Page 38 of Himbo Hitman
He makes a smacking sound with his lips. “Any chance of some water? I’m parched.”
“You’re handcuffed.”
“Sippy cup, maybe?”
Not for the first time in the last few weeks, I’m struggling to believe this is real and not an elaborate dream. And considering it’s a choice between talking to him some more or getting him the water to make him shut up, I go for the second option.
Without a word, I cross to my wet bar, fill a cup with water and ice, and then after a second add a straw.
Then I carry it back to him.
I’m about to hand it over when I realize that without hands,there’s only one option. I heave a sigh and lift the glass until the straw is right by his lips. “Drink.”
I try to sound snappish and fucking fail because at that moment, Perry wraps his lips around the straw. He’s so close, so suddenly, and his presence overrides every other thought in my head. His face is dusted with stubble, his large eyes are framed by dark lashes, and the thick black hair that flops over his head looks like it would be soft to touch.
Being attracted to the guy who tried to kill me feels like one more fuck you from the universe, so instead, I try to focus on his flaws.
Like the messy eyebrows. His too-big nose. The way he apparently fumbles through life, which is not at all endearing and would get annoying after a while. That he wears a child’s bracelet …
Shit. I can’t make myself hate any of those things.
Perry’s eyes flick up to meet mine, and between that and the way he’s sucking on the straw, a burning starts deep in my gut. All I can picture is those lips stretching wider as they sucked on something else.
“That’s enough.”
I yank the drink away and set it back on the table. If Colin could see me lusting after this guy, he’d force me to get a full medical checkup and take a week’s break. Lack of sleep really does lead to shitty choices.
“Thanks,” he says like none of this is anything out of the ordinary.
I don’t answer him.
“No chance you have snacks up here? Only, it’s supposed to be my break time?—”
“No snacks.”
“I’ll take a chocolate bar. Salted nuts …”
“I said there’s no snacks.”
He puffs his cheeks up with air and lets it all out again. “Bummer.”
“Bummer?” I lean against my desk, still looking down at him,less shocked at how his brain works and more curious. “Maybe it’s me, but you don’t appear worried at all.”
“Why would I be worried?”
“Because someone wants you dead.”
“We don’t know for sure it was me they were after.”
“Wedoknow it’s you they were after.”
“Potato, pot-ah-to.”
“That doesn’t apply here when you were the only one there and you were the one the bullet almost hit.”
To my surprise, Perry’s lips twitch higher, and he lets out a soft laugh. “Can’t say that’s not comforting.”
“Not the word I’d use.”