by Ciana Stone
“I wouldn’t fire you for it, sugar.”
“It wouldn’t matter—if I saw anything I was interested in.”
He moved a little closer. “So you haven’t seen anything that interests you?”
She knew what he was asking. And knew she should meet his eyes and lie through her teeth. But her brain didn’t seem to be working right at the moment. The close proximity of his lean, muscular body had her hormones spiking. She could smell the clean scent of soap and man, feel the heat coming off him.
“Nothing I’m going to act on.”
“Oh? And just for the sake of argument, if you were inclined to act, just what would be the subject of your interest?”
“I think we both know the answer to that.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was a mistake. First rule of gambling—never give your opponent anything to use against you.
Cliff’s smile faded, to be replaced with a look that had her wanting things she knew she had to stay away from.
He leaned a little closer. “You want to fill me in on why acting on this interest would be a bad thing?”
“I already told you. Not as long as I work for you.” Roxie edged away a few inches then mentally cursed herself for showing weakness. “I don’t mix business and pleasure.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“I guess I’ll get back to work.” She turned to leave, eager to escape the feelings his nearness inspired.
“Hold on.”
She paused.
“We’ve got a bit of a problem, Roxie.”
“With what?”
“This.”
He had her pressed against the door and his lips on hers before she could protest. She could have pushed him way. Should have. But damn he felt good, the long, lean length of him pressed against her, the taste of him. She gave in and returned the kiss, grabbing his hips to pull him more firmly against her.
Then reason returned and with it, anger. Not at him. At herself. She pushed him away.
“It isn’t going to happen. I already told you.”
“Yeah, I know, not as long as you work for me.”
“Right.”
“Easy enough. You’re fired.”
“No!” She pressed both hands against his chest as he moved in on her. “No.”
Cliff stopped, planting both hands on the door on either side of her and boxing her in. “Why? We both want it.”
“Sometimes that old saying is true, Mr. Beckett. The wanting is better than the having.”
“I’d be willing to bet that isn’t the case here, darling.”
“Maybe not, but I need a job more than an orgasm.”
He didn’t respond for several moments. “I tend to disagree.”
“Then we’ll have to agree to disagree, won’t we?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. How ‘bout we have ourselves a little wager?”
“What kind of wager?”
“That if you spend time with me outside of work, inside of three weeks you’ll change your mind and ask me to take you to bed.”
Roxie barked a laugh. “That’s so not going to happen.”
He smiled. “Put your money where your mouth is.”
“Got no money, as you well know.”
“Fine. If I win, you agree to stay for six months. Working for me and sharing my bed.”
“And if I win?”
“I pay you six month’s salary, fix your car and wish you good luck as you leave Mesa Blanco in your dust.”
Roxie considered it. “Six months regular bartender’s pay or six months at the same rate you pay me now?”
His mouth twitched as if he were fighting back a smile. “Your rate.”
“Define ‘spend time with’.”
“You know, sugar, dinner at my place, maybe some dancing on your nights off and necking on the couch.”
“Necking?” Damn, why did her pulse spike at the idea?
“Well hell, Roxie, you scared you can’t resist me?”
“Not on your best day, Beckett.” God was going to get her if she didn’t quit lying, but she wasn’t about to let him know that resisting him was requiring effort.
“Then do we have a deal?”
Three weeks, she thought. All she had to do was hold out three weeks. She could do that. Couldn’t she? She might need to find that sex toy store pretty quick, but she could do it. Only twenty-one days and then she could say adios to Mesa Blanco and get on with her life.
“Deal.” She stuck out her right hand.
“I think we can do better than that.” He claimed her in a kiss that had her blood humming and her toes threatening to curl. When he pulled back, his smile was cocky. “You’re going down, Roxie.”
Roxie felt the gambler within rise to the challenge. She leaned in toward him, pressing her breasts against him as her right hand moved down to cup the erection that strained against the leg of his jeans. “You wish.”
Cliff laughed and moved away. Yep, he was definitely going to win this bet. Roxie might not warm his bed tonight, but soon she would. He would see to it.
Chapter Three
Roxie’s pulse did a quick two-step when Cliff opened the front door of his house. Dressed in soft, faded jeans and a white dress shirt open at the neck, with sleeves rolled up his forearms, he looked good enough to eat.
“I see you found the place.”
“Thanks for the loan of your truck.”
“My pleasure, darlin’.”
She almost rolled her eyes. He was laying on the Texas accent a bit thick and she knew he’d had his truck left in town for her to drive because it suited him to do so. Roxie had been around gamblers all her life and recognized when someone was setting her up to take a fall.
Not that she intended to fall for Cliff Beckett. She was just here, on her day off, because it was part of the bet.
“Come on in.” He stepped aside for her to enter.
She smiled in amusement as his eyes raked over her. Her outfit obviously wasn’t what he’d expected, but the look in his eyes when they met hers told her quite clearly that he liked what he saw.
Good. She’d chosen her outfit with care. A gypsy skirt that rode low on her hips, a tank top that stopped just short of her navel and an old, soft denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom tied just above her waist. She wore her hair loose and opted for a pair of sandals to complete her outfit.
He smiled at her. “Nice outfit, but not too good for riding”
She returned the smile. She might be set on spurning his advances, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t play a little herself. She liked the way he looked at her. Liked knowing that he wanted her. And liked being able to turn him down and cross one more day off the calendar that she was closer to leaving Mesa Blanco.
“Depends on the kind of riding you had in mind.”
The look he gave her was heated enough to ignite a fire in her belly. He took her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms. Roxie fought to resist the pull, to ignore the fact that everything inside her was shouting for her to just let go and give in. To enjoy the sinful temptation his eyes promised and the delicious feel of his hard body against hers.
But that wouldn’t get her back on the road so just before his lips met hers, she raised her hand and covered his lips with her fingers.
He didn’t release her, but did straighten, letting one of his hands drift down her back to slide across the swell of her ass. She stepped back, forcing him to drop his hands.
“So, what kinda riding is it gonna be today, Roxie?”
“Hmmm, don’t know that I’m much interested in riding today, Cliff.”
His eyebrows rose a moment before his smile. “Cliff? Does that mean the rules have changed?”
She smiled and reached up to trace her fingers along the side of his face. “Let me think on that a minute.”
Even as she acted, she knew she was treading dangerous ground. Playing with Cliff Beckett was definitely like handling fire. Fire that could
spread in an instant. But she couldn’t resist.
She stood up on her tiptoes and slowly brushed her lips across his. He made no move to take control of the moment, which pleased her. Her tongue snaked out and his lips parted to allow her access. It was a slow, long kiss with nothing of their bodies touching except their lips. Finally, just before she ended the kiss she leaned in, grazing his chest with her breasts.
When she moved back, he reached for her but she stepped back, leaning against the door.
“Well?” he asked.
She cocked her head slightly to one side. “Sorry, Beckett.”
“Your eyes tell a different tale, sugar. A kiss that makes promises. Very hot and wet promises.”
Unfortunately, hot and wet was just how she felt. Were it not for the bet, she’d be on him like white on rice. But losing wasn’t an option and all she could do was bluff her way through the moment.
“I like it hot.”
He moved too fast for her to evade and pulled her to him. “Then you’re gonna love this, sugar.”
His mouth crushed down on hers, one hand fisting in her hair and the other moving up to cup one breast. It was like a bolt of electricity. Every nerve ending in her body went into high gear, sensation screaming through her from his touch. When his thumb tracked over her nipple, she fought to stifle a groan and was only partially successful.
He lifted away from the kiss, a cocky smile on his face. “You are so going down.”
His tease brought her back to the game, allowing her to establish some measure of control over her traitorous body that was screaming for her to rip his clothes off and fuck his brains out there on in the vestibule. She stepped away and circled him.
“Not on you. And since we know we’re not doing that, what else you have for entertainment around here?”
She moved into the den, taking a look around. Cliff sure had a nice place. Clearly he wasn’t hurting for money. And that was curious. Sure, Chaps did a good business, but she didn’t see a small town bar providing the capital for this kind of house and certainly not for the furnishings it contained. He had to be into something else to afford all this.
She walked over to the massive entertainment center that dominated one wall. Who the heck needed a television that big? Apparently, he did. When she spotted an Xbox console in one of the glass cabinets to the side, she smiled. Ah ha, a gamer.
“What kind of games do you have?”
Cliff nearly groaned. The last thing on his mind was playing video games. What was on his mind was touching and tasting every inch of her. But like his granddaddy always said, “You can hog that ice cream cone fast or lick it slow and savor the taste as long as possible.” That was a pretty smart old fella, as far as Cliff was concerned. So he gave in. Prolonging the anticipating and taking it slowly only made the having that much sweeter.
“In the cabinet beneath. Take your pick.” He took a seat on the couch and watched as she knelt down and opened the cabinet.
Gypsy. That was the first thing that came to mind when he looked at her. With the colorful shirt hanging low on her hips and its irregular hem giving glimpses of bare legs and her hair loose and flowing down her back, he could imagine her in a Gypsy camp, dancing around a fire and tempting every man in sight.
She selected a game and put it in the console then turned to him. “Where do you keep your controllers?”
“Drawer to the left.”
Roxie took two controllers from the drawer, kicked off her sandals and took a seat on the sofa beside him, hiking her skirt up then tucking it between her legs as she arranged herself, Indian fashion.
The complaint that rose to his lips died as an idea came to Cliff. “What’d you pick?”
“Left 4 Dead.”
“One or two.”
“One. I have a thing for Francis.”
Cliff chucked. Why didn’t that surprise him? Of course, Roxie would go for the character who looked like a big muscular biker and had a hair-trigger temper and a bad attitude.
He reached for the remote and turned on the television. “So, we teaming up or playing versus?”
“Versus.”
Cliff nodded. “You play much?”
“When I can.”
“Enough to put a wager on the outcome of the game?”
He could see hesitation on her face. “It’s okay, if you’re not up to it then…”
Oh, he had her. He could tell from the way her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed that she couldn’t back down.
“What’re the stakes?”
He let the moment draw out, running his eyes over her. Damn if he didn’t like what he saw. Like the way her tank top clung to her breasts. And those big hazel eyes going a shade darker when they met his. He most decidedly liked what he saw.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Come on, Beckett. What’re the stakes?”
“I win, we spend the rest of the day in bed.”
“Nope. That cancels our original bet.”
“I didn’t say I’d get in you, baby. How ’bout this? I win and you get naked with me in bed and everything but that is on the table.”
“Define everything.”
“Tasting, touching—anything two people can do except actual intercourse.”
“And if I win?”
“Name it.”
“You fix the Caddy and chip in two grand, cash, so Lola, Emily and I can get outta this town.”
Shit. That wasn’t what he’d hoped for. He wasn’t ready for Roxie to leave. Was she that certain she could win? Bigger question, could he beat her?
The gambler inside decided for him. “Done.”
Now came the moment. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her brain. Could she take him? Seeing the uncertainty in her eyes bolstered his confidence.
She gave him a smile that spoke of determination. “Maybe I should call Emily and Lola and tell them to start packing.”
“Maybe you should wait till tomorrow and tell them about how I drove you damn near crazy with my hands and mouth.”
She smirked. “Get your game on, stud. You’re about to go down in flames.”
Cliff started the game, hoping she was wrong.
Two hours later, Cliff was starting to worry that she was right. She was good. They were in a dead tie. As the next match loaded on the console, he turned to look at her.
She watched the screen, unaware that he was watching her instead of the television. He liked the way her brows drew together slightly as she studied the available weapons and made selection. Not to mention the sexy way she pursed her lips. Damn if this woman wasn’t a breathing hard-on.
“This is it,” she said.
He looked at the screen. “I’ve heard that before.”
She cocked her head to one side as she studied the screen. “You won’t survive this one. I’ve got your number, Beckett.”
He hoped not, but just in case, maybe he’d better try to turn his game up a notch. This match, he was playing a zombie and she was playing a human survivor. If she was smart enough to keep out of areas where she had no room to maneuver and got a good bead on him, she just might survive. Or worse, she might get the drop on him and take him out.
And if she took him out, that took her out. Of town.
“Get ready to get naked, Roxie.”
She cut him a sassy smile and then turned her attention back to the game. “You’re such a flirt. Okay, here we go.”
A stab of something akin to anxiety lanced through her. They’d battled for hours, evenly matched, neither of them able to get more than one match on the other. Now suddenly her character was trapped in an alley with zombies coming at her from both directions.
Gritting her teeth, she fought harder. She couldn’t lose. This was her chance to get out of town.
That thought brought another. Just why was she so eager to leave? She had nowhere to go and no one to go to. Was she running toward something or away from something?
That was what undid her, because suddenly
it all caved in on her. The truth was she was running away. Away from Cliff Beckett and the feelings he inspired. Not just the lust. That was a horse she could ride. There was something else. Something more. Something about him that said it would be all too easy to lose herself in him.
And that scared her. She’d sworn off love a long time ago, sworn never to let herself become lost in a man. It only brought pain.
Distracted, she lost focus and made a fatal error. His character, a special zombie called a Hunter, pounced. “Come on, come on, help me out!” she nearly screamed at the artificial intelligence characters who fought alongside her. If one of them didn’t shoot the hunter off her, she was a goner.
Seconds ticked by, her life force clicking down steadily until those fatal words appeared on the screen. “You Are Dead.”
“Noooo!” Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. It was all she could think. She’d lost.
She turned to look at Cliff and when their eyes met all the air in the room seemed to have been sucked out. Locked in the desire in his eyes, she could only stare.
“Looks like I’m not the only one going down, today, sugar.”
It took all the control she could muster to tear away from his eyes. It wasn’t going to take much more for her to fall victim to him and she couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to play it cool. “God almighty, you’re cocky. But I’m curious. Do you always go to such lengths to win?”
“I go after what I want.”
“Yeah, that’s obvious.” She added a little snort for effect, hoping she appeared completely unaffected by his nearness. “But the question was, are you always so determined?”
“Only when the situation calls for it.”
She shook her head. “Okay and I’m supposed to translate that…how? That you feel a hankering for a new diversion and I look like a likely candidate?”
The frown that appeared on his face surprised her. He reached out to take her hand and tug on it so that she angled to face him.
“Listen up, Roxie. I’m only going to say this once. I don’t meet many women who intrigue me. But you do. So while I do have a hankering for you, it’s not just a conquest. It’s more a discovery. Discovering what’s beneath the surface. And sugar, I’m just as interested in pleasuring you as myself.”