“Much nicer.”
“Indeed.”
His arm brushed her shoulders, before his fingers swept over her skin. A sigh parted her lips at his caress. He massaged the muscles in her neck and she bit back a sigh.
“You have a lot of tension back here.”
“It’s from staring at invoices and a computer all day.”
He removed the plate from her hand and placed it on the table. “Turn around.”
She studied him for a moment before complying. He brushed her hair for the back of her neck then slowly worked his thumbs over the worst of the knots. He moved down her spine circling each vertebrae as he went and then worked his way back up. She allowed her head to fall forward. The man’s hands were magic and tension seeped from her body with each expert stroke.
“You should take better care of yourself,” he whispered near her ear.
She wanted to argue, but right now he was making her feel so good. “You’re absolutely correct.”
His lips grazed the delicate shell sending tingles humming down her spine. “You take care of everyone around you. What’s so hard about having someone take care of you?” He kissed the curve of her shoulder. “Someone who will respect your strength, your beauty, your intelligence.”
She turned her head into his kiss. So very different from the afternoon, but no less demanding. He pulled her close, until she half lay across his lap, his hand cupped her breast while his thumb teased her nipple to a hardened peak. His fingers curled in her hair, holding her still while he plundered her mouth. Never had she been kissed so thoroughly. Her panties were damp and all she could think about was being taken hard and fast by this man.
He straightened. “Maybe I should take you home.”
She stared at him. From the dark scowl on his face, taking her home was the last thing on his mind. “Now why would you do that?”
“I want you, Bonnie, but you’re not ready.”
She eyed him a moment, then straddled his lap. The bulge beneath her thigh jumped and she smirked. His hands rested on her hips while she cradled his face. “How do you know what I’m ready for if you don’t ask?”
“If you stay the night, Bonnie this will change our relationship. Are you sure that’s something you want to do. I’m willing and ready to wait.”
“Life is meant to be lived, Buck, and I think we’ve both been waiting for a long time.” She pressed her lips to his savoring the spicy taste of him. “I don’t have a lot of experience with sex, but I would like to please you.”
He shackled her wrists and held her gaze. “That’s even more of a reason for us to wait. I’m i this for the long haul, sassy and when I tale you to bed there will be no doubt in your mind as to when and how to please me.”
Bonnie sat back, mild disappointment fluttered through her veins, but on some level she was relieved she wouldn’t have to test her limited experience. That also meant she wouldn’t learn what he liked. She studied him a moment. Desire heat his eyes to a molten blue and if anything the arousal beneath her thigh had grown harder. She’d always her waiting heightened anticipation. Would this be the case with them? “Are you sure?”
“Hell no. I’ve got the woman of my dreams sitting on my lap lookin’ and smellin’ good and I just turned down what I know would be a night to remember.” He released her hands to plunge his fingers through her hair. “Instead, we’re going to sit here and I’m going to relish the texture of your hair.”
“My hair?”
“It’s so soft and curly.”
She chuckled. He had to be the first man who truly liked her hair. “Yours is pretty sexy too.”
He shrugged. “I’ve thought about dying it.”
She gasped. “Why would you do that?” She moved closer running her fingers through the sable and silver strands. “Reminds me of a chocolate kiss.”
“Really?” His breath warm on the swell of her breasts.
“Yes.”
He drifted a hand to the curve of her derriere and squeezed. “Then that’s all that matters.”
She shifted until she sat next to him again. He curved an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. She toed off her heels and tucked her legs beneath her. A contented sigh left her lips. This was the best date she’d been on in a long time. “Thank you for this evening.”
“You’re welcome.”
“There is one thing I’m curious about?”
“Just one?”
She giggled. “For the moment. Did your parents really name you Buck?”
“Ah no.”
“So what’s your real name?”
“It’s awful.”
Intrigued, she pushed to her knees and waited.
“Bartholomew Ulysses Kane.”
She shook her head. “That’s just so not nice.”
He nodded. “As soon as I could I made everybody call me Buck.”
“Bartholomew? We could call you Bart?” She squealed and fended off his hands as he tickled her. “Or B.K.”
“You’ve got jokes?”
No matter how much she tried to evade his torturing fingers, he managed to find her sensitive spots and laughed. “Okay. Okay. I much prefer Buck.” She panted. “It suits you.” The word ‘suit’ resonated and a flash of a man in a jogging suit caught her mind’s eye. She went still beneath him.
“What is it?”
He released her and she sat up. As if sensing what she needed he remained quiet, a gentle hand rested on her thigh. She held the vague memory close, grasping at the tattered emotion it evoked.
“He stood over me, laughing. Some sort of dark two piece sweatsuit and he wanted to know...” She closed her eyes. This was important. What the man wanted to know was crucial and she wouldn’t tell him. “It’s right. Gad. It’s right there and-and..” she huffed, the memory gone.
Buck drew her into his arms. “Don’t force it. Just let it happen.”
“But it was important. He wanted something from me and I wouldn’t give it to him.”
“What did he want? Money? Your car?”
She shook her head. “I think-I think he wanted you.”
Chapter Four
Buck stared at the sleeping woman sprawled in the middle of his bed. Her curly hair haloed her head like a toffee afro. The sooty fringe of her lashes rested against her cheeks while her lips parted on a soft snore. The pajama top she borrowed from him hinted at her lush curves. Even in sleep she was a vision waiting to be explored.
Taking what she offered the night before would’ve been easy, but he wanted much more than her body. That had been the hardest thing he’d done, telling her no. Even now in the faint light of morning, he remember the exotic scent of her arousal and all he wanted to do was bury his nose in her lushness and imbibe of her feminine goodness.
She shifted in the bed kicking a shapely leg from beneath the covers. He could just imagine her legs wrapped around his waist while he watched her climax over and over. Stifling a groan he shifted his erection. He needed to stop thinking about her like that, she needed time and his patience. Not just for a relationship, but she seemed a little skittish about getting close to him. And he didn’t blame her.
The attack left her with a hole in her memory. After the orchid from the office and the tidbit she dropped in his lap last night, there was no doubt left in his mind that he was the reason she’d been hurt. Why her and why now?
He wasn’t in the game anymore. Sure he still kept in contact with a few people from the old neighborhood, but they’d done time with him, moved away and gone legit. Last he heard Red had built his crew into a serious empire, but Buck was done with that life. He didn’t need the aggravation or the constant looking over his shoulder for traitors or on the look out for cops waiting to take him down. His five year stint was enough to convince him, that being a career criminal was the fast track to a short life and if he wanted to be with a woman like Bonnie, well he needed to reform his ways.
So he’d taken the cash he amassed, made sure it was
clean and squirreled it away. Once he was free he bought his first truck and started hauling freight. He had plenty of money to see him through the rest of his life, but without a job, a constant supply of capital would’ve made too many people ask questions. He didn’t need that.
Now someone from his past—their past had attacked her and sent a very clear message. Buck dragged restless fingers through his hair. Now all he had to do was figure out what this person really wanted, Buck already knew the who, he wanted to know the why. With whatever Bonnie could remember, he would eliminate this threat to her.
***
A few nights later Buck sat in a local sports bar and watched the younger man pull out the chair turn it around and straddle the seat before he picked up his bottle of beer. Watching him now, barely old enough to buy alcohol, as a man and he felt a sense of pride. Maybe he did have a hand in this youngster’s life.
“My sister hasn’t been home in two days,” Dexter began. “What’s your intention, because if you break her heart I’ll be forced to hurt you.”
Buck laughed. “You think all that brawn you got hauling concrete scares me?”
“I figured the power tools would do it.” The smile disappeared from his face. “I’m serious.”
Buck dug in his pocket and placed a tan jeweler’s box in the middle of the table. He’d been carrying that around for a while now. “I want her in my life until death do us part.”
Dexter opened the case and let out a low whistle. “You loved her way back then.”
“What do you know about that?”
The younger man shrugged, closed and handed the ring back. “It wasn’t hard to spot. She got all goo-goo eyed whenever you walked in the room or someone said your name. You helped keep us together and I can never thank you enough for that.” He paused. “When our parents left, Bonnie didn’t even bat an eye. She just did what she’s always done. Take care of me, made sure we stayed together. I mean it Buck, you hurt my sister and I’ll be forced to maim you and bury your body in the foundation of a building.”
Buck grinned. “So noted.”
Dexter glanced around. “Is she supposed to meet you here?”
“No. I’ll meet her later. And you don’t have a problem with me dating your sister?”
He eyed the other man over the top of his bottle. “She’s an adult. It’s not like I could stop either of you.”
Buck nodded, satisfied with the answer. “There is something that concerns me though.”
“Yeah?”
“She’s remembering bits and pieces of the attack.”
“She shows me what she writes down and it meshes with the tape I’ve seen.”
“But there are things the tape can’t tell us. Impressions that we can only get from Bonnie.” Buck scrubbed the heel of his hand over his face. “I think someone hurt her to get to me.”
Dexter gaped. “You two haven’t seen or spoken to each other in years.”
“I always made sure she could contact me if she needed anything, even while I was in prison. We hadn’t spoken until I called on the night of her attack.” He swigged his beer. “I don’t even know where to begin looking. Actually that’s not true, I may need to take a trip to the old neighborhood.”
“Is that wise?”
“I need to find the guy who attacked Bonnie. She needs closure on that. And if someone did hurt her to get back at me, they’ve made a grave error.”
They fell silent a moment. He’d put out feelers, but no one had seen the man in question. Buck focused on the baseball game blaring in one corner, then darted his attention to the basketball playoffs in the other. Neither of the favored teams were doing well.
“What about that one guy?”
“What guy?” He signaled the waitress for another round.
“The one you shoved in your trunk.”
Buck chuckled. “You remember that?”
He nodded. “I watched from the window while Bonnie was in the bathroom. Whatever happened to him?”
The waitress came and say two more bottles in front of them, then disappeared. Buck remembered that night very clearly and he’d made a decision to be everything he could at that time to a teenage girl.
He wrapped a hand around the cold bottle, the condensation wetting his palm. “I’m not sure, but I’ll find out.”
***
Bonnie smiled at the bouquet of roses sitting on her desk. Once a week, Buck made sure to send her flowers. And since he’d been out of town the last couple of weeks, she had flowers to begin and end her week. The roses were nice, but she missed him.
“I see you got another visit from the florist.” Cal dropped a file on her desk.
“Yes.”
“You should put those away. My old lady saw them petals and wanted to know why I didn’t do nice things like that for her.”
“Did she now?”
“I told her she didn’t even like flowers. She said that wasn’t the point. Now I’ve got to do something nice for my wife.”
She laughed. “You should take her those candies she likes.”
He grunted and walked back to his office. “I’m not encouraging her behavior. Tell that young man of yours to stop making me look bad. I haven’t seen him in a bit.”
“He’s been working, but is supposed to stop in for a quick drink tonight. Were you coming with us to celebrate the end of the Klaussen project.”
“No. I’ll leave that to you youngsters.”
Bonnie nodded and picked up the file he’d placed on her desk earlier. “They came in under budget.”
“Your brother is pretty good at doing that. I could really use someone like him at my company on a permanent basis. Any way I could talk him into working more than just summers.”
She shrugged him. “You’d have to ask him. He’s been building stuff since he was a kid, but he might say no. I think his other job made him some sort of supervisor or something.”
Cal nodded. “I’ll persuade him.”
She snorted. “Good luck with that.”
He went back to his office and she returned to work. At the chime she glanced up. A woman in a white uniform shirt and khaki slacks stepped across the threshold carrying an orchid.
“I have a delivery for a Bonnie.”
She stood. “No. Take that back.”
“I’m sorry,” the other woman sputtered.
Bonnie came around the desk. “You tell whoever is sending those orchids to me to stop. I don’t want them,” she said her voice rising.
“Bonnie? Everything okay?” Cal stood at the door of his office.
The delivery girl looked from one to the other. “She has a delivery?”
“I don’t want it.”
“You heard her. Take the flower back to your shop or send it else where.” He reached in his pocket, pulled out a couple of bills and handed them to the girl. “For your trouble.” Once the driver left Cal wrapped an arm around Bonnie’s shoulders and steered her to a nearby chair. “What is it?”
Bonnie forced air into her lungs fighting off the panic robbing her of oxygen and sanity. Her attacker was toying with her and she couldn’t remember who it was.
“Should I call your brother? I’d hate for you to have one of those female hysteric moments and I didn’t call.”
Despite her discomfort she laughed. “No. Just give me a moment. If I could remember who this guy was, then it wouldn’t be such a problem.”
“Do the police know you’re receiving a form of correspondence from your attacker.”
She nodded.
He patted her hand. “I’m going to have a dedicated security guard keep an eye out.” When she shook her head he waved a hand. “No. Listen to me. I feel a bit responsible, because I left you here alone.”
She offered a small smile. “I don’t blame you, Cal.”
“You should. You’re more than just an employee, you’re like a daughter to me and I should take better care of both. Until that piece of scum is apprehended I’ll have a guard pos
ted around the site and he’ll vet the deliveries.”
She lowered her head and swallowed hard. Her boss had never said anything like that to her before. This was her first legitimate job and she hadn’t looked back. Looking back she enjoyed the challenge of being bookkeeper and office manager to this gruff man who knew how to run a business and working with various suppliers helped make the company a success.
“You seem much calmer now. I’ll make that phone call and let you get back to work.”
She nodded. Maybe it was time she went back over her notes, there had to be something there that could jog her memory.
***
“Some how I don’t think Bonnie would approve of us being here,” Dexter said as they stepped out the aged vehicle.
“Let me deal with Bonnie.” Buck surveyed the neighborhood. At one time he knew everything and everyone. He’d been pretty well insulated, but that didn’t rule out a rival or even someone from his former crew who wanted him out the way.
“Who or what are we looking for?” Dexter fell in step beside him.
“I’m looking for Red.” Buck glanced at the younger man from the corner of his eye. “When we find him. Be cool. I don’t want to explain any un-necessary injuries to your sister.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, I know, but cool head, young blood.”
Dexter shrugged. “You won’t even know I’m there.”
Buck nodded and they continued up the sidewalk. More houses were boarded up, including the one Bonnie and Dexter had lived in, they paused in front of it.
“Wow.” Dexter jammed his hands in his pockets. “She made things so normal for me after mom and dad left. Even you. I never missed out on the fun things.”
“You’re the little brother I never had and pretty cool in your own right.”
He inclined his head. “I remember Red. He used to give me jerky whenever he saw me.”
They resumed walking past abandoned tires, skirted shards of broken glass on the concrete and scattered trash. Apparently blight and poverty were winning the war in this place and Buck was glad they’d gotten out when they did.
Forever in Love Page 5