So About the Money (47 page)

“Following me.” She opened her door and stepped out.

He got out and rounded the hood. “You make me sound like a stalker.”

She dug in her purse for her keys. “So your turning up everywhere I went this week was mere coincidence?”

He dropped his arm around her shoulders. They moved up the path to her porch. His scent and warmth bypassed her brain and detonated her female parts. She wanted to wrap her arms—and legs—around him.
 

“I hate to pop your bubble, sweet cheeks, but Monday was work. Tuesday—the wake—was work, and so was Wednesday at Stevens’ office. Thursday, the Pasco guys called me.”

“Sweet cheeks?” She noticed he’d left Friday’s argument—and revelations—out of the summary. “Let’s not forget that flag you put on my driver’s license.”
 

She unlocked the door and turned to face him. Silently, she argued with her conscience about inviting him inside.

He pulled her close. “Are you going to be okay staying here on your own?”

“It’s three o’clock in the morning. Where else am I going to go? I refuse to wake up my friends at this hour, and a hotel seems pointless.”

“If you decide to stay here, I’ll ask both the Benton County deputies and the Richland guys to keep an eye on you,” he began.
 

She tensed.
Don’t get mad. Talk to him
. “You know that Frank making those kinds of decisions was part of my problem with him.” She looked up into his eyes and quickly added, “I know you’re not like him. You’re trying to protect me, which I really appreciate. Frank used his badge to try and control me.”
 

“What are you saying?”

“Talk to me—ask me—before you decide to go do whatever you think is best.”

He nodded, processing her statement. “Fair enough. Ball’s in your court. I’ll call them if you want me to. There is a third option, though. You could come home with me.”

Her mouth dropped open.
Should’ve seen that coming
.

He leaned closer and his lips met hers.
 

It was as good as the first time. Some parts sparkled, other parts melted. Fizzy things in her brain suggested asking him into the house would be a nice idea after all. Her fingers played with his neck and hair. Apparently he liked that, because his arms tightened and he upped the voltage on the kissing until she couldn’t breathe or think.
 

Just as she started exploring his chest, he raised his head. His eyes were dark and hooded. His heart banged against her super-sensitive breasts and another body part nudged her belly. “If we keep doing that, we’re going inside. And if we go inside, I’m not leaving until tomorrow.”

She blinked up at him.
Speak
, encouraged her brain.
Kiss
, urged her body. He saw it in her expression. He lowered his head again. His hands caressed her. She arched with pleasure and he groaned.
 

“Damn, woman. You’re gonna kill me.” He stepped back, releasing her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Later today. You know what I mean.”

He was pointing like a bird dog, she noticed with some part of her brain. The rest of her watched with astonishment as he turned and walked to his car. What? Wait.
You can’t
…

“I’ll call you.”

Terrific. That pretty much guaranteed neither of them would sleep tonight.
 

Chapter Forty-six

JC stopped at the end of her walkway, hand on his hips, staring at who knew what.

He turned.

Okay. More like it. Her smile lit a spark that ignored all that common sense stuff.
 

He walked toward her—and right past her. “Wait here.”

“Huh?” Holly stood still for about a second, then followed him through her front door into the foyer.
 

He turned and pointed a finger at her. “Do not move unless I tell you to. This is a unilateral protection police decision.”

Good sense warred with instinctive irritation. If there was someone in the house, she’d be both in danger and in JC’s way if she followed him. Except,
wait a minute
. “This is my house, my home. Nobody has a reason to be hiding in the dark waiting for me.”

JC heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Yeah, and no one had a reason to shoot at you, either. But that happened, remember?”

Like she could forget. She crossed her arms. “They could’ve been shooting at you. Cops have more enemies than accountants.”

He rolled his eyes, turned around, and walked into the black void of her living room.

She heard him moving through the house checking rooms for intruders, looking in closets and behind shower curtains.

Long minutes later, footsteps sounded in the living room. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. All kinds of reality had intruded while he combed through her house, including,
What in the hell was she doing with JC Dimitrak?
 

What if he wanted to start up again where they’d left off? Things between them were happening too fast. She pulled the front door open. “Thanks for clearing the monsters from under the bed.”

With just a few more steps, he stood in front of her. He pushed the door closed. His other hand rose and flattened against it, effectively pinning her between his arms. “Neither one of us is walking away this time.”

His voice was low and deep. Heat from his body flowed over her. Her defenses crumbled faster than she could raise them.
 

I surrender. I’m yours
.

She didn’t need to say the words. They must’ve been written all over her. Desire flared in his eyes. He leaned closer—
oh, but he smelled good
—and his lips touched hers. It wasn’t a wimpy, kissy move. It was a full-out, lust-inspiring, you’re-gonna-remember-this-for-a-while kiss. Her arms wrapped around him and she gave him everything she had in response.
 

He groaned. His arms closed tighter around her.

Nothing had changed—and everything had changed.
 

Six years had passed. She’d had other lovers, but with his arms around her, his mind-blowing kisses, all her old feelings flooded back.
 

His hands slid down her back, cupped her butt, pressed her hips into his. His erection throbbed, hot and hard.
 

Oh God, but she’d missed him
.
Missed
this.

He kissed her neck, her throat. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you at Big Flats,” he murmured against her skin. “Hell, I’ve never stopped wanting you.”
 

“Is that all this is? Wanting?”

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “You know there’s more to it than that.”

His lips claimed hers again.
 

Fire and need, passion and heat.
 

Their jackets hit the floor. He pulled her shirt free, his fingers warm against her belly. They rose, trailing ribbons of fire. His thumbs found her sensitive nipples. “I love your skin. Your breasts.”
 

His mouth moved, suckled her through the lacy bra. Pleasure shot through her. He gave her other breast equal time before working his way back to her throat. He raised his head. His face was the picture of male gratification as he cupped her breasts. “I’ve dreamed about this. In my dreams, we took our time.”
 

“Mmm.”

He leaned in and kissed her again before whispering, “I don’t think I can wait.”

Thank God
.

“Waiting’s overrated.” She slid her hands under his shirt, explored the length of his back. “You have on too many clothes.”

In one fluid move, he jerked the shirt over his head. He had a wonderful body, hard muscle and smooth skin. Then somehow her slacks were on the floor and he stood between her legs—legs she’d wrapped around him—shifting her hips so he was exactly where she wanted him.
 

“Oh, God,” he groaned. “Holly.”

Her back pressed against the door. His warm hands caressed her. It wasn’t enough.
 

“More, more.” It came out as a muffled moan. His tongue was in her mouth again.
 

He made a sound that could’ve been her name, but she wasn’t sure because she’d quit thinking, quit listening, quit breathing. He shifted her weight and fumbled between them. She heard his belt jingle, the rasp of his zipper. Then his hands were on her, sweeping her panties aside.
 

Rational thought dragged her back from the edge of insanity. Incapable of speech, she dug her fingers into his shoulders to get his attention.
Wait
.

He thrust, and her body matched the movement, and then he was inside her, hot, hard, and oh, so male. It felt so damn good she nearly screamed with pleasure. He thrust again. Lights flashed behind her eyes and she could’ve orgasmed on the spot. She wanted him to keep moving so badly it was all she could do to make her mouth form the word. “Condom.”

He froze.
 

She watched comprehension register.
 

“I swear I’m clean.”

“That’s not it.”

“Oh, shit. You aren’t on the pill.”

She didn’t need to answer.
 

They stared at each other.
 

He groaned. “Don’t move. If you move, I swear I’ll come. My body thinks it’s eighteen again.” He shifted backward with agonizing slowness.
 

The slow withdrawal pressed against sensitive spots and her eyes nearly rolled up in her head. “I’m going to lose it in about two seconds,” she whispered.
 

His penis sprang free and stood between them, hot and wet. “Please tell me you have a condom.” Desperation made his voice ragged.

“Don’t you? I thought all guys carried them.”

“I stopped years ago.” He lowered her body so she stood on her feet. “Don’t you have
something
?”
 

Maybe if I’d had sex in the last year
.
She shook her head. “Sorry.”

Really
sorry.

“If I go to the store, will you promise not to move?” He jerked up his jeans, and his phone chirped. With a curse, he snatched the phone off his belt. “Dimitrak.”
 

She was glad that growl wasn’t aimed at her.
 

His face transformed and just like that he turned into Detective Dimitrak.
 

Wordlessly, he closed the phone and studied her. He might still look like the sexist man she’d ever met—dark, hooded eyes, rumpled hair, enormous erection, testosterone to his eyeballs—but she knew both of them were about to end up alone and frustrated.
 

“Lee Alders just surfaced.”

Chapter Forty-seven

Sunday morning
 

Holly opened her front door and peeked outside. On the upside, no one was lurking on her front steps. In the not-so-much category, it was one of those gray mornings with fog blanketing the rivers that reminded her winter was coming. It was shaping up as a day she’d ordinarily laze in bed, except today she couldn’t sleep. In the few short hours since JC had left, she’d climbed in and out of bed a dozen times, checked the locks, and watched the Richland cops cruise past.

Unlike Friday night, she’d been relieved by their presence.
 

She locked her front door and headed for the rental car. With a quick twist, she stuffed the Bluetooth device into her ear and dropped her phone in her pocket. She settled behind the wheel and stared at the unfamiliar controls. Where were the lights and seat adjustments?
 

As soon as she pulled out of the driveway, she tapped the Bluetooth. “Mother.”

At her mother’s groggy, “Hello,” Holly glanced at the clock and winced. It was earlier than she’d realized. “Can you meet me at the office later this morning? We need to talk about Stevens Ventures.”

“Sure.” Her mother sounded more awake. “Anything I need to know right now?”

She rolled the stop sign at Leslie, headed toward Gage. “It’s a mess, but it’ll be better if I show you. Oh, and in case there’s anything on the news, there was another, um, incident last night, but I’m fine.”