Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife (The Harder They Fall, #2)(4)

“Do you do anything friends ask you to?”

“I have this thing—” Her mouth twisted, and she didn’t elaborate.

“Thing? Explain.”

“I say yes when I’m asked to do things if I think there’s even the smallest chance I’ll get something out of it.”

She only became more and more intriguing as time went on. “Your friend asked you to come to a party with her, and you said yes because you thought you’d get something out of it?”

She nodded.

“What do you think you’ll get out of being here tonight?”

“That’s yet to be determined.” She uncrossed and crossed her legs again. “Friend isn’t really the right word for Kara anyway. We temped together last year, and we still hang out every once in a while.”

“Kara? Small, red dress?”

“Mmhmm. Do you know her?”

“No.”

“Oh.” She huffed lightly. “Well—”

“That’s what you do? You’re a temp?”

By the nature of their job, I never had a chance to get to know my temporary employees, though I was certain we employed them from time to time. I was also certain they did not look anything like Sasha.

She waved her hand around. “I’m not ready to settle into a career, much to my mother’s displeasure. I’ve tried it, and it didn’t suit. I get bored easily.”

I related to that on a visceral level. “It sounds like you haven’t found the right career.”

Her full mouth tipped into a tepid little smile. “I like things temporary. It makes life more exciting. What about you, though?”

“What about me?”

She gestured to me then my boots piled on the floor. “By the looks of you—the Rolex on your wrist and Tom Ford boots you kicked off—you have money and a good deal of it. My guesses are a trust fund baby, a foreign prince, some bigshot CEO, or a Mafia don.”

I lifted an eyebrow, amused by her guesses, especially with how close she was to her target. “Which one do you want me to be?”

She hummed and tapped her cheek with her forefinger. “CEOs and trust fund babies are a dime a dozen. You don’t have the right accent to be a foreign prince.” Her eyes flicked over me. “The all-black clothing gives you a sort of villainous edge, so I’ll go with Mafia don. Am I right?”

Leaning forward, my elbows on my knees, I leveled her with a hard, unflinching stare. “If I told you…well, you know the rest.”

“Yeah, yeah. Death, destruction, that kind of thing.” Her lips curved into a sexy, amused grin. “Can we circle back to Kara? You don’t know her?”

“I don’t. I had the pleasure of being eye-fucked by her before I retreated in here.”

Laughter floated like bubbles on a clear, blue sky. “That sounds like her, although she came for this other guy, so I’m surprised she was hitting on you since she seemed so into him.”

“Vin?”

“Yes, that’s his name. Vincent. I spilled wine on my dress to give them alone time while I cleaned up. I’m hiding in here now because when I came out of the bathroom, Kara looked like she was going to murder me.”

I scrubbed at the scruff on my jaw. “You...purposely spilled wine on yourself for the sake of someone who’s not even a good friend?”

She lifted an elegant shoulder. I wanted to press my mouth there to see how smooth her fine skin was. “It isn’t a huge deal to me. The dress is dry-cleanable.”

“Why not leave instead?”

“I promised I’d stay.”

“That simple?”

“Well, that and I fell asleep in here. If you know the owner, don’t tell him.” She picked up the blanket and waved it around. “I kind of pulled this down from the window. I think the blinds are broken, so I feel bad, but also, he should invest in more blankets. Who only has one throw blanket? Then again, maybe he spent his fortune on art and concrete slabs and this one puny blanket is all he can afford. In which case, I feel doubly guilty since I ripped the corner a little.”

I had to laugh, and that was when I noticed the ache in my head had all but vanished. I could have given credit to the beer and pizza, but I seriously wondered if some of it had to do with this pretty blonde who continued to surprise me each time she opened her mouth.

“I’ll make a note of it,” I quipped.

She froze as she tucked her long hair behind one ear and her soft-brown eyes rounded. “Oh shit. Is this your place? Have you been humoring me to keep me here until the cops show up to arrest me?”

“Why would you think that?”

Her hand fell to her lap, where she twisted her fingers into knots. “Which part? That you’re the owner or that you called the cops?”

“Either. Both. You sound experienced with having the police called on you. Should I worry I’m alone with a criminal?”

“I’ve only been arrested once, and the charges were dropped. It was a nonviolent crime, so you’re safe.” Her eyes narrowed, and she actually did seem worried. “You never did answer my questions.”

I snagged the blanket from her lap, examining the corner, which was in tatters. Then I put her out of her misery. “Yes, this is my place, and no, I didn’t call the cops. As long as you don’t steal anything besides my pizza and some crackers, I doubt I will.”