Free Slow Heat by Lorie O'Clare

receipt book in my purse, I think. If it’s not enough I have more cash at home.” She was pretty sure he already knew her bank accounts and credit cards had been frozen, which still had her pissed as hell.
    When Micah moved, Maggie lowered her hand, straightened, and found herself once again staring into his dark hazel eyes. Maggie held her ground, watching him.
    “Pay me when I catch whoever has put you in this situation.” That growl that had been barely audible before came out clearly this time.
    When he placed his hand over hers, closing his fingers around hers, and the cash she held, heat exploded inside her. An unbearable pressure swelled to life between her legs. Shifting her weight only caused it to grow.
    “I’ll work up a contract,” she said, and looked at his hand over hers. “We’ll make everything official.” It was impossible not to return her attention to those evasive eyes of his.
    There was still nothing to read in his dark gaze, but his lips curved slightly. They were nice lips for a man, not too full but not thin, either. A shadow spread across his jawbone, the end-of-the-day whiskers. If he kissed her, she would feel their abrasion against her skin.
    What the hell was she thinking? Maggie tried pulling her hand free of his.
    Micah’s fingers tightened around hers, preventing her freedom. But only for a moment. Her hand seemed colder than the rest of her when he finally let her go and dropped his hand to his side.
    “No contracts. No receipts. No records.”
    “But—”
    “No,” he said with finality. “Enter into a verbal agreement with me. That will require that you trust my decisions and my actions, always. A piece of paper holds a lot less value.”
    Maggie almost dropped her wallet. Her skin prickled. There was unleashed, raw lust emanating from his body. If she didn’t take the upper hand immediately, he would have her begging him to take off her clothes, ravish her, do what he wanted with her body. She tried for a deep breath. Her reaction to him had to be a result of so much relief that he’d agreed to help her out.
    “All right. We’ll do this your way. This will be a working relationship,” she told him. “I am hiring you. Contract or no, you will report your daily activities to me. I’m paying you for a service and I expect full cooperation and communication from you.”
    Maggie wasn’t prepared when he grabbed her jaw. Micah didn’t hurt her, but long, hot fingers embraced her neck, pressed against her jugular, and stroked her chin when he tilted her head back and stared down at her.
    “This will be a working relationship. But I am the one who can do this job. You will trust me, cooperate with me fully, and trust that I always have your best interest at heart. I will share with you what I can while doing my research but you will accept that I am doing everything in my power to find whoever it is who is laundering money through Club Paradise. That includes you not questioning my every action.”
    “Is this how you treat all your clients?” Maggie grabbed his wrist, not that she could pull him off her if she tried. His pulse beat strongly against her fingertips.
    “No.”
    “Why are you treating me this way?”
    “Because of the charged lust radiating off you, and me,” he said, his voice that low raspy growl again. “It’s strong enough to fog both of our thinking. I’m putting it under control right now. I believe that you think you’re innocent. I’ll find out the truth, and you’ll accept that truth once I show it to you.”
    Denying what he just said would make her a fool. Plus, something told her that if she did, he would prove her a liar. How he might do that caused a powerful throbbing inside her pussy. Moisture pooled as she looked up at him. “I need to know what you’re doing,” she insisted. Lust or no lust, she was unwilling to lose control.
    He searched her face as one of his fingers moved to the edge of her lips. Maggie fought the urge to