“I want to talk to you.”
“Not in the mood.”
“But I miss you.”
“You miss me?” She fisted her hands in her pockets, her resolve scattering like ashes in the wind.
“I do.” He took a step forward.
“What the hell, Dan?” For once, she made herself hold her ground.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake might that be? That you dumped me for a tramp and now that she kicked you to the curb you are coming after me again?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not this time.” The familiar tightening in her chest subsided a bit.
“But I’m sorry.”
She let out a self-deprecating laugh. She had heard his half-hearted apologies for two years. “You’re sorry?”
“I am…” He grabbed the belt of her robe and pulled her forward. “I love …”
She shirked away from him. “Gross, Dan. Don’t even start that shit with me.”
“What the fuck, Molly? People make mistakes.”
“Yeah and from first-hand experience you seem to make them all the time where I am concerned.” She couldn’t believe she was actually standing up to him. And it felt good—really good.
“Moll’s….” He slouched against the doorframe.
“Don’t Moll’s, me.” She pushed against him but he didn’t move. “Go to bed, Dan.”
“Thanks.” He pushed past her, making his way to her bed.
“Don’t you dare!” She grabbed hold of the back of his shirt and steered him towards the door. “I meant for you to go to bed in your own room.”
“I can’t.”
God, he was getting on her nerves. “Why can’t you?”
“I lost my keycard,” he grumbled.
Molly tensed.
Seriously?
Now she knew why he was trying to be nice to her. He just wanted a place to crash.
Not going to happen.
“Here,” she said, pulling him towards the adjoining door to the connecting room. “Go this way.”
He looked at the door. “Is that my room?” He turned his glassy eyes on her.
“It is now.” She undid the lock and was relieved when the door opened for her.
Dan swayed on his feet. “Are you coming with me?”
“No.”
“God,” he complained. “You are such a bitch.”
“And you are a dick.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him forward through the opening.
Dan stumbled inside.
“So that makes us even.” She slammed the door in his face and locked it before he could say another word. Leaning back against the closed door, she took deep breaths, trying to calm down.
“I am such an idiot.” She was upset that she had almost believed him, again. Shaking her head, she shoved off the door and checked the mini bar for something to drink. There was a row of miniature bottles of Jack Daniels inside and even though she knew it would probably cost her ten dollars she didn’t even care. Breaking the seal, she unscrewed the lid and dumped the amber contents into a small glass on the dresser. The little paper attached to the bottom of the glass drifted absently to the carpet.
She had the glass halfway to her mouth when a knock sounded at the door, again.
Pissed, she slammed the glass back on the dresser and walked over to the door, jerking it open. “Now see here…” her words caught in her throat.
“Hey.”
Molly’s belly flipped at the sight of Lucian standing in her doorway. “Hey.”
“Can I come in?”
“Of course.” She opened the door wider.
Lucian pushed off the doorframe and stepped inside. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked around her room. “I wasn’t interrupting you, was I?”
“Not at all.”
He smiled as his eyes met hers again. “Good.”
“I thought you left.”
“No.” He shook his head and a piece of his hair fell forward over his brow.
Molly had a sudden urge to fix it.
“I passed out.” He gave her a sheepish look.
Relief washed over her at his admittance. “Oh.”
“Did you get the bouquet?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Sorry.”
“No biggy.” She crossed the room to the dresser and lifted up her drink, suddenly feeling parched. “You want a drink?”
“Sure.”
Bending over, Molly reached into the mini bar and grabbed out another miniature bottle of whiskey. “This good?” she asked.
“Perfect.”
Breaking the seal, Molly unscrewed the lid and poured the amber contents into another glass, repeating her earlier ritual.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Lucian took the proffered glass. “To us,” he said, lifting his glass in the air.
Molly picked up her glass and lifted it in the air as well. “To us,” she said smiling from ear to ear.
Lucian took a sip.
Molly took a sip too and then lowered her glass again. “You want to sit down?” She had jelly legs. And if she didn’t sit down soon she was afraid she might just fall down.
“Sure.” Lucian walked towards the bed and then stopped. He turned towards Molly. She looked so damn cute wrapped up in a white oversized robe with her damp hair curling around her face. He felt the familiar tightening in his loins at the sight, realizing just now that she was probably naked under that robe.
Molly swallowed hard. Was he going to sit on the bed? Was he going to ask her to sit on the bed with him? Feeling heated, she tugged on her robe, her mind straying to what she was doing on that bed just a short while ago and more importantly, who she was fantasizing about. And now he was here!
Lucian pulled at his collar and sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs near the fireplace. He wanted to do nothing more than climb into that big soft bed with Molly, pull her into his arms, explore what she had on under that robe, but he couldn’t. Not after he had sex with Tracy. That wouldn’t be fair to her or to him. And that thought alone made him realize something about himself. Maybe he wasn’t a lost cause after all. Maybe, just maybe, Lucian had some redeeming qualities after all. Maybe…
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Molly quickly finished off her drink. “You want another,” she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Sure.” He slammed back the contents and handed out his glass for a refill.
Nervously, Molly made her way over to the mini bar and pulled out two more miniature bottles from inside. Standing back up she broke the seals and refilled both of their glasses.
“Here you go,” she said, and handed him out his glass. Their fingers briefly touched and she felt the familiar zing just like every other time she had touched him. Glancing at his face, she wondered if he felt it too, but once again, he didn’t seem fazed. Dangit.
“Thanks.” Transferring his drink to his other hand, he rubbed his tingly fingers on the arm of the chair.
“You’re welcome.” She gave him a brief smile and following his lead, sat in the chair opposite from his. Pulling her legs up, she tucked them sideways and covered them with her robe.
“So…” he began. “How long are you staying here?”
“Um, just tonight,” she answered after she took another sip of her drink.
“Hmm.” He nodded.
It seemed that the easy conversation they had shared with one another earlier had disappeared. Molly sipped her drink through an awkward and stilted silence.
“If you still are interested in staying, I mean…uh…like we talked about earlier, I still have that boathouse and…”
“That sounds great.” He smiled.
“Cool. I mean good.” Cradling her glass, she stared down at the patterned carpet.
Lucian rested his head against the back of the chair absently swirling his drink in the bottom of the glass. Noting, once again, how damn cute she looked. “I saw Peggy.”
“You did.” She lifted her eyes from the floor, back to his face.
“Yeah, back at the reception. She told me where to find you.”
“She did?”
He nodded. “I told her how much fun I had and thanked her again.”
“Really?” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.
“I really did,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”
“Me neither,” she blurted and then gave him a cheesy grin.
He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “So, what would you like to do first?”
Molly blinked stupidly. “First?” A jolt of heat shot between her thighs, imagining a bit too clearly all the naughty things she had envisioned him doing to her.
“You did promise me you would take me.”
Her eyes widened. When? Where? What position? She was game for them all. “I guess we could go on over to the …” She turned towards the bed.
“The boat?” he asked.
“Oh!” She laughed. “Right… the boat.”
The crease between his brows deepened. “Wasn’t that what you were going to say?”
“Of course,” she lied, feeling like an idiot. “If you like,” she said.
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we should go back to the mine first. What do you think?” He didn’t know why but he had a strange urge to see the picture of Rebecca again.
“Um, sure. When did you want to do that?”
“Tomorrow too soon?” he asked, looking a bit too excited at the prospect.
She shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“Great. Can we look for the stash of Emeralds?”
“Um, sure,” she answered, not expecting that.
“You did say if we find it that we can keep half, right?”
“That’s what I’ve been told.” Not that a lot of people hadn’t tried in the past. It was a really cool story and brought in a lot of revenue for the mine, so she and Peggy had always really poured it on thick for the tourists when they worked there. That’s what her dad had wanted her to do after he acquired the mine from old man Jenson. She still wasn’t sure how that came to be.
He sat forward, braced his arms on his thighs again, his eyes alight. “What else can you tell me about the mine?”
She cleared her throat. “Well, as I told you earlier there are a few different stories or what some call legends, swirling around the mine.”
“Such as?”
“Strange things happen there along with the sightings of poltergeists.”
“What?”
“You know, ghosts, that sort of thing.”
“Is one of them Rebecca?”
“Uh, I think.”
“I didn’t tell you before but when we pulled up the building I saw one of the rocking chairs move.”
“I saw them too.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, the wind was blowing them.”
“No. Not those. The one I noticed was rocking out of sequence with the others, like someone was sitting in it.”
Molly shivered and rubbed her arms. “Are you messing with me?”
“No.” He did a sign of the cross over his heart. “I promise.”
“Now you are freaking me out.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I’ll protect you.”
“Have you had much practice with ghosts, then?”
“Well, I did tell you about the dungeon at Ravenhurst and a lot of other things happened there, especially when I was younger.”
“Like?”
“Doors would slam, rooms getting cold, those kinds of things.”
Molly remembered how cold the room had gotten when Lucian was looking at Rebecca’s picture. She shook her head. Surely that was just a coincidence…or was it?
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
“Who did you say owns the mine?”
Room service had come and gone. Both stuffed, they were now sitting across from each other on the bed.
“There were several owners. It exchanged hands quite a bit over the years.” Molly wasn’t about to tell him her father owned the mine, at least not now, so instead, she told him about the man who owned it before her father.
He made a grunting noise.
Molly gave him a questioning look.
“It sounds like Ravenhurst,” he explained. “Go ahead.”
Molly adjusted herself on the bed and tucked her legs underneath the quilt. “Well, the most recent owner was Gunter Jenson. He was an old prospector who had snatched up the mine in a game of poker back in the depression or so the story goes. It was called a money pit and was thought to have been mined out. But he wasn’t from here originally and got the idea to mine for feldspar and then made a deal with the Bon Ami Company. He ended up making quite a substantial amount of money. However, as his wealth increased so did his gambling habits and then eventually his debts. Finally, he had to sell it.”
Lucian sat back on the bed and pillowed his head on his arms. Was that why he had such an urge to go back to the mine? Was it because he felt a kindred spirit to one of the owners? He might have actually believed that but he hadn’t even heard the story till just a moment ago.
Molly chewed on her lip. The last thing she expected to do in a bed with Lucian was talk about the mine but surprisingly, she found that she didn’t mind one bit.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Late morning sun slanted through the windows as a cart filled with dishes clamored down the hall outside the door. Molly stretched lazily and rolled over. The other side of the bed was empty. At first, she thought Lucian left but then she heard the shower and smiled.
Lying side by side on the bed like a pair of old friends, she and Lucian had talked until the wee hours of the morning. It was strange but also kind of fun. He didn’t make a move on her like she had hoped but maybe he was too drunk. Dan liked to have sex while he was wasted but it never did much for Molly.
Maybe Lucian was a more considerate lover. At least she hoped that was the case. She didn’t want to entertain the notion that he might not be attracted to her in that way. Besides, she reminded herself, when he kissed her at the mine and also in the hall he had seemed pretty damn turned on, so it couldn’t be that—at least that was what she was hoping for. She sat up and pulled her hair back.
She had a half-assed headache and cotton mouth to boot. She needed a soda stat and a greasy breakfast sandwich. That was her go-to food when she had a hangover. Blowing on her hand, she checked her breath and groaned. Gross.
Her breath smelled worse than the shipment of over ripe cantaloupes the restaurant had gotten from market—they were funky, with a capitol ‘F’.
The shower turned off.
As the door creaked open, Molly quickly laid back down. Feigning sleep, she closed her eyes.
Hearing the soft padding of feet across the carpet, she cracked open one eye.
Wearing only a towel slung low over his cut hips, Lucian casually walked across the room towards the bed. His chest was completely bare and his hair was wet and tousled around his head as he used one of the fluffy hotel towels to dry his hair.
Squeezing her eyes tightly closed, she pretended to be asleep.
“What am I going to do with you,” he murmured.
Molly had to stop herself from automatically answering, “Anything you want!”
The bed gave as he lowered himself down beside her. “Wake up, Sleepy head.” He pushed her hair away from her face.
Blinking, she opened her eyes. “Good morning,” she said groggily, acting like she had just woken up.
“Good morning.” He smiled down at her.
Another zing of pleasure shot through her.
“You hungry?”
When wasn’t Molly hungry? “Um, sure.”
“Great. I ordered us some breakfast. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course.” It didn’t occur to Molly why he was telling her that.
♣
/> After Molly had taken a shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth, put on some minimal makeup and got dressed, she walked back out into the room. A large cart with two silver domed lids sat between two of chairs on the pristine white cloth as well as a pitcher of coffee, cups, juice and fresh fruit, along with a plate of croissants. “Wow,” she said, taking in the all the food.
“I ordered the works,” he said, smiling. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Sure.”
His brows creased.
“Something wrong?”
“I charged it to your room. Is that all right?”
Molly blinked and then recovered. “Of course.”
“Good. I was worried.”
“Don’t be. We got to eat, right?”
“Yeah, and I’m starving.”
“Me too.” Molly sat down and poured a cup of coffee for them both. Lucian hadn’t gotten dressed yet and his bare chest flexed each time he moved something on the table. Damn, he was hot.
Lucian took a bite of croissant. “What do you want to do?”
“Hmm,” Molly answered distractedly, watching his muscles in fascination as she sipped her coffee.
“Earth to Molly.” He snapped his fingers.
She reluctantly dragged her eyes back to his handsome face. Big mistake. “Yeah.” She swallowed hard.
“What do you want to do?” he repeated.
Molly gave him a confused look. There was a lot of things she wanted to do and they all involved taking off that towel he was wearing and…
He frowned. “You still want to go sightseeing, right?”
“Of course.” Her face flamed five shades of red.
“I have to say…” He leaned back against the chair. “I am really looking forward to this.”
“Me too,” Molly agreed wholeheartedly and then she remembered she hadn’t told anyone at work she wouldn’t be in. Dang it. “Will you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure.” His brows creased again.
She lifted her cell phone off the table and shook it in the air. “Work stuff.”
“Oh.”
She got up from the table, walked over to the bed and dialed the number for work. Lucian was still giving her a strange look. Not trying to be rude but also not wanting him to hear the conversation, she got up and walked over to the bathroom. “Bad reception,” she lied, and stepped inside, closing the door until it was almost shut.
His Wicked Ways Page 11