Hearts Under Fire (Operation: Hot Spot Book 1)

by Trish McCallan

  “You could join me in the shower,” he said, a wicked gleam sliding through his eyes. “I’ll even let you wash my…” He lifted and waggled his eyebrows at her. “…back. I promise to return the favor.”

  Except his gaze dropped to her chest, a silent admission of where he was imagining washing.

  With a roll of her eyes, Demi stepped away. Somehow, showering with a man always ended with squeaky clean boobs.

  “And here I thought you’d be more imaginative,” she said dryly. “I can wash my breasts myself, thank you very much.”

  “I didn’t say I was going to stop there.” Aiden’s voice was equally dry as he slowly slid his gaze down her body, the glitter in his eyes growing more pronounced by the second. He stopped when he reached her hips and a hungry expression touched his face.

  To Demi’s surprise, a tingle swept her spine and damp warmth pooled between her thighs. She snorted in disbelief. Her libido was beyond desperate, if that slow perusal had turned it on.

  “I’m betting you’re no more up for shower games than below the belt games,” Demi retorted, but she couldn’t stop the smile from escaping. The man was certainly determined, she’d give him that.

  “Trust me,” he said with a slow, suggestive grin. “I’m completely up for either.”

  Well, you certainly walked into that one.

  She swallowed a smirk. Of course he’d made it impossible not to check out his self-proclaimed state of “upness”. She didn’t even bother fighting the impulse to drop her gaze. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, tilted her head, and pasted an assessing expression on her face as she zeroed in on his crotch.

  Oh my…

  She barely caught herself from fanning her face with her fingers. “That’s some pretty aggressive swelling you got going on…” She raised her head, keeping her face as deadpan as possible. “Perhaps some ice might be helpful down there?”

  His laugh caught on a wince and he touched a finger to his bottom lip.

  “I doubt ice will do a damn thing. The little bastard has no common sense.” With an exaggerated sigh, he dropped his arm. “Fine, if you won’t help me in the shower, could you at least help me get undressed?” He held up his right hand, with its swollen, scrapped knuckles. “I can barely bend my fingers.”

  Impressive…Demi bit back a laugh. He’d actually managed to make himself look pathetic and helpless—or at least as helpless as a six-foot-plus combat warrior in prime physical condition could look.

  “You have two hands,” she reminded him, chewing on the inside of her lip to stop the giggle from escaping.

  She’d forgotten how much fun it was to engage in sexual repartee. Donnie, bless him, used to get so flustered and red-faced, she’d given up on such banter. It had felt cruel to toss sexual innuendoes at him when they made him so uncomfortable.

  “But I’m right handed,” he told her with a totally straight face.

  She knew for a fact the man was ambidextrous. Kait had told her he’d trained as stringently with his left hand as his right, and could wield a knife or a gun with equal accuracy no matter which hand he used. He was perfectly capable of undressing right or left handed. Not that she was going to let on that she knew his little secret…

  “Oh…well…in that case.” She deliberately licked her lips and sidled toward him, her hand rising toward his pelvis.

  She trailed her fingers lightly up the bulge in his crotch—which was increasing by the second—on her way to his belt.

  It had been a long time since she’d flirted so aggressively with a man. But the circumstances were perfect for it. Regardless of how sexually suggestive the teasing got, he wasn’t in any condition to actually act on it. And even if he could perform as promised, he wouldn’t push past her comfort zone. She was absolutely certain of that. He may have tossed the first innuendo out there, but he’d waited for her reaction before continuing with the verbal foreplay. With every step deeper into intimacy, he assessed her reaction, and waited for her to accept his overtures.

  She could get her feet wet in this new and exciting territory and give her confidence a boost without fearing she’d be dragged into a situation she wasn’t ready for. The freedom to say what she wanted without worry was a heady rush.

  “We should take this to your bedroom,” he said, the hungry glitter from earlier exploding full force in his eyes. “That’s where your shower is, right?”

  Like he was actually thinking about the shower, rather than her bed.

  “There’s a guest shower right through that door.” She nodded to the left.

  She shuffled closer to him, so close she could feel the heat his big body shed, and the hot, musky scent of arousal surrounded her. Her fingers trembled slightly as they fumbled with his belt buckle.

  The first time her fingers brushed his bare belly was unintentional. His muscles bunched at the accidental caress and a groan broke from him. He sounded as though he were in pain, except there were no bruises that low on his torso. She glanced at his face and caught an expression of such sensuality there was no doubt that what he was experiencing had nothing to do with his injuries, and everything to do with her touch.

  Delighted with that discovery, she deliberately feathered the tips of her fingers across the hard plane of his belly as she slipped the strap out of the buckle and released the steel pin holding it in place. His big body quivered with each brush of her hand.

  The fact that she could make such a gorgeous specimen of manhood quiver and quake with the mere brush of her fingertips may have gone to her head. Okay, it definitely went to her head. So did his hot, musky scent and the feel of his smooth, taut skin beneath her hands—so warm and tight and responsive.

  She hadn’t intended to continue the teasing past unbuckling his belt, but found herself caught in the web of sensuality right alongside him. Lord, if he felt this good right here, right now, with just the brush of bare skin on bare skin, what would it feel like to have him completely naked, on top of her? Inside her? She wanted to find out.

  Continuing the slow, teasing glide of her fingers across his lower belly, she unbuttoned the top button of his jeans. He caught his breath and froze as she reached for the zipper.

  The room was quiet, broken only by their increasingly thick breathing and the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. The silence seemed to cinch in around them, drawing them closer, amplifying the sensual heat and the building anticipation.

  Until her doorbell pealed.

  She jumped at the interruption, and the spell shattered.

  “Son of a bitch.” His voice was both guttural and clipped. “Ignore it.”

  She stepped back to give herself some breathing room, space that wasn’t steeped in his scent and the heat from his big body. Slowly her head cleared.

  “It’s probably Kait,” he said, swearing beneath his breath as the buzzer sounded again. “She’s always had the most God-awful timing.” He sounded disgusted.

  She took a deep breath and some of the sexual urgency faded. “I won’t tell her you’re here, but I am not going to hide from her, either.”

  He scowled, but held his tongue as Demi headed for the door.

  Before unlocking the deadbolt she checked the peep hole. A long thin face with a sandy thatch of sparse hair blinked back at her.

  Slowly she pulled away. “Well, the good news is it isn’t Kait.”

  “The bad news?” Aiden asked from directly behind her.

  She started and spun around. Good God, the man moved like a cat.

  “No bad news. It’s just Chester. The guy you blocked from getting in the elevator.”

  An irritated look flickered across his face. “He can’t take a hint?”

  Demi snorted and shook her head with a tsk-tsk. “You mean telling him the elevator was occupied and shutting the door in his face? That’s not a hint, that’s bad manners.” She turned back to the door and reached for the deadbolt. “Besides, he’s probably just checking up on me, making sure I’m okay.” She shot him a poi
nted glance from over her shoulder. “That’s what good neighbors do.”

  Aiden muttered something behind her, but she couldn’t make out what it was. Which was undoubtedly a good thing. It hadn’t sounded complimentary.

  “Chester,” she said, smiling brightly as she opened the door. “What a nice surprise.” Aiden muttered something beneath his breath again and Demi smiled even brighter. “You remember Aiden from the elevator.”

  Chester craned his neck to look over her shoulder and blinked a couple of times. His Adam’s apple wobbled as he cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to make sure you were all right. It looked like the elevator got stuck between floors for a while.” His voice trailed off as he glared at the man behind her. “I called building maintenance. I’m sure they’ll rectify the problem.”

  Unlikely, since the problem was standing directly behind her, bristling with impatience.

  “That’s so kind of you,” Demi said, ignoring the derisive snort rising behind her. “And yes, that elevator incident was disconcerting.”

  Apparently, that was all the chit chat Aiden could tolerate, because he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and deliberately drew her flush against his torso.

  “As you can see, she’s fine,” Aiden said, his voice both flat and cold. “She’s also busy, so you’ll have to excuse us.”

  Before Demi could prevent him, he grabbed the edge of the door and swung it shut.

  “Aiden!” Demi drove an elbow into his abdomen.

  A choked groan sounded behind her and she had an instant of regret. She must have hit one of those ugly bruises. But then irritation swelled again—served him right. That uncalled for display of possessiveness was exactly why she needed to sit him down and have a talk with him before these fireworks zipping between them drove them into the bedroom.

  “Okay, mister,” she snapped, swinging around. She jabbed her forefinger into an unbruised spot on his chest for emphasis. “We need to have a talk before this goes any further.”

  Chapter Six

  We need to have a talk.

  With Demi’s threat ringing in his ears, Aiden took a cautious step back and regrouped. Any male past puberty knew that those were fighting words, the forerunner to an argument. The smart man tread carefully. Or evaded completely, if possible.

  “All right,” he said slowly, eying her scowling face warily. Time for evasive maneuvers. “Mind if I take a shower first? I could use a long hot soak.”

  “There will be no showering, at least not here, until we come to an understanding.” She planted her hands on her hips and looked determined—a stance which might have carried more impact if she stood a foot taller and hadn’t sported a head full of pink spikes.

  Aiden grinned, even though it stung like hell.

  She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “You find something funny about that?”

  “No, ma’am,” he answered promptly. “You just look like a pixie standing there.” Not that he knew what a pixie looked like, but when evasive maneuvers failed, the experienced operator stepped in with a distraction. He raised his gaze to her hair and assumed a considering expression. “Maybe it’s because of all those pink spiky things in your hair.”

  Her eyes narrowed even further as she raked his frame from head to toe. “Considering the way you look right now, bringing appearances into it isn’t helping your cause.” She shot him a knowing look. “And in case you’re wondering, Kait has grumbled—numerous times—about your propensity for winning arguments by using evasion and distraction. Guess what? I’m not falling for either.”

  Hell. Kait needed to learn to keep her mouth shut…

  “We are going to talk, like a pair of adults, right here, right now,” Demi said, her demand ringing out loud and clear in the enclosed space.

  “Fine.” With a bad tempered frown, Aiden raked a hand through his hair. “Look, I’ll apologize to your friend, okay?”

  Her hands dropped from her hips and a worried frown replaced the scowl on her face. “Good. You should. But that’s not the problem. I’m thinking I may have given you the wrong impression.”

  He drew back and reassessed the direction the conversation was headed.

  “I sincerely doubt it,” he assured her.

  She ignored the reassurance. “Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of chemistry between us.” She waved her hand between them. “And if I’m not mistaken, you’re as open to a …physical relationship…between us as I am.”

  “You are definitely not mistaken,” Aiden confirmed. Cocking his head and rocking back on his heels, he settled in to see where this odd argument was going.

  “Great, but what you need to understand is that I’m not looking for anything permanent. What I want is a no strings attached, no emotions involved—friend with benefits.” She paused and lifted her eyebrows meaningfully. “You know, sexual benefits.”

  Aiden barely caught his jaw from hitting the floor.

  Was she serious?

  He studied her face. She looked pretty damn sincere. Did she have no insight into her own emotional makeup?

  “I’m not offering anything permanent,” she stressed, apparently afraid he hadn’t picked up on that little fact from her no strings attached, friends with benefits spiel moments ago.

  “I’m not ready to settle down,” she added.

  Said the woman who had married her first love right out of high school and remained faithful to him through the seven years they were married, even though she’d been as insanely attracted to Aiden as he’d been to her—yeah, those signs had been impossible to miss.

  Aiden swallowed a snort of pure disbelief. Lord help him, this was going to be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. The woman had no idea that she’d just hog-tied herself. There was no way, absolutely no way, that Demi would be able to welcome a man into her bed and her body, with all the intimacy that entailed, and keep her heart hidden away.

  The very act of lovemaking would tangle her emotions all up.

  “Looks like we’re on the same page, then,” Aiden said, lying through his teeth. “I’m not looking for anything permanent either. No strings sounds like a winning proposition to me.”

  “Really?” She tilted her head and studied him. “I’ve been getting the distinct impression that you’re looking for more.”

  “No kidding.” He strove for a dumfounded expression. “Why’s that?”

  A conflicted frown feathered across her forehead. “Well, for one thing, there was that whole exchange with Chester a few minutes ago. Your reaction to his visit was far too possessive for a man who’s looking for a fleeting, no strings attached fling.”

  He coughed and thought fast. To work his way into her heart, through her bed, he had to convince her he didn’t have permanence in mind. And she was right, a man who didn’t have any interest in permanence didn’t get possessive over his lover of the moment. He needed a good excuse for his reaction to Chester.

  “Hell.” He ran a hand down his face and winged it. “You read that whole encounter with your neighbor wrong. I wasn’t being possessive. At least not in the way you assumed.”

  “I did? You weren’t?” She eyed him suspiciously. “Why don’t you enlighten me, then? What was that about?”

  “A guy like that…well, it’s obvious he’s pretty damn inexperienced,” Aiden said, stumbling his way through the false explanation. “And he’s fixated on you…” He checked her face to see if he was right. From the arrested look in her eyes, he was. “Odds are he asks you out constantly,” he added, and knew he was on target from the unconscious little nod she gave. “And being the genuinely nice person you are, you let him down easy each time.” He didn’t have to check her face for cues on that guess, since it was a given. “So he clings to the hope someday you’ll say yes and make all his dreams come true.” He shot her a quick glance. So far it looked like she was buying this convoluted piece of fictionalized nonfiction. Now to tie it all together. “These are exactly the kind of
guys who can turn dangerous if their fantasy is threatened.”

  “Chester? Dangerous?” She laughed in disbelief. “The guy’s harmless.”

  He shrugged. “You don’t know what kind of fantasies he’s woven around you.” She still didn’t look like she was buying it, so he shifted gears. “Even if he doesn’t turn stalker and try to force you to fulfill his fantasy, in the long run it’s kinder to shatter any expectations a guy like that has, rather than lead him on—innocent as that may be.” He raised his voice when she opened her mouth in clear protest. “Do you have any interest in going out with him?” Her mouth snapped shut. After a moment she reluctantly shook her head. “See, a guy like Chester—he’s not going to move on unless it’s made crystal clear he doesn’t have a chance with you. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, he’s so hung up on you he doesn’t even notice any other girl that might be waiting for him.” He paused long enough to assume a virtuous expression. “I was doing him a favor.”

  “Sure you were. You’re a regular saint,” she said dryly.

  “I try.” He pretended to preen, and knew he’d skated past that mishap by her snort of laughter.

  “Okay, say I buy that load of crap you just tried to feed me.” She gave him a dry, you-can’t-fool-me- look. “What about what happened with Brett? You got into a fist fight with him simply because you thought he took me home. If you aren’t looking for a serious relationship, why would it matter if he took me home or not?”

  He studied her face. She hadn’t believed a word he’d said about Chester, and there was no way he could spin what happened between him and Tag and make it believable. Time to stop spinning lies and give her the truth—with one crucial lie by omission.

  “Fine, you want the truth?” He paused. Where to begin? Maybe at the beginning? “Do you remember when we first met?” He asked, watching her steadily.

  “Sure.” A look of reflection pushed the suspicion from her face. “It was a couple of weeks after I met Kait at that photography class. Donnie had gone to some kind of conference in Vegas. I was at loose ends, so Kait invited me to dinner. She cooked lasagna—some prized family recipe.” She shot him a grin with a hint of nostalgia clinging to it. “You crashed the dinner party. Kait laughed, said she always made extra because it was your favorite dish and you always seemed to know when she was making it.”