Take a Chance (6 page)

Once in his suite, he pulled open all the
drawers and inspected the contents. The guys had done a good job
and he collected a few pieces to take home for his date. A soft
wrist restraint was a must—have, and there were several in one
drawer. After running his hands over all of them, he chose the
softest and set it aside.

Standing in the midst of his future
playground, he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. Mark had been
right. Starting over with a new design for the old country club was
much better than refurbishing the club they’d thought about buying
downtown. Here, they had everything they needed and with the club
sitting in the county instead of surrounded by high-rises, they had
more room to grow.

Steve closed all the drawers with a soft push
and ran his hand across the soft sheets on the bed. It would take a
few dates to convince Dena to play in this bed, but it would
happen. He could already imagine her face as he pushed her into a
higher state of arousal than she’d ever known.

Hell, he might not get past foreplay tonight.
She needed to learn patience before he let her have an orgasm.

On her front step at six sharp, he rang the
bell and waited. When the door opened, he calmed his breath and
gave her a long look. A vision of soft, curvy woman washed over him
and he pushed it back into his long term memory before he spoke. He
gathered his control and stepped into her home.

“
Did you look out the
peephole?”

“
Of course.”

“
What did you
see?”

She cocked her hip and put a hand on it. He
was getting to her. “A man wearing dark sunglasses.” Before he
could reprimand her, she put up a hand and continued. “I also
looked out the window and saw your truck.”

Dena turned and headed for the little table
where her purse sat, her voice floating back to him with an
irritated tone. “I have three brothers. I know what to do. I’m not
an idiot.”

Then she screamed.

With good reason.

He’d moved fast when she turned away, coming
up behind her and wrapping his arms around her body. One hand
pressed into her belly and held her tight to his torso while the
other moved to cover her mouth. Steve insinuated one foot between
her feet and pushed them farther apart, throwing her off
balance.

“
What should you do now?” he
whispered in her ear. “Show me what you know.”

She struggled, twisting against his body
until the ache in his dick threatened to take over the game, but he
held back. She tried to kick at his legs but a shift of his body
changed the pressure of her feet to the floor and she couldn’t
manage the difference.

She growled, frustration getting the better
of her.

“
Think, Dena.”

Her hands wrapped around the arm he had
across her body, tugging at his hold and curling her nails into his
skin, but not enough to break the skin.

“
Close, but not enough,
doll.” He let a laugh slip free, since he was enjoying the game,
and she stopped all motion. Anger called, and she followed for a
minute, her body tightening. She was thinking. Good girl. With a
deep breath, her entire body went limp in his arms.

The sudden change in her body weight forced
him to realign his position.

A sharp elbow came out of nowhere and got him
right in the gut, a perfect shot. She spun away as he released her,
breathing hard and staring at him like he was the devil
incarnate.

Steve rubbed at his gut and grinned. “Nicely
played. Perfect. How do you feel?”

She stared daggers at him for a minute. “Was
this a test?”

“
Yes. I don’t want you to
feel threatened at work or anywhere you might be, and I’d like to
help you with some self-defense techniques. I wanted to see what
you’re capable of.”

“
And?”

“
You used your brain instead
of trying to fight me off.” He lifted his arm and inspected the
skin while she watched. “You must be willing to draw blood to get
away.”

“
I didn’t want to hurt
you.”

He stepped into her personal space and cupped
her face. “I know, doll. But if anyone else does that to you, go
for blood. If you have the chance, grab the family jewels and
twist. Anything to get free.” With every word, he moved closer,
until his mouth hovered right over hers. “Remember.”

“
Okay.”

“
Ready for
dinner?”

She hummed a bit, waiting, he knew, for the
kiss she expected. Not yet.

He reached to the side and snagged her purse
from the table, handing it to her. “Don’t forget your keys.”

Her lips formed a little pout but she
followed directions. On the front stoop, he watched her turn the
key before he touched her again. He took the keys from her hand,
dropped them into his pocket, and settled his palm on her nape. The
feel of her hair flowing across the back of his hand enticed, but
he kept to the rules for the night.

Once moving, he pulled an envelope off the
dash and handed it to her. “This my most recent medical report.
If—” But he meant when. “—we’re intimate, I want you to feel secure
in my health. I’d like to see your test results, too.”

She stumbled with a reply, caught off guard
as he’d intended. Dena wasn’t getting the upper hand if he could
help it, and he was good at maintaining power in a
relationship.

“
I had my last well check
last month and they did blood work. Everything was fine. I’ll ask
for a copy.”

“
Good. When we’re together,
I’d prefer not to use a condom.” A major change for him, but the
urge to feel bare skin on bare skin had been a persistent thought
since their first meeting.

“
Oh. Okay.” Her fingers
intertwined in her lap, slipped around and resettled. “I’m on the
pill, have been for a couple of years, but I’ve never not used a
condom.”

“
Good girl.”

More fidgeting and he kept his smile
moderate. Keeping her a little off balance worked in his favor
while he put together her personal adventure. Waiting to have her
under him, begging for release while he pounded into her sweet body
was worth it. He had all the time in the world, and she’d be his
soon enough.

Keeping her hands out of his lap during the
drive to the restaurant might require restraints, and wasn’t he
lucky to have just what he needed for that?

Chapter 6

Dena recited the Gettysburg Address in her
head while the truck sped down the road. Dinner had been wonderful
and frustrating. Steve was the perfect gentleman, holding her
chair, cutting her meat, offering her a taste of his food, more
than she’d expected from him.

Less, too.

He still hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t even
touched her. She asked for an adventure of the sexual variety and
instead, she got a monk with nice table manners and a body to tempt
the most devout nun in the world. They were almost to her house and
she had no idea what he had planned. After last night’s goodnight
kiss, she’d hoped for more of the same. In fact, it was all she
thought about. The feel of his lips on hers, the pressure and
texture of them making her tremble with need, filled most of her
day. When he’d arrived and leaned close, she’d assumed they were
picking up right where they left off last night.

Wrong.

He teased. He taunted. He tortured.

Even as his hot gaze slid over her body and
he grinned in approval at what she’d chosen to wear.

Oh, yes, she’d recognized the look in his
eyes when she opened the front door.

Growing up with three brothers and doting
parents made delayed satisfaction a non-issue for her. She was the
spoiled only daughter and she knew it. Lived it and loved it. But
Steve didn’t seem to notice.

At least he was a gentleman, she thought as
she waited for him to open her door and help her from the truck. He
kept a hand at the small of her back as they walked to her front
door. The sight of it half-open shocked the hell out of both of
them.

Steve grabbed her hand and hurried her back
to his SUV while she argued.

“
What are you doing? I need
to see what’s been taken and call the police.”

Steve jerked open the passenger door and put
her inside with ease. “Stay here. Do not get out of this vehicle or
unlock the door until I come back. Promise me.”

Dammit. When he used that tone of voice she
couldn’t argue. “Okay.”

The door slammed and he used the key fob to
activate the alarm. She watched him jog back up the walk and
disappear into her home. Her breath rushed out when she realized
she still had her purse. Quickly locating her cell, she called the
police and gave them her address. The local police were wonderful
to work with, and a patrol car pulled up to her curb just as Steve
came out her front door.

The two men met on her front walk while she
watched. Steve’s order to stay put rankled, and when he didn’t
acknowledge her in any way, she hit the lock release and joined
them. His irritation was obvious, but she made sure he saw hers,
too.

“
You were supposed to stay
in the truck, doll.”

He didn’t sound angry, just irritated. “It’s
my house. Besides, between you and the officer, I’m sure it’s
safe.”

The officer shook his head and grinned at
Steve, some private joke she’d missed, and it didn’t sit well. She
was too wound up with frustration to deal calmly with them.

“
What did you find in my
house?” she asked Steve. “Is it a mess? Was the lock broken? I know
I locked it before we left.”

Steve’s hand settled on the back of her neck
and he gave her a little squeeze. “Take a deep breath, Dena. I’ve
got this.”

She opened her mouth to reply and he leaned
close, whispering in her ear. “Shush, doll. Let me do this for
you.”

Her heart stopped for a second, then
restarted at a slower pace, a definite reaction to his words and
the warm breath across her throat. How did he manage to do so much
to her with so little effort?

The police officer was talking about
break-ins in the neighborhood, and Steve told him nothing was
missing that he could see. “I have a locksmith on the way to
replace the broken lock,” he told the officer.

“
Good idea. I’ll give this
report to the detective investigating the office burglary, in case
they’re linked.” He turned to her and asked, “Ms. Lindsay, do you
ever bring work home?”

“
No. Everything stays at the
office.”

He nodded, wrote a few things on his
clipboard that she didn’t get to read, and shook hands with both of
them. He climbed into his patrol car just as another car pulled
into her drive.

“
Here’s my locksmith. He’s
going to fix you up tight. I don’t want anything to happen to you,
doll.”

“
Thank you, but I can take
care of myself,” she told him.

“
Dena, as long as I’m
around, you don’t have to. Might as well get used to it, ‘cause I’m
not going to change my ways.”

The young man walked up the drive with three
boxes in his hands and a tool belt cinched around his hips. He
didn’t even glance her way, just showed Steve the locks he’d
brought and waited for approval.

“
Exactly what I asked for.
Thanks. Go ahead with the front door while we walk the
house.”

“
I don’t know you well
enough to let you run my life, Steve.” She didn’t need another
overprotective male in her life. She wanted a lover, but not full
time. She liked being self-sufficient.

He led her into the house without comment.
“Tell me if you see anything missing.”

Papers were scattered across the coffee table
and the sofa, but they were junk mail from the morning delivery.
The television and DVD system were right where they belonged,
untouched.

The calendar in the kitchen had been pulled
off its hook and was askew on the floor but not torn. “What were
they looking for?” she said under her breath, not expecting an
answer.

The jars on her counter were emptied on the
table, a huge pile of flour, sugar, and coffee waiting for a
trashcan. When she reached for one, Steve stopped her.

“
Let’s finish the house
before we clean.”

But there wasn’t much to find. The light was
on in both her bedroom and her office. All her purses were on the
floor and her bed, some with zippers pulled out, some just opened
and discarded. The office space that she only used at Christmastime
had taken the brunt of the robber’s attention. All the drawers were
pulled out and dumped.

“
Well,” she sighed, “I’ve
been thinking about a new laptop. I just wish I’d backed up my
address book before they took the old one.”

“
This was definitely
connected to the office burglary. I saw jewelry on the dresser, but
they didn’t take it. What do you think they were looking for,
Dena?”

“
I don’t honestly know. If
it’s something from the office, they wouldn’t find it here. I don’t
work from home. Ever.”

They returned to the kitchen and Steve helped
her put things to rights. It was a little disconcerting since she’d
never seen the men in her family do anything domestic in all the
years she’d lived at home. She started

to say something about it, but decided not to
rock the boat.

Halfway through the kitchen cleanup, the
locksmith asked for their approval and assistance. Dena looked at
the new lock in surprise. “There’s no key?”

The locksmith smiled. “You’ll need a four or
five digit code to open the lock. Do you have one in mind?”