Bring On the Heat
Page 28
“Well, I want you to. I agreed to talk. Not…anything else.”
He opened his mouth to tell her exactly what he was thinking—that now that she was here, she was his—and shut his mouth. Obviously, the caveman routine hadn’t gone over well with Keegan. Guess he’d have to try a different approach.
He took a step back, releasing her shoulders, and gritted his teeth when she released him as well.
“Okay then, come on in and we can talk.”
He waved her into the house. Habit had him turning away from her so she couldn’t see the full extent of his scars, letting his hair fall over his cheeks. She passed by him without a glance, waiting for him to close the door behind him before he headed down the hall.
He’d intended to take her into the library where they’d spent those hours together two weeks ago, then thought better of it.
Settle her down. Get her used to him again.
Maybe she hasn’t called because she doesn’t want to look at your hideous face again.
Turning abruptly, he headed to the kitchen. Neutral territory, he figured.
And the farthest room from the front door. If she wanted to leave, he’d at least have some time to convince her to stay before she actually got out the door.
“Have a seat.” He waved at the round oak table in the curved alcove with windows overlooking the backyard. “Do you want something to drink?”
“I’ll take some water.”
Well, she didn’t sound pissed, so that was good.
He grabbed a bottle for her and a soda for himself, then steeled himself before he turned back to her.
She’d kept her coat on. As if she didn’t intend to stay. Not the puffy pink thing she’d worn last time, that’d hidden a ball-busting corset that made him want to beg her to let him take it off. This jacket was leather and short, stopping at the top of her tight black skirt. It hung open to expose the plain white, button-down shirt.
Her hair hung in a braid over her shoulder, the end brushing against her breast.
Yeah, looking at her breasts was probably not going to help him keep his hands off of her.
Keeping the table between them, he sat and pushed her water across the expanse. When he’d withdrawn his hand, she took it.
Now what? What the hell did he say? She wasn’t exactly giving him any openings here. Might as well just rip off the bandage.
“Keegan told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?”
Her head popped up and those dark eyes locked onto his. “Why should I want to talk about it with you? Why exactly would I want to talk about any of this with you?” She shook her head. “You know what? This is a mistake. I never should’ve come here. Not now. Not before.”
So that’s where they stood. This quicksand was deeper than he’d thought. But now that he was standing in it, he might as well fight all the way down.
“Bullshit.”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. And the tears receded as anger built.
Good. Anger he could deal with.
“If you hadn’t wanted to talk about it, you wouldn’t be here.”
It took a few seconds but he saw her realize that he’d read her correctly. But she wasn’t happy about it and he braced for battle.
Which showed just how much he really didn’t know about her.
As he watched, the anger drained out of her. She didn’t deflate though, didn’t break down. She took a deep breath and straightened her spine.
“You’re right. I do want to talk.”
His turn to take a deep breath. “Okay. Lay it out for me. Whatever it is, just spit it out.”
Her gaze bored into his. “You didn’t call. Neither of you. And I was stupid enough to think you would.” Each word she spoke came out precisely. And cut like a scalpel. “I can’t help feeling used. Which is totally stupid. You paid me to have sex with you. And Keegan. You paid me and it was more than enough to clear out any debt my mom and I had. You knew about that. I don’t know how but I know you knew we needed the money.”
Erik was afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Every word out of her mouth was underlined with pain and each one dug into his chest like an ice pick. His brain whirred like a pinwheel in a tornado. What the hell did he say? What could he say?
Nothing, because she continued. “I was so stupid because when I left that night, I thought I’d hear from you again. I thought one of you would call. We’d do dinner. We’d—Hell, I don’t know, go to a movie. Do something normal. But this isn’t a normal situation, is it?”
She paused and he knew she was waiting for him to speak up.
“No, it’s not.” He sighed, a hard exhalation of breath that reeked of his frustration. “But you’re not stupid. Not by a long shot. I wouldn’t want you so damn badly if you were.”
Her eyes narrowed, wary and focused totally on him. And she kept silent, waiting.
“Don’t make any mistake there. I do want you. So does Keegan. He wanted to call. He wanted to call and ask you out the next day but it was Christmas Eve and you said you were spending it with your mom. Then it was Christmas and we had family commitments. And when we got back to the lab last week, we had other shit going down.”
He wasn’t about to lay that on her. That was business. This wasn’t. Never had been despite the money.
“Yeah,” he continued, “we knew about your mom’s situation. We knew you needed help. We knew we wanted to give you the money. And we both knew we wanted you in bed between us.”
“And you didn’t think I’d want you if it weren’t for the money.”
There it was again. That elephant in the room.
Her gaze slipped to the side of his face, looking at his scars. Instead of dipping his head and letting his hair cover them like he normally did, he resisted the urge. She’d done it on purpose but he didn’t think she’d done it to hurt him.
And when she finally looked into his eyes again, he knew it. No pity. Only empathy. He knew the difference because of her.
And that’s why there was no way he was letting her leave.
Christ, his cock practically pounded against the zipper in his jeans, he was so hard.
“No, I didn’t think you’d want me. But I’m not as stupid as I was then.”
They fell silent, staring into each other’s eyes. He wanted to reach across the table and pull her over it. Hell, he wanted to strip her naked and fuck her hard and fast on top of it.
Then he’d text Keegan and tell him to get his ass over here so they could take her on his bed.
He’d dreamed about her every friggin’ night. Woke up hard and unsatisfied every morning. He wanted to ease the ache in his gut right now.
“Keegan didn’t go to that reception tonight to nail you to the wall. He only went to talk.”
Her lips twisted in a sneer. “Then he obviously has a different meaning for the word ‘talk.’”
“It’s not entirely his fault, Jules.” He raised a hand before she could say the indignant words gathering on her tongue. “It’s mine. I told him to wait.”
“Why?”
Because I think I’ve finally found a lead on who might’ve sabotaged the lab and caused the fire that disfigured me. Because I need to prove to Keegan that I’m not crazy.
And Jules would’ve made it impossible for him to think clearly.
“Because I was an ass.”
“So because you admit it, that means everything’s forgiven?”
“No. But give me the chance to make it up to you.”
Her expression showed just how futile she thought that was. “How?”
“Honestly, I was hoping you’d have a suggestion.”
She blinked. “Isn’t that kind of a cop-out?”
He couldn’t be sure but he thought she might have almost smiled. Maybe he hadn’t totally lost his touch with women.
Then again, he had no idea what to say to that except… “Yeah. I guess it is.”
Damn, he was totally blowing this.
“Is this your subtle way of getting me to cook for you?”
He gave her a mock-angry frown. “Hey, are you dissing my abilities to perform in the kitchen? I’ll have you know I’m perfectly capable of fending for myself.”
The fact that he had a housekeeper who fixed most of his meals notwithstanding.
He didn’t wait for her answer, just headed for the fridge where he pulled out the fixings for an omelet.
“No, I’m not dissing your cooking abilities. I just… I thought…”
He set all the stuff on the island counter then reached underneath for a bowl. “Thought what?”
“Well, you seem to know everything else about me, I figured you knew that I plan to open my own restaurant one day.”
He actually had known that. Carol had told him. “What do you like to cook?”
Rising, she walked over to the island. “American comfort food but high-end. Lobster mac and cheese. Sirloin cheesesteak sandwiches. Different but recognizable.”
After cracking eggs into a bowl, he started to whisk. “Sounds good. Where do you want to set up shop?”
“Philadelphia maybe. King of Prussia. Not around here.”
“So you want to run away to the big city, huh?”
He and Keegan had run as far from the big cities as they could. And now Erik wouldn’t move back for all the business in the world. All those people staring at him. Jesus, it’d be hell every day.
“I want to get away from here, that’s for damn sure.” Her tone held a hard note. “Growing up in a small town might sound like a great idea, but when you don’t want to conform or fit into the little box everyone thinks you should fit in…”
Things hadn’t been great for her growing up. She’d had a reputation apparently, for something that wasn’t her fault. Carol had told him about the affair she’d had. About the man who’d lied to her and made her out to be some kind of home wrecker.
Erik would gladly bash the guy’s face in.
“So don’t. But don’t let small-minded people keep you down.”
He realized what he’d said the second the words left his mouth and looked up to find her staring at him with raised eyebrows.
“Not the same thing and you know it,” he said.
She reached across the island and ran her finger down his cheek. The disfigured one. He flinched away. He couldn’t help it.
But she followed him, putting her hand flat on his cheek. He barely felt it. The scar tissue was thick and didn’t allow for much sensation. Which just pissed him off. He wanted to feel her hand on his skin.
As if she’d read his mind, she lifted her other hand to his opposite cheek. And now he felt the full effect of her touch. It nailed his feet to the floor. He wouldn’t have been able to move if he’d tried.
Her fingertips stroked along his skin, sending shivers of sensation through his blood, straight to his cock.
If he wasn’t careful, he’d make the same mistake Keegan had. He’d let his dick do the thinking. Couldn’t say he didn’t understand completely, but one of them had to be the better man tonight.
“Jules.”
“Yes.”
Aw hell. That was definitely not going to make him behave. Not that word, said with that husky tone in her voice.
“Do you like onions?”
It took a few seconds but her lips curved in a smile. “Maybe you should leave them out.”
“Okay. Sure.”
She withdrew and he cursed silently when she was no longer touching him.
“So, are you planning to go back to college?”
She shrugged. “Maybe for some business courses. College was never on my radar. I couldn’t stand high school. Why willingly sign up for more torture? I went to the vo-tech for the culinary program. That was really the only reason I graduated.”
“College isn’t for everyone.”
“Some people think you’re stupid if you don’t.”
“And some people are idiots. Some of the stupidest people I know have a college degree. I figure it all evens out.”
Her smile was small but genuine. “I guess it does. So tell me, Erik. Don’t you want to have sex with me again?”
His hand froze in the act of beating the eggs. “More than I want to breathe. Is that why you’re here?”
Her gaze dropped. “I don’t know why I’m here.”
“Bullshit.” He said it with no edge, no snark, no sneer.
After a few seconds, she nodded and her gaze lifted to his again. “Okay, fine. Why am I here?”
She looked at him with such vulnerability and he was struck by how young she looked.
Rationally, he knew she was only twenty-one but she’d never seemed that young. She had a maturity beyond her years.
Until this minute.
And now he felt every one of those nine years separating them.
Christ, what a mess. And it was all his fault.
“Because you know what we shared wasn’t just sex.”
The words were hard for him to get out because he was admitting something aloud he’d barely admitted to himself.
And he should’ve known she wouldn’t let it go at that.
“So what was it to you?”
He paused and, after several seconds, Jules huffed. “Are you really not going to talk to me? Am I the only one who has to spill their guts?”
After a few more moments of silence, she shook her head. “Damn it—”
“When you left, I had every intention of calling you, of setting up a date. A real one. With the three of us. Then…I got some information about the explosion that I had to investigate.”
“What information?”
“Nothing I want to discuss now.” When she looked like she wanted to argue, he held up his hand. “No, I want to talk about you. About us. We can talk about anything else you want later. Right now, I want to talk about us.”
“Is there an us?”
“What would you say if I told you I want there to be?”
Her turn to pause. “I’d have to say I’m so screwed up in the head about all of this that I’m not sure what I want anymore. All I really do know is that I want you.”
His cock tightened painfully and his hands curled into fists as she began to walk around the counter. “Jules, I’m trying to be—”
She put her hands on his face again and pulled him down for a kiss. And he let her.
~ * ~
FOUR
Erik locked down every impulse to grab Jules and toss her onto the nearest flat surface.
As her lips moved over his with a desperation he could taste, his lust built until it reached an almost feral force.
He resisted for all of two seconds then gave in to the raging desire to take whatever she wanted to give him.
When her mouth opened and her tongue licked at his lips, he opened to her.
God damn, she tasted fucking amazing. He wanted to kiss her for-fucking-ever.
His arms wrapped around her body, caging her. She wouldn’t be able to move unless he allowed it. And he wasn’t going to. Not for a damn long time.
She’d come to him. She’d given him her permission. He was going to take her at her word. Or actions, as the case happened to be.
With his tongue in her mouth, he swore he was drugged by her taste. It made him reckless. Made him forget that only seconds ago he’d been ready to be noble and not fuck her brains out.
Now he didn’t think he could take another breath without having her.
Their lips still locked, he picked her up in his arms. Hers wrapped around his shoulders immediately and she clung to him as he headed for the stairs at the back of the kitchen.
The stairwell was narrow and he bumped his elbows so many times he was sure they’d be black and blue tomorrow. He didn’t care.
He almost stumbled as they reached the second floor and he had to release her mouth to get his
bearings, flinging one hand out to steady himself against the wall. Her mouth immediately landed on his neck, where she sucked on the tendon beneath the skin, biting and licking and driving him crazy.
That side of his neck was mostly scar-free so the skin was more sensitive there. Almost too sensitive. Every swipe of her tongue made electricity zing through his body. His cock felt like it was going to burst out of his jeans.
Stopping to make sure he had his feet under him, he let his head fall back as she worked her mouth from his neck to his lips.
Her hands shoved through his hair and she tugged until he stared directly into her eyes. “You better be taking me to a bed.”
“Damn right. And when we get there, I’m going to strip you naked and tie you to it.”
He saw her eyelids flutter and her gaze darken. “I might let you.”
“You already gave your consent. You’re here. And now you’re mine.”
He felt her shake, heard her breath hitch but she held his gaze. And didn’t let go.
She’d accepted him before, scars and all. Now he’d see if she accepted even more of him.
He started to walk again, his bedroom on the other side of the house from this set of stairs.
She never said no. She never said stop.
By the time they reached his bed, he hoped like hell he had enough control to take her the way he wanted and not just fall on her like an animal. But, Jesus, he craved her.
Only his obsession with finding out what had happened that night in the lab kept him from hunting her down.
Now, he tossed her on the bed. She bounced once before stabilizing herself with her hands on the mattress, still staring up at him.
“Strip.”
Swallowing hard, she hesitated, eyes widening as if in fear.
Damn it. Maybe she was just too damn young to handle all of him. Maybe—
Her lips curved in a slight grin. With an easy grace, she rose to her knees, her hands lifting to the front of her shirt. Her gaze held his and he couldn’t tell if she needed reassurance that he hadn’t turned into some kind of raving lunatic or if she was as turned on as he was.
Her fingers worked their way down her shirt buttons. She didn’t go slowly, didn’t do it as a tease. When she got to the bottom, she yanked the tails out of the skirt and shrugged it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the side, leaving her in a flesh-colored bra that managed to be sexy without being overt.