The Virgin Sex Queen (18 page)

The sexual
innuendo was plain. Well, two could play at this game.

Lowering her
lashes, she peered sultrily at him. “I hope you have some surprises
for me, Constable Cooper. And the stamina. It’s been awhile.”

He didn’t miss
a beat. “Trust me, sugar, you’ll melt in my hands.”

“I hope so.”
She took a sip of Diet Coke before placing the can on the table
with steady hands. Looking him directly in the eye, she smiled
widely. “I’ve learned a few things since last time.”

His smile was
all teeth, a gleaming flash of white. “So have I.”

Of course, he
would have the last word.

“Oh my.” Elsie
broke the silence. “Is it hot out here or is it just me?”

“Not as hot as
it’s going to get tonight,” Alan said, his gaze still on
Sophie.

“Okay…” Frank
cleared his throat.

Sam looked from
Sophie to Alan, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Ah - er -
anyone for more drinks?”

“Shit yes.”
Frank waggled his glass in the air. “Make sure it’s cold. Very
cold.”

Elsie giggled
and leaned into him. “Or maybe we should keep the flames
burning?”

Frank stared
down at her. “Huh?”

She batted her
eyelashes at him.

He grinned
slowly. “Oh. Yeah.” He lowered the glass. “I’ll wait awhile.”

“Good grief,”
Sam muttered.

“You can say
that again.” Marty’s expression was resigned as he looked at Alan.
Obviously he wasn’t surprised to hear of another of Alan’s sexual
escapades.

Alan held
Sophie’s gaze. “It’s a good something but certainly not grief.”

Sophie’s eyes
narrowed. Seemed he could brag and lie all at once, how clever.

Leaning forward
suddenly, Alan kissed her lightly on the lips, drawing back just as
quick to pick up her empty can and stand. “I’ll get you another
drink, sugar.”

“Thanks,
sweetie,” she replied through clenched teeth. She was going to
murder him. Once everyone was gone, she was going to pound his
pinhead into the ground.

“What was that,
honey?” All solicitous and caring, he leaned down.

Slipping an arm
around his neck, she smiled sweetly up at him, bringing him down so
she could whisper in his ear.

To anyone
watching it looked like a lover’s embrace, the closeness of two
people who knew each other intimately. But Sophie made sure Alan
knew she meant business by grabbing a tiny bit of his hair between
her fingertips and pulling on it painfully while whispering
lovingly, “I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, Alan, but
you are dead.” She released his hair.

His eyes
twinkled down at her. “Why sure, sweetie, we’ll go to bed as soon
as this is all over.” Straightening, he laughed. “You’ll embarrass
me, telling everyone how much you want my body.”

“Oh trust me, I
can wait.” Picking up her spoon, Sophie calmly took a bite of
Pavlova.
Game face, game face!
“It’s a novelty, actually,
you’re normally so…fast.”

“Whoa!” Marty
laughed. “Them’s fighting words, Alan.”

“Boy, you have
to prove yourself tonight!” Frank slapped Alan on the back.

Sophie glanced
over her shoulder. “Oh, not tonight, honey. Sam’s home.”

“Don’t worry,
sugar
, we can go out for a drive. Panel van, remember?”

“I’m a guest in
Sam’s house, that’d be just plain rude.”

“No, sweetie,
rude is doing it next door to him. You’re noisy.”

“Jesus.” Sam
covered his eyes. “Someone save me.”

She was going
to murder Alan slowly.

Grinning, he
walked off to get her another drink. Right now she felt more like a
hefty shot of whiskey than a Diet Coke, it was a shame she didn’t
like the taste of alcohol.

The rest of the
night passed jovially. Alan remained by her side, every bit the
caring lover while maintaining his teasing, happy persona. Sophie
managed to laugh with him and resisted the urge to stab him with
the fork. He was so dead.

It was late
when everyone finally left, Alan talking to Marty at the back of
his car while Belle waited in the passenger seat. It looked pretty
intense. Sophie didn’t care. Glad to have some time to herself, she
drew a deep breath and stared up at the half moon in the sky.

What the hell
had happened tonight? How had everything gotten so out of hand? How
had
Alan
gotten so out of hand? Though it shouldn’t have
surprised her. Good grief, she knew he’d been a bit of a devil in
his younger days and it seemed like that devil still resided inside
him as an adult, only now that devilish streak was more mature,
more hot, more sexual. She’d experienced that already.

Whoo boy. She
fanned herself with an unused paper plate. Anyway, it didn’t
matter, he was just playing a part, nothing else, it wasn’t
serious.

Why that
particular thought should make her feel morose, she wasn’t
sure.

Wait, no, she
was sure. He’d been so attentative, so much like a caring lover,
something she’d never experienced before and…and she was attracted
to him. Really attracted. She couldn’t lie to herself. But no
amount of wishful thinking would change Alan. He was playing a
role, saving her reputation, wasn’t that ironic? It was a twisted
kind of reputation, keeping it as a sexually experienced woman
whereas in the old days it’d be important to keep the reputation as
a virginal spinster.

Sighing, she
picked up the garbage bags and started to carry them around to the
garbage bin on the other side of the house.

“Here.” Sam
appeared beside her, plucking the bags from her hands. “I can do
that.”

“It’s fine.”
She wrestled a bag back. “I’m not a fragile flower.”

“Doesn’t
matter, I’m a man, you’re a woman, I do the heavy stuff.” He made a
grab for the bag.

She swung it
out of his reach. “Why, Sam, how delightfully old-fashioned of
you!”

“I’ll lock you
in your room if you don’t give it to me.”

“You’ll
struggle to get me there, let me give you the tip.”

“Trust me, I’ll
get you there.” He made another grab for the bag.

Sophie darted
out of reach.

Laughing, he
gave up, reaching out to ruffle her hair affectionately when she
moved back up beside him. Rounding the corner of the house
together, they deposited the garbage bags in the bin, but before
they made their back around Sam took hold of Sophie’s arm. “Soph,
about you and Alan…”

Hearing the
concern in his tone, she said quietly, “It’s okay, Sam.”

“I like Alan,
he’s a good bloke.” Sam hesitated.

“But?”

“No wonder he
was acting so oddly around you at times. I had no idea you and Alan
had been seeing each other.”

Big surprise,
neither had Sophie. “It was just now and again.”
Game face, but
tone it down.

“Enough that
you both, well…” Sam shifted uncomfortably, cleared his throat.
“Seems like your writing isn’t all fantasy.”

Cheeks
flushing, Sophie looked away. Her cousin had no idea.

“Not that I
want to know anything,” Sam assured her hurriedly. “I just…I don’t
want you hurt, okay?”

Surprised and
touched, she reached out and took his hand, his big, calloused,
comforting hand. “Oh Sam, that’s so sweet.’

“You just be
careful.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I know
you’re experienced and all, I just…You be careful with the men,
okay?”

“You’re afraid
I’ll break them?”

“Good God, no!
Soph!” He was horrified. “I mean there are a lot of cranks out
there, I just want you to promise me you’ll be careful.”

Great, now she
was promiscuous. Her own fault for playing the part so well. And
true to Sam’s nature, he wasn’t judging her, just concerned for her
safety.

Leaning close,
she came up on tiptoe and when he leaned down, she kissed his
cheek. “Thanks, Sam. I’m always careful, don’t you worry.”

He gave her a
sudden hug. “I’m always here if you need help, okay?”

“You’re saying
you’ll sort out my lovers if they go wild?”

“I’ll punch any
man who hurts you.”

“I’d need more
than a garbage bag to pick up the pieces.”

“Hell yes.” He
gave her a squeeze before releasing her suddenly. “Last one to the
table to get the leftover Pav is a loser!”

She was no
match for his long legs and she was laughing and calling insults as
she rounded the corner of the house in a chase she was going to
lose.

And crashed
right into Alan, whom she took down to the grass in a tangle of
limbs. Landing on top of him, she was sure she’d crushed his breath
from his body and horrified, she propped herself up on her hands to
stare down at him. “Alan! Are you all right? Talk to me!”

Opening his
eyes, he grinned slowly. “Soph, I didn’t realise you were so
pleased to see me.”

“Did I hurt
you?”

“No, why?” His
expression was genuinely puzzled.

“I’m heavier
than you and-”

Amusement left
his face and his hands were suddenly at her waist. His eyes were
dark, the reflection of the moon seeming to make them almost shine.
“You’re not heavy.”

Blushing at a
blatant untruth, she tried to push up from him. “Nice of you to say
so but-”

“You feel just
right.” His hands on her waist relaxed, fingers spreading out, his
voice dropping lower. “Perfect.”

“Alan…”
Sighing, she tried to ignore the warmth both his hands and his
voice was eliciting. “Everyone’s gone, pretend time is over.”

“Who says I’m
pretending?” His hands shifted lower, fingers spreading over her
hips.

“That’s
enough!” Painfully aware of her position, her heart hurting more
than it had any right to, Sophie planted her hands on the grass
each side of his chest and tried to push upright.

His hands
tightened on her hips so that she only succeeded in lifting her
breasts from his chest. Just. Geez, she’d never realised how big
her breasts were. But his hold had their hips in intimate contact,
the only thing separating their unmentionables their clothes. Even
their legs were tangled.

“Enough of
what?” He asked huskily.

“Pretending.”

“Told you, I’m
not pretending.”

Giving up on
struggling, Sophie sighed again and looked down at him. Sprawled
beneath her, Alan certainly didn’t look uncomfortable with her
weight atop him. Cripes, he’d had plenty of slim girls falling all
over him, doing God knows what, but she bet he’d never had a hefty
sheila like herself on top of him.

“Fine, if you
want to be squashed, go for it.” How humiliating. She bit her lip
and against her better judgement glanced away.
Stupid stupid
stupid
.

There was
silence for several seconds before a dangerously quiet voice,
devoid of all previous huskiness, spoke. “You better not have said
what I just thought I heard.”

“You heard
right,” she retorted. “Now let me go.”

There was a
slap to her backside, quick, and while not really hard it caught
her by surprise. Almost immediately in a move that caught her
off-guard, she was flipped over onto her back, Alan looming above
her, the breadth of his shoulders blocking the moon from sight.
Staring up at him, mouth agape, Sophie could only wonder at the
heat in his eyes…and quake at the anger, too.

“D - did you
just…smack me?” She stammered.

“Hell yes, and
if I hear anymore of you rubbishing yourself, you’ll get a hell of
a lot more than just one smack. It’ll make those spanking scenes of
yours look like child’s play.” He was furious, his eyes almost
black in the darkness. “None of that shit, Sophie, ever. I mean
it.”

Cripes. Whoa.
Wow. She gulped. This was a side of Alan she’d never before seen.
Teasing, laughing, seductive, but furious enough to threaten her
with a - she gave a small shiver - spanking?
Nu-uh
.

Whoa, what a
scene for her next book about a cop. Whoo.

Except here was
the kicker - it was happening to her, right now, in reality. But he
was just pretending, right? Disappointed, she dropped her head to
the grass and sighed. “It’s over, Alan.”

“What is?”
There was still a bite in his tone.

“Everyone’s
gone home.” She angled her head to peep at the well-lit backyard.
“Sam’s gone.” The back light went off, plunging the yard into
darkness. “Oh. He obviously thinks we’ve gone inside as well.”

“Sam knows
we’re out here. He’s giving us privacy.”

She looked at
him. “No need.”

“Every
need.”

“Alan, the game
is over for the night. Everyone’s gone home, my reputation as Sex
Queen, as you like to call me, is safe. Thanks for helping, I
appreciate it, and I’m not going to rip your head off now because,
well…because…” Because she suddenly felt like crying instead.

Shit, when had
she become so stupid?

“Because?’ Alan
asked curiously.

“Can you just
let me up?”

“No.”

Self conscious
again, she shoved at his chest. “I’m not used to this
position.”

He didn’t budge
an inch. “On your back? I know that now.”

Great. Just
bloody great. She took refuge in anger. That was a better
alternative than blubbering like a baby. God, when had she become
such a sook? “Fine. You want to have this discussion now? I’m
warning you, it may culminate in having your head ripped off after
all and you won’t like where I shove it.”

“Ooohh, Soph,
violence. I’m a cop, it’s my duty to restrain violent offenders.
Wait here and I’ll get my handcuffs.” Laughter glimmered in his
voice.

“You're really
enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“You have no
idea.”

“Oh, I do.
Enjoy the laugh up, you jerk, because when I get up you’re
dead.”

“Fighting
words.” Shifting, he leaned down and propped his forearms on the
grass each side of her shoulders. “So let’s have this out, Soph.
You’re irritated that I backed you up. You’re irritated that I
don’t like you rubbishing yourself. You’re irritated because you’re
not getting your own way right now. How’m I doing so far?”