Something to Prove (14 page)

“Like you said nothing about your real reason for being in Chicago?” He crossed his
arms. He only did that when he was looking for a fight.

“You’re just determined to see me fail. I really thought you were happy for me.” She
spun and walked toward the door. What the hell was she supposed to do with this?

“Wait. Elizabeth.”

She stopped, but didn’t turn around.

“I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to get discouraged. When we talked,
you were happy. I could hear it in your voice. I didn’t want to ruin it.”

“So you waited until now to point out that all my success means nothing. I have to
start over to prove myself. That’s just like you.”

“You don’t need to prove yourself. That’s what I keep saying.”

Tears burned behind her eyelids. She faced Keith and said in a low voice, “You’re
wrong. I have to prove myself every day.”

She turned back and walked calmly away. In the bar, she nodded at Mike. She cleared
her throat and hoped her voice would stay steady. “No Colin yet?”

“Nope.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I’m good.” He looked at her like he might want to say more, but stopped.

The front door opened again, and they both turned. She was sure Keith had followed
her back, but one of the waitresses entered. They opened in less than an hour and
still no Colin. Damn him. He was always coming in late.

She pulled her phone out and called him. No answer. Straight to voice mail. She stormed
back into her office to get his address. She’d make damn well sure he knew that this
was unacceptable.

Then she remembered that he lived above O’Leary’s. That made it easy for him to show
up to work there. No travel. Well, he needed to get it into his head that when he
was supposed to work at Brannigan’s, she expected him to not only show up but to be
on time.

With her keys in hand, she waved at Mike. “I have to run out. If Colin comes in, let
him know I need to speak with him. I should be back soon. My cell number is by the
register if you need to reach me.”

“No problem.”

She drove to O’Leary’s on a mission. The burn in her stomach splashed around and even
the antacids didn’t help. She couldn’t do much about Keith and his underhandedness,
but she could do something about Colin.

As she drove, images of the beat-up bowling alley flashed in her head. Her hands shook.
She wasn’t sure if it was out of anger or frustration or nervous energy.

Nervous? Why should she be nervous?

She threw the car into park and walked around the exterior of the building to locate
Colin’s apartment. At the back, stairs led up to apartments above the bar. Her heels
clicked on the wooden steps. After pressing the doorbell, she felt her teeth grind.

The door swung open and a sexily rumpled, shirtless Colin stood before her. She swallowed
hard. Damn hormones. She wouldn’t let them distract her.

“Elizabeth?”

God, even his voice was sexy.

“Unbelievable. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

He scratched his stomach, and her gaze followed his hand on its path. His jeans were
unsnapped.

She cleared her throat and looked up.

“Uh, you want to come in?”

He stepped in, so she followed. Why he bothered to ask what she wanted bewildered
her, since he’d obviously planned to go in anyway.

Colin led the way down a dark hall toward an open door.

She called after him, “You were supposed to come in early today. You said you’d tell
Mike what he needed to know.”

Inside his apartment, he turned to face her. “Sorry, I’m running late. I was up all
night—”

“I told you when we signed the contract that I wouldn’t put up with any games.” She
thought back to what he’d said to her the night he found her with Lori and Janie.
“If you want to go out and get laid, I don’t care. But I expect you to take this business
seriously.”

Anger suddenly flashed into his eyes. The bright blue turned steely. Something she’d
said struck a chord. He reached out and slammed the door shut behind her, putting
his body within inches of hers.

“First of all, I’ve been busting my ass taking the bar seriously. Second, I wasn’t
out getting laid. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I had a date, much less got
laid.”

“I bet it hasn’t been as long as it has for me.” Shit, she really hadn’t meant to
say that out loud. She shook her head and added quickly, “That’s not the point. You
said you were going to be there. I waited and I called and you didn’t show.”

She was rambling and knew she wasn’t making sense. She’d needed Colin after seeing
Keith and he hadn’t been there. She’d wanted to lean on him and now she was lashing
out at him. What was worse, she felt her emotions getting the better of her. They
were going to spill out and she fought to contain them. She hated sounding desperate.

Fuck. He shouldn’t have yelled at her. Her body trembled. Elizabeth was about to have
a meltdown. What the hell was he supposed to do if she became hysterical?

The muscle in her jaw twitched and her hands clenched into fists.

“Elizabeth.”

Her right hand flicked up. “Just don’t.”

Her voice was weak, but he knew she fought to make it sound strong. He wasn’t sure
what to do with an emotional woman. He’d never had one around long enough to see her
get emotional. Except his sisters.

A hug always worked with Maggie and Moira. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms
around Elizabeth. Immediately, he questioned the move. Excitement stirred when he
saw the fiery anger on her face, but actually holding her in his arms was a mistake.
His hard-on raged against his jeans.

Her back stiffened and she resisted for a minute. Once she realized what he was doing,
she gave in and let him hold her.

When he spoke, his voice was gruff. “Elizabeth, I was coming into work. I just overslept.
I was at the hospital all night.”

She jerked, but he held tight. “What happened?”

She was concerned about him. Hmm. “Nothing bad. My sister-in-law went into labor.
Healthy baby boy Patrick O’Leary was born this morning.”

“Oh. Congratulations. I’m sorry I came in screaming at you.” The words rushed from
her mouth, like it was painful to have to apologize.

As he talked, her body softened against him. Cinnamon tickled his nose, and he felt
her breath quiet against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

Her lips curved against his skin. “It wasn’t that.”

“What was it then?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She closed off the conversation, but didn’t move
away from him.

His jeans grew uncomfortably tight. Minutes dragged. He didn’t want to push her away,
but he needed to adjust his cock. She finally turned her head, which made her lips
brush across his collar, and his dick twitched.

She lifted her face and whispered, “Thanks.”

Again, he moved without thought. His mouth captured hers. Ryan was right; he didn’t
have a wife or a girlfriend. He excelled at casual relationships.

Elizabeth’s mouth opened for his tongue. She tasted good and her body fit nicely against
his. He angled his head, and she raised her arms and wrapped them around his back.
She wasn’t pushing him away this time.

He tugged her hair free from the knot at the back of her head. The silky softness
fell over his hands. He pushed his fingers through it to her scalp and walked her
backward toward the breakfast bar. His dick throbbed, seeking release.

A moan slipped from Elizabeth, and it was the only green light he needed. He pushed
at her blazer and yanked it off. He trailed kisses down her neck as he unbuttoned
the blouse. Warm cinnamon greeted him as he licked her neck.

She arched her back, pushing her chest toward him and her hips into his groin. Just
as he loosened her blouse and glimpsed a lacy bra, her long fingers were tugging at
his pants.

The only sounds in the room were their heavy breathing and the hiss of the zipper.
Her wide eyes looked into his.

“Stop now unless you’re sure about this.” His voice was raspy with need, and he really
hoped she didn’t want to stop.

She answered with her eyes instead of her voice. She quirked one eyebrow up and pulled
his fly open. Before she could use her hand to make him any crazier, he lowered his
head to kiss across her bare chest, licking slowly under the edge of the lace bra.
Her hands fell away from his waist and grasped his head, urging him on.

He felt her heart thump under his lips, and he slid his hands up her thighs, bunching
her skirt on the way.

“Wait,” she gasped.

Fuck, no, he wasn’t going to wait. Not now. He pulled away reluctantly to see if he
could talk her into continuing.

Her gaze held his as her fingers undid the clasp of her skirt. She stepped out of
it. “It’s a bitch with wrinkles.”

She laid the skirt on the counter, and he stood confused for a moment. She wasn’t
backing off—she just wanted to take off her skirt?

When he didn’t move, she ran a hand across his chest. Her cool fingers soothed his
heated skin. A moment later, her lips followed the same path. She definitely wasn’t
stopping. He grabbed her hips and eased her onto one of the stools. As soon as he
began to kiss her neck again, she moaned.

With one hand, he reached around and flipped the clasp on her bra open, and his other
hand felt for the silk of her panties. Moist heat radiated into his fingertips. He
stroked her through the soft material until her hips began to wiggle.

He pulled away again long enough to remove both the bra and her blouse. God, she was
gorgeous, all flush with passion. Her breasts were slightly more than a handful and
his tongue wanted to play with the stiff peaks jutting out at him. As he took one
in his mouth, she grabbed his hand and brought it back to her crotch. This time, he
slid inside her panties and felt how wet she was.

He used his teeth to tug at her nipple and slid a finger into her wet warmth. Moving
to the other breast, he added a finger inside her and stroked her clit with his thumb.
Her nails bit into his shoulders and her entire body vibrated with need.

“Now, Colin. For once, move fast.”

For years he’d heard how women enjoyed going slow, and he liked to think himself a
considerate lover, but her command had him donning a condom faster than he’d ever
done. His jeans were low on his hips as he stripped away her underpants.

Without another word, he slid his cock into her, and her sexy, long legs wrapped around
him. It was heaven, and he thought for a moment his legs would buckle under the pleasure.
He gripped the counter behind Elizabeth for security and drove into her.

Her head lolled back and he kissed her neck. Her hips bucked and she moaned and gasped.
He could feel her tightening around him. He grabbed her leg and hoisted it higher
so he could go deeper.

“Oh, God!” Her eyes drifted closed. She bit down on her lower lip, still holding back.

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Let go. Let it all out. It’ll be so much
better.”

Dropping her leg back to his hip, he moved his hand between their bodies and brushed
against her clit. Her eyes flew open and she was gone.

“Oh, Colin, oh. Don’t. Stop.” Her words were gasps, and she tightened around his cock.

He loved the sound of his name in her mouth. He buried his face in her hair, breathing
in her scent, riding her orgasm. Everything about her felt so damn good. He didn’t
want to finish, not yet, but the aftershocks of her orgasm caused trembling in her
body that pulled him deeper.

A few more thrusts and he came with hard spurts that emptied his balls and made him
weak. He held her close, afraid to move.

Afraid to look into her face.

Afraid that he’d see regret.

She stroked his bare shoulders as their breathing returned to normal. “I think I left
marks. Sorry about that.”

He pulled back and turned his head to look at her hands. Sure enough, crescent shapes
marked his skin from her nails. “We’re even, then. I think my whiskers did at least
as much to you.”

He ran a finger across her chest where he’d burned her skin with his kisses.

“It’s getting late. Mike is going to wonder where we are.”

He sighed. Elizabeth the businesswoman had returned. He pulled out of her and went
to dispose of the condom.

She cleared her throat. “Can I use your bathroom to freshen up?”

“Sure. Down the hall on the left.”

She picked up her clothes that he’d tossed carelessly on the floor and her skirt that
lay neatly on the counter. He liked that she didn’t seem shy about walking through
his apartment naked. He’d always found it odd that he could do all sorts of things
to a woman’s body, but then she’d want to cover it up to go into another room. As
if he hadn’t seen, touched, and tasted it all.