The Wrong Drawers

by Misty Simon

  “Are the two of you dating?” This new development would need to find its place in my head. Not that I begrudged her a date or anything, but I felt left out of the whole progression of things, whereas she’d been around for the whole getting to know and dating Ben thing.

  “No, we’re not dating. I don’t know what we’re doing, but I can’t wait to find out.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “That’s not very encouraging, Ivy.”

  “You want encouragement?” I lifted my arms in the air, like the cheerleader I never was. “Yay, Bella! Go get ’im. Take him down, eat him up!”

  “You are such a dork.” She smiled and shook her head. “You also always take it too far.”

  “I know.” I gave her my cheesy smile. “I’m kidding, anyway. I’m excited for you. Maybe we can double date now.”

  “Yeah, maybe we can, as soon as I get him to stop looking at me as a victim and start seeing me as a woman.”

  Now that I was thinking about it, he had been eating her up with his eyes—all he’d needed to do was lick his chops and put on a bib and she could have been dinner. “I’m pretty sure you’re well on the way, if his wandering gaze is anything to go by.”

  “Well, that’s something to think about. I wouldn’t mind getting into his pants.” My jaw dropped, and she giggled like a naughty schoolgirl. “Come on, Ivy, don’t be such a prude. There’s nothing wrong with a little daydreaming to put off thinking about all the crazy stuff that’s been going on around here.” She slapped my arm and continued, “So, to make an abrupt subject change, what are we going to do about my poor windows? I can’t stay here all night with the wind blowing in.”

  I shivered in my sweater and agreed with her. A brilliant idea hit me. “Did you order anything from Play It Up!?”

  “Why do you want to know?” She turned three shades of red. “Any purchases I made are my business and my business alone, unless I could get Jared alone. Hmmm...”

  “Come back from the dark side, Bella. I asked because the stuff arrived in a box we could tear down and use to board up the window until you can get someone out here to fix it.”

  Of course she picked up on the one part of the sentence I hadn’t meant to let slip. “How do you know what kind of packaging they came in? I thought you didn’t order anything.”

  She gave me the eye and I shrank into the couch. “I didn’t order anything. I did, however, get a package of a couple of things, and they were boxed.”

  “What did you get?” She leaned forward and her eyes went all round and inquisitive.

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m sending it back.” Now it was my turn to exhibit three shades of red. While it looked becoming on Bella, I knew I got splotchy.

  “Not good enough. Tell me.”

  “No.”

  “Tell me.”

  “No.”

  “Tell me!”

  Have I mentioned I was weak in the face of her persistence? So I ended up telling her, and she giggled. But when I also told her my father had opened the package, she laughed so hard she fell off the couch.

  Really, what else were friends for?

  ****

  An hour later, I entered the Masked Shoppe determined to get the rest of my inventory done. I’d planned on expanding some of the merchandise lines, but I had to know what I had, first. I’d also planned on having a helper by now to assist with this, but that had gone by the wayside, too. So it was all left on my shoulders. I could have asked my dad or even Bella, yet it was my store and my responsibility. Plus, Ben might stop by again, and this time my dad was occupied—doing what I wouldn’t think about—and we wouldn’t, couldn’t be interrupted.

  I unlocked the door, happy to see no lights on and hear no rustling sounds. If someone were sneaking around the store at this time of night, they would be in for a nasty surprise. I’d gone out and bought myself the biggest baseball bat I could find, and still hold, and a can of pepper spray. I was ready for anything.

  But nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I accomplished all my little heart desired in almost no time. I gathered my things and was in the act of turning off all the lights when a knock sounded on the front door.

  I tiptoed to the door, pretty sure Chad wouldn’t try to find me already. Nevertheless, I had the bat in one hand and the pepper spray in the other while I crept to the door. It made for awkward creeping, but I wasn’t going to be caught dead without them.

  A silhouette filled the glass panes and reminded me I had turned on all the lights in the store and hadn’t turned them back off. My stealthy approach to the door and the items in my hands were all illuminated the whole time. Great going, Ivy.

  I stopped crouching and went straight to the glass to see who was out on the stoop. If they could see my weapons, they must know I meant business. Besides, I had nothing to fear. If all else failed, or I didn’t like who was behind Door Number One, I simply wouldn’t open it.

  As I got closer I realized the silhouette was Ben. He hadn’t called to let me know his assignment with the robberies was completed, so I’d given up on seeing him tonight. But now, here he was in all his male glory. I dropped everything and raced for the door, fumbling the lock in my haste to let him in. He looked delicious, his hair tousled more than usual, those sexy green eyes nearly glowing with lust. His leather bomber jacket radiated cold, and I had just the remedy for his predicament.

  If Bella could flirt and think about getting into someone’s pants during death and destruction, then so could I.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I launched myself at Ben as soon as he cleared the threshold. Being the man he was, he took my considerable weight in stride, managing to carry me a few steps before I slid down the length of him and planted my feet on the floor. “Hi,” I said, breathless from his kisses.

  “I should come by the shop unannounced more often.”

  I snickered and he joined me.

  With my arms still wrapped around his neck, I dragged him down for another tongue foray that curled my own toes.

  Ben’s sneaky hand slipped under the edge of my shirt and crept its way up my back, making slow circles and mimicking the emotions churning in my stomach. I wanted him so badly, my insides were doing the hula. “Let’s take this to the back room,” I said, my voice so sultry it barely seemed to belong to me.

  His eyes opened and went wide. I barely had time to suck in a breath before he was dragging me through the store. “Come on, come on.”

  “Wait.” I laughed. “I have to lock the front door.”

  “No time.”

  “I’ll make time. The last thing I want is another burglar.” He knew what I was talking about and let go long enough for me to dash to the front door, flip the lock, and rush back to his arms. “Now, where were we?”

  With his lips completely possessing mine, my brain flew out the window and my body took over. He waltzed me into the lingerie room and had me sprawled on the velvety chaise lounge a moment later.

  My clothes must have melted off me, because one second I was fully dressed and the next bare chested. I didn’t want to be alone in my barechestedness, so I tugged on the buttons holding his flannel shirt together. He worked on my pants while I worked on his, and then we were gloriously, blessedly naked. Not to say the whole thing lacked finesse, but it was the quickest I’d ever undressed in my life. Yay!

  As for the good parts, well, let me say they were verrrrrry good and definitely worth the wait. Tender and demanding at the same time, his hands knew precisely what they were doing, and so did the rest of him. Our first time together (and my second in my whole life) was not without its fumbles, but it was beautiful because of the way we touched and loved each other, worshipped each other. I scrambled to recover at one point after nearly knocking him out with my elbow, but he gave me the sexy smile and a soft rumble of laughter as he told me I was perfect. Another time, I rolled us off the couch and banged his head into the leg of my newly purchased sideboard. He recovered and went on doing what he d
id exceptionally well with nary a hitch in his stride. Um, well, ahem.

  Floating down from cloud 999 after all was said and done, I could honestly tell you I had never before in my life felt better. The fireworks were worth a lifetime supply of Tastykakes. He continued to caress my arm, nuzzling into the place behind my ear I loved. I sighed a contented sigh. Why hadn’t I done this before now, and, more importantly, when could we do it again?

  I asked him that very question, and he chuckled. “Not right this instant, but soon, Ivy, very soon. Now that I’ve had you, I have no intention of letting you go.”

  Sounded good to me, and alleviated some lingering anxiety. I ran a finger from his neck to his hip, then over to his other hip. He twitched on the floor and gave me the Eye of Forbiddance. “Oh, all right,” I said. “But you let me know the second you’re ready.”

  “You’ll be the first to know.” He stretched his arms above his head and my mouth watered.

  “I better be the only one to know.” I tweaked his cute little nipple and he groaned.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  I looked down at myself to see what he was talking about. It was one of the little foreplay games we’d enjoyed earlier when getting to know each other’s bodies. “It is a little nipply in here.”

  “Nipply?” he said archly.

  I blushed. I was buck naked and I still blushed. “I meant nippy.”

  Apparently, he wasn’t playing the game, though. His question was directed at a small velvet pouch sitting in his hand. He must have brushed against it when he stretched. “Yeah, and I meant this little bag, but I’d willingly check out your nipples—”

  “I have no idea what’s in there,” I interrupted his dirty, fascinating mind. “Open it and find out.” What the heck could it be? What was a velvet pouch doing on my floor? What the hell was taking him so long to open the damn thing?

  Before I could snatch it out of his hands, he pulled apart the string-tied top. He peeked inside, prolonging things and making me want to scream with frustration.

  “What’s in there?” I nearly yelled.

  He smiled at me, no leer in sight. The suspense was killing me. And then he poured the contents out into his hand. A river of diamonds was exactly as stunning as it sounded, maybe more so.

  “What the hell?” I said, my hand involuntarily reaching out to touch the sparklies, but pulling back at the last instant.

  He turned his head to look at the antique sideboard and pointed to a small door that had come unhinged on the leg. “I think we might have found what your burglar was looking for the other night.”

  “Huh,” was all I could think to say, so I repeated it. “Huh.”

  “No big words of enthusiasm from you?” His gaze was locked on the gems, too.

  “Gah.”

  “That’s even more intelligent than ‘huh.’ ” He rolled to his side, his dangly parts dangling.

  Before my very eyes, he wasn’t as dangly anymore. “All those sparkly bits turning you on?” I asked, still bare like the day I was born.

  “Not nearly as much as you do.”

  I got the leer this time, which made my insides melt like butter on a California sidewalk.

  “You’re still naked,” he said while his free hand reached for me.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” I knelt on the area rug, not a shy bone in my big body.

  “I want you, again.”

  “Again, I say, ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’ ” Ooh, I was being cheeky.

  And that’s precisely what he slapped as I crawled away from him. He grabbed my thigh, sinking his nimble fingers into my flesh. His hands were warm and lovely on my skin when he flipped me over and had his way with me all over again.

  A little later, we scooped all the diamonds off the floor where they’d scattered. “Now what do we do with them?” I asked.

  His eyes gleamed like the gems, but I could literally see the answer forming on his lips. I stopped him before he led either of us into temptation. “No, we have to turn them over to the police.”

  Rippling his fingers and making the light dance from the stones, he said, “Are you sure?”

  A martyred sigh escaped me. “Yes, I’m positive, but I don’t think now is the time for me to have another run-in with the law. I’ll hold onto them for another day or so, and we’ll go from there.”

  “Keep them somewhere safe,” he said, continuing to play with them. “The last thing you need is to lose them before you can hand them over. Someone might come looking again. And be especially careful with the law you were talking about. Even worse than losing them would be getting caught with these babies before you had a chance to explain.”

  I thought about his words for a minute and devised a place to put the diamonds. “I have the perfect place. Don’t worry about a thing.”

  ****

  After driving home and depositing the diamonds in my underwear drawer, I finally went to sleep, only to dream about the way Ben had touched and caressed me. Of course, my dreams made everything much more polished and smooth than the reality had been. While it was very arousing, I still liked how it had really happened better. But the dreams did make me wish I could get back in his pants A.S.A.P.

  My other want, also going unfulfilled, was to find the killer. I wracked my brain to figure out a way to find him or her, but nothing brilliant was coming to me. Everything seemed to lead to a dead end. I didn’t know any more about Tarrin than when I started, and as far as possible suspects, I had someone, but nothing solid.

  Today Ben planned on checking out Chad Darmore, the fiancé, and then we’d see about his viability, but I didn’t have high hopes for him. The boyfriend was an unknown, and the sister didn’t have any reason that I knew of.

  I took my time in the shower. I hadn’t heard my dad moving around in the house this early. Maybe he was having a late morning, which worked for me. I didn’t know how his sin radar was working lately. He might be concentrating on his own form of sinning instead of mine. However, I wasn’t taking any chances. He would probably take one look at me and know I’d been rolling around on the floor last night with my favorite male.

  Out in the kitchen, I popped some toast into the toaster and admired my makeup job in the shiny side at the same time. Fortunately, I’d mastered the whole blush and lipstick thing. Now I only had to learn how to apply the eyeliner without blinding myself. The toast popped, and I turned to grab the butter dish off the counter. There I found a note propped, with my name on it.

  Opening the note, I had no idea what to expect. After I read it, I read it yet a second time to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood it the first time. My dad hadn’t come home last night and he wanted to make sure I hadn’t worried about him. He was perfectly safe at the home of one Ms. Martha. Holy cow!

  I did the one thing I knew would calm me down—I called Bella. “You’ll never believe what my dad did last night,” I said, not even bothering with the niceties.

  “Why? Why are you calling me this early in the morning?” she croaked.

  “Guess!”

  “Your dad spent the night with Martha and you’re pissed you aren’t getting any when your dad is.”

  “Oh, my God! Martha’s Point doesn’t have a grapevine; it has a freaking grape IM. And I’m pleased to tell you I am no longer on the sexual drought program, so that has nothing to do with it.”

  “What? What! I’m coming over right now.” Rustling sounds filled the line as she yelled in the phone. “Get the coffee brewing and don’t move a muscle.”

  “How can I not move a muscle and still make coffee?” I asked, but it was a waste of breath since she’d already hung up on me.

  I figured I had about forty-five minutes to get the coffee ready. I’d woken Bella up, so she’d need time to do her hair, makeup, and whatever else she did to make herself look perfect. I was already dressed, so I went in to make my bed and get ready for the rest of the day. As I tugged the covers up, a thought struck me. I coul
d have spent the night with Ben in my own bed instead of going at it on the floor of the store, then leaving him alone to sleep by myself. Dang it all!

  No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the doorbell rang. No way was it Bella already, and my dad would simply walk in. I couldn’t think of anyone else it could be. Warily, I stepped to the door and looked out through the glass insert. Ben stood on the doorstep in his leather jacket and a knit cap. I threw open the door.

  “Couldn’t keep away?” I asked in my best sultry voice one second before he swept me into a kiss that singed my hair.

  When we came up for air, he gave me the wicked smile that had nearly set my panties on fire last night. “No, I guess I couldn’t stay away. Why should I, when I hear your dad camped out at Martha’s last night? I could have stayed here and had my way with you on a real bed.”

  I loved the way he thought. “How about now?” I posed against the doorway to the living room, shrugging a shoulder in what I hoped was a sexy way. “We have about forty minutes, if you want to play.”

  “Do I ever.” He stalked me around the coffee table and into the hallway. Not that I was trying too hard to get away from him, but I loved the predatory gleam in his eyes.

  He’d caught me and started nibbling on my shoulder when the freaking doorbell rang again. I wasn’t expecting anyone else this morning. I didn’t want to get caught in a discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness, either. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been approached by anyone like that the whole time I’d been here. Anyway, the answer was to pay no attention to the door at all and continue my own nibbling while Ben unzipped my green sweater.

  His fingers were just starting to do some very interesting things under the sweater when the door flew open.

  Bella entered my house like a locomotive with too much coal shoved in the stove. “There you are. Is the coffee on? Ben, get your hand out from under her shirt. We have things to talk about, and you all had plenty of fun last night. Chop, chop, Ivy.” Her words ran together somewhat, but Ben and I both got the gist.

  In Ben’s case, he removed his hand but kept it at my waist. Tightening his grip when I moved toward the kitchen, he whispered, “You don’t have to do what she says, you know.”