Testing The Boss(9)

He turned those blue eyes back to her without answering. “What about you? You going back to Texas first chance you get?”

“You know it.” Evelyn took a deep swig of her water. “I was making a difference down there.”

“Until you were shot.”

Tension crept through her muscles. “Why bother asking questions if you already know the answers?” she snapped at him.

“Because sometimes reactions say more than words ever could.”

She tightened her lips. “So did you get the reaction you wanted then?”

“More of one than I was expecting. I kind of thought you were a robot. It’s nice to see that you’re more normal than I thought.”

She snorted. “Normal because I don’t like being shot?”

“Normal because you’re pissed off you were shot. I imagine I’d feel the same.”

“You have no idea.” She doubted Luke had ever felt as powerless as she had those terrifying few moments after the bullet ripped through her thigh. Knowing she was trapped and that if she moaned in any way or breathed too deeply, the next bullet would be going through her head.

She ate the rest of her meal in silence as she tried to push the painful memories away. There was no point living in the past. She chose to live for the present. Or rather, the future. The future without Luke Devereaux in it.

“So do you work out a lot?” Luke downed the last of his water bottle.

She’d always enjoyed exercise, but she’d taken that love to a whole new level during her recovery process. The faster she was back to one hundred percent, the better chance she had of being transferred out of the white-collar division. “Every day,” she told Luke.

“Well, we’re done with dinner and there’s still no call. Do I have your permission to go home or are we going to work out together?”

Evelyn stiffened. Seeing as how her workout equipment was all at her apartment, she’d rather avoid that scenario. But if she backed down now and let him take that call alone, she’d be admitting that she didn’t need to be here full-time. That she could let things keep playing out like they had been.

But she wasn’t about to do that. She was here to make sure this investigation got wrapped up. To make sure the Thirteen Stars were completely disbanded and held accountable, so she could get back to where she belonged. So she wasn’t about to admit defeat here and now on her first day with Luke.

“You don’t want to work out with me,” she warned.

He leaned forward and she realized that she’d made a horrible mistake. “Oh really? Think I can’t handle it?”

Great. Now she’d activated his competitive side. “Oh, I think you can handle it. Far away from me, though.”

“So I’m free for the night?”

“No! I’m going to be there for the damn phone call, Luke.”

“So we are working out together?” She opened her mouth to say no again, but he cut her off. “Because you normally work out right now and we’ve got nothing better to do. Unless you have any bright ideas?”

She had at least fifty reasons why she didn’t want to work out with Luke, and every single one had to do with not wanting him in her space. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “You don’t even have workout clothes with you,” she settled on.

He held up his duffel. “I always have workout clothes with me. I have a treadmill in my office.”

“We’re not working out,” she repeated.

He cocked his head and considered her for a moment. “Do I make you uncomfortable, Agent Price?”

Those blue eyes were on her like a spotlight and she racked her brain for a good lie. Because he did make her uncomfortable. Incredibly, intensely uncomfortable in the worst way. “Of course not.”

“Then give me the address and we’ll go.”

“You’re not a member of my gym.”

“I’m a member of whatever gym I want to be. You just give me three minutes alone with the manager and I’ll be in.”

She snorted. “I doubt that. I’m the manager. I have a home gym.”

“The exclusive club Evelyn? Well, now I really want to go.”





CHAPTER FOUR


So maybe her competitive streak was starting to be a problem. Evelyn twisted the key in the door to her building. Luke was eerily quiet behind her as she stepped into the old walk-up complex, but she figured there was nothing to say. He was taking too much joy in getting this personal look into her life.

She didn’t break the silence as they made their way up the three flights of stairs to her studio. Not that there was anything too shocking about her living conditions, but it was still hard to have one of the richest men in the city seeing the small space she was able to afford. If she’d been willing to room with one of the other agents, she could’ve been in a nicer neighborhood or had the kind of apartment that guaranteed at least five minutes of warm water in the morning, but she liked her privacy.