Lip Lock

by Susanna Carr

  No. He was in trouble. He was feeling something more than attraction for this woman. How could he feel this way about someone who—he knew exactly what kind of woman she was. Why was he interested in her?

  “Kyle?” She moved next to him, placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned in. She looked up into his face and her expression hit him like a one-two punch.

  He knew it was all for show, but damn if it didn’t feel good. “Uh.” He swallowed awkwardly. “Glenn is on his way.”

  “Glenn.” Caution dulled the sparkle in her eye.

  “Your CFO?” Bridget asked.

  “Yeah, I forgot to tell you he was coming.” He found himself wincing, waiting for the fireworks.

  Molly took a step back. “Oh, that’s okay. When is he coming?”

  “He’s on the island now.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know this is short notice…”

  Molly and Bridget exchanged knowing glances. “What?” Kyle asked, trying to figure out the silent communication arcing around him.

  “How long is he staying?”

  “Until Monday.” And why did he feel the need to apologize? “He’s helping with the deal.”

  “I better go make up his room.” She took a step back. “Are there any more guests? Because there are only three bedrooms.”

  “No more. I promise.”

  “Should we believe him, Bridget?”

  Bridget smiled. “I don’t know, Molly. But it looks like you need to train him better.”

  She waggled her eyebrows. “Now there’s an idea.” She turned and made her way to the house.

  “You need any help getting ready for Glenn?” Bridget called out.

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Thank you!” Kyle said.

  “You owe me,” Molly told him without looking back.

  “Huh. Did you hear that?” He turned to Bridget and found her smiling. “The woman has nerve.”

  “Kyle, if you were my fiancé, you wouldn’t get lucky for a week from that stunt.”

  Was this what they meant by training? “I better go help her out then.”

  Bridget laughed as he walked away. “Men.”

  Kyle rested his shoulder against the closed bedroom door and watched Molly change the sheets on the bed. “You’re nervous,” he said.

  “I’m not—” She closed her mouth. She wasn’t going to lie anymore. “I’m…what’s the word? Apprehensive? No, that doesn’t sound right.”

  “Why? Because of Glenn?”

  “I feel like I’m being cornered.” She stretched her arm to cover the mattress corner with the fitted sheet. “The last time I was in a room with the two of you, I was being accused of stealing and threatened with jail time.”

  “That won’t happen again.” Kyle paused. “Unless you do something illegal.”

  She flashed him a long-suffering look. “I didn’t do anything wrong the last time.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “So you keep saying.”

  And she’d keep on saying. She’d already ’fessed up to enough. Why would she hold back on the trade secrets?

  “I already told Glenn that you were here and that we were ‘engaged.’”

  “I’m sure that went over well.” She fitted the bottom corner of the sheet only to have the top corner slide off. Molly straightened to her full height, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

  “Actually, it did,” Kyle said. “He was preoccupied at the time.”

  Molly opened her eyes. “Platinum or strawberry blonde? Here.” She gestured at the opposite mattress corners. “You’re supposed to be helping. Make yourself useful.”

  He approached the bed. “Glenn isn’t going to be the problem.”

  Molly let out a snort. “Unless you tell him to be one.”

  “Don’t think of running away,” he warned her as he fitted the bottom corner with ease.

  “What’s the point?” she asked as she stretched the fabric over the corner closest to her. “I’ll have two of you after me.”

  “You promised you’d stay.”

  “Yeah, I did.” She moved to the headboard. “And I am.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” Kyle said as he walked to the top of the mattress.

  Molly put her hands on her hips. “You know, I gave my word and I’m doing my best. You don’t know what it’s like having it hang over your head that in a couple of days you’re going to make me regret living.”

  “I’m not trying to punish you.”

  “Kyle, you fired me because I had a book on my desk. I didn’t get a chance to defend myself. You decided I was guilty. Case closed.”

  “It’s standard procedure. As part of the non-disclosure—”

  “And then you have me investigated”—she bit out the word—“thinking I’m going to lead you to whoever wants your stupid green book.”

  “I—”

  “And now Glenn is coming over.” She hurriedly fitted the sheet over the other corner. “Like having one warden isn’t enough.”

  “Warden?”

  “I already find life difficult,” she told him as she walked around to his side. “Why would I want to add to it?”

  “Molly, I promise you. While you’re here, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  She fixed the corner he left undone. “Because you want to drag me back to your office, make me break down and give you all this information off record.”

  Kyle didn’t say anything. He didn’t deny his plan and his silence tugged at her.

  “I didn’t do anything,” she muttered for the hundredth time as she grabbed the top sheet.

  “I’m beginning to believe you,” he said softly.

  She glanced up at him. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

  “I don’t know if it’s because I want to believe you,” Kyle admitted.

  Her mouth tilted into a cynical smile. “You want me to be guilty.”

  His eyes widened. “No, I don’t.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She flipped the sheet open and watched it unfurl. “Then it would be easy to hate me. I got it.”

  He grabbed at the sheet. “I don’t hate you.”

  Molly didn’t want to talk about it. She tried to yank the sheet away from him.

  “I don’t.” He pulled the sheet harder, dragging her closer.

  “You don’t like me,” she said, unable to look him in the eye.

  “I never said that.”

  She gave a little huff. “You don’t have to.”

  “I like you,” he said roughly. “More than I should.”

  “What’s that supposed—” He muffled her question with a hard kiss. Her pulse leapt from his possessive touch.

  Kyle tilted his head to the side, his lips still rubbing against hers. “You distract me.” He dropped the sheet and cupped her face with his hands. “You make my head spin.”

  He kissed her again, his tongue surging in her mouth. She parted her lips, desperate for more. As he explored her mouth, he curled his arm around her waist. It was a good thing, too. She felt a little dizzy.

  “I should be working,” he murmured against her lips. “Making the deal of a lifetime. But what am I doing? I’m up here with you. Trying very hard not to throw you onto this bed.”

  Really? Excitement flickered deep inside her. “What’s stopping you?” she asked.

  The feral gleam in his eye was her only warning. Kyle pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

  She felt the fierce, hot need all the way to her toes. His hands flattened along her spine, her stomach pressed against his. She felt contained. Wild. Hot.

  Her world spun and her back rested against the mattress. She lay across it and tried to find the floor, but her feet dangled from the bed.

  Kyle hovered above her, his arms bracketing her head. He kissed her again, this time slow and deliberate, creating a fire inside her she didn’t know existed.

  Molly tasted that heat she wanted. That untamed quality lurking under the sophistication.
She reached for his head, her hands tangling in his hair.

  His hands drifted to her waist and found the edge of her sweatshirt. He slid his fingers up her ribs, and she wiggled under the acute pleasure of his feathery touch. He pulled her flimsy bra up and splayed his hand on her bared breasts.

  She felt her heart racing as Kyle caressed her tight nipples. She desperately wanted him to taste her. Suck. Bite. Go wild.

  Kyle leisurely trailed one hand down the waistband of her jeans. Molly’s heart jumped into her throat. Her skin crackled with anticipation.

  He unsnapped her jeans and slowly dragged the zipper down. Molly wanted to do the job for him. Kick off her jeans. Rip them down her legs.

  He cupped her sex against the palm of his hand. Molly felt the steamy heat contained. When Kyle pressed the heel of his hand against her, she was ready to leap off of the bed. She arched her back, her hands grabbing the sheets, bunching them in her fists.

  Kyle pulled her panties down her legs and Molly forgot to breathe. She was exposed. Nervous. Needy.

  She closed her eyes as he reached down and rubbed his fingers along her wet slit. Molly all but whimpered as he dipped into her wetness.

  He took her nipple into his mouth and wildfire streaked through her blood. Molly dug her nails into his shoulder as she gasped jaggedly for her next breath.

  The doorbell rang.

  Molly froze, the chime screeching in her ears. She looked at Kyle as he raised his head. Their gazes met, his blurry with desire.

  And he continued to stroke her.

  She flopped her head back on the bed. Oh, did that feel good! But they had to stop. Molly turned her head from side to side. She had to move away.

  Her gaze flew to the door of the bedroom. It wasn’t locked. Anyone could walk in. Anyone who was looking for them, wondering where they were…

  “Doorbell,” she whispered.

  But Kyle didn’t stop. He dipped his finger deep inside her and brought his other hand down on her clit.

  Oh, she didn’t want to stop. And he didn’t understand. It could take her forever to come. Sometimes she didn’t. She couldn’t orgasm on command. She couldn’t let the doorbell ring until she did.

  And she couldn’t take the pressure to perform. The delicious pressure building inside her. Should she fake it?

  The doorbell rang again.

  She was really good at faking.

  “Ignore it,” Kyle said against her breast, his hot breath wafting over her sensitive nipple.

  She couldn’t ignore it. And she couldn’t fake it. That was like lying. And she’d promised she wouldn’t lie.

  That, and she really wanted to hold out for the real thing.

  But the doorbell was right there. On the brink of her consciousness. She wondered why Kyle didn’t feel this sense of urgency. Wondered how he could dip into her core with a languor she was far from feeling.

  And then she felt it. Right in the back of her knees. The white-hot tingling that threatened to grow. Burn bright. Consume.

  The sheets came undone from the corners and bunched around her. She grabbed for Kyle and kissed him hard. The tingling shot down her legs and arms.

  The doorbell rang again.

  Oh, go away! She almost yelled. Leave!

  She had to find out. She didn’t want to stop. She was almost there. Almost…

  Kyle seemed to sense it. His touch became more aggressive. Deeper. His kisses were slick and unrefined.

  “Kyle?” Bridget called up from the stairs.

  She tensed, her gaze dragging to the door. Oh, almost…

  “Molly?”

  She ignored Bridget, just like Kyle was. Ignored the world around her. The world stopped outside the door. Didn’t exist past the edges of the mattress.

  “I’ll get the door,” Bridget said, with a thread of laughter.

  Molly didn’t understand what Bridget said as the blood roared in her ears as sunbursts exploded behind her eyes. She…she…

  And it crashed against her. She launched off of the mattress, anchored only by Kyle. She may have screamed, but he took that with an openmouthed kiss.

  She pulsed around him. She couldn’t catch her breath. She felt like she got too close to the sun and she was melting.

  And once she regained her strength, she was going to take a hammer to that doorbell…

  Chapter 14

  It was past midnight and Kyle was nowhere finished with the work he had to accomplish for the day. The house was quiet, but far from peaceful. Because he knew Molly was asleep in the master bedroom. Wearing nothing more than a large, rumpled T-shirt.

  Which was why he was here, and planned to work through the night. Kyle glanced across from the study and spotted Glenn staring at the flickering flames in the fireplace. He wondered when the CFO planned to turn in like the rest of the household. If he was hoping to find a nightlife on the island, Kyle thought as he returned his attention to his work, then the guy was out of luck.

  Glenn took a sip of his whiskey, the ice clinking against the crystal glass. “I don’t think she did it,” he mused quietly.

  Kyle stared at the computer screen and then looked at Glenn. “What did you say?”

  His friend slowly turned his head and looked at him. “I don’t think Molly took the blueprint.”

  Kyle sat back in his chair. He was tired, but his body suddenly went into full alert. “Why?”

  “There were no leads on her computer. The forensic computer expert went all over Molly’s computer and found nothing incriminating. There is no hint of her anywhere near the specs on our online database. Nothing.”

  “We have Curtis’s statement.”

  Glenn squinted. “And we’re believing him…why?”

  It was always a risk to take a thief’s word over a liar’s, but Kyle was guided by one simple fact. “Because he already lost his standing in the computer industry and had nothing else to lose.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Glenn made a face. “He now stands out in the sea of nameless computer geniuses. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an agent before the end of the year.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kyle decided. He turned his chair so he could go back to work on the computer. “We found Molly with the blueprint. End of story.”

  “Let me ask you something.” Glenn slid his feet off of the ottoman. “If she’s such a pro, and there’s nothing that links her to this crime, why would she put the blueprint on her desk in clear view?”

  “It wasn’t in clear view,” Kyle said as typed on the keyboard. “It was under a pile of papers.”

  “But the blueprint is in that weird green. You can spot it in a sea of white. She wouldn’t hide it like that. That would be stupid.”

  Or brazen. Kyle paused from his work. “What are you getting at?”

  Glenn’s sigh was slow and uneven. “I think Molly was framed.”

  Kyle closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to rehash old business. “No one would get the blueprint only to dump it on Molly’s desk.”

  “They would if they were about to get caught.” Glenn set his glass down and rested his elbows on his knees.

  “Curtis was nowhere near Molly’s desk that day,” Kyle pointed out.

  “Okay, forget Curtis for a minute. I was talking to Molly tonight at dinner.” He motioned toward the dining room. “She knows less about computers than I do. Take my word on it, you can’t fake that.”

  “You don’t have to know how a car operates in order to steal it.”

  “True.” Glenn acceded to that point with a nod of his head. “But you do have to know where to take the stolen car. And you need to know the market value. Plus you have to know how to drive the car so you don’t get caught.”

  Glenn was making sense in his own way. Molly would have needed contacts in the computer industry. She would have also needed to know how to access more than her e-mail program.

  “But then, why is Molly here?” Glenn splayed his hands in
the air and fell back against his chair. “It doesn’t make sense!”

  “Have there been any security breaches since Molly left?” Kyle asked.

  Glenn pressed his lips together. “No,” he said reluctantly.

  So there was no reason to question Molly’s guilt. But he did. It nagged at him. Had been after that first wash of anger. “She probably was framed.”

  “Or sacrificed,” Glenn suggested, gazing at the fire. “Low guy on the totem pole.”

  Kyle wasn’t too sure about that. If she really was someone holding on to her job, she wouldn’t risk it for a small cut of money. “You know what this means?”

  His friend froze from retrieving his whiskey. “The thief is still in business.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” Kyle whispered.

  Glenn raised the glass to his lips. “My thoughts exactly.”

  Molly walked into the study early in the morning and almost dropped her basket of cleaning supplies when she saw Kyle at his desk.

  “Uh, sorry,” she said as he looked up from his computer. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She started to back out of the room.

  “No, it’s okay.” He motioned for her to enter the room. “I’m catching up on some work.”

  She noticed his ruffled hair and the tired lines bracketing his mouth. “Have you been working all night?”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed his face with his hands.

  That would explain where he’d been. He never came to bed. She thought he was avoiding her because of what happened when she was preparing Glenn’s bedroom. He probably was, but using work as his excuse.

  “Where’s Darrell and Bridget?”

  “They are still asleep.” She grabbed the soft cloth from her basket and swiped at the top of the table next to the door. “I think Glenn is, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “This?” She lifted the cloth in her hands. “It’s called a dust rag.”

  Kyle rolled his eyes. “Yes, I figured that one out on my own. Why do you have it?”

  “Do you think this house runs by itself?” Oh, great. Now she was sounding like her mother. She never thought that day would happen.

  “I never expected you to do all the cleaning…”