“Say it is real. This… deal. It’s as dead as Macon without my signature.”

“Maybe. That’s why my boss has kept me in.”

“In me, you mean.” I closed my eyes, shook my head. “This started when you came to the wake. You admitted you were there for Marshall. The goal then was to fuck me to… what, sign the land contract, right?”

I saw him wince.

I took a deep breath, let it out, tried not to cry. God, this man pulled every emotion from me. I felt things. So many things with him and not all of them were good. He could somehow heal me of old wounds one minute and destroy me with new ones the next.

“But that wasn’t all. You came back for more for your other boss. The FBI.” I sniffed. “Wow, the bed was more crowded than I thought last night.”

He groaned, rubbed his beard. “Marshall sent me to the wake and told me to fuck you for answers. Since Macon was dead, he was out millions on that land purchase and needed to know if you’d still buy it.”

I didn’t expect him to actually admit it.

He took a step toward me, and I stepped back.

“The moment I saw you coming down those stairs at the wake, everything changed.”

“So you didn’t want to fuck me. Could’ve fooled me.”

Tears lodged in my throat and I swallowed hard.

“That was what I was told to do. Not what I was going to do. We’re a little alike, aren’t we?”

I pursed my lips. “I have no idea how.” I took in his rugged physique and I felt so small in comparison.

“We had orders to fuck to get others what they wanted.”

“The difference is that Texas oil tycoon wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.”

I thought I heard him growl. “I want that asshole’s name.”

Laughing, I said, “So you can beat him up?”

“Put him in jail.”

He was dead serious and that… made me feel good. But I hated him.

“Fine. You changed your mind about doing what Marshall commanded. What about your real boss at the FBI? I’m sure he—”

“She,” he corrected.

“She’s not too thrilled about you sleeping with a suspect.”

“She doesn’t know. I don’t kiss and tell.”

I studied him. Eddie stood up, went over to a bowl of water in the corner of the porch and drank sloppily.

“You are a terrible employee,” I said finally.

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No kidding. Marshall still owns a piece of land he doesn’t want and the FBI can’t connect you to any crimes.”

Jed didn’t know about the signed contract, which meant he hadn’t talked to Marshall this morning.