Chapter 8: A girl like me?

TRAVIS HAD A LEAD. Something the BAU hadn't given him.

Of the eight victims, he'd been able to track down five with home security, and three of those were monitored by a contract company called Compliance Systems. The issue with having a killer who went a full year between kills was that it was difficult to impossible to tap into the earlier victims' lives. He needed a warrant for Compliance to obtain their data. But that would take time, especially since they would need to convince the cops they had an actual case on their hands.

He dialed one last number, but it went to the BAU unit chief's voicemail.

"Hey, Brooks, it's Travis again. Just checking on that lead. I think I've got something. Call me when you have time."

Damn it. He needed the information now, and Gavin's search hadn't turned up jack shit as of yet. If Zain were... No. He squashed that thought. Gavin had the same tools at his disposal Zain would in this instance.

"What'd you find?" Bliss breezed back into the office, carrying three small brown boxes stacked on top of one another. She set the haul on the far side of her desk and sat down.

"Our guy might work for this company that contracts out to answer home alarms."

"Really? That's good, right?"

"Yeah, except now how to tell which one he might be?" He tossed his phone onto the desk. "I need the car info to cross-reference employees, and we still need a warrant."

"Oh."

"What about you? Get everything done?" He almost wanted to know what was in the boxes. He'd never realized there was so much variety to sex toys.

"Almost. I need to pull a few other items and send a few emails still."

"How'd you get this job?"

"Craigslist. They advertised. I answered. And it's been three profitable years."

"I gotta ask, how does a girl like you work here?"

"Girl like me? What's that supposed to mean?" She turned to face him, hands in her lap and one brow quirked. He was learning to recognize her ticked-off face. He'd had one hell of a time pissing her off today no matter what he did. It was a skill he could do without.

"Just...normal." He shrugged. And not for the likes of him. He needed to remember that.

"Normal girls don't like jobs that pay them well?"

"That's not what I mean."

"You mean, why would I work for a sex toy company instead of...I don't know, a law firm or something?"

"Yes."

"At first, I just needed a job. Something to pay the bills. I'll admit, I was embarrassed in the beginning, but not anymore. Sure, it's not your typical career path, but sex sells. People like sex. And you know what? The people who work in and around this industry are incredibly nice and accepting. I've never been so comfortable just being me. There's some parts of my job I don't like, but there's so much more that I do."

"That question made me sound like an ass again, didn't it?"

"Yes."

"I didn't mean to-"

"Forget about it."

He rubbed the side of his face. He liked Bliss. She was smoking hot, smart, and she had...gumption. It was the only word he could think of for her. She was a fighter-quick on her feet and fierce when he pushed the wrong buttons. Once she'd pulled herself together, she'd actually been very useful looking over the footage at the guard shack.

There were plenty of guys who got involved with clients. In fact, the guys who did bodyguard work often called the gigs booty calls. It was a line he'd never crossed. But Bliss technically wasn't the client. She was...a source?It was more personal than that, but she was firmly in the gray area. Travis didn't like the area where lines blurred. It was an act firmly in the gray area that had screwed up his life forever, which was why he stuck to black and white. The letter of his orders. Doing exactly what he was paid to do. That way there was no confusion. But Bliss?

He was trying to come up with a reason to not act on the attraction pulling him ever closer to her. If he didn't, he was pretty sure they'd fall into bed together at some point. Was that a bad thing?

"We've already established where you are with the idea of sex toys." She chuckled and turned away from him when he didn't continue the conversation. What was he supposed to say? He'd been an ass and admitted it. Again.

"Hold on, I'm not entirely against them." He was plagued by the images of Bliss and a couple of the items he'd seen in the store. Some of them he wasn't even sure what they did, but she would know. And he was willing to bet she'd enjoy it, too.

Fuck it. Why not put it out there and let her make the call?

"Had a change of heart, have you?" She chuckled.

"You've made me rethink things."

"Well, then my job here is done." She laughed, and all he could do was stare. Her bracelets jangled as she pushed her hair back. She'd taken her hoodie off. She wore a loose, sleeveless black top that hinted at and hid what was underneath. There was a hint of ink on the back of her shoulder. He couldn't make it out, but he wanted to know what it was.

"If you were going to sell me one thing in the store, what would you recommend?" His groin tightened, and he could feel the throb of arousal in his balls.

"To use on yourself? Or a partner?"

"They make stuff for guys?"

"Oh yeah." She turned and snagged something out of the top brown box. "This is a male masturbation toy. The end looks like lips and the inside is supposed to mimic the way a mouth feels if you use it with a little lube. It's a popular item."

His mouth dried up and he had to swallow to get his vocal chords working. He was not even remotely interested in buying something to jack off with.

"What about on a woman?" He cleared his throat.

"Depends on who you're buying for. What's your girlfriend, or wife, like?"

"I'm single."

"Hm. Okay, then..." She squinted at the ceiling for a moment.

"What would you pick?"

"For myself?" She blinked at him, and if he wasn't mistaken her cheeks were slightly pink yet again.

"Well, what would you want your partner to use on you?"

"That's personal." She grabbed a stack of papers and fanned herself. "It's really hot in here, isn't it?"

"I'm pretty sure we've been dancing around the fact we're interested in each other most of the morning." He eased back in the chair, but it didn't allow any extra room in his jeans like he'd hoped.

Bliss' blush reached from her neckline to her hairline now.

They were consenting adults, right? After he found Wendy there wouldn't be any gray area. No uncertainty.

"Uh...well...I, um..."

"I'm not good at talking, and I'm worse when it comes to women. I figure the best thing for me is to be direct. If that's a problem, tell me now. You can also tell me to fuck off, if you like."

Her chest rose and fell at a slightly accelerated rate. He would know. He'd done a little study of her breasts earlier. Double Ds if he wasn't mistaken, but he'd need a hands-on inspection to be certain.

"A bullet," she said and turned to the monitor.

"A bullet?"

"Yes, and not the kind that come out of a gun, either."

He opened the browser on his phone and went to the store's site. It was better than wandering around the shop trying to figure out what the hell that was.

A bullet, huh?

She hadn't told him off, so that was one good thing so far today.