Wicked Pleasure

Holy shit.

AJ leaned her forehead against the cool glass, trying to catch her breath.

It had been way too long since she’d had her world rocked, that was for damn sure.

“Still think I talk too much?”

She bit her lip against the wayward smile trying to escape as she turned to face him, her shoulders resting against the window. He didn’t need any encouragement. “Only during the non-sex parts of our acquaintance.”

His answering grin stole her breath. Liam Kearney had one hell of a smile. It was a little disorienting when he weaponized it like that, and it threw her off. Otherwise she definitely would have moved before he braced his hands on the glass on either side of her head. At the very least, she would have turned her head when he leaned in and captured her lips in a slow, deep kiss that melted her, softening her knees to the point she had to grab on to his shoulders to keep from liquefying and sliding down the window.

When he finally pulled back, AJ’s chest constricted as their eyes met. The intimacy of the moment quaked through her, far more intense than anything that had preceded it. This time when her heartbeat picked up, it had an edge of panic to it. Her hands slipped off his shoulders, but he didn’t back up.

“Next time we do this, let’s make sure I’m not hosting a party I have to get back to.”

He was too close. People saw too much when they were this close.

“Yeah, you have shit for timing,” AJ agreed, ignoring the reference to next time. Because there was no next time for them. Hell, with every second that ticked by, she was more and more convinced there shouldn’t have been a this time.

“I’m going to shower.” He dropped a kiss on her shoulder before he straightened up. “You’re welcome to join me.”

She shimmied her dress back down her thighs. “Yeah. I need a minute first. I don’t think I can walk yet.”

The compliment earned her a smug chuckle as he unhooked his cuff links with deft, economical movements that said he’d done the same thing countless times before. “If you promise not to take too long, I’ll save you a spot,” he teased.

That was the moment AJ realized just how very fucked she was.

Because she wanted to follow him.

In that moment, it didn’t matter that she’d risked everything she had getting into this party. If she didn’t get the hell out of the mansion that Cybercore built as soon as possible, this unsanctioned mission might end up harming Whitfield Industries more than it helped.

Liam Kearney was a kingpin of the tech industry. Her hacked invitation wouldn’t go unnoticed forever. He was too smart for that.

The sound of the shower flipping on drew her attention.

AJ pushed down the resurgence of lust and the even more inconvenient pang of...longing?

Finish the job, she reminded herself.

AJ grabbed her satin purse and headed for the bedroom door, keeping her eyes stubbornly forward as she passed his en suite. She paused only twice as she fled from his house, once to grab her motion sensor from the baseboard in the hallway, and the second time to shoot a quick text to her getaway man—a cabbie who’d jumped at the grand she’d offered to drive her to this shindig and wait until she was ready to bail. AJ pushed through the imposing front door and she was relieved to see the yellow car pull into view as she hurried down to the end of the massive driveway.

AJ slowed as she approached the heavy security presence. She’d been hoping that would have thinned out a bit once the revelry got underway. Keeping her head down, she tried to blend in with the trickle of guests who were mulling about near the big gate, smoking.