Rumor (A Renegades Novella) (15 page)

He leaned down and kissed her, long and slow. “Baby, I will buy you an unending supply of panties if that’s what it takes to get my mouth on your sweet pussy.”

“If I had the strength, I’d rip your shirt off.” She twisted, grabbed the edge of his tee and tugged, barely moving it an inch. “Help me get you naked.”

He ducked his head and let her pull his shirt off over his head. She made a purring sound in her throat that did crazy things to Josh’s gut. Propping herself up on her side, she pushed his shoulder down and rolled on top of him, then scooted down the bed, grabbing his jeans and boxers and pulled them off his legs at the same time.

“Hold on.” He caught his jeans before she tossed them aside, and dug around for his wallet. Then found the condom buried in there.

She took it from him. “That’s the best you can do? One?”

He raised his brows with a smirk and a shrug.

She stroked her hands over his body. Her touch created tingles everywhere. Then one hand closed around his cock, and the tingles turned electric, making Josh bow. “Ah, God…”

“This guy looks like he needs some attention.” She stroked his length, then lowered her head.

Josh caught her by the jaw before she closed her mouth around him. “Sweetheart, I won’t last, and I’d kill to get inside you right now.”

“That’s fierce.” A hot little grin tipped her mouth, and she picked up the condom, sliding her tongue over her lower lip. “I like fierce.” Then she narrowed her eyes at the package. “Why does this look like it’s been living in your wallet for a year?”

Josh stroked his hands up her sides, cupped and squeezed her breast. “Because it has.”

Her head tipped in the most adorable way. “Why?”

“Because one-night stands were easier when you were married, or I was leaving town the next day on an op.”

But she wasn’t off-limits anymore. And his op days were over.

For the first time in a year, that thought didn’t drag him down. He’d found that one woman he could promise tomorrow. Promise next week. Promise next month. He’d found the woman he could promise the rest of his life. And his yearning for those ops and his team vanished.

She tore the package, pulled out the condom, and carefully rolled it on. Josh fought to hold still, clutching her thigh to keep from rolling her to her back and plunging deep between her legs.

She slid one thigh across his hips and stroked the head of his cock over her slick entrance. “You do realize we’ll have to go out and get more of these tonight, right?”

He reached up, hooked his hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her down. She braced herself with a hand on his chest, and he kissed her deeply. “I’ll do anything you want, Gracie.”

“I want you to fill me. Now.”

With his hand still around her neck, holding her eyes with his, he gripped her hip and eased her down. His head pushed past her entrance, snug, warm, soft, wet, and they groaned in unison.

When she met his gaze, her eyes hot and heavy-lidded, he pushed deeper. The pleasure washing her features thrilled him. And when he filled her, he rolled until they’d switched positions and spent long moments kissing and touching her beautiful body while buried deep inside her.

She’d been right all those months ago. They were perfect together.

And as the desire built and they began to move together, driving each other toward the sweet promise of ecstasy, Josh knew this was where he wanted to stay forever.

Grace put the last clip in Tiffany’s updo. “There you go. Just pull this one pin, and your hair will fall everywhere.”

“Perfect.” She stood and smoothed down the bodice of her corset. “Thanks, Grace.”

She glanced at the clock above the dressing table. Almost 6:00 p.m. And still no word from Isaac. Maybe he wasn’t going to show. Maybe he’d talked to Josh. Though Josh hadn’t said anything, and his only odd behavior today had been trying to figure out
her
odd behavior.

What a pair.

Grace slipped out a side door and walked around the front of the building to avoid Josh’s watchful eye from the studio. He was too perceptive. He noticed the slightest change in her mood, almost seemed to be able to read her thoughts. She’d always thought it would be great to have a man like that—until she was trying to hide something.

Walking in the front door, she caught a what-the-hell look from the bouncer, Theo. “Where’d you come from?”

“Around the side. No sign of him?”

“Nothing.”

She drummed her fingers on the podium up front. “The others know?”

“If anyone comes in tonight asking about you, we get ahold of you discreetly. No one goes to Josh even if this Beck guy asks for him.”

“Thanks, Theo. There’s a big tip in this for you on payoff.”

He grinned and saluted. “Anything for you.”

“And the almighty dollar.”

“Amen.”

She sighed, growing more nervous by the moment. “Okay. I guess I’ll head back again.”

Exiting through the front door, she made her way toward the side entrance again. As soon as she stepped inside, someone slipped a hand around her arm. She startled, twisted, and found Josh.

“Baby, what in the heck is going on with you today?” he asked, clearly concerned.

She exhaled, slipped her arms around his waist, and leaned into him, but not skin to skin like she preferred. He was working without a shirt again, layered in dirt and sweat. She was dressed in white silk, with a long night of customer contact ahead. Under different circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to peel her off him.

“Someone didn’t let me get any sleep last night,” she said. “I get jittery when I’m tired.”

He stroked back a piece of hair off her forehead. “It was the other way around, sugar.”

“Speaking of sugar…” She followed the hollow of his throat with the tip of her index finger. “Would you want to come make cookies with me and Mom tomorrow? We’ve made sugar cookies on Christmas day for as long as I can remember.”

He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Can I smear you with frosting and lick it off?”

“Afterward, absolutely.”

He grinned. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else—”

“I want to see Grace.” The bellow erupted from the direction of the back door, and Grace recognized Beck’s voice immediately. A river of ice slid through her chest. Panic stung her heart. “Grace Beck. I know she’s working here.”

“Sir, step outside before we take physical action,” Theo’s voice interjected. “We don’t have an employee named Grace.”

Josh’s hand closed on her arm, drawing her gaze. “Grace,” he hissed, “what is he doing here?”

“Get your hands off me, dude,” Isaac said. “I don’t want to hurt you, but if you touch me again, you’re going down.”

“Jesus.” Grace turned toward the mayhem, but Josh pulled her back, and when she looked at him again, hurt and fury flushed his face.

“Last time I talked to him he was halfway around the world,” Josh said. “Grace, what in the fuck…?”

“I’m sorry…” She put a hand to his chest. “Let me go take care of this before someone gets hurt.”

He ignored her, searching her face as the facts took shape in his mind. “You knew he was coming.” He released her and stepped back but blocked her path. “When? When did you know?”“Josh—”

“
When?
”

Grace jumped at his bark. “He called last night—”

“On the drive to the hotel.” Realization filled his voice, and hurt crept into his handsome features. “You talked to him on the drive from your mom’s to the hotel.”

More voices joined the fray near the back door. “Please, Josh—”

He gripped her arms, his expression shifting to one of accusation. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t think. “I…I—”

“You didn’t trust me,” he finished, his hands tightening. “You knew he was coming, and you thought I’d bail again if I had to face him. You thought I’d choose my loyalty to him over my love for you.”

The betrayal in his eyes broke her heart. He was 100 percent right. She’d been 100 percent wrong. She should have trusted him.

“I’m sorry—” she started, interrupted by Isaac’s bellow.

“I’m not going anywhere until I find Grace.”

“Josh, please let me go before this gets out of hand.”

He hesitated, then released her, his expression a mix of fury and pain. She hurried toward the main dressing area and found Isaac blocking the rear door as if he were guarding the president.

“Stop yelling,” she ordered.

“What in the fuck, Grace? What are you—” He broke off, his gaze shifting over her shoulder, and by the look in Isaac’s dark eyes, she knew Josh had come out. “Marx, what in the fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Philadelphia.”

Grace stepped up to Isaac and pushed him backward. “Let’s talk about this outside,” she ordered. “Now.”

“You lied to me, you fucker.” Isaac stabbed a menacing finger toward Josh. “You told me she wasn’t stripping.”

“I’m not stripping, Isaac.”

“Then why are you dressed like a hooker?”

“Do you hear those sirens, Isaac?” she asked. “Those are coming for you. And I sure as hell won’t be bailing you out. Now take this outside, or I’ll let them take you to jail.”

Isaac spun on his heel and stalked through the door, shoving Theo aside.

Grace squeezed Theo’s forearm and murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll be right here in case you need me.”

Josh pointed at Theo. “You’re going up front to steer the cops clear. If you don’t, things will get extremely ugly. I’ve got this handled.”

Theo’s worried gaze darted through the open door.

“Now, dude,” Josh demanded. “
Go
.”

When Theo turned and hustled toward the front of the club, Josh slipped off his watch and handed it to Jasmine. “In three minutes—
three
”—he tapped the watch face—“you create some kind of emergency to get Grace inside.”

Jasmine nodded. “Got it.”

Josh stepped outside, where Beck and Grace stood four feet apart, arguing. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, Beck looked almost the same as he had the last time Josh had seen him: tall, chiseled, dark, and sporting a few scrapes and bruises on his face and forearms.

Beck swept a hand up and down, gesturing to Grace’s body. “What is this? Who are you? What happened?”

“The same thing that always happens when you’re gone, Isaac. Life happens. I grow and change, and you come home the same judgmental asshole.”

“Maybe because those changes aren’t for the better.”

“Says you. But the funny thing is, it’s my life. Not yours, not ours,
mine
. Good or bad, they’re my changes to make.”

“I care about you,” Isaac implored in a way Josh knew was true. Beck wasn’t a bad guy; he was just dense and self-absorbed. “I want the best for you.”

“Then leave me to live my life. You coming here creating drama is
not
best for me.”

Beck rubbed his face with both hands, and his gaze landed on Josh. “I trusted you, you fucker.”

“I did exactly what you asked. And Grace is perfectly fine. I didn’t lie to you.”

“Don’t fuckin’ split hairs with me, asshole. And what the fuck are you still doing here?” He gestured to the tool belt around Josh’s waist. “What’s that about?”

Josh opened his mouth to answer, but Grace spoke first. “He’s helping me build a studio, Isaac. I told you, I’m teaching, not stripping. Josh believes in my abilities. He doesn’t try to stuff me into the box of a twenty-two-year-old and keep me there.”

Oh…shit…
Just as Josh had expected, Beck read between the lines. His body stilled. His gaze darted between Grace and Josh, disbelief and anger mounting in his expression. “Wait… Are you two…?” Reality hit. His expression turned murderous, and he straightened, hands balled into fists at his side. “Are you
fucking
my wife, asshole?”

Jasmine stepped outside. “Grace, we need you in here. Colleen fell. I think her ankle might be busted.”

A sound of shocked agony popped from Grace. Josh jerked his head toward the door. “Go. Beck and I have to work this out.”

Grace stiffened and pointed a stern finger at both of them. “I swear to God, if you two start brawling out here, I’m going to make sure you both end up in jail. In the
same cell
.”