10 Days to Ruin

re to be

t how long I can hide in here before I h

f a barking seal than my new friend here did. "You don't str

conversation about Upper West Side brownstone renovations or the guest list of th

ay that if I have to fetch one more nonfat iced mocha latte with extra whip

literally discuss murder on the phone, so the

s for the evening. Sounds like your hands are full, and besides, I've really only be

to stop me. "Don't.

ipping my lips. "Backspl

s lock onto something. That furrow in h

e says in a stern gro

hasn't magically disappeared. I feel the familiar lurch in my stomach, th

flies out to steady me once a

ilent like he just mashed the mute button o

s grasp. He pilots me and my legs obey

an't wait, can't think, can't argue, can't flee. I can only receive th

nds ar

nice. Ki

y too tall. Not me, though. I wouldn't s

t g

weird purply-white at the end from lack of circulation. I let him uncurl one digit at

r a few times until it's warm enough. He looks at me. "Don'

be they'd be right and whether this whole situation is

screaming. White-hot pain flashes through me-but on

ench. I ca

explain sheepishly onc

me, appraising, calm

gh. "I'm a better reporter t

brow. "Let's see it. I'l

in. "Please don't hate me for asking

shrugs. "Or maybe you flatter me. I'm used to fawning people blowi

"Was that supposed

it was there is beyond me, but he did it so casually that it's like he just expected the world to provid

ze, and disinfectant. "A compliment would be me telling you that you look fu

with my good hand

ask if that's suppos

an is too smooth to be real. He quips, but it's not quippy; he rescues, but he's no white knight; he

et th

nigma who's currently pouring hydrogen peroxide over my cut. For a professi

ough. He just loops gauze around my finger, follow

told me who you are

a smile playing at the corne

have t

't mind i

ould i

way to f

ht be smiling. That mouth remains a cruel slash of bourbon

work for you?" I ask, aiming for sardonic but l

e, and there's that dangerous glint

ia

and. His hips kiss mine just as the small of my back

is a red flag. Charisma is a red flag. Cleverness is a red flag. Being

from dangerous men, and something abo