by Molly McLain
“Let’s be clear about something, shall we?” She stared at his chest, her expression tight, her words measured. “Two years ago, I asked you for a favor and, whatever your reasons, you obliged. Obviously you feel as though that choice has cost you, and I certainly don’t want to be responsible for any damage to your moral fiber.” She paused to tip her head back and finally look him square in the eye. “So do us both a favor from here on out—stop whatever it is you think you’ve been doing for me. I’m a grown woman and I am quite capable of dealing with my own mistakes.”
One and then two beats passed, as emotion continued to flare in her eyes. Granted, her anger seemed to tamp down a few degrees, but now she looked fiercely determined. And beautiful. So goddamn beautiful.
“You think what happened between us was a mistake?” he dared to ask, which was utterly friggin’ pathetic, because, at this point, it really shouldn’t matter.
Hell, it didn’t matter, but it sure stung like a son of a bitch when her only answer was the flutter of her lashes and a stellar view of her backside as she turned and walked away.
Chapter Three
Three years earlier, 11:55 p.m.
“That was Dan. He’s taking Maddie home. Says she’s not feeling well.” Carissa dropped her cell phone into her purse and frowned.
The man sitting across the table arched a dark eyebrow over the most intoxicating, most indigo blue eyes she’d ever seen. The wry smile that slid across his strong, stubble shadowed jaw hit her like a double shot of tequila on an empty stomach. Made her a little breathless. Did things to her nerves. Definitely made her think about losing her clothes.
And she’d only met the guy four hours ago.
“You don’t believe that, do you? They were all over each other before Maddie suddenly needed some air.” Josh rocked back on his stool, an arm draped across the back of the chair next to him. The dark flames and barbs of his forearm tattoo licked at his skin and Carissa forced herself to look away and focus on the words coming from his mouth before she started panting over his sexy body.
“They were, weren’t they? God. I’m supposed to sleep on their couch tonight.” Not to mention they’d abandoned her. In a town she’d never been in before. At a bar that had ‘back room action’ written all over it. With a man who oozed trouble and sex.
“You mean you’re not into eavesdropping?”
Carissa’s cheeks warmed. “We’re talking about my best friend and your brother here.”
“So? She’s probably gonna tell you all about it in the morning.”
“No way. Some women may be into sharing those details, but I’m not one of them.”
Josh’s grin twisted to the side. He almost looked pleased to hear it. “Why’s that?”
Wowzers, it was hot in there. Carissa shifted in her seat and blew out a breath. “Sex is just...private. No one else’s business.”
“Yeah? Or does it make you uncomfortable? Hearing about someone else’s pleasure?”
The heat burning in her cheeks spread like wildfire down her neck and her breasts grew heavy with arousal.
This guy was dangerous. And she was so very, very out of her league.
Still, she pulled her shoulders back and met his gaze with the confidence of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. He might have a million times more experience with the game they were playing, but she was far from a naïve virgin.
The dim lights of the pub reflected in his dark blue eyes and there was no denying the desire that shined in them. Not only could she do this—she was totally going to.
“Not at all,” she finally said, stirring the straw through her drink. “Sex is just hotter when it’s kept under wraps, don’t you think?”
His eyes fell to her mouth, as she ran her tongue along the seam of her lips. A blatant attempt to gauge the extent of his interest. Just how far was he willing to take this? How far was she?
When he glanced up at her again, lust glowing like fireworks in those smoky eyes, she knew she had him.
“Yes. Yes, it is.” His husky tone was so full of promise, she shivered. “I think we can also agree that you’re in need of a ride home.”
“It would appear that way, yes.”
“I happen to have a truck.”
“Do you now?”
“Yep. I have a couch too.”
“Really? Like one of those dorm-room futons or a real, honest-to-goodness couch?”
He laughed softly. “If you’re looking for comfort, the bed’s probably your best bet.”
Oh boy. “You think so?”
“Definitely.”
The air around them sizzled with an unspoken understanding of mutual need, and Carissa’s pulse sped up. She’d never done anything like this before. Never even considered it. But with this man, it felt inevitable. From the moment he’d walked through the door and their eyes had locked, she’d known how the night could end, if she let it. She suspected he did too. And secretly, she was damn glad she’d been ditched, because she would have never had the nerve to pursue this...thing...between her and Josh otherwise.
“We should go. There are a few sites in this town you’ve gotta see before you leave,” he said softly, and she felt the promise in his voice like the tender caress of a lover across her bare skin. As long as one of them was his naked body, she was pretty sure she’d let him take her just about anywhere.
A small voice in the back of her mind warned her to think twice. But a louder voice thought it was the best idea she’d had in a long time.
She slid off the stool, took his hand, and didn’t look back.
***
Tuesday morning, present day...
Carissa cranked up the volume on her iPod until her favorite Three Days Grace song blasted in her ears. Finishing up her mid-run stretch, she headed back toward her apartment in town. The lush green cornfields on either side of the road weren’t part of her normal route, but her mood today—and the two days before it—had warranted the extra miles out into the country.
She and confrontations didn’t mesh well, and ever since the altercation with Josh, she’d been seriously on edge. If she had the extra money, she’d join the gym, just to go a few rounds with a punching bag.
She couldn’t believe the man’s nerve. Thinking he had the right to stick his nose in her business. To touch her like he owned her. The audacity to even put the idea out into the universe that something had happened between them—present, past or otherwise. The whole lot of it was ridiculous. And for him to layer the insults and try and turn it around? To say that he’d done it for her? Well, that was the icing on the freaking cake.
He could try and play the I don’t lie to my friends card all he wanted, but she knew better. He hadn’t wanted to tell Reed about their history any more than she did. Sure, Josh was the kind of guy who rightfully owned up to his mistakes. But he was also self-sacrificing, well beyond a fault. He’d rather let his conscience eat away at him than hurt Reed or put a chink in their friendship. He’d admitted to as much on Saturday, but then he’d tried to make her feel responsible for how he’d acted. And that totally pissed her off.
She wouldn’t be his pawn. Or his excuse for a personality flaw he couldn’t come to terms with.
She had her own internal drama to deal with. Sleeping with a virtual stranger, for example. And then dating said stranger’s best friend seven months later. Worst of all? Still battling a nearly combustible attraction to Josh when he’d come home a half-year later. No longer a stranger, but perhaps even more dangerous and completely off-limits.
Carissa pulled her elbows in a little tighter, dipped her head a little lower and powered down the quiet country road, the irritating thoughts relentless in her mind.
She had no one to blame but herself for what had happened with Josh and then Reed. In the end, the decisions she’d made were her own. She knew this. Accepted the fact that she’d been weak and careless on many levels. Had made it worse by agreeing to accompany Reed on what was supposed to be a one
-time, friend-for-hire sort of date to one of his big-wig business galas. Worse yet when she’d conceded to another “date” and then another still, until she and Reed found themselves resembling something of a couple, much to the delight of their friends.
Everyone had fawned over how good they looked together. How perfect she was for him and how wonderful it was to finally see the town’s golden boy settling down. Behind closed doors, she and Reed had laughed about it. They’d not only snowed his colleagues, but they’d fooled their friends too.
And then one night, six weeks into their put-on relationship, after a few too many beers and margaritas, they’d even fooled themselves.
It hadn’t been horrible, waking up in Reed’s bed. In fact, it had felt kind of...nice. Safe. Uncomplicated. Because neither of them had expectations for anything more.
At least nothing more than a shared desire to keep their friends’ meddling to a minimum and, with that, it made sense in a twisted sort of way that they should make a commitment to one another, if for no other reason than to support their mutual distaste for romance and relationships.
The sex had been decent, after all. Something they could both live with, at least for a little while. That they’d lasted as long as they did certainly came as a surprise to her, and probably to Reed too, mostly because he was as far from a one-woman kind of guy as a man could get. Somehow he’d played the part of a faithful boyfriend to a T for more than a year. And when it finally became too much—or rather, not enough sexually—he’d been honest about wanting out.
It hadn't been so easy for Carissa, however, but not because she’d been in love with him. No longer being committed to their arrangement meant she was, once again, left bare to the vulnerability of others’ prodding and expectations. Friends—especially Maddie—picked up right where they’d left off, insisting she promptly get back on the dating horse, failing to accept that Carissa didn’t want any part of the hindrance falling in love had to offer.
Of course, she realized this was another of her many faults, because she’d faked things so eloquently with Reed. But nonetheless, it didn’t change the fact that, years prior, she’d firmly decided she would never go through the agony her father had. Would never tear up the lives of those around her when the fated heartbreak came as a result of a love lost.
She blew her hair from her face and pushed herself harder, the morning air cool in her lungs, even as her legs burned from the exertion. The first houses on the edge of town came into view again, and she continued to take out her foul mood on the pavement beneath her feet.
A half mile later, she detoured toward the flip. She muttered a curse when she saw the driveway empty, with no sign of her contractor or his crew. Glancing at her watch, she ground her teeth. Eight-twenty. Alex promised he’d start early every day this week to tackle the old drywall and rewiring, so the new walls and paint could be finished the following week.
She had a schedule to follow. A plan. To get the house done and on the market before she had to pay too many mortgage payments in addition to rent on her apartment. With the shortened Fourth of July week just two weeks away, they desperately needed to stay on track. Otherwise she’d find herself in August, forking out a ridiculous amount of cash on a place that wasn’t even finished, let alone listed.
If she’d had her cell on her, she would’ve called Alex and demanded an explanation on the hold up, but, lucky for him, she’d left her phone home, in an effort to avoid Maddie’s latest bout of conniving. Dan’s undergrad roomie was visiting this weekend. Some big shot lawyer from an even bigger firm in Omaha. He may or may not, at one point in his life, have had a genital piercing. Maddie, the perv, seemed to think Carissa should find out if it was true. And, more to point, if he still had it.
That’s what happens when you’re caught wearing sexy underwear.
Carissa rounded the corner onto Clairmont Street and spotted a handful of people standing in the front yard of her apartment building. Arms flailed in the air. Voices rose.
“Oh, my God, Car, have you seen?” Lori, her second floor neighbor, jogged over, her fire-engine red hair standing on end, like it hadn’t seen a brush yet this morning.
Carissa tugged out her earbuds and hunched over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “No, what’s up?”
Lori waved her hands in front of her, unable to form words. Finally, she stepped aside and gestured toward a big, glossy sign posted in the lawn. It was too far away for her to read, but it looked like one of those “this site is being renovated by...” advertising signs.
“Are we finally getting those upgrades Jim’s been promising?”
Lori shook her head, her brows pinched together. “No. You didn’t notice your door this morning?”
A sickened feeling stirred in Carissa’s stomach. “What am I missing here, Lor?”
“We’re being evicted. They’re demoing the building in a month and putting a youth center in its place.”
***
“Bad news, boss.”
Josh cringed at the ominous tone of his assistant foreman’s voice. Ryan Croft had worked for him since Hudson Contracting wore diapers and, aside from Tony, there wasn’t a man on his payroll he trusted more.
“It wouldn’t be Monday morning without it.” Leaning against his temporary desk, aka the hood of his work truck, Josh swiped through the digital floor plans for the new River Bend medical clinic. Set to break ground on the facility later in the week, he needed to make sure every ‘i’ was dotted and every ‘t’ crossed. If he’d learned anything in the six years he’d been in the business, it was the importance of time management. Time was money and all that.
“Tony just found what looks like vandalism at the Henry mansion.”
That sure as hell hadn’t been on his agenda.
Josh looked up from his iPad and arched an eyebrow behind his Oakley’s. “Either it is or it isn’t.”
Ryan crossed his lanky arms over his chest and nodded. “It is. The wiring in the east wing’s been tampered with. Mostly sliced.”
Motherfu— “How the hell could that happen? The place should’ve been locked up.”
“It was. I did it myself on Friday after I checked everything over for the inspection today. Looks like whoever did it came through a window.”
Big surprise. The monstrosity of a house only had about a hundred.
“Real neat work, too. Like they knew what they were doing.”
Obviously. Or they would have left a charcoaled body behind.
Josh bit off a curse and adjusted his ball cap. It didn’t slip past him that Tony hadn’t called him directly, but he’d deal with that later. Right now he had to figure why the hell someone would sabotage his site. Chances were the perp had it out for Senator Henry, seeing as he wasn’t the most popular guy in Cameron County. But Josh was no less concerned about the mishap occurring under his nose, to his project.
“I figured I’d head over and help Tony with the damage estimate before Fletcher shows up and starts asking questions.”
Josh shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck and the scar he'd scored in the desert. “Nah, I’ll go. I’ll have to call the insurance company anyway.” He needed to talk to Tony too. Straighten out the mess he’d caused on Saturday. Preferably before Fletcher heard about it and started asking questions he really didn’t want to answer.
He shuffled his paperwork and tablet together and slid behind the wheel of his truck. No sooner had he put the Chevy into reverse than his cell rang. He stuck the phone to his ear as he backed out of the parking lot of the bank job his crew was just finishing up. “Hudson.”
“I’m having chest pain, you bastard. I think you broke my ribs.”
“Dude, are you still bitchin’ about that? You sound like a little girl.”
“Bite me,” Dan muttered, along with a few other whine-ass remarks. “But speaking of little girls, how’d it go the other night? Carissa chew you a new one or what?”
Josh grunted. “Is that
all you called for? Because I got a lot more important shit to deal with today.”
His brother paused just long enough for Josh to know he was gonna regret the remark.
“Come on, Dan, I ain’t got all day.”
“I hate to add more to your plate, but I can’t get ahold of Fletcher. You’re the next best option, bro.” Another pause, then... “Alex Kelly’s scamming Carissa.”
Josh froze, his hackles raised. It wasn’t his concern if his competition was running bad business. But this was Carissa they were talking about, regardless of whether or not she’d told him exactly where he could stick his concern.
He’d probably regret it, but... “I’m listening.”
Chapter Four
Alex and his crew arrived at the flip just before ten o’clock. And only after two calls from a very pissed off, soon-to-be-homeless Carissa.
By early afternoon, her emotions were hanging by a thread and it certainly didn’t help that the crew was was rushing through the rewiring in the living room like frat boys stringing up Christmas lights in September. When they began to install the new drywall, she broke out her cojones and spoke up.
“Maybe I heard wrong, but doesn’t Reed have to inspect the new wiring before you wall it up?” She bit at her lip as Alex and one of his crew members placed a new sheet of drywall over a spider web of wires and junctions.
Alex flashed a smile over his shoulder and took his time fastening every last screw before he answered. “You don’t doubt my work, do you?”
His partner snickered, muttered something in Spanish, and went to retrieve another sheet.
“Reed said he needed to see the wiring before you put the new walls up,” she reminded him.
Drill in hand, Alex eyed her suspiciously. The man had the darkest, most ethereal green eyes she’d ever seen.
She shivered. She barely knew him and she’d pushed aside her uncertainty in hiring him when he’d come in with the most affordable bid and a schedule that aligned with hers. Now she was second-guessing the way she’d prioritized her hiring criteria.