Taken by Tuesday (Weekday Brides Series)

by Catherine Bybee

  “Again, an enemy was involved.”

  That’s true. “You’re too cocky for me.”

  “Confident,” he corrected her. “And so are you. I think it’s sexy.”

  Judy squeezed her eyes shut and released a sigh when the coffeemaker beeped. “Something tells me you think a lot of things are sexy.” She poured two cups of coffee, sugared hers up.

  “I think meatloaf is sexy.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s sad.” She brought her coffee to her lips and turned toward him.

  “Most of my home-cooked meals are heated-up frozen food from a microwave.”

  She blew over the hot java. “I don’t think a microwave means home cooked.”

  Rick stepped close, reached to her side, and took the cup she’d poured but failed to hand him.

  She looked over his massive chest and thick shoulders as he loomed over her. She grasped her cup with both hands to avoid the temptation of touching him. Because damn if he wasn’t sexy.

  Rick left his hand next to the coffee cup on the counter and stared down at her.

  She squirmed under his stare, didn’t trust herself to call him on it. Only when he reached for her coffee did she look into his eyes. Her nose flared and her breath caught in her throat. The smile he always wore wasn’t there, in its place was something much more intense.

  “W-what are you doing?”

  He set her cup beside his and boxed her in, one hand resting on each side of her.

  “I’m going to kiss you,” he said over her lips. “Taste you.”

  Her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her brain . . . the short circuit could bring the grid down. “I . . . I—”

  “You want to taste me, too.”

  She licked her lips . . . knew he was right and reached for the words to prove he wasn’t.

  “There’s been chemistry between us from the day we met.” He voiced the thoughts in her head. He kept moving his gaze to her lips, his body so close but not actually touching hers. So many parts of her started to tingle she couldn’t catalog them fast enough. “Don’t you want to see if we fit, Judy?”

  “You’re dangerous.” But she wasn’t pushing him away. She was imagining that spark, and wondering at the same time what he would taste like.

  “I am,” he told her.

  She licked her lips, knew he wasn’t thinking of the same danger she was. Hooking up with Rick and lingering in his life could threaten everything she’d worked hard to achieve. “I-I don’t do danger.”

  He slid both hands to her hips, the contact made her actually jump. “I disagree. You like danger, uncertainty, crave it even.”

  “No . . . I don’t.”

  Without any effort, he lifted her onto the counter, left his hands on her waist. His strong fingers branded her, made her feel small . . . made her feel protected.

  He smelled of pine soap and something so unique she thought it must be pheromones. The same scent filled her when she closed her eyes at night. Rick dipped his head closer to hers, but didn’t touch her. Her breathing came fast now, his kiss so close.

  His lips nipped at hers, the shock so complete she gasped and his contagious smile transferred to her. She leaned forward, tempting danger to touch her again. He did, this time lingering until her eyes drifted closed and his tongue licked the edges of her lips, seeking entrance.

  Danger came in the form of a man, one so skilled at seduction she didn’t even realize when he wedged between her thighs and pulled her body next to his. Rick left no part of her mouth untouched. The depth of his kiss stole her breath and shot stars into her head. His hands spread over her back and into her hair. There wasn’t room to think . . . only to feel and taste.

  Noise behind them made her freeze.

  “Dude, sorry . . .”

  Devon.

  Rick pulled back but didn’t leave her personal space.

  Judy opened her eyes to see Devon retreating from the kitchen.

  “Oh, boy.” She sighed, looked into the laughing eyes of danger’s son.

  “We’re not going to talk about this,” he said against her lips.

  She could still taste him, wanted more. “We’re not?”

  He shook his head. “We’re not.”

  Rick backed away a couple of inches and Judy actually leaned forward.

  “I’m going to finish my work and then I’m going to go home.”

  Disappointment resulted in a frustrated sigh. “You are?”

  “I am. Because if I walk back into this house and see you looking at me like this again, I’m going to show you just how dangerous I really am. And I don’t want to scare you, Judy.”

  She squeezed her hands, which had managed to grasp his waist at some point during their kiss.

  Rick gave a throaty laugh. “I’m not going to call, but that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about you.”

  “You kiss me crazy and you won’t call?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “Because.” He leaned closer, placed his lips next to her ear. His hot breath brought every needy nerve in her body on alert. “I’m not giving you a chance to blow me off over the phone. And in person, I’ll remind you of this moment.” She closed her eyes, felt the featherlight touch of his tongue on the lobe of her ear, and moaned.

  Then Rick walked out of the room.

  Chapter Seven

  “He hasn’t called.”

  “He said he wouldn’t call.”

  Meg laughed at her over the phone.

  “I can’t concentrate at work.” Here she was on her lunch break, eating a sub sandwich and talking to her BFF over the phone about a boy. “This is why I didn’t want to go out with him.”

  “He’s a sexy distraction. I’ll give you that.”

  “I need to work.”

  “Because it takes all your brain power to file and play the mailman. Geez, Judy, it’s not like you have some high-power, high-stress job.”

  “Even if I did, I’d be staring out the window thinking about him. I should just call him and tell him I can’t do this.”

  “Oh, stop. If you called him, he’d just show up at your work and call you on the sizzle.”

  Why had Judy told Meg every detail of their kiss? She should have known it would all be thrown back at her.

  “This is crazy.”

  “Isn’t your brother coming home on Friday for the fundraiser?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Doesn’t Rick play bodyguard for Mike?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “Then you’ll probably see Rick on Friday at the house . . . or at the fundraiser.”

  Judy pushed her lunch aside. “Great, telling Dr. Dangerous that I need to concentrate on my career and not him in a room full of the rich and famous ought to be fun.”

  “You’re not going to tell him that. You’re going to take one look at him and melt.”

  “You’re so not helping, Meg.” The fact that Meg saw Rick almost every day since she worked in the downstairs office in the Tarzana house he lived in made everything worse. If Rick wanted to pass on something, he had a direct link. Yet nothing came from the man.

  “Oh, you want me to help?”

  “Isn’t that what friends do?”

  “OK, let me see . . .” the phone sounded like it was dropped, and then Judy heard Meg’s voice yelling in the house. “Hey Rick?”

  Judy’s heart jumped. “Meg!”

  “Yeah . . . Judy’s on the phone. Says she wants to jump your bones—”

  “Meg! Don’t you . . . oh, shit.” The people sitting on the outside patio of the sandwich shop were watching her as she lit into her best friend.

  Meg’s laughter filled the earpiece. “You’re so freaking easy.”

  “He better not be there.”

  “I told you I hardly ever see him. I usually leave before he gets home. Relax.”

  When Judy felt her heart return to a normal beat, she cursed her friend. “I’m going to get back a
t you for that.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  After a few more complaints, Judy hung up and stared at her half-eaten sandwich. She really shouldn’t have allowed his kiss. Because kissing led to dreams and dreams led to desire.

  She cursed herself and clicked into her war game on her phone. For a couple of brief minutes she stopped thinking about kissing and scent and battled her cyber enemy. “Take that!” she told her phone as she raided Spike, an enemy who used to be on her cyber team. He’d jerked out during the summer-long online battle, bitching the team wasn’t spending enough real money to win their faction battles. Now he popped up from time to time on her rotating list of enemies, and she had no problem sending him a game kiss by blowing up his buildings and taking his cyber money. In the notes, she wrote waving and placed a winking emoticon on his page. Judy turned off her game, tossed her lunch in the trash, and headed back to the office.

  Mike was home by the time she got off work on Friday. The energy in the house completely changed with his presence. Blaring music greeted her as she walked in the front door. In the drive, his Ferrari had been pulled from the garage and evidence of someone coming by to wash it was left in the way of puddles. Judy didn’t expect to see Meg since she was already at Zach and Karen’s prepping for the evening. The entire event was set up and managed by Karen, but the opportunity for Meg to learn how to rub elbows with rich clients while mingling among all of Mike’s and Zach’s friends was too good to pass up.

  “Mike?” Judy called through the house, attempting to raise her voice over the music.

  “In here.”

  Judy followed her brother’s voice and found him standing in his bedroom, his dress shirt open and his hair still wet from his shower.

  She opened her arms to her brother. “So glad you’re home.”

  Mike lifted her with his hug and kissed her cheek. “It’s great to come home to a house with people. Where’s Meg?”

  “At Karen and Zach’s. She went to work for Samantha.”

  Mike blinked. “With Alliance?”

  She gave him a playful smack to his arm. “Yes, with Alliance. I didn’t realize you used an actual service to hook up with Karen.”

  Mike offered a strange look. “Seemed practical at the time.”

  Judy stood back while Mike buttoned his shirt. “How long are you going to be in town?”

  “I’m flying out Tuesday night.”

  “Geez, that’s not a lot of down time.”

  “Not sure how much down time there will be. It won’t be easy keeping my eyes open tonight with the jet lag.”

  “You didn’t sleep on the plane?”

  “Even private charters are bumpy.”

  She started to leave the room. “You can tell me all about your exclusive plane trips on the drive out. I need to shower and get ready.”

  Judy walked out of her room forty minutes later in a floor-length sequin job and three-inch heels.

  Mike whistled. “Who are you and what did you do with my sister?”

  Judy rolled her eyes. “Dork.”

  “You look amazing.”

  Even from her brother, the compliment made her smile. She ran a hand over her flat stomach and twisted. “I borrowed it from Karen. You bought her a ton of clothes.”

  “Took me four months to get her to break down and spend some money.”

  “I can think of worse traits in a woman.”

  Mike grabbed his dress jacket and swung it over his arm. “You don’t have to borrow Karen’s stuff.”

  “I can’t afford this stuff. And before you can offer . . . no.” They were walking beside each other and out the front door.

  “No, what?”

  “I’m not taking your money. You’re already giving me a place to live.”

  “It’s just money, Judy. I have more than I’ll ever spend.”

  She hesitated as he locked the door behind them.

  “I need to make it on my own, Mike. My own decisions, my own career.”

  “A loan then?”

  Judy shook her head. “You don’t loan money to family. Even I know that never works. Who knows, maybe I’ll have Meg find me a temporary husband.”

  Mike narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why?” Not that she would really consider the proposition, but why did Mike think the arrangement was good for him but not for her?

  “Too dangerous for a woman.”

  “Oh, please.” She walked away from the house and waited by the Ferrari for him to open her door. “They screen for anyone with malicious intentions.” Mike gave her a hand into his überexpensive car, closed the door.

  Mike glared at her from the driver’s side and turned over the engine. “You’re not cut out for a temporary marriage.”

  “How can you say that?” The double standard was kind of ticking her off. Why was it good enough for him and Karen but not OK for her? The life of a modern woman was something she was reaching for. Did her mere existence scream small-town woman living out of her element in LA? Did the people at Benson & Miller Designs see that about her and that’s why they weren’t taking her seriously?

  “You’re not really considering it, are you?”

  “The fact you’re worried I would is hypocritical, don’t you think?”

  “You’re my little sister. It’s my job to look out for you.” He actually sounded scared.

  “Relax, Mike. I’m not doing anything right now. I’d like to see where this internship goes before I make any decisions like marriage . . . temporary or otherwise. If I could just get my boss to ask me to do something other than clerical work, I’d be happy.”

  They talked about her job, her lack of exposure to anything she truly wanted to be doing. She complained and Mike listened. She talked nonstop, bending his ear and completely unloading on him. Her brother had always been a good listener.

  “Want my advice?” he asked as he made the turnoff to Zach and Karen’s place.

  “Always.”

  “Take a risk. Do something that will gain their notice. What’s the worst thing they can do?”

  “Make me leave.”

  Mike pulled into the long drive to The Village. “Make you leave an internship that’s highlighting your ability to file papers.”

  Cars were backed up down the drive. Limousines, sports cars, town cars . . . luxury like she’d never seen. “You’re about to meet a bunch of very powerful people. Yeah, some will promise the world and deliver nothing. But I’ve seen some of your designs, sis. You’re good.”

  “You don’t know anything about design.”

  “I know what looks good. And if you lacked talent, you wouldn’t have graduated with honors and some of your college professors would have suggested a different major. Aren’t you the one who told me your last project landed a place on your teacher’s list of exceptional achievements?”

  That had been a sweet moment. “Yeah. I am good, damn it.”

  “Time you let your boss . . . or maybe his boss, know it.”

  She sighed, hating the feeling of defeat. “Getting noticed in that office is impossible.”

  They pulled up to the valet and someone opened her door. Mike jumped out, offered his Hollywood smile as the kid accepted the keys, and said, “Be careful with her.”

  The kid blinked. “I will, Mr. Wolfe.”

  Mike laughed, came up behind her, and draped his arm over her shoulders like he’d done forever. “Getting noticed is easy. Delivering on the promise of good designs, that’s the hard part.”

  “You’re a movie star, Mr. Hollywood. I don’t have the same star power.”

  He laughed and bumped his hip into her, nearly knocking her off balance. She laughed and bumped him back right as a flash of a camera went off.

  Rick saw stars. Judy’s words echoed in his earpiece. Maybe I’ll have Meg find me a temporary husband?

  The conversation as Judy and Michael were leaving the Beverly Hills home started out innocent enough. Someth
ing Rick only planned to listen to long enough to know they left the house so he could estimate their arrival at The Village.

  Judy wanted to make her own decisions, make her own money. Then the mention of Meg and a husband made Rick see red. “She can’t be serious,” he said to himself. She had to be pulling her brother’s chain.

  Wearing a tux and packing more than three pieces, Rick mingled with guests while keeping an eye on the door.

  The silent auction in the backyard was heavily monitored with a security detail Neil had put in place. Rick’s attendance was more about protecting Zach and Karen’s inner circle, which included Michael and Judy. Neil watched over Gwen, Samantha, and Blake. The only elite members of their group not directly under Neil’s supervision were the governor, Carter Billings, and his wife, Eliza. Billings had his own posse following him around.

  Rick heard some of the crowd talking about the new arrivals before he noticed Judy.

  The gold glittery dress ran all the way to the tips of her toes. Toes strapped in delicate shoes that led to a slit up her dress. Her lean leg beckoned from under her gown and made his mouth water. Up her curves, he found the V of her dress dipping just enough to give a glimpse of her pale skin over her breasts. Judy wore her hair up in a messy style that looked as if it took only seconds to achieve, but he knew it probably took her an hour. She wore a little more makeup than she normally did, but instead of it looking fake, it looked hot.

  He forced his gaze away before she caught him staring. His weren’t the only eyes following her around the room. She was an attractive woman. If Meg wanted to find Judy a temporary husband, it wouldn’t take long for someone to snatch her up.

  That was not going to happen, not as long as he was breathing.

  “Hello, Captain Obvious?”

  Rick snapped his gaze away from Judy again, found Meg standing beside him. “What?”

  Meg shook her head. “You know, Rick, I find it amusing the two of you are dancing around this attraction.”

  He thought about that for a second. “I didn’t think I was dancing.” No, he’d been asking her for a simple date for well over a month.

  “I guess that’s true.” Meg waved in Judy’s direction and Rick noticed the look between the two women, a silent warning spoken from Judy’s eyes to Meg’s.