A Kiss of Revenge (Entangled Ignite) by Natalie Damschroder Page B

a stop to everything.
    “ Hell , no!” He was on his feet before she finished speaking. “The fact that you want to go film a porn flick is bad enough, but if you’re right about what they do afterward—”
    “I don’t want to go film a porn flick,” she scoffed, rising to face him. “I want to go pretend to want to film a porn flick so I can figure out what’s happening up there, and who and where Big K is. It’s more important than ever that I do this.”
    He glowered at her, and she could practically see his thought processes. Other people were being hurt, and he’d hate that, but he didn’t want her risking herself, physically or legally.
    “I’ll be okay,” she assured him, stepping closer to him and taking his hand. The muscle in his jaw pulsed, but he wove his fingers between hers and held on. Warmth seeped into her. “I won’t let it get too far. I need Big K, Griff.”
    “And what are you going to do when you find him?” he asked in a much calmer, but more intense, voice. “The police aren’t going to do anything. They have no evidence, and you won’t either. You can’t kill him.”
    He said it with such conviction that Reese didn’t contradict him. No sense shredding his illusions. “I’ll deal with that when the time comes. But now, there’s this. For the first time, I’m glad for this electricity thing.”
    It took an hour, but she convinced him.

Chapter Five
    By the time Reese went to bed, she was too tired to think of Griff sleeping across the hallway or about the way they’d glossed over the kiss and everything that came after it. She left early for the bakery the next morning, avoiding awkwardness for a couple more hours. The familiar routine of stocking the baked-goods case and making coffee helped settle her for what would come next.
    “Who had the half-caff nonfat latte?” she called to the jostling customers in front of the bakery case. A lock of hair fell over her eyes and she blew it back.
    Kimmie pushed up to the counter, beaming. “Me! How could you forget?”
    Reese smiled and handed it over. “Sorry.” She took a box of muffins Sarah slid over and passed them to a patiently waiting customer. “What are you so excited about?” she asked Kimmie while she rang up the next coffee order.
    “I have an acting job! It starts tonight!” The young woman bounced, clutching her cup.
    “That’s great! Good luck!” Reese passed out empty cups to a group of businesspeople. They trudged over for self-service on the other side of the room, and the line thinned out.
    “You seem distracted, dear.” Mimsie Wallace leaned on her cane and set her usual bag of day-olds on the counter. Her faded blue eyes twinkled. “Might we hazard a guess as to the reason?”
    “What?” Reese frowned, not following her until she gave a combination head-toss and eye-roll toward the line behind her. Reese looked where she’d indicated and spotted Andrew halfway back, typing something on his phone. Alarmed, she dropped her gaze before he caught her looking and zeroed in on the conversation.
    Then she played dumb with Mimsie. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
    “Oh, dear, if I had a hunk like that trying to curry my favor, I’d probably ring up the wrong price, too.”
    Reese stared at her.
    “It’s only three-ninety-five, dear, not four.” Mimsie pointed to the total displayed on the screen.
    Reese followed her finger, which brought Griff into her line of sight. Oh, that hunk. He’d somehow gotten his hands on a damp rag and was wiping down a table by the window, a pile of trash in his other hand. How long had he been here? He leaned over to pick up a crumpled napkin, and her mouth went dry. He had a really fantastic ass.
    Mimsie cleared her throat. Reese snapped her attention back to the day-olds. “There are three more bagels in that bag than usual, Mim. So it’s four-ninety-five today. Sorry.”
    The woman sighed and handed over a five-dollar bill. “It never ends,