Free DevilishlyHot by Unknown Page B

explanations. Still, it didn’t stop her.
    “Do you have a girlfriend?” Her fingers paused on the touch screen as she waited for his answer. Did she really think he couldn’t tell she was taking notes?
    He stared at her until she realized it had been several seconds, and he still hadn’t answered. She met his gaze, her eyebrow cocked as she waited.
    “Why are you asking all these questions?”
    She hesitated, then offered him a weak smile. “Just curious.”
    He leaned against the booth seat, resting his arm across the back of it, regarding her for a moment. She regarded him steadily, but he could see their shared look was making her uncomfortable.
    “You know,” he said, “you’d make a terrible spy.”
    She looked away, her cheeks tinting to a delicate pink.
    “So why are you asking all these things?” he asked again. “I’d love to believe it’s because you’re wildly attracted to me and want to know every little detail about my life, but I don’t think that’s the case. Is it?”
    Her cheeks grew rosier. She blushed easily, another thing that was very cute about her. One of the many things.
    “No, of course I’m not attracted to you,” she said glancing at him, but then she quickly looked back to her salad, using her fork to roll a cherry tomato around her plate.
    “So you just interrogate everyone?” he asked softly, not wanting to put her on the defensive. He was good at reading people; it was part of his job. And it was easy to see that Annie Lou Riddle had a wall around her. Her guard was always up as if she didn’t feel comfortable relaxing or letting anyone see too deep into her. And he was afraid if he pushed her too much, she’d simply shut down and he wouldn’t get any information at all. He didn’t want that. In fact, he’d like to see her open up to him a lot more.
    His gaze dropped to her mouth as she nibbled at her bottom lip, an action Nick found so fascinating that for a moment, he forgot he’d even asked a question.
    But then she stopped worrying her lip and straightened in her seat. “I’m just trying to make small talk.”
    He didn’t believe a word she said, and he didn’t think she did either, but he’d definitely give her an A for effort.
    “Annie, you do realize what I do for a living, right? I’m really pretty good at reading liars.”
    Instead of blushing, this time her cheeks blanched, her eyes wide with worry and indecision.
    “So why all the questions?” he asked, again keeping any confrontation from his voice.
    She toyed with her tomato again, then to his surprise, she caved.
    “I’m finding out information for Finola.”
    Finola? He shouldn’t be surprised, but he was. “Why?”
    “She asked me find out more about you.” She hesitated, worrying her lip again briefly. “Because she’s interested in you.”
    He’d been aware of Finola’s interest yesterday, but he was shocked that she would go to these lengths to find out more about him.
    “Finola White does not strike me as the kind of woman who’d really care about things like my favorite food or what season I like best. Is this really what she wanted you to find out about me?”
    “I don’t know,” Annie admitted, her tone a little desperate. “She just told me to find out everything about you. So I was just asking anything that came to mind.”
    He couldn’t help laughing, both with amusement and amazement. “And I take it you do whatever she asks.”
    “Yes, that’s my job,” she said, her tone resigned, bordering on hopeless.
    His laughter died instantly. All bosses could be demanding, but Finola’s expectations seemed to go beyond just being demanding. And he knew in his gut, past employees had paid a steep price for not doing whatever Finola demanded.
    He did not want to see Annie come to the same fate as those others. Suddenly this strange task wasn’t so funny, but a sign that others would suffer—or even die—if he didn’t figure out what was going on at this company.