A Little Harmless Lie: Harmless, Book 4

by Melissa Schroeder

  She laughed and glanced at him. “Most of those places paid under the table.”

  He studied her for a second. “Yeah? How old were you when you started working at them?”

  She rolled her shoulders and he hid his smile behind his glass. That was definitely one of her tells. When a customer was irritating her, Dee tended to do that with her shoulders. It was nice to know that he was getting to her.

  “Eighteen.”

  She glanced at him again when he said nothing, just sipped his water.

  “What, you have nothing to say against that?”

  He shrugged. “What am I going to say about that?”

  She relaxed against the chair. “People always seem to have an opinion about it, like I should have done something else.”

  “I can’t talk. I was working the tables with a fake ID in Vegas when I was sixteen.”

  Her eyes widened at that. “Sixteen? I could have never gotten away with that. Especially in Vegas.”

  “Vegas isn’t any different than anywhere else. Just have to know the right people.”

  She paused and then looked at him. “Yeah, I guess, but with my stature, most people questioned my age up until a couple years ago.”

  “That’s not something that I had to worry about. Not at my height.”

  “You were this tall at sixteen?”

  He nodded. “I was over six feet by fourteen.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wow.”

  “So, you worked dives. How did you end up here?”

  It was her turn to shrug. “I just needed a change of place.”

  The vague answer irritated him. Granted, he had talked to the man she had worked for in Seattle and he had told Micah how much he’d hated to let her go. So apparently there hadn’t been a problem with the work situation. He wanted to press, more than was good for him. The woman intrigued him on so many levels, but he had learned too many questions would have her closing up.

  He let the silence stretch as they enjoyed the Hawaiian night. It was hard, because he wanted her. Her spicy scent mingled with the Hawaiian air. Every fiber of his being was telling him to take her, to pull her up out of that chair and lay her across the table, strip her naked—

  “Micah?”

  “What?” He bit out the word, his fantasy dissolving as he looked at the woman who had been the featured star of every one of his fevered dreams for the past six months.

  “Did you say something?”

  He pulled in a deep breath and shoved his hand through his hair. “No.”

  She lapsed into silence. Great way to seduce her, Ross. It didn’t escape his notice that he’d always been the one in control of the seduction, the way he liked it, and he was damned good at it. With Dee, he felt like a bumbling seventeen-year-old.

  By the time she led him back into the house he could feel the evening slipping away…along with his chances. He knew he had to go slowly with her, had to awaken everything he saw beneath the surface. It had taken him almost two years and there was no way he wasn’t at least easing her to step one tonight.

  She set their glasses in the sink and before she could turn around, he approached her. He stopped directly behind her and placed his hands on each side of her on the counter. Leaning forward, he closed his eyes and drew in her scent.

  “Micah, I said this wasn’t going to happen.”

  Even as she tried to be strong, he heard the tremor in her voice. The sound of it tripped over his heart, dug deep into his soul. He knew he affected her, knew that she wanted him. But with her resistance, it never hurt to get a little reminder to boost his ego.

  “I heard ya. I just thought we might do a little—” he drew in a deep breath and started to nibble on her ear, “—necking.”

  “Hmm.” She shivered and moved her head to the side to give him better access.

  Just as he expected, her skin was as sweet as the woman. He pressed closer, settling his jean-encased cock against her ass. When she said nothing else, he slipped a hand up her torso to her breast. Through the layers of fabric, he could feel her hardened nipple. One little brush against it had her moaning his name. It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. It took every bit of his control to drop his hand and step away.

  She fell forward as he took another step. It took a few moments for her to gather herself and turn around. Her breathing was rapid, her eyes dilated.

  “Just what was that about?”

  “I…” He drew in another deep breath, calling on the patience he’d promised himself he would have for her. His inner warrior was screaming to be let loose. “I got a little carried away.”

  She studied him for a moment and then looked away. He slipped his finger under her chin and turned her to face him again.

  “Look at me.”

  Slowly, she raised her gaze to his. Arousal was there, but there was a hint of fear. It was understandable. He also saw a flash of embarrassment.

  “You shouldn’t be ashamed of your feelings.”

  She sighed and looked away. “I’m not ashamed.”

  He knew then he couldn’t push her any more tonight. He wanted to. His body was begging him to ignore her feelings, coax her into the bedroom and take her. She would do it. He knew he could convince her, but she would regret it afterwards…and maybe hate him. That was something he could not accept. Ever.

  He cupped her face with his hand, rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip before leaning closer to kiss her again. The sassy, sweet taste of her lured him like no other woman. He pulled back a moment before he lost control.

  “I think that’s my cue to leave.”

  “Thank you for dinner.”

  He smiled. “How about lunch tomorrow?”

  She hesitated. “Sure. Where do you want to meet?”

  “I’ll give you a call in the morning.” He allowed the screen door to close before turning around. “I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.”

  “I didn’t say it would be bad. I was afraid that if you asked for more, I wouldn’t be able to say no.”

  With that, she closed the door on his face. He was frustrated as hell and his body was ready to revolt against him. But he couldn’t help whistling on his way back to his car.

  Chapter Six

  Dee leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The midday Hawaiian sun warmed her face as the sound of fellow patrons of the ocean-side café faded into the distance. It didn’t take her long to feel the weight of Micah’s gaze. Ignoring it wasn’t easy, but she did for a moment or two. She pulled her head back up and opened her eyes.

  “What?”

  “It just struck me that we’ve never really spent time together during the day.”

  She cocked her head to the side and said nothing as she studied him. She couldn’t. Because as soon as he’d said it she’d realized he was right. They had spent a lot of time together or at least in the vicinity of each other, in the last couple of years. They had never spent time outside together in the sun.

  While he was a man who was dangerous in the moonlight, he was vivid and beautiful during the day. He would probably scoff at the idea, but he was. The golden undertone to his skin, along with the hint of copper from his Native America heritage, added a depth to his image that she hadn’t seen before. She had never observed him dressed so casually, if she didn’t count the times she’d seen him dressed in…well, almost nothing at the club. The sunlight allowed her to see the blue-black tone to his hair. She looked out over Waikiki Beach and sighed.

  “You’re right. But both of us are usually sleeping, until probably noon, right?”

  He laughed. “That’s true. Still, there’s something to be said for spending the day at the beach. Especially in Hawaii. I just find it odd that you love the sun so much but you work at night.”

  She shrugged. “Not really. This way I can spend time enjoying it during the day. If I had some kind of daytime job, I’d only have my two days off. And after several years in the Seattle area, I needed the sun.”

  “
That was your last town, right?”

  She nodded. He knew that much because she’d had to apply for the job. “I had to get out of there. Nine months and I couldn’t shake the feeling I was sick all the time. I ached some days.”

  “Ah, so you have that disease where you can’t take the gloomy days.”

  “Yeah. Doc suggested California, but I figured if I was going to be at a beach, I couldn’t go wrong here.”

  He laughed. “That’s true.”

  “How did you end up here?”

  He took a sip of water. “I’d come over to find a fugitive, then I talked Evan into coming over for a vacation. We knew then that we wanted to live here. Neither of us had any family, so it was easy. I know Chris has a hard time with his family back on the mainland.”

  “Yeah, not having the ties makes things easy.”

  “But then, I have ties here now.”

  She looked at him as he studied the beach.

  “Ties?”

  He glanced at her. “Chris and Evan, their soon-to-be wives. The club. It has become sort of a family atmosphere.”

  “Yeah, but we never do anything like this during the day. Maybe we should.”

  “Like a picnic for Rough ’n Ready?” he asked with a chuckle. “It might work. Hell, I know that we could close down on Monday and not really hurt. I’ll talk to Evan about it.”

  She nodded and looked over as a kid went running by, squealing as his older sister ran after him.

  “Are you going to keep me at arm’s length now?”

  She smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I didn’t count you for a coward.”

  A sigh of irritation escaped before she could stop it. “I’m sorry, but I told you that there would be nothing else.”

  “You can say it all you want. It doesn’t mean that you don’t want it. Don’t need it like every sub.”

  She looked away from him again, out to the crystal blue of the ocean, wondering just how she could explain it to him. How did she get him to understand things about her without revealing too much?

  “Dee.”

  She sighed again.

  “Tell me.”

  It wasn’t a question or a plea, it was an order.

  “I grew up with a very rich and very domineering father. Ruthless. He picked my friends, my boyfriends, he controlled just about everything from the clothes I wore to well, just everything. He isn’t a man who takes the word no that kindly. And I didn’t like that feeling. I didn’t want to be told what to do, even at seventeen.”

  “Especially at seventeen.”

  She smiled at him, then felt it fade. “My father would stop at nothing to control what went on in my life. People are easily influenced.”

  He studied her for a second, two. “You know it’d be different with us. You do have some control over what happens…a little.”

  She shook her head. “Giving you that power is something I’m not sure I can do. Jeez, I haven’t even done it the normal way, let alone…” She gestured with her hands, mindful of the people around them.

  “Power is given, not taken, so it would be up to you. I can promise that you would benefit greatly from it.”

  “How?”

  “What?”

  “How do you know that? I don’t even know what I like. How could you?”

  His lips tipped up arrogantly. “I think I have a little more experience at it than you do. Plus, we would take it slowly. Promise. But it isn’t just about the power exchange. It is about trust. You have to trust your partner to allow them that control.”

  “And there you go. I don’t trust men.”

  That was easy enough. There would never be a man she could trust enough, and that was the sad truth.

  “Because of your father.”

  She shook her head. “Partly. He was a man who lived two lives. ‘Do as I say, not at I do’ was his motto.”

  “But there was someone else.”

  “Micah, I grew up with everything I wanted, every little toy, pretty shiny thing, it was mine. My father used those things to control me. He used them to control other people.”

  “Men.”

  “Men can be bought. Quite easily.”

  He nodded. “People can be shits. I’ve known enough of them in my life. But you need to wonder if you will allow them to rule your life, or if you will take life on despite them.”

  She knew he was talking of his own experiences. Micah wasn’t a man who would allow anything to push him the way he didn’t want to go. He made his own destiny, did his own thing.

  “I’m not sure I’m brave enough for that.”

  He smiled. “You are.”

  Dee gave him a skeptical look. It was then it struck him that it had been a long time since he’d had this type of conversation with a woman. He’d had plenty of lovers, even female friends, but he hadn’t sat and had a conversation outside of work. He wasn’t sure what that said about him, but it did say something about his relationships. Building the club up had taken all his time. The relationships he’d had were shallow. He knew that. He hadn’t had the time to pursue something more with anyone he had been dating. Or maybe, he hadn’t met a woman to entice him enough to look further. Until Dee.

  “You know about being powerless,” she said, her words measured as if she chose each one carefully.

  He nodded. “I guess you know I came from little. Truth is my mother abandoned me. Father was long gone.”

  He didn’t see pity in her eyes. Women usually got upset, wanted to soothe. Instead, he saw…admiration.

  “Then I was in juvie. When I got out I got a little money and started working. When Evan and I were a little younger, our mid-twenties, we had a club in Vegas. Did some good business there until we were forced out.”

  “Forced?”

  “Yeah, ever heard of Peter Rizzoli?”

  She cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah.”

  “Well, Mr. Rizzoli didn’t like the idea that we were taking business away from his strip club down the street. I don’t think we ever were. Our clientele wasn’t looking for a little bump and grind. But Rizzoli and that idiot son of his decided that we were in their way. They did everything they could, nothing stuck. Until our club burned to the ground.”

  The stricken look on her face worried him.

  She swallowed. “Did anyone get hurt?”

  He shook his head. “It happened on a Tuesday night, the one night of the week we were closed. We had insurance, but not enough to help us rebuild. So we decided to find somewhere else. It would’ve been useless to try and build again.”

  She nodded. “Then you found Hawaii.”

  “Yeah. You know, that bastard had the nerve to call me to tell me how sorry he was that we’d had a fire. Smug son of a bitch. And I could’ve gone off the deep end. I could’ve gone after him. But I didn’t. I knew I would lose, and I wanted more out of life than to end up dead at twenty-five.”

  “Why don’t we head to the club?” she asked.

  Her abrupt change of subject caught him off-guard, and he studied her for a minute. He didn’t know what was going on in that beautiful head of hers, but something was bothering her. He hesitated, not wanting to leave the solitude they’d created at the ocean-side café. But he realized it was getting late and he had to input data from the night before.

  “Sure.”

  They had walked from the club earlier since she was on the roster to work that night. They paid their bill and then started walking down Paoa Avenue. She was trying to pull away from him. He could feel it, but he wouldn’t allow it. After her explanation, he understood her issues with trust. He would just have to work to overcome those worries, those fears.

  He slipped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her against him. It wasn’t easy to walk down the street that way, but he refused to let her go. For the first time in his life, he wanted everyone to know she was his. Maybe it was the fact they hadn’t had sex that made him feel he needed to mark his territ
ory. She wasn’t truly his. And the tenuous thread he felt he’d tied the other night seemed ready to break.

  “Was there something I said?”

  She shook her head but said nothing more.

  He didn’t like it. She hadn’t looked him in the eye since he’d told his story. Dee didn’t strike him as insensitive. But why would she behave this way? They walked past the Hale Koa and he spied an alleyway. With ease, he stepped off the main street and pulled her along with him.

  “What are you doing?”

  He said nothing but turned her toward him and backed her up against the building. Without any words, he slammed his mouth down on hers. For a moment or two, she resisted. He pulled back slightly. “Don’t. Don’t keep yourself from me.”

  His voice shook when he said it, his emotions too raw to control. She looked up at him, those blue mermaid eyes watching him. Then she shuddered, closed her eyes and leaned into him. He wanted to shout with triumph, but instead, he slanted his mouth over hers and swiftly slipped inside past her lips and teeth. Her tongue danced alongside his as she slid her hands up his chest and then over his shoulders. He leaned in closer, skimming his hands down her back to her ass. He pulled her tight against his groin. The moment he felt the contact, he groaned and deepened the kiss. Micah knew he would never get enough of this woman. She was innocent and sweet with a dash of temptress. It was enough to make a man go insane. The blood in his veins roared, heated. Arousal, need and torment twined together and clutched at his gut. He needed her, now. It was at that moment he was thinking of stripping off her pants and taking her. In an alley, in the middle of the day, in Waikiki.

  He pulled back, his body protesting. They were both breathing heavily.

  He raised his hand to scrub it over his face and realized it was shaking.

  “Dee, I’m sorry.”

  She wasn’t looking at him, her head bent down.

  “Dee?”

  She did look up at him then. The desire still holding him by the short hairs simmered in her eyes. Her lips were swollen, her face as red as a passion flower.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Dee.”

  She held up a hand. “No. I’m fine. I just…” She shook her head.