She's No Angel

by Kira Sinclair

  “Little Bits,” she answered, glancing up at him through lowered lashes.

  “Is she new?”

  Lexi shook her head and went back to rubbing the soft, fluffy fur. She was a mottled mixture of black, tan and white with a stripe perfectly bisecting her face. “She doesn’t usually come out when strangers are around.”

  The cat stopped between Lexi’s open feet, sheltered beneath her crouched body and speared him with shrewd green eyes.

  Her owner watched him as well, with that same wary expression she’d worn when they first met.

  He didn’t like it. That expression made his stomach churn. To counter the sensation, he crouched down, hands pressed against bent knees.

  “Skittish. Like her owner.” Brett held his palm out flat. He wasn’t sure whether he was reaching out to Lexi or Little Bits.

  Lexi stayed where she was, but despite carrying a few extra pounds, the cat daintily picked her way across the space between them and pushed her head against his outstretched hand. Brett let her take the lead. After a few moments she was weaving between his legs.

  He’d never had a pet. When he was growing up, it would have just been one more mouth to feed, and they had enough trouble with the humans in the house. In college he hadn’t had the time. Now, he hadn’t thought he was the kind of person who needed another soul around to be content.

  But he had to admit it was kind of nice. A soft sense of peace settled over him.

  Unfortunately, it was easily shattered.

  Standing, Lexi startled Little Bits, who bolted for the back of the house and whatever hidey-hole she preferred.

  Lexi crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at him. Her expression was passive, but her eyes roiled with turmoil. Brett waited, his empty hands dangling between open knees as he enjoyed the view of her small, curvy body from his perfect vantage point.

  “I think you should go.”

  Pushing to his feet, he didn’t like the way she took a single step away from him. She’d become as edgy as the cat.

  “Why?”

  She swallowed and shook her head. That wasn’t going to work for him. If she wanted to give him the brush-off he wasn’t going to make it easy for her. She was going to have to tell him why. What had he done?

  He took another step closer. She moved back again. Brett continued to push until her shoulders collided with the wall. He towered above her and for the first time since he’d met her he realized just how small she really was.

  It was easy to forget. Like a porcupine with quills constantly at the ready, Lexi seemed to always be on the offensive. She appeared so strong and secure on the outside.

  He was just now starting to realize how much of a facade it really was. Patched together, the cracks were beginning to show. But rather than making her less appealing, they made her more. He wanted to be the one to shore up her vulnerabilities.

  The idea of her hurting bothered him. A lot.

  “What’s going on, Lexi?”

  Even now, she tried to brazen it out, straightening her shoulders and pulling every spare centimeter out of her full height. “Nothing’s going on, Brett. It’s been a long few days. I’m tired. I’d like to be alone.”

  Brett watched her lips as she spoke. Her soft, wide and beautifully imperfect mouth. He wanted to kiss her. To taste her. To overwhelm her so she’d forget whatever was going on. But he didn’t think that was a smart idea. At least not yet.

  Studiously, he pulled his gaze away so that he could look into her eyes. And there he found the truth. The tiny spark of hurt that she couldn’t completely hide.

  Her ponytail had fallen across her shoulder, trailing down to the edge of her collarbone and lying against the soft cotton of her shirt. He reached for the riotous curls and tried not to care when she flinched away from his touch.

  “What was Mrs. Copeland talking about?”

  Lexi dipped her head sideways, tugging her hair away from his fingers. “Nothing.”

  Bending down, Brett pressed his nose against the curve of her neck. He breathed deeply, pulling that cinnamon and sugar scent deep into his body. The pulse at the base of her throat leapt.

  “Liar.”

  For several seconds Brett lost the train of his intent. Caught in the spell that her body was weaving around him, all he wanted was to close the space between them and feel—her, him, everything.

  Somewhere in the back of his brain he found the strength to pull away from her. This was important.

  His hands bracketed her throat. His fingers wove into the hair at her nape and his thumbs brushed down the smooth curve of her skin. Angling her head, he gently forced her to look him in the eye.

  And just like the skittish cat, he held her for several seconds and waited. He watched the play of emotion through her eyes. The rest of her face remained perfectly passive. He hated that she’d perfected that blank canvas. He wanted to hurt everything and everyone who’d had a part in teaching her the need for self-preservation.

  But that was another conversation for another time.

  Instead, he focused on the internal struggle she couldn’t quite keep hidden. Animosity, fear, alienation, envy, hope and eventually resignation all filled her.

  With a twist of her lips, she said, “You aren’t going to leave until I tell you, are you?”

  Slowly, he shook his head.

  Blowing out an unhappy breath, she said, “Fine. A few months ago I started dating a guy who used me to get to my brother. He was a reporter and wanted a story. I stupidly gave it to him.”

  Brett let her words settle. He ran them through and matched them against everything he’d learned about her. And wondered how Bowen had missed that little tidbit. Surely he would have included any news articles that involved her name.

  The disgust she felt—for both the reporter and herself—was evident. The way she’d spit out the story was telling enough. But there was more beneath.

  “You trusted him.”

  “Of course I trusted him.” She jerked against his hold, trying to break eye contact, but he wouldn’t let her go.

  “You don’t trust easily.”

  It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. He’d already figured that out about her. From the first moment they met she’d been hesitant. Maybe now she’d tell him why.

  “Not anymore. If the only reason people cared about you was because of who your father was? Or your brother? Or the only friends you had growing up were the daughters of your mother’s friends because they weren’t given a choice?”

  Probably not. If everyone around him had had ulterior motives for being pleasant it would be natural to question everyone and everything. And so much easier just not to bother.

  The picture she painted of her childhood made him sad. There was a vulnerability lurking beneath the “stay away” signal she couldn’t quite keep turned on.

  He’d had things rough, but at the end of the day his mother and brother loved and supported him. They’d tackled any challenges together and he would always be grateful for that.

  But he’d met her parents and they were perfectly nice people. He couldn’t imagine them sitting idly by while Lexi hurt. Or her brother, for that matter. Even now as an adult, he was overprotective. But maybe that tendency had started after his time at war.

  Either way, Brett wished he’d been there to protect her the same way he’d protected Hunter from all the bullies and gangs who’d wanted to sink their claws into him.

  But he didn’t think giving Lexi his sympathy would get him anywhere. Especially right now. She was proud and stronger than she gave herself credit for. Sympathy was the last thing she’d want. Even if she had it.

  “You don’t trust me.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  That was so wrong. For the first time Brett r
ealized that he’d shown her pieces of his life he hadn’t shared with anyone. He’d told her about his brother and mother. Hell, his last girlfriend had thought he was an orphan. And he’d liked it that way so he hadn’t disabused her of the assumption. He’d had no intention of introducing her to his family. Or vice versa.

  His mom would love Lexi. So would Hunter. He could see the two of them teasing each other, his sharp-tongued brother and sweet Lexi.

  Before he could stop the confession, Brett found himself admitting, “You know me better than you think.”

  She scoffed at his words.

  Brett tightened his hold on her nape, bent his knees and brought Lexi close. He stared into her eyes, hoping she could see the truth. “I don’t care who your dad is. Or your brother or your mother. I don’t care what the rest of the town thinks, and you shouldn’t either.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’ll leave in a few weeks and I’ll still have to deal with them.”

  Her words sent a ribbon of unease slithering through him. He pushed the reaction aside, not wanting to examine it too closely.

  “Me being here, right now, with you, has nothing to do with the resort, Lexi. I promise you that.”

  Her mouth tightened and her eyes brightened. “Are you asking me to trust you?”

  “I’m telling you that you can.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “This,” he breathed, closing the space between them and claiming her mouth.

  12

  THE KISS STARTED off soft, persuasive. But it quickly turned hot and sticky, like the best hot fudge. The passion that flared between them was hard for Lexi to deny. She’d never been this overwhelmed by anyone, certainly not Brandon.

  Brett was nothing like Brandon, the man she’d been attracted to months ago. Looking back, it had been easy to spot the slick lies and half-truths he’d told. His ill-disguised wheedling practically had blinking warning lights.

  Which is what scared her the most. At the time, Lexi had been completely oblivious. What if she was blinded again? Blinded by need, a sexy man and feelings she wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge?

  He broke away from her. They both panted and Lexi’s mind whirled. What to do?

  Send him away or trust? Her brain clamored for her to protect herself. She knew the pain of betrayal intimately and wanted to avoid it at all costs.

  She might not completely trust him, but it was herself that she really doubted. Her own instincts were shit.

  But she couldn’t stay away from him. She didn’t want to. These past few days with Brett had been amazing. He made her feel beautiful and perfect, something no one had ever managed to do.

  Would it be wrong for her to embrace that sensation while she had it? Maybe later she’d regret the decision, but today she couldn’t push him away.

  Picking up her hand, Brett pressed it tight against his chest. Through the thin layer of his button-down shirt she could feel his racing heart. And even as he held her palm against the warmth of his body she found the erratic rhythm of her own heart matching his naturally.

  “Do you feel what you do to me? Lexi, I couldn’t fake that. Don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful and I’m a conscious male. The rest of me would—and does—react whenever you’re near. But this, this I’ve never felt before.”

  God, he was saying all the right things.

  But that didn’t mean they were true. Was she a chump because she wanted them to be? Or was she an idiot for hesitating?

  It suddenly hit her. Either way, she could be losing. She’d spent so much of her life hesitating, afraid to make a mistake. Afraid to finally prove to everyone in her life just how unworthy and unlovable she really was.

  But all that had gotten her was a life of expecting the worst. She was tired of the tension. Tired of waiting for the world to collapse and something bad to happen. Inevitably, it would. But in the meantime that expectation meant she couldn’t enjoy the here and now.

  And she wanted to enjoy every moment she had with Brett. Already she knew there weren’t going to be enough of them.

  The idea of him leaving created a huge aching hole in the center of her chest. For the first time in her life she decided to take a page from Scarlett O’Hara’s book and deal with that tomorrow.

  It was time for her to take a chance.

  Lexi took him by the hand and headed for the stairs. Without a word he followed.

  Anticipation curled languidly through her belly. She could feel his cool blue eyes skating down her back to settle on her ass and she silently gave thanks to all the lunges she’d ever done to tighten her tushy. Effort well spent.

  Unlike last night, when they reached her bedroom there was no overwhelming rush of heat. Brett stood silently at the foot of her bed watching her. But unlike before, when his motionless study had made her feel awkward and out of her element, today for some reason it made her feel wanted.

  Maybe it was the intensity in his gaze, the way he looked at her, as if she was an oasis in the desert for a dying man.

  At that moment, if he’d told her she was beautiful, Lexi might have actually believed him.

  Late afternoon sunshine filtered through the windows. It bathed him in bright warmth. The first time they’d been together she hadn’t seen all of him. The second time it had been too dark. Last night all she’d had space for was the rush of discovery.

  Today she wanted to savor. To learn all the complexities of Brett—taste, touch, sound. So she could remember.

  Slowly, she pulled his shirt up. Not bothering to unbutton it, she tugged it off over his head and dropped it to the floor. Lexi let her hands trail across his chest.

  She enjoyed the sharp intake of breath when her nail grazed the flat disc of his nipple. The rough texture of hair as it scraped her palms. The smooth expanse of ribs and the valleys of his abs.

  Her fingers swirled around the indentation of his belly button, discovering for the first time that he was ticklish there when he wheezed out and his muscles contracted from her touch. She followed the curving dip at his hip, trailing beneath the waistband of his jeans.

  His hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from going farther. Through the shield of her lashes she frowned up at him. Bringing her palm up to his mouth, he nibbled there. She felt the caress at the base of her spine, a quickening knot of need.

  His mouth trailed up her arm to the sensitive inside of her elbow. Never in her life had she thought of that spot on her body as erotic. But with Brett’s lips there...

  Not waiting for him to take her shirt off, Lexi pulled it over her head and threw it. One-handed, she flicked the clasp of her bra open and tore it away.

  She wanted the moist heat of his mouth everywhere.

  With deliberate care he covered every inch of her shoulder, across her collarbone and neck. His hands were busy while his mouth was occupied, making quick work of the zipper on her cotton shorts. They dropped from her hips to pool at her feet and she let them stay there. Who had time to care?

  He picked her up and laid her across the bed. Cool sheets touched her skin and Lexi arched against them just for the feel. His blue-hot gaze caressed her, taking in every stretch of her body.

  Never in her life had Lexi felt so decadent. Brett did that to her. He made her feel wanted, important and sensual.

  The combination was intoxicatingly enticing.

  His fingers trailed down the center of her body. Lexi bowed into his touch. The soft pressure of his lips picked up where they’d left off, trailing down her shoulder, arm and elbow to the center of her other palm. The knot pulled tighter.

  He nipped at the pad of every finger, making each one tingle. When he reached her pinky he sucked it deep into his mouth and she gasped. The gentle tug of his mouth made her ache.

  “You’re killing me,
” she whispered, threading her fingers through the silky strands of his hair.

  With hands and lips he worshipped her body, touching every inch of her except the places she wanted most. He ignored the begging peaks of her breasts and the throbbing core of her sex.

  Blood pulsed frantically beneath her skin, and everywhere he touched she needed more. He’d awakened every cell in her body.

  Lexi reached for the fly on his jeans. “I want to feel all of you.” Strong fingers circled her wrist and stilled her fumbling attempt.

  She whimpered, “Brett.”

  But she needn’t have bothered because he was doing the job for her. The soft rasp of the zipper exploded through the room and when the swollen length of his sex sprang free she couldn’t help but lick her lips.

  Sharp eyes watched her tongue. And because she noticed his eyes narrowing at the gesture she did it again. His cock jerked and a clear bead of liquid pearled at the tip. Lexi arched, brushing her hips against him.

  He fished several condoms from his pocket, scattering them across the bed before tossing the rest of his clothes to the floor.

  “You planning on using all of those?” she asked, her voice deep and husky.

  Naked skin to naked skin, his hardened body slid against her. His chest scraped nipples swollen with the need for his touch. Lexi groaned and everything inside her melted into a gooey mass of heat.

  Bringing his lips close to her ear, he whispered, “Every. Single. One.”

  Oh, hell.

  Lexi had never felt so alive or so adored. She was drowning in him, surrounded by Brett and everything he could make her feel.

  It was too much. She wanted him to stop. She wanted the quick and dirty pleasure of the closet, not this emotionally charged moment that would leave her bare and devastated.

  But it was too late.

  How could he pull down every wall she’d ever built with nothing but his relentless caresses?

  The hard length of him pressed against her hip. Without her telling it to, her body writhed beneath the weight of him, trying to bring them closer. As if that was possible.