“Do I get a hint?” Tara leaned out of the doorway, clutching a white blouse to her bare chest. Her teeth left indentations in her bottom lip, eyes filled with false innocence.
I took a sip of coffee, face impassive. “I told you, it’s work.”
“Am I getting paid?”
“My company is payment enough.” I set my mug in the sink, prowling to the bedroom door and sliding the blouse from her grip.
Tara stepped back. Her pulse pounding, pupils dilated, shoulders back to display every naked inch of her.
I took her by the hips, turning her so fast her palms landed on the unmade bed. “This is a cute game you’re playing, but I think you forgot who you’re dealing with.”
“And who am I dealing with?”
A growl tried to tear from my chest, and I took two sharp steps backward.
“An impatient man,” I muttered, leaving the bedroom and closing the door before she saw the pale glow of moonlight in my eyes.
This was it. The last time. It had to be. Otherwise, I didn’t know what I might do. Whathemight do.
The draw of the full moon was getting stronger, and the beast was getting stronger with it. Until it was high overhead and he could take his true form, he would be dangerous. Violent.
I couldn’t expose Tara to that. It wasn’t fair.
Then why the hell was I doing this right now?
The answer was there, just out of reach, as I opened the door to my truck. Tara climbed in, getting comfortable while I made my way to the driver’s side.
She talked as we drove down Adam Street and crossed to Washington Boulevard. Quiet, unnecessary words about the weather, the dream she had the night before, the Port O’Henry T-shirt she bought at an outrageous price from theStop N’ Shop.
I tried to listen, but my palms were sweating again. The truck motor was too loud. A familiar pressure was building at the base of my neck, making my shoulders tense.
I had the sudden feeling that the stakes had shifted—and I was on the edge of a mistake I wouldn’t come back from.
Swallowing down another growl, I turned off the road onto a concrete lot.
Tara hesitated in the passenger seat when I got out, frowning at the weeds growing through cracks in the concrete.
“There was a gas station here before the last hurricane.” I tapped my boot on a metal tank cover to demonstrate. “This property sat on the market for two years. I kept making an offer, and the previous owner kept turning me down. He didn’t know who he was dealing with, either.”
“An impatient man?” she asked, arching a brow.
I smiled darkly. “Actually, I can be incredibly patient when I want something.”
Tara crossed her arms. “And why did you want this old slab of concrete?”
“Look around,” I instructed. “What do you see?”
She glanced left and right. “Concrete and asphalt and grass that needs mowing.”
“Wrong.” I came up behind her, tilting her chin to the right and pointing up. “That’s Main Street. It leads directly to the highway. One way in, one way out. Over there,” I pointed again, “is theStop N’ Shop. One of only two gas stations and the closest to a grocery store you’ll get for twenty-two miles.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“You’re standing on a goldmine right now. By this time next year, this lot will be a shiny new retail center.”
Tara scanned the lot with a fresh sense of curiosity. “Oh my gosh, are you…smart?”
I gave her ass a playful smack, guiding her back toward the truck, “Don’t act so surprised.”