by Zara Cox
Then I heard the faint clink of cutlery.
We were in a restaurant. In a private booth, yes, but still a public place. And for the third time since I woke up, I was sucking face with the man I’d hired to find my stalker.
Oh, God.
Maybe that adrenaline kick I imagined had really been a hormone shot? Because the sensations racing through my body all craved one thing—Caleb’s cock inside me.
I scurried backward from the hot body and the erection digging into my thigh. One hand was still buried in my hair, imprisoning me as he stared down at me with fiery eyes that promised as much filthy fucking as his lips had pledged.
“Lily.” His voice was thick. He cleared his throat and swallowed.
Those few precious seconds helped me put more daylight between us. I grabbed his wrists and tugged his hands from my body. He dropped them but not his searing gaze.
I busied myself by picking up my glass of soda and taking a sip I prayed wouldn’t choke me. Thankfully, it went down smoothly, cool enough to restore a tiny bit of sanity. “So, you think this little display helped?”
His eyes narrowed. “What?” He shifted away and dropped one hand into his lap. I forced myself not to watch him adjust the bulge behind his fly.
“My stalker. If he’s watching. You think it helped or was it all a waste of time?” I forced out as I smoothed my hands over my hair. My scalp still tingled deliciously from when he’d grabbed and pulled my hair. Did he do that during sex, too? I slammed my thighs together before the image of him doing that added to the fire scorching my pussy.
He exhaled sharply. “That wasn’t why you kissed me and you know it.”
“Do I?” I challenged because, dammit, I was out of sorts in more ways than one, and this seesawing from being in total control to losing it around him was driving me nuts.
His eyes gentled. “You don’t need to panic, Lily. I’m not going to use this against you. That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?”
My breath shuddered out as panic flared. “Stop talking as if you know me. You don’t!”
“I know that control is important to you. Is it because of what your asshole boss did? I’d be wary, too—”
“Tell me why you’re so hung up on your rules. Is it because of what a client did to you?” I lashed out, terrified of how effortlessly he was probing beneath my skin.
A muscle rippled in his jaw. “We’re not talking about me.”
I forced a laugh. “That tells me everything. Who was she?” I pressed.
His whole face grew taut. “Nobody you need to concern yourself with,” he bit out.
The confirmation that someone somewhere had affected him enough to drive his guard up hit me with unnerving disquiet. Nearly as much as his accurate divining of my panic.
“Fine. Can we leave now?” I cringed at the stress in my voice.
He inhaled slow and deep, and then pulled out his wallet.
“I have an account here. They’ll put it on my tab,” I said.
He scowled as he placed a couple of hundred dollar bills on the table. “I brought you to lunch. I’m paying.”
Outside, the brilliant sunlight reminded me it was still daytime. That I had many more hours of work ahead of me.
About to get in the SUV, I caught Caleb scanning the street, his gaze alert. I knew he had men out there but the fact that he was in fixer/protector mode despite the turbulence between us shook loose something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Warmth.
The memory of it was ephemeral—the contented seven-year-old tucked in her mother’s arms with no clue that a mother’s love could be temporary like everything else.
You’re truly losing it.
I slammed the door and shook my head.
Like the outbound journey, neither of us spoke as we drove back to SDM but I knew I had to say something as he pulled up into my parking space.
I undid my seat belt, faced him and opened my mouth. He grabbed me and pulled me across the center console.
“I know it’s insane, and we’ll both probably regret it, but fuck, I need to kiss you again,” he breathed roughly against my mouth.
Before I could take a breath, his tongue slid into my mouth. Wet and insistent and carnal. It was the dirtiest promise of sex I’d ever known. Over and above every inappropriate sexual thing he’d said to me since we met, it was that decadent slide of his tongue against mine that did me in. My hands returned to dig into his waist, my torso straining across the small space to slide against his.
He banded one hand around my waist and lifted me over to his side. And just like that the heat of his cock was a living thing against my ass, announcing its insistent virility. I moaned, half-ashamed at how easily I’d fallen into the kiss, half-fearful of his sensual power over me.
Slowly, that fear built, insidiously reminding me that this was no longer my default setting. I was so close to true freedom for the first time in my life. I couldn’t become a slave to my hormones or my emotions.
I pushed at Caleb’s chest before the hand sneaking up my waist could cup my breast. “Stop!”
He froze immediately.
I took a breath. “Let me go.”
He stared at me for a full minute, his chest rising and falling in harsh pants. Then his hands dropped from my body.
I hopped over into my seat, struggling with my own breathing.
“Jesus,” he swore under his breath, slammed his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. After tense seconds he opened them. “I’m...” He stopped and gritted his teeth. “Hell, I suppose you want an apology?” Before I could answer, he continued, “You’re not going to get one because I’m not sorry. You, with that tight, gorgeous body and that bruised, ripe mouth, are fucking irresistible,” he growled.
My lungs deflated in a giddy rush. Heat spiked through my blood, and my panties grew shamelessly damper. Every atom in my body strained to jump into his lap and continue where we’d left off. I curled my nails into my palms until tiny bites of pain brought a little clarity.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to resist.”
To my surprise, he nodded. “Understood.”
My jaw threatened to drop. I caught myself, then shifted my gaze from his face. Now I’d successfully drawn the line, I didn’t know what to do next.
He answered by stepping out and escorting me inside.
In my office, he calmly returned to the sofa. While I spent the next hour rewriting the same code.
I called it a night at six. He drove us home after stopping to pick up the takeout I’d ordered.
Over dinner, he asked me a bunch of work-related questions, probing my routines and those of my team. Any trace of the fever that overtook us in the restaurant and the parking lot was wiped from his features as he listened and made notes on his laptop.
Just before nine, he sat back in his chair, his eyes on his screen. “That’s enough for today. I’ll see what I can dig up with this info.” His tone was impersonal as he stood and picked up the plates and empty cartons. He helped clean up and stack the dishwasher, maintaining a chilly distance that made my stomach muscles tighten.
You wanted this. Professional distance is good.
When we were done, I turned to leave.
“Remember, you need to let me know if you’re going outside,” he said.
My face felt stiff so I didn’t even attempt a smile. “I haven’t forgotten.”
He stared at me for a beat then nodded.
In my den I made a stab at work for a solid hour before giving up and giving in to a burst of resentment. I swiveled in the seat and stared out the window.
Caleb probably thought he was only doing his job, but his interrogation had peeled back a thin layer of memories I wanted to keep buried.
Boston. My mother.
Frustration
threatened to build as I paced from window to wall and back again. My restlessness eventually drove me to the cinema room and I halfheartedly settled for a new rom-com I wasn’t really in the mood for.
I startled awake to a blank screen and a sore neck. When my disorientation cleared, I noticed a blanket that had been draped over me and there were cushions I’d dislodged in my sleep, which weren’t there before.
My heart lurched as that warmth encroached again, teasing me with its comfort. I pushed it away, got up and stumbled upstairs to bed.
Caleb Steele, like everyone in my life, was a transient, paid presence.
Nothing else.
* * *
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, minus the mind-melting making-out sessions, the probing questions into my sex life and the sexually loaded banter.
That set the course for the next three days.
On Thursday we returned to the Japanese restaurant and picked our way through an uncomfortable meal.
As he wove through light traffic on the way back to SDM, I glanced at him, that little morsel he’d let drop on Saturday returning like a nagging toothache.
Who was the client who’d triggered his rule? Was he or, as I suspected, she, still in his life?
At a stoplight he speared me with dark blue eyes. “Something on your mind?” His tone was cool. That plus the absence of his mocking eyebrow lift rattled me more than I cared for. It was like he had become a different person after the episode in the parking lot.
I reminded myself that I’d only known him for a handful of days.
That first night and day had been...out of the norm. Intense. We were both fighting for control. We’d reached an understanding and now he was focused on what he came here to do.
This was the real Caleb Steele. End of story.
So this unsettled sensation that had carved a small hollow in my stomach was misplaced. Right?
I looked away from his piercing eyes. “Nope. Nothing at all.”
He drove on, dismissing me as coolly as he’d done for the past few days.
Unfortunately, the sensation knotted inside me wasn’t as easy to dismiss. Admitting I wanted the dirty-tongued, brooding-eyed Caleb back was...hard.
I glanced out the window, frowning at my reflection when I caught myself biting my lip. I had more important things to dwell on than which version of my fixer I preferred. Besides, what the hell could I do? Crawl into his lap, drag my fingers through his hair and kiss him the way I’d wanted to do on Saturday before sanity returned?
The dragging sensation in my belly gave me the answer.
I avoided his gaze for the remainder of the journey.
The fretful but excited buzz in the air when we reached my floor was a great excuse not to hunt for an answer right then.
“What’s going on?” Caleb asked as we entered my office.
“We’re presenting a midseason upgrade on two SDM products to the board tomorrow. The day before is always a little frantic.”
His gaze narrowed slightly as he watched me. “That doesn’t include what you’re working on, does it?”
“No. That’s still confidential. But I’ll be giving a presentation of my own to three of the board members tomorrow, too.”
“Which members?”
“Chance and two of his colleagues.” I couldn’t keep the stiffness out of my voice.
He noticed. “He’s coming here?” he rasped.
I swallowed at the volatile vibes oozing from him. “Yes.”
His gaze narrowed on me for several heartbeats. “Okay, I’ll need the names of the colleagues.”
I gave him the names, unable to stop the chill spreading over my nape. “Why?”
His stare was direct. “Everyone who has access to you is a suspect until I catch this asshole. Don’t underestimate anyone, Lily. And if you can help it, don’t trust anyone, either. That way you’ll avoid any nasty surprises.”
He turned away but not before I caught a flash of pain in his eyes.
Add the confounding emotions coiling through me, it rooted me to the spot for several heartbeats until a knock on my door snapped me free. By the time I finished dealing with my team member’s query, Caleb was on his phone.
We worked late into the night, then headed down to the seventh floor where the in-house catering staff had laid out a buffet-style meal in the dining room.
Although Caleb stayed close by, he didn’t engage in conversation. I tried not to glance his way, but it proved almost impossible. Especially when Miranda slid into the seat next to him, and he gave her one of those smiles that had been absent for almost a week now.
I turned away, finished the chicken parmesan I didn’t really want, while doing my best to reassure the two tech newbies on either side of me that they wouldn’t tank their presentation tomorrow.
I wasn’t sure what made me glance over at Caleb halfway through my conversation. His eyes were fixed on me, a ripple of muscle ticking in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
Abruptly, he stood and walked around to where I sat. “Are you done eating?” He glanced pointedly at my plate.
“Yes.”
“You ready to head out?” he asked, flicking a cold glance at one newbie, who cowered away from the arctic mountain glowering at him.
I considered calling Caleb out on his rudeness, but it had been a long, draining day. I really wanted to get out of here. And it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to get him away from Miranda, who was eyeing Caleb with barely disguised hunger.
I swallowed a knot of irritation. “Don’t stay too long, Miranda. I need you back here by seven.”
Her gaze swung to me, and I swore I caught a flash of something nasty in her eyes. A moment later it was gone. “Sure thing, boss. I’ll make sure you’re all set to go.”
Caleb’s impatient hand gripped the back of my chair, and I rose.
Maybe it was the don’t-mess-with-me vibes he gave off as we left the building, but nobody approached to talk to me. I continued with last minute prepping on my tablet right until we drove through the gates of my house. And then I couldn’t hold back the grain of irritation that had grown since dinner.
I cleared my throat. “I need a favor,” I said briskly.
He paused with a hand on the door. His eyebrow twitched but didn’t exactly lift. “Normally, a request like that is couched in a more...friendly tone.”
I fixed my gaze somewhere around his chest to avoid New Caleb’s cool, disinterested expression. “Tomorrow is an important day for me. So I need you not to...” I paused, a little annoyed with myself for needing to utter the words.
“It would help if you actually complete the sentence?”
The mild mockery lacing the words made me forget not to look into his face. His eyes weren’t disinterested. They were neutral. Enough to make that odd little band around my chest tighten.
To hell with this. “Stop flirting with my assistant,” I snapped.
He sat back in his seat, his eyes narrowing. “Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“What do you care who I flirt with?” he drawled.
“You’re supposed to be a professional. Do I really need to point this out to you?”
He gave a careless shrug.
“Fine. Your...attention hasn’t impacted her work. Yet. But—”
“You’re worried she’s becoming preoccupied with getting into my pants and you have a problem with that?” The words were delivered with a little more of that zing I was used to.
Hot little fires began licking through my veins, sparking electricity that engulfed my breasts, stung between my legs. “I only have a problem with how it pertains to my work. She needs to be on her A-game for tomorrow. So, yes, I’d be grateful if you’d dial down the low-voiced charm, and all that smiling.”
The smile I’d just
denigrated lit up his face. It was slow and deadly. It was also so drop-dead magnificent that I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything other than absorb it. Bask in it and God help me, grow intensely, claws-out possessive over Caleb smiling at another woman like that. And right in that moment of admitting that I was mindlessly attracted to him, I wanted to die.
Especially when that smile turned stupidly smug.
“Why, Lily, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were jealous.”
CHAPTER NINE
Caleb
I WATCHED HER stalk to the front door, her body stiff with outrage.
My smile dimmed as my gaze swept feverishly over her, greedily taking one of the few long glances I’d been reduced to stealing all week. A part of me remained pissed off that she’d put the brakes on what had seemed like a slam-dunk acceptance of the green light I gave her.
Hell, three insanely hot make-out sessions in twenty-four hours was a record, even for me, although that first time in the restaurant had been a simple exercise in taking her down a peg or two, but had quickly escalated into something mildly earthshaking.
Okay, nothing about what happened between us could be classified under mild. I would’ve fucked her in broad daylight in the front seat of my SUV if one of us hadn’t come to our senses.
Still. The part I was having a hard time dealing with was how hard it’d been to stick to my own rules this week. I’d spent more than a few sleepless nights reliving Lily’s taste, enduring a raging—pun intended—storm in my cock I was yet to get under full control.
As I watched her stab the code to turn off the alarm, though, I couldn’t help my gratification at this latest revelation.
“I’m not jealous,” she denied hotly as if she’d read my thoughts.
I shut the front door and slid home the dead bolt. “Really? You’re sure acting like it.”
Her grip tightened on the satchel she never left home without. “Of course you would think that.”
I strolled over to her. “I did wonder why you felt the need to instruct Miranda to come in on time tomorrow when she’s never been late.”
“And how would you know that?” she challenged huffily.