His eyes assessed her from head to toe. “It’s been a crazy evening. Let me be the gentleman here and make sure you get all the way home.”
“I’m feeling much better. The water and the crackers helped. Ben was very thoughtful.”
The elevator doors opened. “Humor me,” Griffin said, gesturing for Marin to precede him in.
“Your friends are very nice.” She pushed the button for the top floor.
“Mmm-hmm. I can’t imagine any other two people I’d want to have my back.”
His words caught her off guard after the earlier razzing among the men, but they didn’t surprise her. Griffin’s actions tonight had been those of a man with a good heart. She was having trouble reconciling that man with the one he was rumored to be.
The doors opened, and he followed her across the hall to her apartment. Marin steeled herself for his reaction as she turned the key. She opened the door to reveal a panoramic view of Washington, DC in all its nighttime glory. Griffin was silent behind her. She dropped her backpack on a Louis the XV chair she and her mother had restored after Hurricane Katrina.
“Wow,” he finally said, his tone slightly awestruck as he took in not only the view but the room full of antiques and rare treasures she’d collected over the years. “This place is… amazing.”
“My grandfather and I share a love of art and antiquities,” she explained. “He’s helped me to make some great finds.”
He walked deeper into the room, his keen gaze darting here and there. The critical way in which he seemed to be cataloging everything in the room told her he’d forever see her as the spoiled little rich girl who got her job through nepotism and not the accomplished chef that she was.Just like everyone else saw her.
“We never finished our conversation from earlier,” she said, trying to divert his attention. “You were going to tell me why taking you to my cousin’s wedding was doing you a favor.”
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah. Well… I’m thinking of getting out of the Secret Service in the next year or so. My goal is to work in private security. I know the Chevalier hotel chain has one of the best security reputations in the world. I thought if I took you to the wedding, you’d do me the favor of introducing me to someone within the organization. You know, get the ball rolling for when I do leave government service.”
At least he was honest.Griffin was using her to further his career. Had that been his intent when he got involved with the president’s daughter-in-law? To further his career? Was Griffin that Machiavellian? Of course, she would be using him if she took him to the wedding. Ava would be insanely jealous if Marin showed up with a man twice as handsome as the groom. It would certainly be a boon to Marin’s ego.
Except…
She’d felt thatsomethingagain tonight. When he’d looked at her on the subway platform telling her his name, she’d thought he’d meant it as something more. And Marin wanted something more. She told herself she wanted that something from any man who’d see her for who she was and not who her family was. But she realized she was lying. She wanted thatsomethingfrom Special Agent Griffin Keller. And that was the most frustrating thing of all. Because he didn’t deserve her. Even if he did rescue damsels from fires or subway stabbings.
“Can I think about your proposal?”
He seemed startled by her words.Serves him right.
“Of course.”
He stepped over to where she was standing and lifted his hands to her shoulders. Marin wanted to shove him away, but her traitorous body reveled in the warmth of his fingers.
“Anika has a fighting chance because of you. She’s lucky you were standing next to her.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest.”
And with that, he was gone.
* * *
Griffin climbed into the backseat of Adam’s Rav-4.
“You didn’t tell me she was hot,” Ben said as Adam maneuvered the car away from the curb. “I mean in a Marilyn Monroe kind of way.”
“She’s got that whole innocent wholesomeness thing going on,” Adam added.
“She’s not,” Griffin snapped.
Ben glanced over his shoulder at him, a perplexed look on his face. “You don’t think she’s hot?”
“She’s not fucking innocent.” He pounded his fist on the seat. “Her place is full of expensive artwork. She’s a freaking art connoisseur. One who’d knowexactlywhat to steal from the White House.”
Griffin was so close to busting this case wide open; he could taste it. Unfortunately, he could also still taste Marin’s skin on his lips. Despite his suspicions of her, he couldn’t seem to stop his body from craving more of her.All of her.
None of it made sense. This potent pull between him and Marin had to be screwing with Griffin’s mind. The woman had sat and cried beside an injured girl she’d never met. She wasprayingfor her. It had to all be an act because, in Griffin’s experience, there was no honor among thieves. No hearts either.