Once Upon A Diamond (Prince Uncharming Book 1) (10 page)

Her friends’ howls of laughter filled the quiet street. Emma let loose a wide grin. The cool, summer night pulled like a cloak over her skin as she ran. The pace she set was fast but cautious. She sent thanks to the city for keeping the streets clean and it didn’t take her long to reach the end of the block. Before anyone could possibly pick out her tattoo in a line up, she was heading back down the street.

Artificial light suddenly reflected off the grill of the SUV. Like a sprinter, she zipped to the left. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted a cop car. When Emma turned back to see where she could possibly hide, she ran into a solid form.

“Umph,” a male voice said. He staggered for a moment with his hands on her shoulders, putting his back to the street. “What?”

The cop car set off a whoop-whoop in warning. It wouldn’t be long before those super-bright lights shone on her brown, bare bottom.

Thinking fast on her feet, she said, “I’m your girlfriend. Kiss me.”

“Are you crazy?”

“If I were I wouldn’t exactly know it, now would I?”

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t, but it’s just as crazy that someone sane would run down the street naked.”

Her short laugh was soft. “That’s what I told them.”

“The voices in your head?”

Another warning quieted them, and this time the man looked over his shoulder at the sound. He cursed before turning back. In a swift move he had the jacket he’d worn over her shoulders.

“This is crazy,” he said.

“No. Stupid beyond the telling of it, but what’s a woman to do in the face of tradition and peer pressure?”

He frowned, but he pushed her against the glass, deeper into the shadows, and then glanced back to the cop car. “Be still,” he whispered.

She obeyed since he wasn’t screaming for the cops to come over and lock her up. His entire body covered hers, from leg to head. He zeroed in on her face and the tension rolling off his body was palpable. Even if she’d been completely clothed that look would have stripped back any safeguards, all the layers of respectability between two people. It was simply a talk-now-or-else kind of stare.

His intense focus dropped down to her slightly parted mouth. His lips, thick and tempting, hovered over hers. A beat passed. She waited, suddenly breathless for him to lean forward. She pushed her legs into the cold surface of glass to cool her suddenly hot skin.

Her heart thumped and seemed to slow down at the rush of anticipation dumping adrenaline into her system. From the cop car’s angle it probably looked like they were kissing, which was best for both of them.
To not kiss,
she corrected herself. She didn’t know this man, and though his hands stayed respectfully on her shoulders, the electricity in the air between them could very well melt the glass at her back. As if tasting him already, her tongue flicked out to moisten her bottom lip.

His gaze strayed from her mouth, following the trail of skin exposed by the jacket, right down to the hair nestled between her thighs. He gasped, and then his head whipped up. Eyes damn near the shade of twilight flicked to hers. She sensed the punch of desire jolt through him. She held her breath, and then he had his lips over hers.

After a long hard day, biting down into a piece of chocolate would not have been better. His flavor was saturated with a sweet and bitter tang. She sampled him and her tense limbs melted. She sucked in air through her nose, trying to grab hold onto reality, but the jacket draped over her shoulders wafted up the scent of freshly brewed coffee. Both the taste and smell sent a signal to her brain―
let go.
A stupid thought, but his mouth brushed over hers and she shivered as thoughts fled.

The callused hands splayed on her shoulders, pulled her close, crushing her breasts against him. Her nipples puckered on the rough fabric of his shirt. Heat and tension rolled off his body, enveloping her in the storm of his arousal. His soft lips explored the contours of hers before placing a playful nip at the corner of her mouth. Emma’s stomach jumped at the light but seductive tease.

The world disappeared. It was only his mouth on hers, his chest pressed against hers, and the warmth of him wrapping around her. He took her bottom lip into his mouth in long, light sucks, each time making a soft kissing sound. She yearned for the same plucking of lips but much, much lower. She trembled at the unexpected assault on her senses.

Three quick blasts of a car horn blared. “Excuse me, are you
feeling
a draft?” A familiar voice shouted with the humor barely contained.

Emma’s head snapped back, reality crashing down the instant her skull smacked into the glass. Those thick brows furrowed in confusion before his gaze sharpened. He shook his head, stepping back to give her room. Cold air rushed in and she trembled. She checked the street and the cop car had gone. She looked at him again.

“Why are you naked?” he asked.

If she hadn’t been listening for it, Emma might have missed the huskiness in his voice. “Long story.”

Emma glanced between him and Abigail. Is this what Cinderella felt like having to leave the Prince before midnight? They didn’t feel done, but that was insane because she’d just met him. No. You had to introduce yourself to officially meet someone.

“A story I would very much like to hear,” the man said.

She said a little incredulous, “Are you asking me on a date?”

“I’m asking for an explanation.”

Okay. Given the circumstance, she expected more...interest from this man. She was naked down to her Passion Pink toenail polish, but all he wanted was an explanation? His disinterest in her was a shame—no, a blessing in disguise.

Abigail honked the horn again, and when Emma looked, the back passenger door stood open.

“Sorry but my carriage awaits,” she said, getting a grip on herself.

Emma sprinted to the car, slid in, and the door was barely closed when her friend sped off. It wasn’t until they were a few blocks away that her brain managed to settle down and process the last five minutes. Holy hell. She’d just kissed a stranger while completely naked. Heat flushed to her face.

“Why do I smell coffee?” Sasha asked.

Emma licked her bottom lip out of reflex. It tasted of chocolate and something dark and deeply masculine. She snuggled the leather. “The man’s coat smells like it.”

The city, so familiar to all of them, passed by the window in the darkness. Emma could close her eyes and see it all. The university in the backdrop of almost every street, and the trees planted on the sidewalks gave the semi-big city/small town a welcoming atmosphere.

All of it passed by unnoticed as Emma stretched her arms into the supple leather to fully cover herself. “What happened to the cops?”

“The guy covered you pretty well,” Abigail explained. “Even from our view all we could see were legs. Probably figured their minds were playing tricks on them. You were running pretty fast.”

The threat of being arrested wasn’t the reason her heart beat hard in her chest. A man she’d never met before kissed her senseless. Even in her own mind, it was stupid to ask what kind of man would kiss a naked stranger. A better question was what man had those types of reflexes? What man preferred an explanation rather than a date?

“Are you okay?” Abigail asked.

She shook the memory of him out of her head. The kiss had added to the adrenaline already pumping in from the risqué act, leaving her exhilarated. There was nothing special about his lips. The chiseled chest beneath her hands was nothing to praise either. She’d concede he tasted as delicious and decadent as a store filled with desserts.

“I’m fine, really, but that was close,” Emma finally said.

“This was probably why we never did a naked dare. It’s stupid.” Sasha handed over Emma’s clothes. Her friend looked more put out now than before she’d streaked. That wasn't why they did the dares. Definitely not why she let her friends talk her into insane situations. In every way that mattered Sasha was her sister and she had needed a good laugh.

So Emma said with a smile, “Feeling a draft was pretty classic.”

“That man could have done anything to you,” Sasha continued.

When he had his lips on her like that...yeah, he could have. “It’s over. I’m exhausted.” Emma slid down into the seat and pulled the jacket up to her face, secretly sniffing it again.

“Check the pockets,” Abigail suggested.

She did. There wasn’t anything in them. Not even a lint ball. “Empty.” Disappointment filled her at the thought of never knowing her rescuer.

“At least you have a souvenir,” Abigail said.

Talk about a tall, dark and handsome souvenir. “I do.”

“Did you recognize him?” Abigail stopped in front of Emma’s house.

“No,” she answered and finally her heartbeat leveled back to normal.

She looked out the window. On both sides, the neighbors’ safety lights flickered on. The house had been her childhood home. Many times her parents had greeted her when she arrived in the yard. Those memories had faded at the edges. The long-held grief ached like an old injury. The house was hers now. The small cookie-cutter shape belied its large size. In the night one couldn’t see the light blue paint or the trimmings with white and yellow accents. Didn’t matter, she could see it in her mind’s eye.

Sasha said, “It was so dark I’m sure you couldn’t pick him out of a line up.”

But Emma could. There was no way she’d ever be able to forget those eyes. Shock, surprise, and then want had flickered behind his steely gaze all in less than a minute. One measly minute of her life and Emma kept replaying the heat of his mouth, the feel of his hands and his gaze. She kept sniffing the stupid coat to reassure herself the moment happened. Sasha was right. The man could have been dangerous. He felt dangerous with glass at her back and him at her front.

With her clothes balled in one hand, Emma closed the front of the coat and stepped out the car. “Come by after work. Tomorrow’s Cookie Wednesday.”

“Macadamia?” Sasha perked up again.

“Don’t know yet,” Emma teased.

She would have waved good-bye, but one flash a night was more than enough. Once inside the house she took in what would be the last deep breath of the coat’s scent and put it and him out of her mind. The odds of ever seeing him again were nil, which was for the best. Any man who could kiss like that on the fly was bound to create nothing but havoc.

He wanted an
explanation
. Had asked for one without once letting his gaze leave hers, a gentlemanly act and a respectful gesture. The acts held a restraint that hadn’t been in the kiss. The whole thing left her feeling off-kilter.

She had her friends, her business. A lust, let alone a love affair, didn’t fit into the compact life she enjoyed and created. She had balance and that man promised anything but that one thing. She preferred the slow build to attraction anyway. Half convinced now, she nodded. That quick, hot jolt of attraction always fizzled out. She pressed her nose to the leather.
This
would be the last smell before she hung the jacket in the foyer’s closet. She had a meeting to prepare for. That was worth her worry and the stomach flutters.

Her future business ally planned to move on the same street as her bakery. Something they still needed iron out even though Tina and George had reassured her impulse buys would circumvent any possible cut into Emma's profits. Most people on the run wouldn’t bother to walk across the street for the real deal. If she limited what Caff-aholic offered, it would still leave people with a reason to come to her. Sometimes a cookie wouldn’t feed the craving for a pie, no matter how delicious. All very good points that eased some of her concerns, but not all.

The rest of the details...that she could deal with tomorrow at the meeting. That should have been her only focus. Not a man.

Emma slipped off the coat and placed it into the dark recess of the closet without sniffing the air.

“Good riddance,” she said and slammed the door.

COMING SOON