Satisfied, she resumed pacing. When they were finally allowed to leave the accident scene, Cade had dropped Alan off first—but not before assuring her assistant that he would be spending the night at her house and that a couple of other Rangers would be on surveillance outside.
Alan had been relieved. She hadn’t been. The idea that Cade would be spending the night inside her house had set off a whole new mind-over-body struggle inside her. Macy summoned up the image of the neon sign again.
So far Cade had been very professional. When they’d arrived, he’d escorted her into the house and checked out all the rooms. Only then had he left to check in with his partner, Nate Blackhorn, who was parked outside.
She was the one who was having trouble remaining professional. Neither she nor Cade had spoken on the short trip from Alan’s place to hers. She hadn’t looked at him either, but her entire body had been intensely aware of him. She hadn’t been able to breathe without inhaling his scent. And whoever had said that the sense of smell was the most evocative when it came to memories was dead on.
Sitting there beside him, her mind had drifted back to the first night he’d driven her home. It had been the day after she’d chosen Elton Leonard out of a lineup. Cade had picked her up that morning and taken her to his office. They’d spent the entire day—twelve hours plus—going over the testimony she would give at Leonard’s trial.
Up until that night, their relationship had been entirely professional—unless you counted the fact that every time she came in contact with him, her whole body had gone into a meltdown.
All day long she’d assumed that he was indifferent, that the intense attraction she was experiencing was one-sided. That assumption had gone up in flames—literally—when he’d parked in her driveway, sworn under his breath and kissed her right there in the front seat of his car. Macy closed her eyes as heat began to build inside her.
In her entire life she’d never experienced a kiss like that. Each little detail was etched indelibly in her mind. The moment his mouth had covered hers, all the longing, all the need that had been building up in her during that endless day had exploded. She’d fisted her hands in his hair to keep his mouth from leaving hers.
His taste—she’d never before experienced a flavor so dark, so rich. His hands—she’d never imagined the kind of sharp-edged pleasure those wide, rough palms could send through her system. Her heart—she’d never before felt it pound that hard. The beat had been primitive.
He’d pulled away at one point to mutter something about going inside, but she’d said, “Right here. Right now.”
And he’d obliged her. He’d more than obliged her. Just thinking about it turned her knees to jelly and she had to sit down abruptly on the arm of her sofa. Later, when they’d finally made it into the house, they’d never gotten to the bedroom. They’d made love right here. The images tumbling into her mind had her shooting to her feet and striding across the room.
She had to get a grip. If she continued to stroll down memory lane, she was going to jump Cade Dillon the instant he walked through her front door.
Remember, he dumped you. Remember, he dumped you. Moving into the kitchen, she grabbed another cola from the supply she kept in her refrigerator, snapped the top open and took a long drink. She’d always considered herself a practical, organized woman. There’d been two other men in her life. When they’d dumped her, she might have faltered for a bit, but she’d picked herself up and gone on. Both of those men were history.
Moving to the window, she looked out at the lawn where Cade stood talking to his partner. The problem was, Cade wasn’t history. Try as she might she hadn’t been able to get him out of her system. She still wanted him. Badly. There. Maybe admitting it was half the battle.
Cade Dillon was different for her. Why was that? She studied the two men talking on her lawn.
She’d met Nate Blackhorn on the same day that she’d first met Cade. The two of them had a lot in common. They were both tall with broad shoulders and narrow hips. They both had that slow way of talking and walking and that slight Texas drawl. Plus, the two of them had that Ranger thing going for them. If you ever got in trouble, you’d want these men on your side. The biggest difference was in their coloring. While Cade’s hair was a tawny kind of lion’s-mane brown, Nate’s dark hair and bronzed skin testified to the fact that he was part Cherokee.
Nate was standing near his car with his back to her while Cade faced the house. She felt it the moment that he glanced at the window and his gaze collided with hers.
What was she going to do about him?
“EARTH to Cade Dillon.”
“What?” Cade tore his gaze away from Macy to find his partner grinning at him.
“You wink out on me every time you look at that pretty little woman of yours. It’s kind of cute.”
“She’s not my woman.”
“She’s your something. You haven’t been the same since you met her.”
Cade frowned at Nate. “Right now she’s a job.”
“Uh-huh. That’s what she was supposed to be on your first go-around with her. Take it from me, you can’t go back once you’ve crossed that line into intimacy.”
“You’ve been watching Dr. Phil again.”
Nate laughed. “Look, you’ve been keeping me out here, going over the same instructions for the last fifteen minutes. I don’t need Dr. Phil to tell me you’re stalling. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to go in there.”
Cade sighed and glanced back up at Macy’s house. One of the reasons that he and Nate worked so ably together was that they knew each other very well. “The problem is, she should be a job…but she’s not. Hell, I don’t what she is. I just can’t seem to shake loose from her. But right now her life is in danger. That has to be our priority.”
Nate’s grin faded and he put a hand on Cade’s shoulder. “You’ll handle that part. We’ll have her under surveillance 24/7. If Leonard makes a move on her, we’ll have him.”
Cade met Nate’s eyes. “I don’t like the fact that we’re using her as bait.”
His friend shrugged. “Not out of choice. Leonard is responsible for that part. Can you think of a quicker way of catching him?”
“No.” Cade wished he could.
Nate patted his shoulder. “I’ll be out here in front. Cal will be circling the block. All you have to do is figure out a way to get through the evening with Ms. Chandler.”
Cades sent Nate a glare. “You’re getting way too much of a kick out of this.” Then he picked up his duffel and the bag of food that Nate had brought and strode toward the house.
“Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do,” Nate called after him.
BY THE TIME Cade walked into the living room, he had a speech prepared. He’d intended to set Macy’s mind at ease by explaining the security measures he’d put in place and to assure her that for the time being, she had nothing to fear from him on a personal level.
But seeing her standing there in the fading light with blood still on her T-shirt and grass stains on her jeans sent the words out of his mind and every detail of the accident flooding in. For those few endless moments when her car had gone into that crazy spin, he’d been sure he was going to lose her. Even now the images triggered emotions he couldn’t put a name to. And he couldn’t say a word.
“We need to talk,” she said.
They were on the same page there. Usually he’d have had no trouble doing just that, but Macy was the one person in the world who seemed to have the power to tie his tongue up in knots.
She waved a hand vaguely and moistened her lips. It was that small gesture that told him she might be feeling just a little of what he was feeling. Some of his tension eased as he lifted the shopping bag.
“Why don’t we talk over linguine?”
“You brought linguine?” Surprise was what he read in her eyes as she shifted her gaze to the bag.
“With red sauce. I had Nate order it.” Satisfied that he was able to string se
veral words together that time, Cade improved his odds of carrying on a coherent conversation by moving away from her and into the kitchen.
He’d made the decision to keep their relationship professional when he’d seen those cut brake lines. More especially since she’d become the bait they were using to catch Leonard. It was his only rational choice. Neither of them could afford the distraction of renewing their affair while Leonard was on the loose. Besides that, he wanted to give her time—to give himself time—to figure out what they were going to do about what had happened and what was happening again between them.
“Alan told me you’d had a total food intake of one french fry today.”
“The rest of my order bit the dust on the floor of my car.”
He unpacked the shopping bag, opened the containers and set them on the island countertop. “Where do you keep the silverware?”
“I’ll get it.”
Cade located wineglasses and opened a bottle while Macy set the places. Within minutes they were seated across from each other digging into the meal.
Macy twirled pasta around her fork. “This was a great idea.”
“I have them occasionally.” Cade broke off a chunk of garlic bread and handed it to her. “Alan told me you rarely cook for yourself. Why is that?”
She shrugged as she scooped up more pasta. “I need a break from the work.”
He sipped his merlot and discovered that he enjoyed watching her dig into the food. “So, what do you eat if you don’t cook?”
Her eyes flashed with humor. “Sometimes takeout, but mostly junk food. Alan’s always after me to be more careful about what I put into my body. I keep fruit around.” She glanced around the kitchen. “Usually. There’s probably some yogurt in the fridge. And I have a stash of chocolate for emergencies.”
She paused to eat more pasta, then added, “Why are you so interested in my eating habits?”
“Curiosity. There are lots of things I don’t know about you.”
This time it was wariness that he saw in her eyes. “That’s really for the best since our relationship is going to be temporary.” After setting down her fork, she began to turn the stem of her wineglass. “We should have that talk now.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve been going around and around in my head about this.”
“This?”
“Us. What happened between us two months ago was a mistake. Obviously, we both agree on that point. And now we’re spending time together again—in close proximity. So I think it would be best if we laid down some ground rules.”
“Okay.” Cade sipped his wine. Her tone was cool and polite, just as it had been that morning. He wondered why he so much preferred her in spitfire mode.
“What happened then was then.” She took a sip of her wine, then folded her hands together. “This is now. Once you catch Leonard, we’ll go our separate ways again.”
“Why would you think that?”
Her gaze narrowed, and he saw for the first time that she wasn’t quite as cool as she wanted him to think.
“Experience. You left without a word, and I haven’t heard from you for two months.”
“My priority was to track down Leonard. I blamed myself that he skipped town. If I hadn’t been so involved with you, I might have prevented that. For the past two months I’ve been following his trail across most of Texas.” It was the truth, and Cade absolutely hated the fact that his tone had become defensive.
“I understand perfectly.”
Her smile made him grit his teeth.
“And now you’re back because Leonard’s back and since I seem to be his target, I realize that you have to stick close to me. I’d be a fool to object to that. I just don’t want it to interfere with my personal or professional life.”
Cade drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Understood. I’ll do my best to see that your business isn’t affected. While you were talking to the police, Alan briefed me on your schedule for the next week. Nate and Cal, another man from the office, will be staking out the house and following us in case we need backup. Clearly, Leonard is somehow watching you. I’m hoping that they may spot him at some point. If that happens, we’ll move in to take him, and all this will be over.”
“Good. I’m also hoping that we can handle the personal side of our relationship in an equally professional manner. Just because we got caught up in something…something very irrational that made us act like greedy, giddy teenagers, doesn’t mean we have to allow it to happen again. We’re both adults with career obligations, and we can control our…urges.”
Annoyance streamed through him. They sure as hell hadn’t been able to control their urges two months ago. One of the many places they’d made love was on the kitchen floor just a few feet away from where they were sitting. Cade barely kept himself from mentioning that fact. Instead, he reminded himself that she was only saying what he’d intended to say when he’d come in the front door.
So why did he have a sudden urge to grab her and kiss her until she was boneless?
“Since I don’t have a guest room, you’ll have to sleep on the couch. I’ll bring down some blankets and towels. You can use the downstairs bathroom.”
Cade set his glass down. “Do I get a chance to offer some input here?”
“Sure.” She blinked. “Of course.”
“On the topic of controlling our—what did you call it? Oh yes, urges—I just want to say that we are going to make love again. However, I’m willing to wait until Leonard is behind bars.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re willing to wait?”
“That’s what I said.”
Macy slid off her stool and fisted her hands on her hips. “And you assume that once you’ve got your man, you’ll take up where we left off two months ago?”
Cade raised his wineglass in a little toast. “Works for me.”
“Why you—of all the—” She opened her mouth, clamped it shut, then jabbed a finger in his direction and tried again. “Let me tell you—you—”
If looks could kill, Cade figured he’d at least be on the injured list, and since he didn’t want to end up wearing linguine, he wisely bit back a grin. How could he have forgotten how cute she looked when her temper was on a roll? Her cheeks had turned a rosy pink and her green eyes were practically shooting out sparks.
He watched with admiration as she drew in a breath and ruthlessly reined that temper in. Lifting her plate, she carried it to the sink and turned the water on. It was only as she flicked the switch on the disposal that he allowed himself a silent sigh of relief.
“You know,” she finally said in a much calmer voice, “it’s a wonder you don’t have back problems considering the size of that ego you carry around with you. Why don’t you go in the other room and play with the TV and the remote while I load the dishwasher?”
That would be the wise thing to do. It was actually what he intended to do right after he cleared the island. In his mother’s house, everyone helped clear the table.
When he set his plate and the two wineglasses next to the sink, a fork clattered to the floor. They nearly bumped heads when they squatted simultaneously to pick it up.
When she lifted her face, they were eye to eye. Close enough that he saw her eyes darken to the color of a river running fast, and he was on the verge of being swept away by the current. Her scent invaded his system as he dropped his gaze to her mouth. Desire snaked into his gut and curled tight. To hell with the ground rules. He had to have that mouth.
She moistened her lips. “We should…”
“Yeah. We should.”
Their lips met and immediately fused together. Heat speared up—Cade wasn’t sure if it came from him or her. All that was certain was that it spread with the speed and ferocity of a wildfire as their tongues tangled.
Her taste—wild and erotic—poured into him, shimmering through his blood like a drug. How had he managed to stay away for two months? He had to touch her. Fast and greedy, he ran his hands u
p and rested them against the sides of her breasts. She rose up on her knees and pressed herself more fully against him.
“More. More.” The words came out on ragged, desperate breaths as teeth nipped and scraped and blood thundered. This time when they drew apart to drag in air, Macy said, “I told myself I wasn’t going to do this again.”
“Ditto,” Cade muttered. Then he went very still. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Don’t you dare.” She dragged his mouth back to hers and fisted her hands in that tawny, silky hair. Heat streamed through her. Need, raw and primitive, pummeled her. And all she could think of was she had to have even more.
Frantic now, they grappled with clothes. He tossed aside her T-shirt while she struggled with his. Once he was free, she ran her hands up his back, absorbing the taut hard ridges of muscle, that smooth damp skin. Her own skin trembled as he freed her mouth and began to work on the front closure of her bra. She feasted on the hollow at his throat.
With a groan, he rose, hauling her up with him and pressing her against the end of the island. He pulled at the snap of her jeans. “Every time I’m with you, I want this. I want you.”
“I know. It’s crazy.” She spoke the words against his mouth. “And fabulous.” His body was marvelous, but it was his taste that created the perfect aphrodisiac. She simply couldn’t get enough of the flavors. Here was the hunger, the desperation that was such a perfect match to her own. She felt herself drowning in sensation with no thought of coming up for air.
Macy nearly cried out when he drew back to hook his thumbs in the waistband of her jeans and shove them down her legs. Then suddenly, he went very still. “Ohhh…” The word came out as a whispered moan.
“What?”
Straightening, he rested his forehead against hers and drew in a ragged breath. “I need a minute here.”
Seconds ticked by, and there was only the sound of their breathing.
Tex Appeal Page 16