by Remy Richard
Sabrina scrolled back through Mike’s messages and saw that after the break-in they had become more panicky. He was almost begging her to get the program. She considered the situation and realized it wouldn’t be beyond Stiles to hold Mike responsible for her desertion. After all, he had been the one to introduce her. That must be why he had participated in the kidnapping plan. But instead of actually looking for Lila, he had taken the time to steal some things worth pawning.
She had hoped that he would have been smart enough to get some fast cash and get out of town, but apparently something had stopped that from happening. What, she wasn’t sure.
All she knew for certain was that taking the program now wasn’t just a job. It was stealing, and from Holden particularly. Despite the fact that she had warned him not to fall for her several times, she still didn’t want to disappoint him. And he would be disappointed if she stole it after all they had gone through.
With shaking hands, Sabrina typed back a message of her own.
I can’t do it. I’m sorry.
She thought about saying more, but there was nothing else to say. Mike had taken her in when she needed help and taught her how to take care of herself. And now she was deserting him.
The pain of it cut like a knife but she couldn’t help but feel that she was on the edge of something. A chance to change who she was. Holden was part of it, but not the whole thing. She knew she was bound to disappoint him at some point, but not yet. Not today.
Sabrina powered the phone off so that she wouldn’t have to see any responses. She was sure that they wouldn’t be very flattering to her anyway.
Keeping most of her body behind the doorway, Sabrina called the attendant back and asked her to ring up an outfit and bring back the clothes so she could wear them back to her room.
Once redressed in the fancy clothes and staring at herself in the mirror, Sabrina realized that the woman she had been wasn’t worthy of Holden’s trust. But the woman staring back at her now just might be.
Chapter Twelve
Now that the moment had arrived, the merry widow wasn’t looking quite so merry. More like forbidding. Of course, it was a very different thing to stand in the store fitting room and imagine his reaction than it was to stand in her bathroom and worry about his reaction.
Sabrina propped a hand on her hip in a bid to make her reflection look a little less nervous. Mimicking what she had seen in the Victoria’s Secret catalog, she pulled her hair forward to hang a little in her eyes and pushed her breasts forward to impossible angles. Great, now she just looked like a hooker with a back problem.
She blew the hair out of her eyes and turned away from the mirror. She forced herself to concentrate on the real problem. Well, the only one of her real problems she was willing to deal with right now: Holden. Somewhere along the way, amidst the banter and teasing, the kisses and touches, she had actually started to desire him.
The issue was that without a plan in place that ended with her conning him, she wasn’t sure how to initiate what she wanted with him. Somehow it seemed too big, too important, to leave to the work of a scrap of lace. Surely he would want some explanation about her change of heart?
Sabrina groaned and slid down the cabinets so that she sat on the floor and her head leaned back against a drawer.
That was exactly the reason. Holden had changed her heart. She wasn’t ready to say that she was in love with him or even that their doomed little relationship would last longer than the next couple of days. But she was ready for this. Ready to give herself to him, at least for this night.
She let out a sigh and crawled over to her bag to locate her hairbrush. Lila had apparently brought three, and she had loaned one to Sabrina. Lila had also brought along pedicure supplies and the two of them had laughed while painting each other’s toes that evening. It had turned into an impromptu makeover as Lila had straightened her hair. Sam ended it when he had calmly insisted that he, Lila and Sabrina needed to go to bed and get out of Holden’s way so he could work.
Sabrina’s hand closed around an oblong plastic shape and she pulled it out. It was her cell phone rather than her hairbrush.
There it was, the second in a long list of problems. Frankly, she couldn’t believe that Holden hadn’t asked for it back when she had returned from shopping. She wasn’t sure if it was an overburdened mind or a sign of trust, but she wasn’t thrilled either way.
It was as if having the cell phone in her possession implied some sort of responsibility. If Holden had taken the phone back then there was nothing she could do, but if she still had the phone, then she was duty bound to see if Mike had sent another text message.
She powered on the phone and waited while it searched for a cell tower. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the message light started blinking like crazy. She clicked on it and ten more text messages appeared in rapid order. They all said more or less the same thing and they were all from Mike. He was in trouble and he needed her help.
Another light was flashing in the corner of the screen and as Sabrina squinted at it, she realized it was the voicemail light. Resigned to her duty, she turned the sink on full blast to cover any sounds and pressed the phone to her ear to hear the message.
Mike’s voice sounded thin and panicked where it usually was boisterous and sure. “Bree, I need you. I know you said you can’t help, and normally I would accept that, but…it’s a life or death situation. My life actually. And it’s a little more complicated than just Stiles and his boys. I know you won’t leave me high and dry. Just let me explain. Please call me back.”
It was a good thing she was already sitting on the floor, because she would have fallen there otherwise. Mike was never so…broken. Something must really be wrong. Against her better judgment Sabrina sent off a text message to Mike.
Let’s talk. I’ll call you sometime tomorrow morning. Be ready. I won’t have long. Don’t respond to this text.
After the message had winged its way to Mike, she carefully deleted all of her texts, leaving the ones from him. Evidence in case things went south.
The man she knew wouldn’t betray her, but desperate men sometimes did desperate things, and Mike sounded nothing if not desperate.
Sabrina stuffed the phone deep into the side of the shopping bag that was holding all of her clothes and stood up. Vigorously, she brushed her hair until it crackled with static electricity. She was as ready as she’d ever be.
Gathering her courage and trying to keep her hands from covering the tiny scraps of lace, Sabrina pushed opened the door to her bedroom and peered into the sitting room. A quick glance showed that Lila and Sam had remained gone and she could hear Holden working in his room.
With a deep breath, she sprinted as fast as she could across the sitting room; terrified that someone would come in and find her in the scandalous lingerie at any second. She reached Holden’s open door at a run and momentum made her keep going until she flopped forward on his bed. Ass in the air and face planted in his comforter.
The keyboard clicking stopped and she imagined he was getting quite the eyeful. Great, a perfect beginning to a perfect night.
***
Holden had been trying, unsuccessfully, to keep his mind on work. He was really starting to wonder if he had some sort of sickness on top of everything else. He couldn’t concentrate. His mind was always wandering and Sabrina was the topic he seemed to land on more often than not.
Seeing her in her new clothes had been quite the experience. He would never again argue with Lila that clothes didn’t matter. In Sabrina’s case, they had made a major difference. Oh, she was still as stunning as always. Despite her career choices, she had a fresh and honest face that didn’t need much enhancement to take his breath away. The clothes hadn’t changed that. But the difference they made to Sabrina’s confidence couldn’t be denied.
When she’d walked into the suite, carrying bags full of her new clothes, it had taken him a moment to recognize her. The way she walked and carried herself
was different. He was still sure that clothes didn’t make the woman, but he was willing to allow the possibility that clothes allowed the woman to see herself in a new light. And the fact that he had bought those new clothes for her sparked a feeling of masculine pride in his chest.
It wasn’t all good news and positive mental attitudes though. Sabrina had been quiet all afternoon and through dinner. In fact, he’d mostly had to carry the dinner conversation all by himself since both Sam and Lila had been noticeably silent as well. Based on their body language and the way that Lila watched every move Sam made and Sam kept his eyes firmly away from any part of Lila, he was starting to think that Sabrina might be right about those two.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure what he thought about that. Sam was a good man and Holden knew that he would be more than capable of taking care of his na�ve and sometimes willful sister. And he was even willing to concede the fact that Lila was gorgeous. Somehow she had managed to escape the curse of the family nose and the height that made him appear too lanky unless he worked out for an hour a day made her seem lithe and willowy.
Sam would be lucky to have her. But based on their interactions at dinner, Holden couldn’t tell if the man wanted her or not. He would have to talk to Sabrina about it when he got a chance. She was the one who had brought the possible relationship to his attention in the first place. She would probably know better than him what, if anything, he should say to his sister about her obvious crush.
Wearily, Holden rubbed his eyes. More and more he was considering turning to Sabrina; whether it be for advice or encouragement or just to vent about how slowly his work was coming.
It was unsettling for someone used to basing all of his decisions on logic. Nothing in her past said that he should trust her, but trust her he did. And he found himself inexplicably drawn to her.
As he was trying to puzzle it out, his room door opened with enough force to send it bouncing off of the wall, and he came face-to-ass with the object of his obsession. And suddenly he realized his attraction wasn’t quite so inexplicable.
He stood up and moved to assist her but she pushed herself back upright in a hurry. She flipped her hair out of her face and he saw that she was blushing crimson. And then he saw the rest of her.
He was pretty sure that his jaw literally dropped like a stone, but he couldn’t be positive because all of his synapses were engaged in trying to come to grips with the vision in front of him. She was tightly wrapped in some sort of black lace creation that pushed her breasts up and outlined the places he most wanted to be. Garters swung temptingly around her firm thighs and her toes were painted bright coral. Even that was unbearably arousing.
When his eyes made it back up to her face, she had managed to calm some of her embarrassment.
“It’s called a merry widow,” she said, smoothing a hand down her hip and causing his brain to scramble for a second.
“It’s making me down right cheerful.” His palm itched to follow the same path that hers had over the black lace but he restrained himself. He met her gaze and said, “Since about ninety percent of my blood supply is otherwise occupied, I’m going to need some clarification. What’s going on here?”
Sabrina smirked and moved closer to him, bringing warmth and her own subtly sexy scent with her. “If I have to explain everything, this isn’t going to be as enjoyable as I’d hoped.”
“Not everything, just the whys.” His hands slid up to close around her waist, which seemed smaller than ever with the added stricture of the lace. “Like why now? Why me?”
She shrugged carelessly. “Why not?”
He forced himself to remove his hands and take a step back from her. The last thing he wanted to do, but distance was necessary for clear thinking. This was too important to let his hormones take over and rule the day. “If that’s the only criteria you have for deciding to have sex with me, I’m going to have to take a pass.”
“A pass?” She shook her head and squinted at him. “Wait a second, are you turning me down?” She wrapped her arms around her body and covered herself as best she could considering the meager fabric. He wanted to howl.
“No! Well, yes. But not because I don’t want you. God knows I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.” He looked down so he didn’t have to see her face while he explained himself and saw that his hands were shaking with the force of his desire. “But I can’t do this if the only reason you’re here is that you couldn’t think of a reason not to be here.”
Sabrina surveyed him for a second and then turned away to sit on the edge of his bed. “You were right about your brain not working, because I didn’t understand any of that.”
Holden sighed and sat on the opposite corner of the bed from her, careful to keep some distance between them. “I want you. Don’t doubt that for a second. But I can’t just be a way to pass the time while you’re bored here.”
Her mouth tightened, and she pulled the corner of the bedspread so she could huddle underneath it. “I can’t believe you would think that.”
“What else should I think?” he asked. She remained silent and he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Listen, every time I turn around you’re warning me against trusting you and now, when I take your advice, you’re hurt by it. Tell me what to do here because it really feels like a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation.”
Sabrina sighed, but at least she turned to face him. “You’re right. The thing is…I’m not really sure what I feel.” She reached across the distance and took his hand in hers and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I just know that I want you. This isn’t a promise or a commitment and I can’t guarantee that I’ll be here later but…I want to be here with you now.”
Holden leaned down and pressed his lips to the back of her hand, breathing in her scent and thinking about what she had said. After a few moments, he lifted his head so that he could look into her eyes. “If you want me as much as I want you, I can’t possibly say no.”
She rolled her eyes and tried to tug her hand away. “Well, don’t do me any favors.”
He grinned at her and kept his grip on her solid. “I’ll do you any way you like.”
Sabrina started in surprise and then laughed. “That was…surprising. I never imagined you saying anything like that.”
“Oh, but you have imagined this?”
He was delighted when she blushed, the pink flush spreading from her cheeks down her neck and into the expanse of skin on her chest laid enticingly bare.
She licked her lips and he felt it everywhere on his body. “Maybe once or twice.”
“Mmhmm. Go on.” He used his grip on her hand to pull her closer to him. She let her grasp on the comforter go and he was treated to the sight of her merry widow again. “When have you imagined us together?”
He moved his hand down her arm until he could cup her hip. He brought his other hand up and lifted her to his lap. She straddled him easily, his breath breaking when she rubbed against him where he was so hard.
She smiled at him, sin personified. “Would you like a list? All of the dates and times?”
“I’ll settle for the first time.”
She leaned back in his lap, and he supported her as she considered. “Probably when I was doing my research on you. I came across this picture of you working on the computer. It was just from the waist up but you were so absorbed in the screen and I remember thinking that I really liked your hands.”
“My hands?” he asked, amused.
“Yeah, they seemed really nimble.” She leaned close and kissed him teasingly.
How on earth she could make the word ‘nimble’ sound sexy was a mystery that he wasn’t exactly up to solving. He tried to force himself to concentrate on her words. “So what you’re saying is that you’ve had this crush on me for a while.”
She pulled back sharply. “I didn’t say that.”
“Actually, this makes sense now. I’ve been wondering why you came to the house with such a stup
id plan. Now I know. You wanted to see me,” he teased.
Outraged, Sabrina swung her leg in preparation of standing up and moving away from him, but he used her momentum to bring her down to the bed and he quickly followed. His weight kept her pinned while he continued with his theories. “Were you hoping to get caught?”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she huffed, twisting to get out from underneath him.
“Were you going to spy on me? Take a souvenir so you could moon over it from some tropical island you were hiding out on with money that you stole from me?” he pressed.
She stilled beneath him. “You’re crazy. Just because I have appreciation for what a mark is or has accomplished, doesn’t make them any less of a mark. Objectivity is key.”
“So that’s all I am to you. Just another mark?” He pushed his hips into hers, pressing against her and causing her to arch up to him with pleasure. He could feel the heat of her through the thin lace stretched across her crotch.
She quit fighting him and stroked her hands up the back of his shirt, touching his bare skin. She raised her head and nipped his bottom lip before soothing the sting with her tongue. He exhaled harshly. “You know you’re not just another mark. No one else has ever taken me hostage before.”
He chuckled and kissed her hard before leaning down to nibble on her earlobe. “What else?” he breathed into her ear.
“No one else has ever seen me in such a pathetic excuse for clothing before,” she said, out of breath.
This time he laughed out right and ran his hands down the stretchy fabric. “Speaking of which, how I am going to get you out of this?”
“I kind of figured on you just ripping it off. It’s not like I’m ever going to wear it again.”
He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her, a vision of loveliness spread out in his lonely bed. If the conversation between them wasn’t so strange, he would have thought he was having a dream. He held her gaze as his hand moved up to the thin straps that held up the lingerie.