Dane - A MacKenzie Novel (5 page)

“You don’t want to threaten me, darlin’,” he
said, leaning down, giving her plenty of time to back away from his
grasp.

He breathed in the scent of her arousal as
his lips teased the sensitive skin along her jaw. She whimpered
softly as his tongue teased her flesh. His hands rubbed in slow
circles across her back.

“Why not?” she said on a sigh.

“Because I’d hate to have to arrest you.” He
whispered the words against her lips and drank in the shudder that
wracked her body. “Mmm, you like the idea of handcuffs?”

“Pervert.”

“You have no idea what I want to do to you.
You’d like being tied to my bed, completely at my mercy.”

He took her mouth quickly, before she had a
chance to start thinking, and he realized as soon as his lips
touched hers that he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.
Her mouth was every fantasy, every dream he’d ever had. Soft and
silky and demanding. His tongue tangled with hers, drinking in her
sighs as his fingers squeezed her ass, pulling her up and forward
until he could feel the heat of her pussy through the layers of
clothes they wore.

When he felt her pushing at his chest he
dropped his hands and took a step back. And then one more. He was
thinking of renting another truck and hauling all of his boxes to
the other side of town.

Shit,
he thought. When was the last
time a woman had gotten under his skin so completely? Not even
Carmen had made him lose control like this, and just having the
thought was like being doused in cold water. Guilt ate at him, as
if he were being unfaithful to her memory. Panic clawed at him as
her face blurred in his mind, only to be replaced by the woman
standing in front of him.

“We can’t do that again,” Bayleigh said, her
voice shaking with desire.

He’d just been about to say the same thing,
but hearing it out of her mouth left a bitter taste in his mouth.
His eyes narrowed and he skimmed a finger over her swollen lips,
smiling in triumph as her breath hitched and the pulse in her neck
fluttered. He’d never been able to turn down a direct
challenge.

“Do you want to bet money on it?”

“I don’t bet.” Her fists went to her hips,
and he swore she was a second away from stomping her foot. “And
don’t ever lie to me. If you don’t want to tell me what you do for
a living, just say so. I can’t stand liars. I dealt with enough of
that from my ex-fiancé.”

“He was obviously an idiot,” he said, moving
toward her again, unable to help himself. “If I was the kind of man
who believed in settling down for the long haul and I had you in my
bed, you’d better believe I’d never let you go.”

His fingers skimmed along the delicate line
of her collarbone, and he noticed the silvery flecks in her blue
eyes as he watched them darken with arousal at his touch.

“I’m sure Paul initially thought that too,”
she said bitterly, pushing his hand away and taking a step back.
“And then he got me into bed and found I didn’t live up to his
expectation. Apparently, men find it annoying when you don’t put
any effort into achieving your own orgasm. And if I didn’t satisfy
him in the bedroom, you can guarantee that I didn’t satisfy him in
any other aspects either.”

Cade’s brows rose in shock at what she was
telling him. There was no way in hell this woman wouldn’t be
responsive to his touch in bed. She’d practically combusted in his
arms five minutes ago.

“Baby, if you’re not getting off it sure as
hell isn’t your fault. Blame it squarely on the shoulders of the
asshole that didn’t bother to take the time to find your hot
buttons. Because believe me, when I get you into bed I’m going to
explore every inch of your body until you’re shooting off like a
rocket.”

She rolled her eyes and hit the button on her
key fob to unlock the door of her Land Rover.

“I’m sure you’re brilliant in bed, MacKenzie.
But why don’t you practice your smooth moves on someone who gives a
damn? I don’t have the time or the patience for you.”

He laughed out loud, and the sound took him
by surprise. When was the last time he’d had anything to laugh
about?

“I’m looking forward to kissing you again,
Bayleigh Scott,” he said, heading back to his motorcycle. “Though I
have a feeling we’ll both be naked and heating up the sheets when
the next time comes. And I’ll make sure to bring the
handcuffs.”

He left her standing there with her mouth
hanging open, her lips swollen and the slightest red flush against
her neck where his beard had rubbed. Cade revved the Harley to life
and sped out of the neighborhood, feeling more content than he had
in a long time.

Hell, he might actually enjoy Texas after
all.

Chapter Three

“Stupid, insufferable—man,” Bayleigh muttered
as she maneuvered her Land Rover through traffic with the expertise
of an Indy driver and a vocabulary that would make her Colonel
father blush.

“Thinks he can just come over and kiss me
like he owns me and then lie to my face. Cop, my ass.”

The thought of that man upholding the law was
almost laughable. None of the cops she’d ever met looked like Cade
MacKenzie. No, there was something about Cade that reminded her a
little of her brothers. He had layers, he was dangerous, and he had
secrets. Not to mention he kissed like a god. Unfortunately, those
all seemed to be traits she found attractive in a man.

No wonder she’d been a block of ice with her
ex-fiancé and the two serious relationships she’d had before that.
Their kisses had certainly never made every nerve ending in her
body snap to attention, and they sure as hell hadn’t made her
almost come just by pressing against her intimately.

The fact that she wanted Cade MacKenzie to
kiss her again was a moot point, and his threat of getting her
naked and sweaty wasn’t doing much to help her overactive
imagination. Her brothers would have a fit if she brought home
someone like Cade MacKenzie. They’d try to kill him, and she said
try because she wasn’t sure how well they’d hold up against Cade.
The man’s muscles had muscles.

Her cell phone chimed from her bag as she
parked in the space behind her shop, and she dug around, grimacing
as she saw who was calling her. Speak of the Devil. It’s like her
brothers had a sixth sense when she was about to get in
trouble.

“I don’t have time for you today, Brady. I’m
about to open the shop.”

“You don’t have time for your favorite
brother?” he asked. “I’m devastated.”

“You’re not my favorite. Brant is since he
fixed the plumbing in my guest bathroom. Are you in country?”

“Beaten out because of a broken toilet. Story
of my life. And yes, but I’m shipping out this afternoon. Just
wanted to call and let you know. How are things in your neck of the
woods?”

She sighed and tried not to worry about her
brother. He was gone for weeks at a time, and they never heard
anything from him until he was safe and sound back home. Or back
home and waiting for his wounds to heal before he could go back out
with his team. Having a Navy SEAL for a brother was nerve
wracking.

“Things are—interesting,” she said, thinking
of Cade. She wasn’t about to explain her new neighbor had left her
in a state of arousal that was bordering on pain. “Pretty much the
same as they’ve always been.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “What’s
going on, Bayleigh? And don’t even think about lying to me. You
know I can find out if I start digging.”

“Why would you think something’s going on?”
she asked, her irritation obvious.

“Because you can’t lie worth shit, and when
you’re thinking of doing something you shouldn’t, you change the
inflection of your voice slightly.”

“I do not!” No wonder she’d never gotten away
with anything as far as her family was concerned.

“Bayleigh,” he growled. “Are you seeing
someone new? You only get secretive when you don’t want us to run
background checks on the men you’re dating.”

“I can’t imagine why. You and Brant scared
the hell out of Jeremy Franklin. He ended up moving to Maine.”

Of course, she’d been a sophomore in college
then and Jeremy had been a good eight years older, so he should
have known better. Jeremy had thought she should put out after
their sixth date, and he might have gotten a little rough when
she’d disagreed, but she’d taken care of the problem with her knee
to his groin and a solid right hook to his pearly whites. She knew
how to protect herself. And there’d been no reason for her brothers
to have him detained at the airport on his way back from a business
trip and taken into a military interrogation room. Jeremy had
barely been able to form a coherent sentence when he’d tracked her
down to apologize.

“The bastard’s lucky he didn’t end up moving
to the cemetery. And after all the losers you’ve managed to find,
can you really blame us for having them checked out? You have lousy
taste in men. Give me the guy’s name.”

“I’m not dating anyone right now.”

“You’re thinking about it then. Spill it,
Bayleigh.”

“You’re not a damned mind reader or my
conscience, Brady Scott. If I want to think about dating someone
then it’s none of your business.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’m going to call Dad.
And I’ll call Brant too. You know they won’t leave you alone.”

Bayleigh gritted her teeth and scowled into
the phone, damning all the meddlesome men in her family to hell. If
she didn’t love them so much, she’d disown every one of them. But
she knew Brady would do exactly as he’d threatened, and then she’d
really be in trouble.

“You’re a pain in the ass,” she said,
sighing.

“But you love me anyway. What’s his
name?”

“He’s my new neighbor, and I haven’t decided
if I like him or not so there’s no need to worry. He’s kind of a
pain in the ass, too. Maybe I should introduce you.”

“His name, Bayleigh,” he said with infinite
patience. “I’ll have time to run the background check before I ship
out.”

“Fine. Do your stupid background check. His
name is Cade MacKenzie.”

The silence on the other end of the line was
so complete she thought they’d lost their connection. “Brady? Are
you there?”

“Son of a bitch,” Brady growled. “Tall guy,
long black hair, a couple of tattoos?”

“Yeah, you can’t possible know him. The world
isn’t that small.”

“Oh, I know him. His brother is one of my
best friends. But Jesus, Bayleigh, you sure know how to stick your
neck into the middle of things. Cade MacKenzie is no one to mess
with. My advice is to stay as far from him as possible. You don’t
want to get dragged into agency business. Not to mention the rumors
I’ve heard about that man’s sex life. You’ve got no experience with
men like MacKenzie. And no, I won’t tell you the details,” he said
before she could open her mouth to ask.

“He’s already got one dead lover on his
conscience. I’d hate for him to add you to it.”

“What? What agency business? What dead
lover?” Bayleigh laid her head against the steering wheel as her
imagination ran wild. Who the hell had moved in next door to her?
Rambo?

“He’s former DEA,” Brady said. “But whatever
he’s doing now, don’t doubt for a second that he’s not still
involved in the agency somehow. The word on the street is that he
officially resigned, but I don’t think that’s true. He’s working a
job. Make sure he doesn’t drag you in the middle of it.”

“What about the dead lover? Did he kill her?”
she said, wondering if she really did have the worst judgment ever
when it came to men.

“No, of course not,” Brady said with enough
shock in his voice for her to know he was telling the truth. “He’d
never hurt a woman. But the situations he puts himself in make life
dangerous for anyone connected to him. I actually like the guy, but
damned if I want him sniffing after my baby sister. The man is hell
on women.”

“I’ll remind you once again that this is my
life. Maybe I’m the one doing the sniffing. I’m a big girl, Brady.
And if you tattle to Dad and Brant, I’m going to let it slip what
you were doing with Mrs. Haverston your senior year of high
school.”

“Brat,” he said affectionately. “I’ll keep
Cade MacKenzie to myself. For now. But if you get into trouble I
want to know. One of us will be there to help you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she promised.

“Listen, I’ve got to go. My ride’s here.
Watch your six, little sister.”

“Only if you promise to watch yours.”

“I always do.”

She didn’t know how long she sat in the car
after Brady hung up, her hands limp in her lap. So her first
impression of her neighbor was accurate. Cade MacKenzie was a
dangerous man who’d bring her nothing but trouble. Unfortunately,
despite her brother’s warnings, she wanted nothing more than to
kiss him again. It was like telling her chocolate would make her
fat. That didn’t make it any less tempting.

Bayleigh grabbed her bag and unlocked the
back door to her shop, flipping on the lights and putting on a pot
of coffee. A knock sounded at the door, and she unlocked it long
enough to receive the delivery of fresh Danishes and fruit for her
morning clients. She kept an account with the bakery just a few
stores down, just like she kept an account with the florist on the
other side of the square. Women who spent as much money as they did
in her store expected every creature comfort, and she was more than
happy to give it to them.

Between her new neighbor and her brother’s
call, she was running more than a little behind schedule, and she
quickly set out her sketch books and the fabric samples she thought
her first client might like in the conference room. Becca Whitson
knew exactly what she was looking for and had very traditional
tastes.

The bell over the door chimed precisely at
10:30.