She put the beers down on the island, found a plate, then filled it with the leftover pizza, after sniffing it to make sure it was all right. She nuked it, then went back out into the living room at the same time Colin re-entered the room from the other side.
Lucky froze at the sight of him looking like an average guy.
She swallowed hard. Not that she thought him a super stud or anything. But she’d never seen him wear anything but suits, so catching him in jeans and a navy-blue T-shirt and bare feet caught her off guard.
“Hungry?” he asked.
She blinked at the plate of pizza.
He crossed to her, took the plate and the beers from her then carried them to a gaming table against the far wall where he put them down.
Lucky followed, running her fingertip along the inlaid wood chessboard that was part of the table and trying not to notice the way the soft denim molded to his backside. Colin pulled a cord and the white curtains opened.
She caught her breath for a second time, staring at another view she’d never seen from this angle before. That of downtown Toledo and the Maumee River at dusk.
“Yeah. That was pretty much my reaction when I saw it. It’s the reason I bought the place.”
He owned, not rented, the apartment.
But of course he would. Renting was for people like her who lived from hand to mouth.
“Do you want to go outside?” he asked, motioning toward the French doors and the wrought-iron furniture on the balcony beyond.
She shook her head, glanced at her hands, which she was wringing, and found something else to do with them. More specifically, entwine them in Colin’s thick, dark blond hair while she kissed him.
ONE MINUTE COLIN had been wondering what to say to Lucky, the next he was kissing her as if it wasn’t the pizza he was hungry for but her.
As she launched a breathless attack on his mouth, she pressed her breasts tightly against his chest, her hips bumping his as she sought a closer meeting. He worked his fingers up under the hem of her shirt at the same time she unbuttoned the fly of the jeans he’d just buttoned up. Within seconds she held his rock-hard length in her hands. Colin broke contact with her mouth, groaning aloud. Her touch was gentle yet bold. Her strokes stoked the flames licking through his groin into a full-fledged fire.
Giving up trying to work his own hands under her tight shirt, he instead pulled the stretchy fabric over her head, momentarily pausing their kissing. The instant the fabric was free, her mouth sought his and her hands rested against his throbbing length again.
Never had Colin wanted anyone with the intensity he wanted Lucky. He popped the catch on her bra, then cupped her breasts and greedily licked the swollen mounds of flesh, sucking her right nipple deep into his mouth before switching his attention to her other breast. He heard her low whimper and the sound sent his desire level soaring through the roof.
“I want you so bad I hurt,” she whispered, kissing the side of his mouth then moving to his neck.
That was all the incentive Colin needed as he swept her up into his arms.
“No…no,” she said, grasping his shoulders tightly. “Not the bedroom.”
His steps faltered as he gazed into her passion-filled green eyes.
She smiled. “The couch. I don’t think I can wait for the bedroom.”
He practically launched her toward his over-stuffed black leather couch where she went to work slipping out of her sandals then shimmying out of her tight jeans. Colin was rooted to the spot, watching as she revealed the skimpiest pair of black underwear he’d ever seen up close and personal. The panties matched her open bra and both matched his couch. She looked as though someone had poured fresh cream over his sofa.
She reached out and yanked him toward her by the pocket of his jeans, reminding him that he had yet to disrobe. He’d begun pulling off his T-shirt when he felt her hot, hot mouth on his straining member.
Dear Lord…
Colin’s knees nearly buckled underneath him as he somehow managed to get the shirt off and toss it aside. He stared at Lucky’s wild red hair escaping her ponytail and followed the movements of her decadent mouth as she took in as much of his length as she could, then pulled back again. Her hand replaced her mouth and then she went down on him again, nearly draining him as her tongue cradled the sensitive underside of his penis.
As much as he hated to stop her, he wanted their first time to be about mutual sharing. He gently squeezed her shoulders, using every ounce of willpower he had to tug her skillful mouth away from his sensitive flesh. She blinked up at him, obviously confused.
“When I come, I want it to be with you,” he murmured, kneeling down in front of her.
Something flickered in her eyes, but he couldn’t be sure what it was. Surprise? Maybe.
She automatically spread her legs, welcoming him between her slender thighs. He grasped her near the knees then ran his fingers up her supple skin, denting her soft flesh, until his thumbs reached the crotch of her panties. He watched as she sank back into the cushions, giving him full access to her engorged womanhood just beneath the satiny fabric. He lightly stroked the growing wet spot then moved just to the north of it. Her hips bucked involuntarily and he knew he’d hit the target area. Increasing the pressure of his thumb, he started making small circles, listening as her breathing grew more ragged as she tried to fill her lungs with air.
He grabbed the string that made up the side of the panties with his other hand and pulled, satisfied when the material gave, finally baring her to his hungry gaze.
So swollen…so wet…so luscious.
The fabric no longer impeding his progress, he tunneled his thumb through her springy curls and found her fleshy core. Her back came up off the couch and she bore down as if seeking something only he could give her.
He grabbed for his jeans and pulled out the condom he’d put in there not five minutes ago, then quickly sheathed himself, his frantic movements not stopping until he slid into Lucky’s sweet flesh to the hilt.
Then everything seemed to stop.
His movements.
His breathing.
His heartbeat.
He met Lucky’s gaze, and in the back of his mind he heard what sounded like a low click.
Slowly everything started working again. Double time.
Lucky stared into Colin’s dark eyes, mesmerized by the sight of him as he filled her to overflowing. Her heart beat thickly, as if weighed down by a pound of honey. Honey that coated her insides and melted low in her belly, spreading, spreading until she nearly couldn’t bear the sheer pleasure it brought.
She sought purchase on the edge of the sofa but found none on the slick leather. So she grasped Colin’s shoulders instead, thrusting up to meet him as he withdrew then stroked her again. An agonizing pressure seemed to build up in her very veins and she moaned as his hard arousal slid inside her tight, wet flesh. And, throughout, her gaze was locked with Colin’s.
Most men closed their eyes when they had sex. Not Colin. His brown eyes appeared almost black as he watched her watching him. She felt connected to him in a way she hadn’t felt connected to anyone before him. Connected by shared pleasure. Ecstasy.
Colin grasped her hips and hauled her down farther so her bottom rested against the edge of the sofa cushion. Then he re-entered her, sending her spiraling ever higher and higher. He withdrew then stroked her again…and again, each thrust faster and deeper than the one before. She felt her breasts sway. Her stomach tremble. Her fingers sink into his shoulders as she rode wave after wave of pure sensation.
Then she felt him stiffen. She bore down on him hard, tilting her hips up then down again, rubbing her pelvis against his.
He groaned, and she joined him in the shared orgasm he’d desired.
7
HOURS LATER Colin lay in his bed next to Lucky, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d enjoyed sex more. Enjoyed? The word didn’t come near to describing his insati
able want of the naked woman curved against him. His fingers still stroked her breast even though she’d fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep a little while before.
He knew if he were to part her swollen flesh and enter her from behind, she’d respond welcomingly. But no matter how much he wanted to do that, to continue what he never wanted to end, he let her rest.
In the dim light filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, her thick hair looked black and her skin seemed to glow eerily white. So beautiful. So responsive. So sensual.
So guarded.
He shifted his hand off her breast and to her flat stomach, pleased by her unconscious shiver. She was so open to him sexually, yet she’d blocked him from entering her place the night before. What had she been hiding? What hadn’t she wanted him to see? It seemed odd that the shameless woman would be ashamed of her own apartment. But what other explanation was there?
He rolled onto his back. Lucky murmured then turned and snuggled up to his side. Colin stared into her sleeping face and finger-combed her hair from her temple. Normally he was the one used to sleeping like the dead after a night of great sex. But somewhere within him he knew that what had happened in the past few hours hadn’t just been about sex. It had been great, yes. But it had also been something more.
He squinted at the woman in his arms. She was a sexy enigma to him. So much he didn’t know about her. And yet he had invited her into his apartment, his bed, with few reservations, and even those were professional. On a fundamental level he knew he could trust her not to steal the silver. Knew he could count on her not to go through his things while he slept. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did.
Of course he knew the reason why he couldn’t sleep. Beyond his continued and unquenchable want of Lucky was his concern about what would happen in the morning. Would she still be there when he got up? Would she want to share breakfast? Come out and run with him?
He thought of her jeans and sandals and ruled that out. Unless she went back to her place and picked up running gear.
And if she did? Was he ready for things to go so far so fast?
He didn’t realize she was watching him until he heard her deep swallow. “You’re awake.”
The sheets rustled as he covered them both. “So are you.”
She flattened her palm against his chest as if wondering at the sight of her skin against his. “What’s on your mind?”
He smiled into her hair then kissed her head. “I thought that was my line.”
She rubbed her nose against his nipple. “When you’re at work it’s your line. When you’re here…”
Her words seemed to imply she planned to stick around longer than tonight.
She rolled away from him and sat up, her feet over the side of the bed.
Colin resisted the urge to reach for her. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
Home. Back to that ramshackle room on the opposite side of town.
“I was supposed to go in to work tonight.”
Colin raised his brows then ran his fingers through his tousled hair. He hadn’t even thought to ask what her schedule was. Then again, she hadn’t mentioned anything, either.
He watched as she plucked the sheet off her lap and got up. “I guess I have to pound the pavement again in the morning to find another job.”
Colin lifted to his elbows, watching as she went into the bathroom. Moments later he heard the sound of the shower. He lay there in the dark, considering what she’d said. He was still there when she emerged from the bathroom smelling like his shampoo and soap then padded out into the living room where he watched her put on her clothes. Moments later she was standing fully dressed in the open doorway.
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“For the great night.”
He would have been insulted had he not recognized the humor in her voice.
She began to turn away.
“Lucky?”
She stopped. “What?”
He couldn’t make out her beautiful face in the dark. “How much do you need to make your rent?”
She didn’t say anything for long moments but he detected a change in her posture. A slight stiffening. “Why? Are you offering to pay it?”
“Yes.”
Again, silence.
Then, “No. But thanks for thinking of it.”
Colin threw the sheet off and followed her out into the living room. “Then think of it as a loan. You know, until you can get back on your feet.”
He caught the flash of her smile. “This is as good as it gets, doc. As much on my feet as I ever am.”
He watched as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Tell me, Colin. Is this where the rich guy feels guilty about banging the poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks and offers to save her from herself?”
Colin felt suddenly, totally exposed standing there in the nude facing her.
“I don’t need saving.”
She regarded him for a moment, then sighed softly and crossed to stand directly in front of him. She gave him a lingering kiss.
“Thanks, anyway. It was sweet.”
He called her a cab, insisting he at least pay for that, then watched as she gathered her purse and let herself out of his apartment.
Colin stood there for long moments, listening as the elevator in the hall dinged open then closed, whooshing Lucky away into the dark night.
Then a thought occurred to him: Maybe it wasn’t her he was offering to save.
THE MIDDAY SUN glared against the windshield of Lucky’s old Chevy, making the interior of the car almost unbearably hot when it wasn’t moving. She adjusted her sunglasses and stared at the red light, wishing it green. The radio issued a burst of static and she reached out to switch it off, leaving nothing but the rumbling sound of the old car vibrating beneath her.
She’d hit no fewer than twenty bars and restaurants in the area and all of them had told her the same thing: they didn’t have any openings but if she’d like to fill out an application they’d keep it on file in case something came up.
Lucky blew a long breath out between her lips. She could count the times she’d been contacted that way on one finger. Unless she had an in by knowing someone else who worked at the place or she happened upon a bar where a waiter or waitress had just quit, her chances of landing a position lay somewhere between slim to none. Especially given her spotty work record as of late. While she’d been employed at the pancake house for over a year, her job at Harry’s had lasted four months. And her latest gig at the new country-and-western bar and grill near her house had lasted a grand total of six days.
Of course, she wasn’t going to tell a prospective boss that the reason for that was she’d chosen sex over a paycheck, so she chose not to mention that job on her applications.
The light finally turned green and she pulled into a strip mall that held several adult dancing clubs. No, she had never danced, and never planned to, but she had worked at one or two as stop gaps until she found something she liked better. The tips were good even if the last time she’d had to wear a string bikini, leather chaps and a cowboy hat when she served the oversexed clientele their expensive drinks.
Dr. Colin McKenna would never be caught dead in a joint like that.
And, she suspected, under normal circumstances neither would he have been caught dead seeing a woman like her.
She pulled into a parking spot facing a strip club and cut the engine. She knew that if she hadn’t been assigned to attend counseling at his office the likelihood of their paths crossing would have been low. And even though they had slept together she knew they were about as different as two people could get.
Put simply, she was a twenty-five-year-old Chevy, and he was a brand-spanking new Lincoln Navigator. And while her old muscle car could give his a run for its money any day of the week, at the end of that day it was still an old Chevy.
And she was still the same old Lucky
.
Still, the possibility of never seeing him again sent a knife-sharp pain shooting through her chest.
Five minutes later she was still sitting in the car staring at the doors to the strip joint, her hands clenched against the hot steering wheel, her mind firmly on Colin McKenna, when sunlight reflected off a nearby door, snagging her attnetion. Lucky squinted at a customer exiting a shop two doors up from the strip club. A brunette about her age propped open the door then began sweeping the sidewalk. She took in the sign above the store.
Women Only.
Lucky cracked a grin, finding the name apropos given its location. What else would you name a shop next to a gentlemen’s only club?
A Help Wanted sign caught her attention.
She hadn’t worked in retail much. She’d found the hours weren’t as flexible and the pay without tips not nearly as much as she made as a waitress.
She got out of the car and headed for the strip joint.
Halfway there she switched courses and turned toward the other shop.
The woman cleaning the sidewalk stopped sweeping and looked up at her. Lucky pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and asked, “You looking to hire somebody?”
Tsk, tsk. Bad Dr. McKenna.
COLIN STARED at the note he’d found under his windshield wiper outside his apartment building this morning. He didn’t have to wonder who had left it. Obviously Jamie was still avidly stalking him.
He resisted the urge to crumple the paper and instead tucked it into the band under his sun visor so he could hand it over to his attorney in his ever-hopeful bid to press stalking charges against his former patient. As he waited for the light to change, he gripped and released the steering wheel.
Obviously last night Jamie had spotted him go ing back to his place with Lucky. And obviously Jamie thought Lucky might still be one of his patients.
At any rate, he couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes like that, as his attorney kept re minding him. “Play it low-key, Colin. We’ll just have to hope that Jamie will back off, move on to someone else, and this will all be over with.”
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