Chapter 14 · The Contract Under Her Skin

Ivy didn't let him breathe. The second they were inside the safe house she shoved him against the wall, forearm across his chest, and her eyes were done with his bullshit.

"You knew."

Cole kept his hands loose at his sides. Didn't push back. "Knew what?"

"Where the shot was coming from. The exact second. You moved before the scope flare." Her voice was steady but her pupils were blown wide, adrenaline still cooking through her. "You've done this before."

"I'm good at my job."

"Don't." She leaned in and he could smell the dust and sweat on her, the sharp antiseptic from the med kit still on her fingers. "I've worked with good. You're something else. You said my name like you were afraid I'd forget yours."

His throat locked up. Eighty-three loops and she'd never pushed this hard. Usually she was too busy staying alive. This time she'd lived past dusk and now she had time to think, time to feel the shape of what was wrong.

"Ivy—"

"How many times?"

He looked at her. Really looked. There were freckles across her nose he'd memorized in loop forty-seven.