A Deal With the Devil by Louisa George

forming. “And in the middle of what could have been a dirty fight you ignored my instructions? He could have attacked you, you could have been hurt.”
    She’d just wanted to get away before things got too involved. “I … didn’t think about that.”
    “I did. Which was why I told you to wait. Why I kept you in my sights.” He shook his head as if somehow he’d been denied something that he had badly wanted. “Until you ran away.”
    And that was why Rey had acted so swiftly? He’d been protecting her when she’d thought he was just gunning to get involved in a brawl? She didn’t know how to feel about that. The last thing she wanted was his protection and yet … Damn and double damn  … she’d bowled into this whole thing with all guns blazing, without assessing, like he did, without thinking deeper than getting revenge and a bloody good headline.
    She’d thought it would be easy to betray him a second time, but it wasn’t. She’d thought it would be black and white. But where Rey was concerned there were shadows and brightness, dark and light. She hadn’t reckoned on that and now she was lost. All her convictions were challenged and she didn’t know what the hell to do. “I didn’t run. I left because I thought it was better that way.”
    “And was it?” He put his glass on the desk and regarded her, waiting for her to answer, his question so loaded with intent.
    She turned away because they both knew what he was asking. Was it better that they hadn’t kissed? That things between them hadn’t progressed. Hell, she couldn’t answer that because it was all she’d been dreaming about. A hot and restless ache. And a shocking regret that she hadn’t kissed him, just once.
    “If ever there’s a next time, listen to me and do what I say. Dealing with dangerous situations is what I do best.” Then he was moving towards her, tilting her chin up so he could see her face. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “I’ll try not to then.” Looking into his eyes, so dark and deep she saw past the control, felt the heat between them flare into beautiful vivid life. This time it was fierce and shocking in its intensity. She tried to look away but she couldn’t, her world shifting a little as she was transfixed by the promise shimmering in his molten gaze. How could she want him so much? Him, of all men. It defied logic.
    “And tell me the truth … why are you really here? In my office suite?”
    “Just doing my job.” It wasn’t a lie—she’d told too many already—she’d just been doing her other job. Her chest constricted, her words a stammer, a muddle, like her brain. “In fact, I should go. Carlos might need me.”
    “No.” A minute shake of his head. A warning. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re not telling me everything?” Again, the eyes narrowed and she felt breathless under his scrutiny. “Who are you Kate?”
    “You know who I am. I’m the same woman from the other night, the one you asked to lie for you.” The one who wanted to sleep with you, but lost her nerve at the first glimmer of danger. Adrenalin pumped through her. She wanted to tell him who she really was, to be honest, but she was scared. Scared that her feelings for him were getting in the way of her professional and personal perspective. Scared too of the ramifications of him knowing the real reason she was here. “I need to go. Carlos warned me not to disappear again. I don’t want him thinking …”
    “I don’t care what he thinks.”
    She looked down at Doyle’s hand on her wrist, surprised by the comfort of his touch, the memories mingling with new sensations until she couldn’t think of any kind of answer that made any sense. “I … have to go.”
    “What do you want, Kate?”
    She didn’t think saying I want to have sex on your desk and then break your deal of the century would go down well. Not least because she had no desire to find out what his idea of talking to someone who’d