Freaky by Nature (5 page)

“Max knows people. He’ll call som eone.”

“What will I do until I can re-open?”

“Com e by m y office. I’ll put y ou to work.”

Holly paused, unusually tem pted to accept Cam eron’s adv ice.

Throwing caution to the wind, Holly m ade a rash decision. “I’ll be

there in an hour.”

“Good. Oh, Holly ?”

“Yeah?”

“Bring a bag of potato chips.”

***

A niggling sense of disbelief fluttered in the pit of Holly ’s

stom ach as she drov e across town to m eet Cam eron. It was still not

only hard to digest the idea that Cam eron’s business partner,

Rachel Newberry , had m arried rock-n-roll icon, Jay don Hawke,

but that Hawke led a double life, using the rock star persona to

work undercov er. Although Hawke had am azing m usical talent,

his true loy alty belonged to his SEAL brothers. And Holly

discov ered quickly how close the team m em bers really were when

Cam eron recom m ended Holly as Rachel’s trainer. Rachel and

Cam eron m anaged to wiggle past her resistance to friendship and

em brace her with open arm s. Still, ev en they didn’t know the

truth about her.

Holly sm iled contentedly as she parked and entered the high-

rise office building. Nothing better than a little girl tim e to distract

her warped m ind for awhile.

“Don’t get up, Cam eron,” she y elled as she opened the door to

Newberry & Trem aine, “it’s just m e.”

She eased the door closed and m ade her way down the hallway

to Cam eron’s office, baffled by the lack of color in the atm osphere.

Norm ally , Cam eron’s dram atic personality filled the air with loud,

bright orange and y ellow patterns. Holly twisted her lips.

Cam eron probably had no idea her aura controlled her interior

decorating expertise.

She glanced toward Rachel’s drafting table in the corner of a

second office. Again, the color refused to surface. Rachel’s flair for

architecture usually presented itself in soft tones of green and

blue, enhanced by her nature to rem ain calm and controlled. It

am azed Holly that she m anaged to do that m arried to a rock star.

Holly stopped short in the doorway of Cam eron’s office and

stifled a giggle.

“Don’t worry ,” Cam eron said from the depths of her chair, “I

couldn’t get up if I wanted to.”

Holly pursed her lips and concentrated on Cam eron’s swollen

stom ach as she struggled to change positions. Still no color. “Are

y ou stuck?”

“No, just call m e roly -poly .”

Holly handed Cam eron the bag of potato chips as she sat down

in a chair in front of Cam eron’s desk. “It’s probably too m any of

these.”

“Probably ,” Cam eron agreed, “but who really cares?”

Holly shrugged and grabbed a handful of chips. “Where’s

Rachel?”

“With a client.”

“Hawke let her go alone?”

Cam eron snorted. “Hardly . Max is with her.”

Holly lifted an ey ebrow. “And y ou’re here alone.”

“It’s not like I’m going any where, Holly .”

Holly giggled. “True.”

“Besides, Brett’s on standby .”

Holly paused with a potato chip inches from her lips. “Brett?”

Cam eron nodded. “Apparently he drew the short straw.”

Hopefully he wouldn’t m ake an appearance. That’s all she

needed, Brett Steele and his dangerously beautiful body to rem ind

her why she was so stupid to shun him . “I’m sure he doesn’t m ind.”

Cam eron shrugged. “Like I said, I’m only leav ing if som eone

rolls m e.” She bit off a piece of one chip, chewed, and swallowed.

“So, y ou need a job for a couple of day s.”

“Guess so.”

“Great!” Cam eron pushed a pile of papers across the desk.

“Start folding.”

“What are these?”

“Fly ers for Hawke’s annual Professionals for People concert.

You’re going, aren’t y ou?”

Holly kept her ey es glued to the m ulti-colored pages in front of

her. She alm ost felt guilty for what she was about to say . Both

Rachel and Cam eron used their talents to design hom es for the less

fortunate in Diablo, and Hawke’s influence funded the endeav or.

Although she respected the hard work dedicated to the charity ,

Holly didn’t allow herself to participate in the festiv ities. The risk

was too great.

“Probably not. I just planned to m ake m y usual donation.”

As usual, Cam eron refused to be sway ed. “You really need to

get out m ore, Holly . Hawke puts on a pretty good show.”

“May be.”

“Besides,” Cam eron pushed, “Brett needs a date.”

Holly ’s stom ach flip-flopped. “No.”

“That was a pretty quick
no
.”

Holly glanced at Cam eron and gav e her a slight sm ile. “I don’t

need a date. If I go, I’ll keep y ou and Rachel com pany .”

Cam eron raised an ey ebrow and grinned. “Brett’s probably

m uch m ore fun.”

“Stop or I’ll take the chips.”

Cam eron snatched the bag from the desk in her true dram atic

flair. “Whatev er y ou say , Holly . Your sex life can suffer before I

starv e.”

Holly ’s m outh fell open. “My sex life?”

“Well, y eah. I’m pregnant, not blind. And Brett Steele is one

hot specim en.”

“Cam eron!”

“What? All Max’s SEAL pups are definite ey e candy . Ask

Rachel.” Cam eron fanned herself with a fly er. “Is it hot in here?”

“No.” Holly giggled. Cam eron alway s m ade her feel so …

norm al. “What else can I do for y ou?”

“We’v e got four houses to com plete before the concert. Hawke

will cut the ribbons that ev ening before the show. Max won’t let

m e do too m uch m ore than watch. Can y ou sling a paintbrush?”

“Sure.”

“Good! I’v e scheduled y ou and Brett for this ev ening.”

Paper slid across the desk as Holly jerked in shock. “What?!”

“You can’t do it alone and he’s already v olunteered.” Cam eron

sm irked. “It’ll be fun.”

“Like swim m ing with sharks,” Holly m um bled as she re-

stacked the paper.

Cam eron’s blue ey es sparkled. “Just don’t swim naked.”

***

Brett unlocked the door to the newly -built house and stepped

inside, wondering how in the hell he’d been set up so easily . Better

y et, how did Cam eron persuade Holly to agree to paint with him ?

Cam eron was a crafty little witch, ev en if she did m ean well.

He snickered under his breath as he lifted the liv ing room

windows to let som e of the heat out and any accidental breeze in.

Despite Cam eron’s attem pt at m atchm aking, it wouldn’t happen.

Holly m ade it perfectly clear, ov er and ov er, she wasn’t interested

in any thing m ore than friendship. Yet, she refused to leav e his

thoughts. The wom an was drop-dead gorgeous. All ov er. But

som ething else about her sum m oned him . Som ething he just

couldn’t put his finger on. He sighed in frustration and tucked

him self into a corner nook to wait on her.

His heart pounded as her black BMW conv ertible turned the

corner sev eral seconds later and she parked next to the curb. He

swallowed hard when she opened the door, stuck one long, sm ooth,

tanned leg out and braced her foot against the pav em ent to boost

herself from the car. Tossing her bag ov er her shoulder, she

bum ped the door closed with one shapely hip and pranced up the

front walk.

When Holly walked through the front doorway , Brett was

conv inced it would be a long ev ening. Dressed in a pair of white,

short shorts and a red, lacy tank top that flashed
take me
, she

weakened his knees. And when the ev ening sunlight bounced off

the gold hoop that hung from the delicate skin of her belly button,

he knew for sure he was a goner. Who the hell painted dressed like

that? His hands trem bled with the need to touch her, stroke her,

m ake her as crazy as she m ade him . From the shadows of the

corner, he cleared his throat.

“Brett?” She jum ped and placed a hand to the base of her neck.

“I didn’t see y our truck.”

“I walked.”

“In this heat? It’s ov er 1 00 degrees tonight.”

“Heat doesn’t bother m e.” Especially since his current

thoughts dialed his internal therm ostat up well bey ond the

tem perature outside.

She ey ed him skeptically . “You’re sweating now.”

“Hum idity .”

She shrugged, threw her bag in a corner and kicked off her

shoes. “Where’s the paint?”

He tilted his head and gestured toward the supplies Cam eron

left for them .

“I guess the sooner we get started, the sooner we get finished.”

He nodded again, pushed him self off the wall, and stepped

toward her. As she turned her back and bent to pick up the paint

rollers, his m outh dropped open and he felt a fam iliar twitch

between his legs. The soft, tender skin of her ass play ed peek-a-boo

with him from beneath her shorts, appearing as she bent,

disappearing as she stood.

She handed him a roller. “Where do y ou want to start?”

At the corners of your flirty little lips
. Yeah, he’d start there and

end with her plastered against the wall, with him buried deep

inside her. His balls tightened.

He took the roller from her, careful to av oid skin-to-skin

contact. “I’ll start on the opposite wall and we’ll m eet in the

m iddle.”

She treated him to a sm ile before she turned and sm eared

paint on the wall. “I hav en’t seen y ou at the gy m as m uch lately .”

His interest piqued as he coated his roller with paint and

followed suit. She noticed his absence.

“Sterling and I’v e been busy planning security for Hawke’s

concert.”

Lightening should strike him for that lie. Security had been in

place for m onths. He’d av oided her; putting distance between

them seem ed to be the easiest way to deal with her rejection.

“The concert’s a pretty big deal around here,” she said

casually .

He paused, surprised at her attem pt to m ake conv ersation.

“Are y ou going?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not m uch of a people person,” she said softly .

Brett bit his tongue before an inv itation to go with him rolled

off. She’d turn him down any way . Besides, the unusual, easy -

g oi n g
friendly
conv ersation between them was nice. In the

m om entary silence, a new idea nudged him . He didn’t want her to

clam up if he pushed too hard. May be he could get to know her

without her realizing it; if he could just keep her talking,

som ething personal was bound to leak out.

“You’re pretty social at the gy m .”

She gav e a soft sm ile. “That’s different. It’s m y job.”

He took sev eral steps closer to her as he m ov ed the paint roller

ov er the wall. “What do y ou do when y ou’re not at the gy m ?”

Her roller stilled and for a m om ent, he expected her to throw it

down and run out the door. Instead, she took a deep breath and

resum ed painting.

“I read a lot,” she answered.

“Any thing good?”

She twisted her m outh. “You don’t seem like y ou read m uch.”

Som ething about her tone irritated him . “I do hav e a college

degree.”

Her m outh fell open and she gasped. “Oh, Brett, I’m sorry . I

only m eant what I read would bore y ou. I m ajored in psy chology .”

Again, her apology caught him off guard. “Psy chology , huh?”

She nodded and m ov ed toward him to apply m ore paint to the

bare section of wall. “What about y ou? Crim inal justice?”

He chuckled. Lucky guess. “Yeah. Too bad it doesn’t m ake

catching crim inals any easier.”

“There aren’t too m any crim inals in Diablo, are there?”

Her light teasing encouraged him . “Nah.”

“So, what do y ou do in y our spare tim e?”

“Sterling keeps m e pretty busy , but I work out.”

“No wom en?”

The paint roller slipped from his grip and sm acked the cem ent

floor. She m ust be high on the paint fum es.

He bent to pick up the roller. “Contrary to popular belief, I

don’t date m uch, Holly .”

She laughed and a warm rush of heat trav eled his body . “That

surprises m e. I’v e seen y ou in action at the gy m .”

Brett raised an ey ebrow and sm iled a slow, easy sm ile. She

asked for it. “Too m any wom en, too little tim e.”

Holly looked at him , open-m outhed and obv iously shocked by

his response. Taking adv antage of her reaction, he stepped closer

and blotted the end of her nose with his roller.

“And if y ou play y our cards right,” he continued, “I m ight

m ake tim e for y ou.”

Still speechless and wide-ey ed, she m ade no attem pt to speak.

He pried her roller from her grip and handed her a clean rag.

“Com e on.”

She gav e him a blank look as she wiped paint from her nose.

He gestured to the freshly -painted wall. “We’re done. I’ll walk

y ou to y our car.”

Holly glanced at the wall and then back at Brett. “I’ll be fine.

You go ahead.”

He gav e her a pointed glare. “No, not after the break-in.”

She paused a m om ent and tried to ignore his ov erbearing

order. She folded her arm s across her chest. “Really , Brett, I—”

”No.” He lowered the window and turned the lock on top.

Conv inced she couldn’t win this argum ent, Holly slid her feet