Her laugh is light. “Um, o-kay. I guess I should thank you?”
“Oh, it was definitely a compliment. It makes me that much more anxious to uncover all your parts.”
I step in closer to her. She doesn’t move away; she stands her ground, which is a huge turn-on for me. I like that she’s willing, openly interested. I like that she doesn’t try to pretend otherwise, like so many women do. It’s boring and childish. And it’s false. Most women want to be talked into it, eased into it, as if they’re being coerced. It soothes their conscience, I guess. God forbid they take the situation by the balls and have fun with it. But I think Marissa will. She’ll give in. And she’ll like it. And I’d say she’s woman enough that she won’t make any excuses for wanting it.
“They’re just parts, like any other woman’s,” she replies breathily, trying to be casual.
“I’d be willing to bet your parts are exceptional. In fact, now might be a good time to warn you that if we come back to this library, I’ll find out for myself. In this very spot. I’ll push you up against the books in the corner and I’ll put my hands on you. I’ll do things to you. In the quiet. And you won’t be able to make a sound. Not a whimper, not a moan. You’ll have to bite your lip to keep it all inside. And you know what?” I ask, reaching up to trace my index finger along her full, trembling lower lip.
“What?” she whispers, her pupils two dilated dots of excitement.
“You’ll love every second of it.”
With a wicked grin, I take the books from her arms and turn to walk back the way I came.
SIX
Marissa
As I watch Cash pull away from the curb with Nash in the passenger seat, I can’t help but feel a bit breathless when his eyes meet mine through the glass of the window. He doesn’t smile. Or wink. Or flirt. He just watches me, intently. I feel like I’m snapping out of a hot, sticky spell when Olivia speaks from behind me.
“So, how’d the research go?”
I turn to look at her. She kicked off her shoes and poured us each a Coke as soon as she came through the door from school. Now she’s curled up on the couch, watching me with the hint of a smile lurking around her lips.
“Very well, actually,” I respond, walking over to sit on the opposite end of the couch.
And it did. Despite the rising sexual tension between us, Nash was helpful. He’s so sharp and catches on so quickly, it makes me wonder if he didn’t do some light law-book reading while he was . . . wherever he was.
“What’d you find out?”
“Even though we had to give up the original accounting ledgers, there might still be a RICO case against them. This might be a way around them, so we don’t have to worry about Duffy helping us get the ledgers back. If we could get Duffy to testify, we might really have a shot. Of course, I’d want someone who knows a lot more about this type of case than me to go over everything before we show our hand.”
“Do you know someone you can trust with something this big?”
I smile when I think how handy it was that I ran into Jensen at the library. He might be just the person I could go to for help. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Oooh, that smile looks juicy. Can I get some details?”
I wave my hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that I ran into a guy I know at the library. He works for the DA. He sort of asked me out. Pretty amazing coincidence, don’t you think?”
“Sure is.” Olivia nods but says nothing else for a few seconds. She clears her throat. “So, did, uh, Nash meet this guy?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And what? I tried to introduce him, but I started to bungle it, so he took care of it. Introduced himself as Cash. He had to since he couldn’t be sure at the time that Jensen didn’t know Cash as Nash. Good call on his part.”
“And he’s okay with all this?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I just now thought of it. But why wouldn’t he be?”
It’s Olivia’s turn to shrug. “I just get the impression that he might find you . . . interesting. I didn’t know how he’d view competition.”
A little thrill races down my spine that Olivia picked up on it. I know it’s there, but for some reason I like that he’s not able to completely hide it from everyone else. Because I know he tries. It makes me feel like his control might not be bulletproof. I guess it’s every girl’s dream to be a man’s one true weakness. But that’s just an egotistical dream because, in reality, I doubt any woman will ever be a weakness for a guy like Nash. The destruction of someone like him usually comes from within.
“I don’t think Nash sees anyone as competition.”
Olivia laughs. “That’s probably true. He’s pretty confident, even though he’s got that . . . rough edge.”
“Yes, he certainly is. And yes, he’s definitely . . . rough.”
And I’m just crazy enough to be completely and utterly drawn to it.
“Cash has had some big blows over the years, but I can definitely see why Nash would be bitter, why he had to develop those rough edges. I mean the guy was practically exiled. As a teenager. And after witnessing the murder of his mother, no less.”
“And that seems so strange to me.”
“What does?”
“That their father would send Nash away like that, but let Cash pretend to be him. What possible purpose could that serve? It sounds just plain mean.”
“Well, at the time that he sent Nash away, Cash playing both boys wasn’t part of the plan. He sent Nash away to protect him. And the evidence. Not only was he an eyewitness, but he had a very valuable piece of the puzzle on his phone. I guess their dad was doing his best to play it safe until he could figure out what to do. But then he went to prison. And Cash ended up playing both brothers so that his father wouldn’t go down for the murder of his mother and his brother. And by the time Cash started the deception, he couldn’t really talk to his father about it in prison. All those conversations are monitored.”
“Do you think Cash was ever in any real danger?”
Olivia shrugs. “I don’t know, but it sounds like these . . . people never knew Nash witnessed the crime or had the video, so I’d say not. But I guess he could’ve been, had they ever found out somehow. I can see how things got so crazy. There was so much going on, and so many questions. I guess their father just did the best he could for his family, and they all had to live with the consequences. It’s hard to tell what any of us would do in a situation like that. Cash finds out his mother and brother were killed and the murder was being blamed on his father, who is then carted off to prison. For Nash, he was nearly blown to bits and was the only real witness to the murder of his mother. He got banished from everything and everyone he’s ever known. And for their father, he lost his wife, got framed for her murder, and had to send one of his sons away in an effort to keep him safe. Or so he thought at the time. It’s like a comedy of errors. Only there’s nothing funny about it.”