Lust and Bound (17 page)

“I have nothing else to say to you.”

“Oh that’s fine. Then you can listen.” He coiled her braid around his hand. “I didn’t record us or sell Gordy a copy of us making love.”

Her heart hammered so loud she feared he’d hear the erratic thumping.

“Think about it, Trish. I don’t like to share, so why would I give him something that would obviously hurt you and take you away from me?”

How many times had she asked herself the exact same question? She still didn’t have an answer.

“To answer the one question I know you’ll never ask, the money
he handed me was repayment of a debt. I invested in Gordy’s business years ago. He found it rather amusing to mess with your head.”

Her jaw hit the floor. Gordy’s silent anonymous investor. All those years and she never knew.

“I didn’t...” She lowered her head, only he tugged on her braid and she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

A wry smile twisted his luscious lips. “Maybe because you were upset with me.” He tilted her head back. “Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“Any more threats?”

She shook her head. Thunder rumbled in the distance. “No, but that doesn’t explain how he got into the hotel room.”

“I really wish I knew, but I have a very good friend who has assured me the file has been destroyed and wiped from his computer.” Zach swept a soft kiss across her lips. “Let me take you home and then let’s forget the last two weeks ever happened.”

The soft caress of his lips against hers left her craving more. She stepped closer and his arms slid around her waist, molding her to his arousal. Surrendering to his passion would be so easy. The flare of heat enveloped her and she locked her hands behind his neck, allowing him to sweep her along on the wave of desire. She lost herself in the spicy taste of him, the firmness of his lips and the intimate press of his body. Moisture clung to the insides of her thighs and she yearned for him to satisfy the ache pulsing between her legs.

He left her mouth to explore her jaw and down the column of her throat to the sensitive spot at the curve of her shoulder. She moaned, wiggling her body against his. If he kept kissing her, she’d end up in a puddle at his feet.

Dull pounding reverberated from the shop door. Reluctantly she untangled her arms from Zach. Maybe the interruption was the best thing for her.

“Expecting a client?” He held her a moment longer.

“No. No one else.”

She dragged a steadying breath into her lungs and approached the door. A young man in a gray shirt with a gold name tag affixed to his chest stood on the other side. He was one of the security guards who patrolled the plaza.

“Hi,” she greeted.

He smiled and looked past her. “Good. You’re not alone. I got a little worried when I saw your vehicle. You have two flat tires.”

She frowned. “Well, that’s just great.” Now she would have to wait for Roadside Assistance to send someone out.  “Thanks for the heads up,” she said. The security guard nodded and she closed the door.

Zach cupped her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Seems I have two flat tires.”

He winged a brow. “Two?”

She nodded. “If Gordy wasn’t sitting in a cell, I’d swear he’d done it.” She walked behind the receptionist desk and grabbed the phone. “I just had tires put on my truck last week.”

Every time Zach walked into her life, things got jumbled and skewed. Did he have another relative bent on revenge? She couldn’t take the chance. No matter how many times he sent firecrackers screaming and whistling through her veins. She couldn’t risk opening her heart to him again. She’d have to say “no” and hope the hole in her heart would heal, because she’d never get it back.

When he covered her hand, she looked up.

“Let me have my mechanic come by. He can have you on the road way before a tow truck comes by and I can take you home.”

Trisha studied him a moment. “You don’t have to do this.”

He gently removed the phone from her hand and replaced it on the base. “I know.”

“All right, but I can find my own way home.”

He frowned.

She looked away. “I can’t forget what happened, Zach.”

“Trisha...”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” She didn’t want to hear reasons why they should keep seeing each other or how she made him feel or anything that would topple her wavering resolve, and she definitely couldn’t have him kissing her again.

He opened his mouth, then quickly closed it. “If that’s how you want to end things,” he said quietly.

She nodded.

“I’ll take care of your vehicle and arrange for someone to take you home.”

In a gesture that spoke more than mere words ever could, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. His lips found hers, and his kiss was bittersweet, a mix of the passion they’d once shared and unfulfilled promises. Love she’d never get a chance to explore dissolved with each caress of his mouth. And when she was ready to give in to his demands he was no longer there.

She touched her lips, then her damp cheeks. For one painful stuttered breath, she knew she’d made the wrong decision. What had she done? She rushed to the door and darted into the cold rain. Red brake lights burned through the downpour. He was too far away. This was not how she wanted things to end. She trudged back into her shop. Somehow she had to fix this.

Chapter Twelve

A few evenings later they walked into a bar Trisha swore she’d never see again, but for everything to work she had to be here. Thankfully Shauna hadn’t noticed where they were yet.

“I so needed that massage!” Shauna exclaimed. She dropped her purse on the counter and ordered two shots of Ciroc lemon drop. “So what happened with you and Zach? Did you get a chance to kiss and make up? I bet the make-up sex was outta this world.”

Trisha tucked a curl behind her ear. So much for a girls’ night out and no talk of men. Maybe she could clue her friend in on her plan. On second thought, Shauna would try to talk her out of it. “Not quite.”

Shauna held the slice of lemon in one hand and picked up the sugar-rimmed shot glass with the other. She downed the alcohol and jammed the lemon wedge in her mouth.

“What’s that mean? It’s been what, a coupla weeks or so?” She downed the second shot and let out a squeal.

Trisha shook her head and slid onto the stool. “We—I didn’t want to see him anymore.”

“Are you serious?” Shauna tapped the fading bruise beneath a bangle bracelet. “Because of this?”

Heat fused her cheeks. “No. Yes.” She huffed. “Everything is so messed up.”

“I thought you said he loved you.”

The bartender smiled and set two more drinks in front of them. Trisha returned his easy smile, tossed some money on the counter and picked up her drink, a Long Island Iced Tea, and nudged the glass with the cherry and section of orange wedged on the side towards Shauna.

“He did.” Trisha sipped the tea. “You’re not going to be able to walk out of here if you keep drinking like that.”

“Hmmm. I plan on finding some hot guy and having sweaty, dirty sex with him.”

“And make Nathan mad?”

“Serves him right.”

Trisha rocked back and forth to the beat of the music. Since Zach walked out her shop a week ago she hadn’t heard a peep. No flowers, cards or candy to remind her he was thinking of her. And why should he? She’d told him to leave. Even worse, the mechanic said the tires had been defective from the start. No one was responsible for the flats.

She’d totally overreacted, pushing Zach away, and if she was completely honest, she’d admit she was totally miserable without him.

“You should do the same thing.“

“Do what?” Trisha said, focusing on her friend.

“Hot guy. Sweaty, dirty sex.” Shauna made a big show of looking over the men on the patio, then nudged Trisha. “Like him.”

Trisha followed her friend’s gaze and had to admit the man in question was drool worthy, but he wasn’t Zach. “Listening to you got me in this predicament in the first place.”

“Pu-leaze. I said use handcuffs, not fall in love with the guy.” She turned, glancing around the crowded club. “Besides, hot monkey sex is a cure all for a broken heart.”

“I thought that was shoe shopping and chocolate.”

Shauna smirked. “You have your remedy. I have mine.”

“Well, I have a plan.”

The other woman’s brows shot toward her hairline.

Trisha cringed. She’d have to tell Shauna her plan now. “But it involves Nathan and Jace.”

“You invited my guy and Delia’s here? Tonight?”

She nodded.

“Dicks on toast, Trish! What are you thinking?”

“Reconciliation.”

****

Zach sat with his back to the bar, nursing a bottle of beer. Of all the things he expected from Trisha, it was not a phone call asking him to meet her at a club to watch her dance with someone else.

What the hell was up with that? And now he was sitting here like some pussy-whipped punk. Maybe he was, but the woman held his heart and he wanted it back. He scowled at the lanky blond with his arm wrapped around Trisha’s waist. If the man brushed against Trisha one more time he was going to have to pop him one.

“Fancy meeting you here,” a soft feminine voice sang near his left ear.

“And why aren’t you out there with her?” This was from another female on his right.

He glanced from one female to the other. The one on his right wore her shoulder-length hair straight, the only thing different about her was the slight rounding of her belly beneath her red and ivory top. The woman on his left wore her dark hair short, her long dangly earrings matched the silver threads weaving through her black off the shoulder blouse.

“Just want to see what she likes,” he said. He gripped the bottle in his hand. Now the guy had both his arm around her waist and dancing just a little too close.

A giggle on his right drew his attention. “What’s so funny, Delia?”

“You.” She laughed. “You’re jealous. I never thought I’d live to see you jealous.”

“I am not.”

She nodded. “Jace wears the exact same look when he sees me talking to some guy he doesn’t know. Gets all frowny and his eyes go dark and squinty. It’s so cute.”

Zach flicked a glance at her. “Shouldn’t you be with your husband right now instead of here?”

Delia examined a nail. “And miss this? Not a chance.”

“Do you think he knows?” This was from Shauna.

“Maybe she’s keeping it a surprise.”

“I don’t think he knows.”

Shauna appeared to give it some thought, tapping a forefinger against her cheek. “Naw, we were talking about it before you guys arrived. Right in the middle of a good buzz too.”

Delia tucked a curl behind her ear. “Well, maybe she didn’t tell him.”

Zach huffed. “Ladies, I’m sitting right here.”

“Yes, we know.”

Now the guy was running his fingers through Trisha’s hair and she was laughing. Laughing. Zach set his beer bottle on the counter with snap.

“Something wrong?” Shauna said, amusement coloring her voice.

Delia leaned forward, her hand on Zach’s knee. “Right there. You’re jealous.”

Shauna leaned forward as well, peering into his face.  “Ah, I see it now. Wow. I wouldn’t have thought it possible. So have you talked to her?” She moved in his line of sight.

Zach snapped his attention to Shauna. “You’re in my way.” He stood and wished he hadn’t. Another man was dancing with Trish and she was effectively trapped between two hard bodies, one white, one black.

A soft chuckle drew his attention and he glared at both women, who promptly dissolved in laughter. He clenched his jaw.

“Fine. I’ll ask. Why did she invite me here if she was just going to dance with someone else?”

“She wants you back.” Shauna waved to get the bartender’s attention. “Tequila.”

“Oh crap.”

“What?” Zach jerked his gaze to Delia.

“One of the bouncers is taking her onstage.”

“Shit.”

Obviously this was a big deal, but Zach didn’t see the problem. “The stage has always been for the ladies.”

Both women shook their heads.

“What?”

“She tricked me with a spa day.” Shauna paid for her drink. “I should’ve known something was up, she was just a little too cheerful about girls’ night out. Then she buys lemon drops, just to distract me from the reason she brought me to this club. That little sneak.”

The opening strains of a hypnotic synthesized beat filled the club. A momentary hush settled over the crowd, before dancing and chatter resumed to full volume.

“Trish asked you to meet her here?” Delia sipped her water.

Zach riveted his attention to the stage. Trisha’s back was to him, her long curly hair brushing the waistband of her skirt. She swayed her hips in a slow, sensual circle to the rhythm of the music, then reached out to grasp the pole.