Fixing Justice

by Halliday, Suzanne

  Taking a deep breath for false courage she stiffened her spine and jumped in to the deep end. “Draegyn? This is Tor….uh, Victoria. Sorry to bother you, but…”

  He cut off her off in mid-sentence with a brusque growl, “This better be good.”

  Really? That was how this was going to go? Well, someone had another thing coming if he thought she was going to cringe at his tone. Two could play that game. “I beg your pardon?” she snapped into the phone. When he paused at her incensed tone, she ran right over the hesitation with aplomb. “You will have to take up with Alex whether the interruption is worth your attention. He wants you. Now! As in right this second.” She stopped long enough to take another deep breath.

  “Oh, and Draegyn? This is a ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ moment. I suggest you remember that the next time you try to bite my head off.” And with that she pushed the disconnect button, quickly replacing the handset on the cradle. When she looked up there were two shocked faces looking at her. Damn. She forgot she had an audience.

  Before she could make excuses for the way she’d just spoken to one of her employers, Carmen and Ria started laughing in big whoops of giggling delight. Apparently hearing her give the high and mighty Draegyn St. John his comeuppance cracked them up.

  Looking around with uncertainty, Tori didn’t know whether to go check if Alex had eased down off the ledge or to wait where she was for Draegyn to make an appearance. Neither option seemed all that appealing. The commonly held belief that women were the high maintenance sex was so off the mark as to be laughable! Between Alex the Bear and Draegyn the Cocky, she was pretty sure high maintenance was an understatement.

  The housekeeper and cook must have sensed the way her thoughts were going, because they suggested she wander onto the patio and enjoy an ice-cold glass of lemonade while she waited.

  Biding her time under the shade of the pergola as the mid-day heat gathered in intensity, she took a huge swallow of Carmen’s amazing homemade lemonade, enjoying the cool liquid with a bit of tart and a jolt of smooth sweetness, as it slid down her parched throat. Mmmmm. Twirling the tall glass causing the ice to clink against the sides, she heard the approach of an ATV and knew the short wait for Draegyn’s arrival was over.

  She’d be dammed if she were going to jump up and stand at attention for the arrogant playboy just because he’d tried to intimidate her on the phone. He seriously had another thing coming if that was what he was assuming. She’d been browbeaten and harassed to within an inch of her sanity and come out the other end of that experience wiser and determined to never allow anyone to bully her ever again.

  Projecting an air of cool civility wasn’t easy, especially since her heart was beating out of her chest and a swarm of butterflies had descended into her stomach. Just as the man himself started around the corner on the far side of the patio, she quickly pushed her glasses up her nose. Looking up at his approach while jamming her unruly hair into a tight bun, she was stunned as always by his presence. He was so visually masculine, from the way he stood and held himself, to how he strode through whatever space he occupied, as if he owned it.

  One of her first thoughts on meeting him had been that he looked completely normal dressed in a tuxedo. The formal attire and the mystery it evoked seemed a natural fit. Dressed like the jet-setting socialite she knew him to be, he radiated power with a touch of ruthless authority that made everyone, men and women, sit up and take notice. But today, in well-worn denims, dusty work boots, and sporting a very sexy tool belt, he was nothing short of magnificent. Oh dear God, she thought as a jolt of awareness followed by panic flooded her system. Why had she imagined a tuxedo would be his best look? Nothing could hold a candle to the sight of his hard-muscled body in a sweaty t-shirt stretched tight across his broad chest, tucked into a pair of jeans that somehow managed to perfectly frame what he was packing under the zipper. The tool belt only made it worse.

  He looked - well, he looked smokin’ hot. And she didn’t just mean his temperature. This was a new side to Draegyn. One that she hadn’t anticipated. He obviously was not adverse to hard, physical work and judging by the well-worn look to his boots, it was something he did a lot. He was stomping toward her, removing a pair of work gloves, with a rather stern look on a face streaked with sweat and grime.

  She froze, swallowing hard, a hand tangled in her hair, while a flood of heat slammed into her. He looked a little dangerous and instead of taking his dour appearance as a warning, she felt a shocking desire to find out just how dangerous.

  Draegyn was annoyed that one of Alex’s temper tantrums was taking him away from the theater room project. Working with his hands was something he loved and was good at. From the first time he’d made something out of scraps of wood in a high school shop class, he’d been hooked. Designing, building, crafting – if it involved woodworking, he was the master.

  When his phone rang he answered as he normally would, with an abrupt greeting that was actually a shout of annoyance. He hadn’t expected to hear Victoria’s voice on the other end. Barking at her came from the frustration of having to stop working at a moment when he was in the groove. He had just started to scold himself for his crappy behavior when her voice turned ice cold, and she tried handing him his rude ass on a platter. The lady had quite the mouth, and he definitely didn’t want to come up against her in a verbal confrontation. She was that good.

  Victoria’s tone not only left him speechless it also allowed her to have the last word and the chance to hang up on him. He’d been churning on it the whole way here. A haughty manner was something he was familiar with and intensely disliked. Thinking she had sounded exactly like his cold-hearted mother had fueled his temper on the ride from the cabin. Typical. Just more proof that Victoria Bennett was like all the other women he’d known. Self-centered, manipulative, heartless.

  When he rounded the corner from the driveway and saw her across the patio he detected a defiant bitchiness emanating from her that got his hackles up. She was pushing around that sloppy hair of hers while fearlessly staring him down. Everything about her attitude hit him like a challenge. His blood started to seethe as sparks of awareness fired off in his head. Narrowing his eyes as she turned her head to tuck the hair away, he caught a telltale flutter on her neck that let him know she wasn’t as cold or bitchy as she was letting on.

  Jesus. Had he actually just stumbled a bit? Already out of sorts, he continued thumping across the patio, smacking his work gloves against his thigh and quickly stuffing them in a back pocket. In just a few more steps he was standing right in front of her. Between the physical work he’d been doing all morning, the mid-day heat, and the way his temper had been boiling since she hung up on him, Drae was hot and perspiring like crazy. Without a second thought he yanked his drenched t-shirt from the damp waistband of his jeans, pulling it up his chest and over his head. Using the garment as a towel he rubbed his face against the soft cotton before using it to scrub at his neck and chest. Tossing the grimy shirt aside, he plucked his sunglasses from where they hung on his tool belt and pushed them on, all while continuing to glare at the woman who was messing with more than his schedule. Shoving his hands to his hips, he stood his ground, demanding her attention with a single word. “Well?”

  His attitude suggested he not be screwed with, but the lady was trying awfully hard to appear unmoved by his king-of-the-world performance. Aside from the evidence of an accelerated heartbeat, she was cool as a cucumber and if his eyes weren’t fooling him, she was also biting the inside of her mouth in what looked like an attempt not to laugh at him. He wanted to wipe that smile off her lips and kiss her into submission.

  Just at that moment he felt a bead of sweat forming at the base of his throat and start to slowly move down the center of his chest. Before he could reach up and swipe it away, her eyes found the wet drop and all evidence of an impending giggle were wiped from her face. He watched her sinfully decadent brown eyes deepen in hue as they blinked a few times behind the hideous frames
she wore while she studied that slow motion bead of sweat.

  Two things happened simultaneously. First, he felt a slight shudder of super-focused awareness along the same path as the trickle of perspiration and second was the way his groin tightened at her gaze. It didn’t escape his attention that with her sitting in one of the patio chairs and positioned as they were, his bulge was at her eye level. It was his turn to focus like a laser on her sexy mouth as his mind flooded with thoughts of how easy it would be to slide his zipper down and release his throbbing dick so she could wrap her luscious lips around his heated flesh. He was thankful to be wearing sunglasses that shielded his expression from view.

  “Victoria!” he barked. “What’s this all about? I really don’t have time for any nonsense.”

  She jumped slightly at his severe tone and leapt out of her chair. Picking up a glass that looked to be full of nothing but melted ice, she quickly bit her lip and just like that, the tension between them eased off. She wasn’t as sure of herself as she tried to let on and neither was he. Seems they were even on that score.

  “C’mon inside and have some lemonade. You need to cool off before you talk to Alex.”

  “Victoria,” he growled in warning.

  “Oh, give it a rest,” she snapped. “This is agency business and as I said before, don’t shoot the messenger!” With that she turned and made for the house, managing to bump into almost every object that stood between them and the door. Watching her hasty retreat, Drae couldn’t stop from noticing how her backside tightened when she was angry or the way her bland slacks didn’t disguise the lean legs he knew were hidden underneath.

  Since there was nothing to do but follow her inside, he was quickly on her heels before the patio door shut him out. The cool air-conditioned temperature inside the hacienda had him walking past Victoria into the mudroom behind the kitchen where he was sure to find a shirt or two hanging on the coat hooks. Tossing the sunglasses aside, he pulled an old t-shirt over his head and began making his way to Alex’s tech-room.

  She caught up with him and pushed an icy cold glass into his hand as she hurried along at his side. “There’s a problem with one of your systems in Las Vegas. I think Alex tried to troubleshoot over the phone but got nowhere. I took a call from the security chief and gathered from what he said that the issue is critical.”

  Slugging back the entire glass of lemonade in one gulp and dropping the empty glass on a nearby table, he considered what she’d told him and knew right away this wasn’t an ordinary temper tantrum. The Vegas casinos and hotels were some of their most fervid clients. Alex’s techno-wizardry meant he could custom design systems to their exact specifications and could do so on an ever-evolving basis if necessary. The hackers trying to bypass casino security were legion. Keeping several steps ahead of them was a daunting challenge. If one of those systems was in crash and burn mode, some serious shit was probably going down.

  “Um, there’s something else.”

  He realized she’d stopped walking so he turned around. She looked all kinds of tentative as if she was unsure of herself. Normally, she was a spunky little thing so her sudden change in demeanor got his attention. It also irritated the hell out of him for no good reason. She got to him in more ways than he cared to admit.

  “What? What else is there? Do me a damn favor and just tell me everything instead of…” He waved his hand at her and grimaced, searching for his next words. His annoyance couldn’t overwrite the arc of sexual lightening that streaked through his system. So much for keeping his shit together. Around her it was impossible.

  “Instead of what?” she snarled. “Instead of laying out the facts for you with a minimum of delay? For heaven’s sake Draegyn, give me a break!” The mouth spitting furious words at him also promised erotic delight. Pouting for all she was worth, Victoria shot a dour glare his way. “Why do you have to be such a bully?”

  In seconds, he’d flattened her against the nearest wall using his body to keep her in place. “You have a harsh tongue!” Lowering his head in slow motion he watched her eyes grow huge as she pressed back in withdrawal. “Perhaps, I should tame some of that sharpness.”

  He hovered as his words sank in. There was less than a sliver of space between them; they were close enough to feel each other’s breath. She didn’t move a muscle, just stood there with him looming over her. Silence reigned. After a moment he moved back but never released her eyes. She swallowed and drew a rasping breath.

  After he stepped away she raised a shaking hand to push her glasses back and smooth her hair. “That wasn’t necessary,” she whispered.

  “Oh, I think it was.” A heated response to her nearness, even though she was being a wretched shrew this morning, had settled in his groin with alarming speed and strength. How he kept from tossing her over his shoulder like a caveman and dragging her off to his lair, where he could take her hard and fast, was a mystery.

  Her confused, flustered expression had him shaking his head. Damn woman. She made him act in ways that surprised him. Had he tried to intimidate her physically? Yeah, he had. It was that smart-ass mouth of hers that pushed him to the edge. He didn’t like being told off, even if there was a grain of truth to her words.

  “I am not a bully.” She raised an eyebrow at his grumpy declaration. “If I were, your panties would be down around your ankles, and I’d have you bent over the end of that bench behind us.”

  Victoria blanched at his words as she glanced at the bench he referred to. When she looked back his way, her cheeks were flushed pink and the chocolate eyes that had seemed so huge in her face just seconds ago, sparkled brightly. She got the message he was sending and the way she bit down on her lip told him he had rattled her cage with his frankness. Good. He was a lot of things goddammit, but a bully wasn’t among them.

  “Now tell what else is going on before I have to face Alex.” She shook her head letting him know that yes, she would tell him everything, but it took her more than a minute to regain her composure. He had to hand it to her though, she knew when to back off and regroup.

  Tori got it together and even managed to keep up with Draegyn when he continued in search of Alex. The man was just so damn frustrating! He was either needling her for no good reason or busy making her feel like a piece of furniture. Neither of those scenarios worked for her. With his bossy attitude, he’d get the facts and nothing else from her. “I believe Alex is having a bad day’” she informed him. “And before you snap at me, by bad day I mean, he’s showing signs of discomfort.” Crap. Why did she always sound so uptight when she talked to him?

  His steps slowed and lines of tension formed around his mouth. There was no doubt he understood what she was trying to tell him and for just a moment she was full of concern for Alex. “He’s been overdoing it,” she added, looking up at him through her lashes.

  It took him a few moments to meet her eyes, but he finally did when they arrived at the corridor to Alex’s inner sanctum. She tried not to flinch at the stony bleakness she found in his expression. Draegyn St. John might be the most infuriatingly arrogant man to ever walk the planet, but he was also a fierce friend. His obvious concern for Alex was there for her to see. Clearly from his reaction, when Alex hurt, so did he.

  His expression was open and unguarded as he bent to her saying, “Thanks for the heads up.” He looked away, hesitated, and took a deep breath. “And, I apologize.”

  She met his steady blue-eyed gaze, crossing her arms defensively across her chest. “For?”

  “I don’t know what for!” he barked. “For whatever it is about me that pisses you off!”

  Her chin went up. “Don’t yell at me!” Damn the man.

  “Woman, just take the damn apology and let it go! Not everything needs to be picked apart and examined!”

  His behavior was almost funny. It was patently clear to Tori that he wasn’t the sort of man who found himself on the giving end of an apology very often. She sniffed, irritated. No doubt he was used to his every wo
rd being hung upon and never questioned. Sighing, she knew that since neither of them were naturally inclined to admit being wrong-footed, she had to be the one to break first.

  “Truce?”

  The gleam that suddenly appeared in his eyes matched the rush of excitement slithering along her nerve endings. When his gaze devoured her face, stopping for an eternity on her parted lips, and then continued down her throat, she inhaled raggedly. His nostrils flared as he stared at her chest as it rose and fell in short, choppy breaths.

  She remembered another moment when his fingers had sought her naked flesh and how she moaned into his mouth when he touched her aching breast. The slash of color making its way across his cheekbones and his labored breathing told her he was remembering too. Surely, the world stopped spinning when his eyes returned to hers. It was the only explanation for the tilt-a-whirl her senses were experiencing.

  His arrogant smile returned as a damning blush started in the soles of her feet and spread like wildfire until she was certain her face was bright red. Lifting an errant curl between his fingers he teasingly pulled on it before pushing it behind her ear. “Truce for this skirmish, Victoria.” He chuckled. “The battle, however, rages on.”

  Whenever he was around, she felt his eyes on her. Watching, ever critical of her every word and move. Their verbal skirmishes happened by rote. He spoke, or smirked, or did something she perceived as arrogant or tyrannical, and bam, her mouth was off and running. Truth was, all he had to do was breathe, and she was a bitchy mess.

  Making matters worse was the obvious physical tension whenever they met. Just because she wasn’t pretty or vivacious didn’t mean she was dead inside. She’d have to be blind or insane not to be affected by those intense blue eyes, the superhero physique, or the way all the oxygen got sucked from a room when he entered. No, she was together enough to honestly admit he got her panties wet without even trying. She would have cringed at the thought if not for her sure knowledge that Mister Cool was just as affected as she was. Like all things having to do with Draegyn, even his bulge was impressive. That was no hypothetical she felt grinding against her spread legs the other night. Nope, that was one hundred percent pure, excited male.