by Susan Meier
No. Marriage to a bad boy was not on her agenda. Oh, hell. Who was she kidding? Now that she’d messed up her life, left two decent guys at the altar, she’d probably never marry. Never have kids. She’d be an old maid. A crusty, grouchy old maid who’d never had good sex.
So what you’re saying is you’re missing a kiss, a potentially really good kiss, for nothing?
For heaven’s sake. That’s exactly what she was saying. No one would know. They weren’t going to date. They weren’t going to anything. Why was she depriving herself of one simple kiss?
Dropping two cans of beans back into the box, she strode to the cashier’s cage and into the office.
Cade glanced up from the desk.
She marched over, caught his T-shirt collar, and yanked enough that he rose, then she planted her lips on his. Part in curiosity and part out of pure, plain need.
His hands fell to her waist and hers let loose of his collar to drift down, down along the soft cotton of his T-shirt that outlined the wonderful cut muscles of his chest and flat stomach. She groaned at the pleasure of it.
Their lips pressed again, harder this time, and his hands slid up her back to grasp her shoulders. In the blink of an eye, he took control of the kiss, his mouth opening over hers, his tongue swiping across the seam of her lips.
She opened for him eagerly. Nothing she’d done with Tom Lashinsky or Ronnie Nelson had prepared her for the rush of arousal that flooded her when his rough tongue scraped across hers. Her sex sprang to life, sending liquid heat careening through her bloodstream.
Wet, open-mouth kisses assaulted her, but she answered back, every bit as hungry as he was. If this was attraction the way attraction was supposed to be, she wanted it. She wanted every tingle, every wash of need.
So she stepped closer, bringing their bodies together from chest to thighs, meeting an erection so hard she whimpered and her hand slid down to his butt, pulling him closer.
“That’s entering dangerous territory,” he whispered against her lips before he rubbed his mouth against hers again, roughly, perilously. “Do you seriously want to go there? Here in the office?”
She thought he was asking her if she wanted to go all the way, but with her now-recognized limited knowledge, she wasn’t sure. And she didn’t want to embarrass herself by screaming, “Yes,” only to have him say she’d misunderstood.
So she stepped back, ending the kiss, but wished she hadn’t. Their gazes met, then his dropped to her chest, which rose and fell like a cellar door in a storm.
“Care to tell me what that was all about?”
She sucked in a breath. “That curiosity you were talking about a minute ago? It got the better of me.”
He laughed. “Well, that’s the best damned way to satisfy curiosity I’ve ever had.”
It was the best damned way to satisfy curiosity she’d ever had too. The best kiss she’d ever had. But now that she knew how good kissing him could be, she’d put herself in an awkward position. Now that they’d kissed…what next? One kiss hardly satisfied the need careening through her. And from the glimmer in his eyes, it hadn’t satisfied his, either.
Good grief, she hadn’t thought this through.
She took another step back, away from him and his soul-liquefying kisses. And common sense returned. As curious as she’d been, kissing him really hadn’t been a good idea.
“We’re not going to kiss every day at work, you know.”
He took a step to catch up to her. “I’m not sure I follow.”
She took a step back. If she didn’t handle this right, she could wreck the peace at the store. They were working well together, had customers. No one whispered about her being the runaway bride. She didn’t want to ruin this.
“I got carried away. Emotion of the moment.” And questionable advice from her inner bad girl.
He ran his fingers along the rim of her T-shirt collar. “I like you carried away.”
She shifted back again. “Yeah, well, I like myself sane.”
He caught her arm and hauled her to him again. “Nothing wrong with a little insanity.”
“Yeah. There is. There’s a lot wrong with it. Do you have any idea how awful it is to have an entire town think you’re nuts or mean or so narcissistic you don’t mind hurting guys just so you can buy wedding dresses? I’m working to prove myself. I finally feel that I have an opportunity to show the town I’m not crazy, and being attracted to you isn’t going to help that.”
“Oh, honey, we’re way past attracted and pretty close to becoming bedmates.” He nuzzled her neck.
Liquid heat flooded her. Her muscles softened. Her sex wept.
This time when she shifted away, she took as many steps back as she could. “No. We’re not.”
“Fighting Mother Nature never works.”
Her mouth fell open. “You’d be okay with this?”
“I intend to enjoy it.”
“Well, I for one don’t sleep with people I work with.”
“Oh, you can do it. All you have to do is draw a line.”
She frowned. “Excuse me.”
“You have to draw a line. I wouldn’t be sleeping with you for anything other than lust. And I’d be happy to let you sleep with me for lust.”
Her mouth opened, then snapped closed as what he’d said sunk in. Not just the part about the lust, but the part about how they’d handle it. “I couldn’t betray my mom that way. To her you’re still a Hyatt.”
He laughed. “Wow. What a stickler for honesty.”
“You know, it’s just that attitude that probably allowed your grandfather to cheat my dad.”
“My grandfather didn’t cheat your dad.”
“Right.”
He shook his head. “If you’re not willing to explore what we have because of the whole Hyatt/O’Riley feud, when the whole damned town seems to have forgotten it, I can wipe that excuse off the table. My grandfather says there’s proof somewhere in this office that he didn’t cheat your dad—” He stopped suddenly and squeezed his eyes shut.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, darlin’, just forget I said anything.”
“No. You started this. Finish it!”
He sucked in a breath. His voice was hesitant as he said, “My grandfather said there is proof he didn’t cheat your dad. And I know it might make your dad look bad, which might end up hurting you. And I don’t want to hurt you.” He sighed. “But, really, Piper. Does that poker game even matter anymore? Your dad lost the store thirty years ago. Before you were born. And I’m not my grandfather. It’s time to let it go.”
“Let it go?” She shook her head. “That’s so easy for you to say. Public opinion is clearing you. While my whole life is falling apart. I was thrilled to inherit this store, not for my dad, but for a chance to show the world I’m normal. Instead, my working with you forced Lonnie to admit she’s been lying to me for more than damned near a decade, and now you tell me that there’s proof your grandfather didn’t cheat my dad? Is my whole life a lie?”
His eyes softened. “Not your whole life.”
She sniffed a laugh. “Just the important parts.”
“How about just the past?”
She drew in a breath. Shook her head. “I need a few days to adjust to all this.”
“I get that. But, Piper, if there’s one thing I learned from dealing with my dad, it’s that no matter how crappy reality is, it’s better to live there than to hide. Believe it or not, getting all this out in the open will eventually make your life better.”
…
Cade didn’t arrive at the store until two o’clock the following afternoon. The automatic door swished open. He walked inside and found Bunny and Jenny filing their nails. When they saw him, they stopped.
The place was as quiet as a tomb.
He paused and glanced around. Were he to guess, he’d say Piper had told her mom Lonnie had admitted he wasn’t Hunter’s dad and she’d called…well, from the looks of things, everybody.
He knew t
he news that he wasn’t Hunter’s father could go one of two ways. Either curiosity would fill the grocery store. Or, confused about what to believe, everybody would stay away, not wanting to support either side.
Looked like option number two had won.
Not seeing Piper anywhere, he headed for the cashier’s cage and the office. He walked in and found her studying the computer screen. She looked up and their gazes caught.
Her straight black hair rippled across her shoulders, falling to the globes of her breasts that pushed against a pretty pink tank top. Her green eyes shone like the apple the Wicked Witch tempted Snow White with. Her plump lips were a siren song. Even dressed simply, normally, she was the hottest woman he’d ever met.
Her gaze moved from his eyes to his chest, to his jeans and boots, and back up again.
He stood perfectly still under her scrutiny. The store might be dying, but their little lust thing had a life of its own.
“You’re late.”
He walked over and plopped onto the chair in front of the desk. “No. With the clerks back, I’m reinstituting our old schedule. The next few days, you work seven to three and I’ll work two to eight. You open. I close. Every couple of days, we’ll rotate. We’re both working at least seven hours a day. More than enough. But not every minute of every day.”
She combed her fingers through her hair, getting it off her face, but all Cade saw were those lovely strands fanned across the white pillowcase in the guestroom of his grandfather’s old house. He licked his lips as she shook her head.
“We haven’t had a customer all morning. We might want to change our mind about bringing back all the clerks. We were doing pretty well with you and me and one clerk.”
He pushed himself up and off the chair. “Don’t be too hasty about the clerks. After a day or two for the news to sink in that I’m not Hunter’s father, customers might be back.”
She picked up a yellow number two pencil and tapped it on the old-fashioned desk blotter before she squeezed her eyes shut, popped them open, and caught his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
That he hadn’t expected.
He quirked one eyebrow. “For?”
“Everything.” She glanced around. “I know I’m not Lonnie’s keeper but I was a part of that whole deal.” She drew in a breath. “And you’re right about the feud. My father lost the store thirty years ago. He’s been dead for twenty. Your grandfather’s gone.” She met his gaze. “It’s over.”
“Yeah. It is.” He paused and carefully said, “And I don’t want you feeling guilty. I don’t want anything.” He really didn’t. In another few weeks, as soon as his dad pulled his head out of his ass and signed the damned financial papers, he’d be in Montana. None of this would matter. “I just want us to run the store.”
She studied the old desk blotter for a few seconds, then her lips lifted into a smile and her eyes met his. “And sleep together.”
He laughed. “Well, yeah. That too.”
“No strings attached.”
“Nothing but lust.”
Her laugh was deep and rich and genuine. She wasn’t just accepting that the past was gone. She was becoming comfortable with him.
“Go shelve beans.”
He grinned. “Okay, darlin’, I’ll shelve beans as long as you promise to keep the whole lust thing in mind.”
With a laugh, she tossed the pencil at him. He ducked, then whipped open the door and left.
…
But when he was gone, Piper frowned at the door. She wished he wouldn’t tease her like that. She’d like nothing more than to find out what sex would be like with somebody she was uncontrollably attracted to. When he teased her, she sometimes couldn’t remember why she was avoiding what he was offering. Their pasts had been resolved, or accepted…or proven to be irrelevant. He was a sexy, sexy guy. And she wanted a taste of what he was offering.
Except she would be a disappointment.
What had he said before their water battle about her knowing all the tricks because she’d been engaged twice?
Oh, would he be disappointed.
That reminder followed her around the store for her final hour. Feeling foolish for even considering his offer, she went in search of him to let him know she was leaving for the day.
She found him in the storage closet, gazing at all the junk on the shelves.
“It’s a mess in here.”
She nodded in agreement. “A disaster.”
“Somebody ought to clean it out.”
She stepped inside, totally understanding what he was saying. The place was a fire hazard. “You’ve got six hours with nothing to do.”
He gaped at her. “Seriously? I seem to recall finishing the cooler cleaning without you.”
Their gazes caught. She remembered the cooler cleaning. The water battle. The realization that they were becoming friends. His mistaken belief that she must have great sexual experience because of her two fiancés.
She cleared her throat, wishing she could be everything he wanted. “Yeah, but I cleaned the deli.”
He reached around her, caught the doorknob, and pulled it closed. Scant light from a low-wattage overhead bulb barely lit the tiny space. He grabbed her upper arms, pulled her to him, and kissed her again.
Surprise overcame her defenses and she kissed him back. Her lips met his lushly. When his mouth opened over hers, she opened too, and their tongues twined and danced. His hands slid down her back. Her hands slid down his back. His flew up again and grazed her arms, cruising along the sides of her breasts.
She moaned. Never had she felt such delicious torture.
But wasn’t that the point? She’d never experienced anything like this. He had. He’d be suave, fun. She’d be a blob of disappointment.
She pulled back. “Stop.”
He bent and nuzzled her neck. “Really? I was just getting started.”
“We’re in a closet.”
His deep, sexy laugh filled the entire space. “I know. Hot, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” God help her, it was incredibly hot.
But wrong.
She tried to nudge him away, but he stayed where he was, kissing her neck, trying to nuzzle away her tank top strap, running his hands down her butt.
Arousal froze her in her spot. This was what she wanted. The heat. The spontaneity.
But they were partners.
And she was a wash as a bedmate. It seemed she knew so little that her grooms should be glad she left them at the altar. Once Cade found out, he’d be disappointed. Their work life would suffer.
She’d be humiliated.
This time she didn’t push him to get away. She stepped back. Out of his arms. Out of his reach.
“We can’t do that.”
“I say we can.”
But she didn’t listen for the rest of his argument. She grabbed the doorknob and walked out. Out of the closet. Out of the store. To her car and her apartment.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
About all that luxurious arousal.
Ack!
…
Hours later, she paced her living room. Angry with herself first. Then analytical. It was true she didn’t know the finer points about sex, but was that her fault? She didn’t know anything about sex because she hadn’t had a chance to really learn anything.
And maybe she was turning down the chance of a lifetime.
At eight-fifteen, enough past Cade’s quitting time to give him a chance to get home, she grabbed her sweater and ran to her apartment door. When she yanked it open, Cade stood there on the stairway landing.
He didn’t say a word, just gathered her and kissed her. He stepped inside without releasing her mouth and closed the door—probably with his foot. She couldn’t see, but she could feel both of his hands on her arms.
“I think we might have had the same idea.”
She laughed against his mouth, then groaned when his hands glided down the curve of her waist to her butt and then back u
p again. “Yeah. We might have. But right now, the only thing you need to tell me is the way to your bedroom.”
Chapter Thirteen
Piper pointed down the hall in her tiny living space, and Cade melted. She was warm, soft, beautiful, and an odd combination of brave and hesitant, but she wasn’t fighting this anymore.
He ran his hands down the curve of her waist to her sexy ass. He didn’t understand her hesitancy, but all his testosterone pooled until he was so hard he knew he couldn’t walk away.
His right hand went to the back of her neck, as his left caught at the bottom of her spine and pressed her to him, while his tongue plundered her mouth. Her flavor was sin, pure, plain and simple. Even as his body tensed and flexed, dark instincts rolled through him. The urge to pounce, to take, to conquer.
Still, she might have pointed out her bedroom, but he knew there was a reason for her hesitation. He’d have to be careful. Smart. Figure out what she wanted and give it to her so she wouldn’t regret this.
He pulled away, scooped her up, and carried her down the short hall to the only open door. As he expected, it was her room, a space as odd and wonderful as her colorful living room. The gold, white, and gray print bedspread on the huge bed with the dark wood headboard matched the pale gold sheer drapes that billowed in a breeze coming in through the open window. A white shag area rug protected the hardwood floor.
Dipping his head, he kissed her again, solidly, soundly, waking more primal needs than a man had a right to feel, before he laid her on the bed.
But she rolled off. “Just a few things.”
Every muscle in his body throbbing, he frowned as she quickly closed the window, lit candles, and pulled down the spread to reveal simple white sheets.
He wasn’t sure why she’d done any of it, but rather than break the mood, her slow, sensual movements lured him in even more. Her hesitancy gone, she was like a goddess with witchy powers that drew him to her so effectively that he walked across the room, took her by the shoulders, yanked her to him, and kissed her again. This time savagely.
He wanted to ask her if she was sure. A gentleman would do that. But he’d been waiting for this day, this minute, since the second he’d laid eyes on her at the drugstore the morning of Finn’s wedding, and he wouldn’t be denied.