Free Taken by the Con by C.J. Miller

hadn’t heard from the bomb squad so they didn’t know the details of how it had detonated, but Lucia couldn’t picture Georgiana planting it. She could be protecting her employers or working for Anderson, but it seemed like a stretch.
    Then again, looks could be misleading. “Unlikely. But we have to be careful.”
    Cash grinned and pulled her tight against him. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t want to. He was a criminal working on the side of the law, he was gorgeous and silver tongued, and yet he was loyal and decent and had layers she had only begun to discover.
    “Lucia?”
    “What?” She turned her head toward him.
    “I find it sexy that you’re jealous.” Cash brought his mouth down on hers before giving her a chance to respond.
    “I am not jealous,” she said against his mouth.
    Cash laughed again and turned his full attention to a fierce, demanding kiss. Lucia slumped against him, giving in to it and giving in to him. Cash’s hands were strong and firm, and having them at her sides was both frustrating and arousing. This shouldn’t be happening, especially not in her bed.
    A knock on her front door made Lucia spring apart from Cash.
    “Lucia?”
    It was Audrey’s voice.
    Cash groaned. “If we’re quiet, she’ll leave.”
    Lucia climbed to her feet with Cash’s help. She smoothed her shirt and ran her fingers through her hair though neither was out of place. Audrey was a genius at intuiting when a man and woman were sleeping together and Lucia didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about her and Cash.
    They hadn’t slept together. Not even close. Cash had kissed her. Twice. That was the end of it.
    Lucia hobbled to the door, peered through the peephole, disabled her security system and opened her front door. Almost feeling guilty, she turned on more lights.
    Audrey looked over Lucia’s shoulder and smiled conspiratorially. “Am I interrupting something?”
    Audrey was the closest person to a friend Lucia had in DC. It was hard not to like Audrey. She was warm and outgoing. Lucia opened the door wider. “No, please come in. Audrey this is—”
    “We’ve met. On the stairs a few days ago,” Audrey said, giving Cash a once-over, her gaze lingering.
    Did every woman feel compelled to stare at or flirt with Cash? It was a wonder he had any moves. Lucia guessed women just took off their clothes and climbed into his bed, making it easy.
    Audrey faced Lucia. “I wanted to be sure you were okay and to check if you needed anything before I head out for the night.”
    Like Lucia, Audrey was a trust-fund baby, but unlike Lucia, Audrey didn’t have a full-time job. She sometimes joked her full-time job was to avoid the media whenever possible because every time her picture appeared in a gossip rag, her dad took away one of her credit cards. He almost always gave them back.
    Audrey gave Lucia a long look. “My mom saw yours today and your mom mentioned you weren’t feeling well.”
    Lucia wished her mother wouldn’t talk about her to her friends. She was concerned, but Lucia hadn’t been comfortable in her parents’ social world where everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business. A little privacy in her line of work was preferred. “I’m doing fine. I had a little accident at work. Thanks for checking. Where are you headed tonight?” she asked, not wanting to linger on the details of her “accident.”
    Audrey smiled. “A friend is taking me to the opening night at a club. Invite-only, but that could mean half the city was invited.” She laughed. It was something Lucia liked about Audrey. Though she was from money and part of DC’s elite crowd, she wasn’t pretentious.
    “It looks like you two have a super-exclusive party already going on,” Audrey said.
    “No, no, nothing here,” Lucia said. Audrey wasn’t a gossip, but Lucia didn’t want word floating back to her parents that she’d had dinner with a man. They’d question her endlessly about him and his family and his