Reminding myself that she’s related to Liam, I try to ignore everything going on in front of me with the doughnut. “Why do you say that?”
“What? That I shouldn’t be as close to Mum as I am?” She takes another bite of the doughnut and I wish like fuck that her mate Dan had closed up early tonight and I’d been unable to source the thing that’s causing a sugar-induced orgasm right in fucking front of me.
Jesus, we have to work together tonight.
Likely all fucking night.
“Yeah,” I say, gruffly.
She smiles around another bite of that damn doughnut, her eyes glued to mine, her spell over me growing to the kind of proportions that would cause her brother to cut my dick off if he was aware of it. I know this because if my sister was still alive, I’d cut a guy’s dick off if I knew he was thinking what I am right now.
The ways I’d like to remove all her clothes.
The ways I’d like to treat her to my lips.
The ways I’d dedicate hours to making her feel good.
Fuck.
“What are you thinking right now?” she asks as she finishes off her doughnut and places the box back on the desk.
“Trust me, my thoughts need to stay where they are.”
Her lips pull up at the ends, sexy as hell. “I figured that by the look in your eyes. But just so you know, I’m not against hearing those kinds of thoughts.”
Christ, I may need to rethink my preference for her directness.
“This is dangerous territory. Shit’d be a lot fucking safer if we switched back to discussing your mother.”
Those eyes of hers narrow at me again. “I’ve missed something here. Why is this dangerous territory?”
“Mostly because of your brother, but also because of Zane. My president won’t be happy if I piss either of them off, and shit happening between us will piss at least one of them off.”
Understanding dawns all over her face. “Right, gotcha, but who’s to say shit would happen between us?”
“When my thoughts all centre around how I’d like to get naked with you, and when the way you’ve been looking at me tells me you’d like to get naked with me, I’d say it’d only be a matter of time before shit happened between us.”
More of that sexy smile from her. “I like you.”
“Really? You make this kind of snap decision often?”
“Life’s short, Colt. I decide on people pretty fast, and I tend to read people well. There’s something to be said for a human who doesn’t play games, who just lays shit out honestly. I’m into it.”
“I was raised in the country. We don’t play games there. It’s straight up or fuck off. And I agree that life’s too fucking short to waste time.”
“Yep, get what you want now or get it never.”
We sit in silence for a few moments, watching each other. It’s been a while since I’ve met a woman like Echo, a woman I can imagine sitting and talking with for hours on end. There’s a sense of ease with her, which isn’t something I find with many women. Finally, I say, “Tell me why you shouldn’t be as close to your mother as you are.”
She inhales a long breath before exhaling it. “She’s decided to pack her life up and move to London. Honestly, no mother should be allowed to move across the world. There should be a law against it.”
“I see a lot of doughnuts in your future.”
She laughs and hell if it isn’t the best damn sound I’ve heard in a long time. Besides that fucking moaning she did earlier. “I think you might be right.”
Her phone sounds with a text and she checks it. Then, glancing at me, she says, “That was Liam. It looks like he and Zane are gonna be gone for a few hours now, maybe longer.” At my nod, she continues, “You can go if you want. I’ll call you once I’ve fixed the network and we can go over these files then.”
I shake my head. “I’m good here.”
“This could take me all night.”
“I know, but I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Ah, did you hear, we’re in the building that Stone Security works out of?”
“Smartass. Did you hear it can be hacked into in three minutes?”
She laughs again. “Well, to be fair, there aren’t many people who can do what I can. I think I’m safe.”
I take a moment, appreciating the hell out of her confidence. “I’ve just decided; I like you too.”
“I think we already established that the minute you told me you’d like to get naked with me.”
“No, we didn’t. All we established then was that you’re sexy.”
Her eyes flash with the kind of look that tells a man his words are appreciated. Also the kind of look that hits a man deep in the gut. “So what you’re saying is you sleep with women you don’t like.”
“Those weren’t my words, although I can see how you’d take that from what I said.”
“And there’s another thing I like in a fellow human. The ability to acknowledge shit like that. Score two to you.”
I arch a brow. “We’re keeping score?”
“Oh, Colt, surely you know a woman is always keeping a score or ticking boxes or whatever you want to call it. I mean, often it goes nowhere, but never doubt that we’re cataloguing everything.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
She turns back to her laptop. “So are you just gonna sit there and watch me all night while I work?”
I allow the smile forcing its way across my lips. “Sounds like a good use of my time.”
She looks at me with a shake of her head. Her smile matches mine. “At some point, I’ll need more coffee. Tell me you know how to use the coffee machine here.”
I cross my arms. “I don’t, but how fucking hard can it be?”
“Three boxes ticked tonight, Mr Caveman. You better watch out; you tick any more and there might be some nakedness going on that your president won’t be happy about.”
Jesus, at the rate she’s going, she’ll be proved right soon.
Thankfully, she stops talking and gets back to work.
I only sit and watch her for a couple of minutes. No fucking way can I sit and stare at her all night. Zane’s network will have no shot at getting fixed tonight if I do that.
Instead, I leave her in the surveillance room and head into the staff kitchen. As I’m exiting, I say, “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Echo is already engrossed in her work again, though, and barely acknowledges me. All I get is a nod, but I’m good with that. Those eyes of hers are far too fucking tempting. The less she shares them with me, the better.
Echo works for five hours straight. I make her three coffees in that time and she makes her way through her last two doughnuts. I kill time reading a book on my phone. I’m sitting on the couch in the kitchen doing that when she comes and finds me just after midnight.
“I thought for sure I’d find you sprawled on this couch snoring,” she says as she opens the fridge and bends to look inside.
I curve my gaze over her ass. “I don’t snore.”
Remaining bent, with her attention firmly on finding something in the fridge, she says, “What have you been doing to stay awake?”