Page 13 of The Monster’s Weakness

She swallowed. “Why?”

His eyes followed the movement of her throat.

“Because I listen,” he said.

Her breath caught, and something about the answer made her shiver. He noticed. Of course he noticed.

“You’re nervous.”

“Maybe you’re making me nervous.”

That stopped him in his tracks.

For one awful second, she thought she’d ruined everything.

His hand loosened immediately. “Do you want me to stop?”

The question was simple. No teasing now.

She looked at their hands, and turned her hand beneath his and threaded their fingers together. His eyes dropped to them.

“No,” she said.

When he looked back at her, the intensity there stole the rest of her breath.

“No,” she repeated, quieter. “I really don’t.”

****

Her fingers slid between his, that was all she did. A small, trusting movement. Almost absentmindedly intimate.

And his entire fucking body reacted to it. Her hand was delicate inside his. He could feel her pulse where their wrists touched. Faster than it had been a minute ago. His wasn’t much better. Ridiculous. He’d stood two feet from men who wanted him dead and felt less adrenaline than he did holding her hand across a table.

She gave his fingers a tiny squeeze.

His jaw tightened. Fuck, he wanted her.

That might have been the most dangerous realization he’d had in years. In only a few months she’d become his obsession.

He liked the way she teased him when everyone else instinctively gave him space. Liked the little crease between her eyebrows when she was concentrating. She was a breath of fresh air in a life that had been stagnant.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked. “Your last name. Reyes.”

His gaze returned to her face.

“Yeah?”

“Spanish?”

“Hispanic.”

“I figured.” Her head tilted slightly. “What’s your family background?”

For a second, he simply watched her. There were questions he was accustomed to answering with lies. His identity had always been hidden. His past erased. But this question was harmless. He told her where his family was from.

Her expression brightened with genuine interest. “Do you speak Spanish?”

“Yes.”