She nods in agreement. After swallowing the aspirin, she puts her head back on the pillow. “You’re not staying?” she asks.

I swallow hard and don’t let myself consider it, even for a split second. If I do, I’ll be crawling into the bed beside her before she can blink.

“No, because you’ll be mad at me tomorrow if I do. I’ll call you in the morning.”

I can’t trust myself to kiss her goodnight without things going further. I turn to walk away and she grabs my arm.

“Goodnight, Sam,” she says in a perfectly clear voice.

Her green eyes suddenly look as bright and alert as they always do. Then it hits me. She’s not drunk. She was testing me tonight.

I pull the sheet up to her shoulders and kiss her on the forehead.

“Goodnight, darling.”

Chapter Thirteen

Lila

––––––––

I’m still working on my first cup of coffee when Sam calls.

“Are you doing okay this morning?” he asks. “I’m calling to check on you.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for tucking me into bed.”

Sam passed my pretend drunk test with flying colors. I was suitably impressed. If things had gone the other way, I could have put the brakes on at any time by pretending to throw up in the bathroom. Works like a charm every time to cool off a man’s passion.

“No need to thank me,” he says. “I’ll do turn down service for you any night of the week.”

His deep Southern twang is a nice thing to hear first thing in the morning.

“So...I was wondering how you would feel about coming over to my house tomorrow for a party,” he continues. “All of the Steel Infidels will be there, and I would like for you to meet them.”

He’s inviting me to his house?

“Sure. I would love to meet everyone.”

“It’s a casual affair, so no need to dress up. I can’t wait for you to meet my brothers, Jesse and Flint.”

The Steel Infidels President and VP.

“Me either. Are you picking me up?”

“Of course. I’ll be there around five. The fun starts early and the party goes on most of the night.”

“Sounds like fun. I can’t wait.”

“See you tomorrow then,” he says before hanging up.

I’m not sure how I feel about going to Sam’s house, the second location where I’m supposed to place another surveillance bug. This investigation is beginning to make me feel uneasy.

Surely the ATF has other criminals they could be investigating instead of the Steel Infidels? Like genuinely bad people with no redeeming qualities? The fact that I aggressively pushed for this investigation isn’t helping me to feel any better.