up for. If you can’t hack it, you shouldn’t have fought for it.
I don’t realize I’m crying until warm arms circle around my waist and soft, sweet lips hit my neck. “Baby,” he murmurs.
God dammit. One word, and he’s crushing my soul. “I have to go,” I whisper.
“Why?”
“I told you why.”
He spins me around gently and pins me with eyes I just want to forget. I don’t want him to look at me like that. I don’t want him to think I’m someone he can have.
He tilts his head to the side and studies me. “There a reason you’re crying?”
“I, ah—” I swallow. “No.”
“Was it that bad?”
I laugh softly. “No, it was amazing.”
“Come away with me, Gracie.”
God. Stop saying my name. Just stop. “I can’t.”
“A few days, to get to know each other.”
My heart lurches. A few days away with Raide. What I’d do for a few damned days away with Raide.
“I can’t,” I croak.
He reaches up, running a thumb over the tear dripping down my cheek. “I don’t know you, Gracie, and you don’t know me—but what I do know is there have been few women in my life who make me both angry and happy at the same time.”
“I make you angry?”
He smiles, and dammit if I don’t want to melt into him. “Yeah, you piss me right off. Yet, at the same time, I want every single part of you. Can’t get you out of my head, lady, no matter how hard I try.”
I clench my jaw.
“You challenge me.”
I swallow.
“I like that.”
Oh shit.
“You make me want to put you over my knee.”
My bottom lip trembles.
“I fuckin’ like that.”
“Raide,” I whisper.
“Come away with me, Gracie.”
“No.”
“Baby.”
I step back. “No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
I let my eyes dart around the room, trying to find something, anything. “I don’t know you.” It’s the best I’ve got.
“So?”
“So you could be anyone, Raide. I don’t know anything about you.”