Jaggar woke with a start. Her heart thudded against her ribs and heat pulsed between her legs. Slowly, the memory of the morning came into focus. Holy fuck, she'd had sex with Griffin. Accidental sex ... though the moment she'd laid down, she'd known something was going to happen. She was only human after all.

And sex with him … The man should give lessons. Between his intense focus, his hands, and his tongue, he had skills. Like he’d spent a lot of time working at it and had perfected his technique. But it was more than just that. It was like he was attuned to her body. He picked up on every single nonverbal cue. All she'd had to mutter was, "Oh my God." And, "Yes, right there." And, "Faster." Or, "Harder." Or, "Slow down, slow down." He'd played her like a master plays an instrument, and straight after she'd passed the hell out. How long had she been asleep?

Jaggar slid a glance over his prone naked form. He'd passed out facedown on his bed, a possessive hand on her breast. Thanks to that positioning, they'd made love three times, passed out, then he'd involuntarily twitch and squeeze her breast, she'd moan and they'd be off again doing ... things.

God. The man was dirty. And she liked dirty. For someone so concerned about his image and presenting just the right look, in bed, he didn't have that problem. A master with his tongue. Both in skill and the uh ... oral competency. He dirty talked like a master.

Her cheeks heated and she held back a giggle. She needed to get up before they went at it again and didn't leave the fucking house all day. And she had come over here to tell him what she'd found on Elsa, but well, the sex had happened.

She needed to get clothes on before she forgot how to walk, and if Griffin started again, there was no way she was letting him stop.

Right. Out of bed then. Before the sex god fucks you stupid.

Jaggar gently shifted to the left, careful not to wake him. It took several seconds longer than it should have because he automatically palmed her and it was so hard not to arch into the caress. But she'd managed it.

When she was out of bed, he grumbled a protest, but then curled his arm under his pillow and commenced snoring. A smile tugged at her lips. The man really was gorgeous. One day maybe she'd ask him about all his tattoos. She couldn’t believe she'd never seen them before. Not like you've ever been naked in his presence. Yeah, there was that.

She snagged her clothes off the floor before reaching over to the headboard and untying her bra. She’d never look at a bra quite the same again. She hadn’t considered how one could be used as handcuffs. Something dark and needy pulled low in her belly as she eyed his perfect ass. No. You will not climb back into bed with him.

Maybe another time. Shit, was she really thinking of sleeping with him again? It's not like she could pretend she was drunk this time or anything like that. She’d wanted him. He'd wanted her. It was that easy. Right now it was time for food and then they could talk about Elsa. She’d dissect how she was feeling about the whole situation later ... much later.

Once dressed, Jaggar studied his fridge, but the man was crazy healthy. There had been nothing worth eating in his fridge. And while she was a good cook, all he had were egg whites and some tasteless looking cheese, so breakfast had been out of the question.

She'd snagged his keys and ran down to the bakery on the corner, grabbing croissants and muffins and tasty looking lemon bars. When she returned, she dropped the food on the counter and checked the time. She let herself in to the loft to find he was still asleep. It was already 9:30 a.m. She wanted to have some time to chase this lead before she had to get into the office later that afternoon. She had another story she was working on and sometimes it helped to have access to all the TVN archives.

And since she needed him in her corner, it was time to wake him up. Before she made it to the stairs though, his phone buzzed on the counter. She turned to look but left it alone. Don’t touch it. Not your business. But his phone buzzed again. Leaning over the counter, she glanced at the display. Amber?

Did you forget you were supposed to join me for breakfast this morning, baby?

And oh, joy of joys, there was a photo of Amber and her … wow... spectacular tits. He'd had another date this morning. Instead of going, he'd slept with her. What do you expect? You made it easy for him. Brought the pussy to him. He didn’t have to leave to get it.

She knew better, but still the disappointment and dread curled round her gut and squeezed. Did you think you were special in some way? Yeah ... like an idiot.

Jaggar eyed the stairs, she could go up there and pretend she hadn’t seen the text but she was weak. She might just sleep with him again. Heat and need pulled low in her belly. "Stupid traitorous body." But her brain was online now. She could think this through. Jaggar was smart enough to know that this feeling right here, where she felt sad and oddly used ... She wasn't such a fan of that. She didn’t want a repeat. Well, she did want a sex repeat, but that wasn't going to happen. She wanted special. Griffin was a master of getting people to tell him or give him what he wanted or what he was looking for.

One mistake didn't mean she had to repeat it. You're not good enough for the likes of him. Her mother's words clanged around in her head. So what if she'd slept with him? She was a grown-up. She was a professional. And she had work to do. They were not partners. She could do the Elsa thing on her own.

She'd misread signals before. She'd get over it.

Leaving the breakfast where it was, Jaggar let herself out of his apartment. She had information to track down. Elsa was the ticket to the story and she didn't need Griffin. He was out for himself. And now she was too.

She closed the door to his place and took her phone out of her pocket, then dialed her contact. When he answered, she said, "Jason? It's Jaggar. Can you meet me?”

All she had to do was find out what Elsa's connection was to that family. She could do this. Focus on the work and stop thinking with your vajayjay. Griffin Styles is not the guy you keep. Cross him off your bucket list and get your ass back to work.

* * *

Griffin woke with a hard on and the smell of Jaggar's perfume all over him. Hell, that woman nearly broke him. He honestly wasn’t sure if he could walk anymore.

But screw walking. Who needed to get anywhere? He could stay in bed all day. Half of his job was done from his phone. He rolled over expecting to drag her to him. "What do you say we grab breakfast before we get to work? Maybe a shower too." Mmm, shower sex. Jaggar all soaped up and ... his cock throbbed.

Except, as he reached out, her soft skin wasn’t in touching distance. Griffin lifted his head. "Jaggar?"

The deep frown pulled at his brow and his lips. Yeah, so he'd snuck out of his fair share of women's houses. But, what had happened this morning, that wasn't fake. He hadn’t imagined that.

Had he been too rough with her, too demanding? Worry laced with panic wove and intertwined in his mind. She'd come, several times, and she'd urged him to go harder, faster. What the fuck had happened?

He saw the breakfast on the counter; so she'd run out to the bakery, but hadn’t stayed? Was this some kind of payment for a good fuck?

Relax. There is probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Besides the one that she'd just left him after that kind of a morning. Snatching his phone off the counter, he rolled his eyes at the messages from Amber. She’d been one of the dancers at The Prestige. A friend of his boy Evan. She’d been all over him last night. Suggested they could catch breakfast sometime. He'd been too focused on Jaggar and he'd muttered some platitude. Evan must have given her his number.

But there were no messages from Jaggar. She'd come knocking long before it was a decent time to be awake. She'd said she had something on Elsa. But now what? She'd proven that she could make him crumble so she could chase the story on her own? Why does it bother you so much?

Okay fine, it was an ego bruise. She’d been having fun. And the woman knew how to use her mouth. He'd rather not think about how she got so good. Yeah, don’t think about that. Maybe it's because you actually like this one. And she was under his skin. And from now on he'd forever know exactly how she tasted, how she arched her back, how she liked to have her hair pulled as he fucked her from behind.

Jaggar Jakes had accomplished her apparent goal. She was under his skin. He was off his game. He'd been more worried about her milking his cock than he had been about the story and now she was gone. Fair enough, if that’s how she wanted to play, then that's how it would be.

If she thought she'd show him up again, she had another thing coming.

* * *

How had she been so stupid?

Since leaving Griffin’s, Jaggar couldn’t concentrate. She'd already gone for a run hoping that would help her focus. But it hadn’t. And for once working didn’t give that rush, that singular purpose.

She had Griffin on the brain. More specifically, sex with Griffin on the brain. Her lips still tingled and she could feel the heated imprints his hands had left all over her body. Shit. This was going to be a problem. Now that she knew what it was like to be with him, she wasn’t going to be able to think about anything else.

Hell. “Focus Jaggar."

Her phone chimed and she padded barefoot over to her granite countertop where she'd left her phone to charge. It was a text from Trevor, one of the investigators she often had doing side gigs for her on research.

More information on Elsa. She came on a student visa to study dance. Two guesses to who she met in college and fell in love with.

And just like that, all thoughts of Griffin were shoved to the back of her mind. The buzz of a great lead took over and she nearly vibrated with it. She called the feeling the hum. That feeling that she was on her shit. When nothing intruded on her doing what she needed to do. This was what she lived for. She tapped a quick message back.

Milton Randall. How did they meet?

The response was instant.

Seemingly random. At a bar near Georgetown campus.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention.

Seemingly?

Yeah. Back then, Randall was running as far away from the family business as he could. He used his mother's maiden name.

Jaggar thought for a moment before replying.

Let me guess. Our dancer on a scholarship has some connection to the Randalls?

That's the reason they pay you the big bucks. Sr. had had an affair with her mother back when he was traveling the world.

Oh hell. She could see where this was going and it pointed to all kinds of trouble.

So Randall senior paid her to go away?

Something like that. I'll keep digging.

Thanks you're the best. I have a bottle of scotch waiting for you.

Jaggar went back to her laptop and pulled out the files for the Randall story again. She eyed the kids and tried to match timelines. The children looked too young to be a product of the relationship, but the girl, with her unusual eyes and pale blond locks ....Was it possible? Was Elsa that girl’s mother? If so, that was just ... She shook her head. She needed to talk to Elsa. This story would make or break her career and she wanted to get it right.

Jaggar pulled up the number Trevor had given her and dialed.

Elsa's voice was hesitant when she answered. "Hello?"

"Elsa, this is Jaggar Jakes. Please don’t hang up."

"How did you get this number?"

"I'm an investigative reporter, Elsa. I just want to talk."

"And I already told you, I can’t talk to you."

Jaggar sighed. "Look, this story is getting written with or without you. I'd rather you get to have a say, but if you don’t and you come up, the Randalls will put their spin on you."

There was silence on the line for a moment and Jaggar was worried she'd hung up. But then she finally spoke and her voice was soft. "Fine, meet me at the benches in front of the Smithsonian. Main entrance. Monday at 2."

Jaggar breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be there. Thank you."

She might have made a miscalculation with Griffin, but this, this she knew. She could trust her gut. And she was going to get to the truth. With or without her partner.