Two Against the Odds (4 page)

Hetty blinked away moisture. “How can I do that?”

“By going home and staying put. By not running off to your daughter's house. It takes time to win back trust.”

Hetty stared. “For a young man you're very wise.”

She started sorting again. After ten minutes she put down the receipts. “He's got to meet me halfway. Talk to me, for a start. Listen to how I feel.”

Rafe grunted. His calculator clicked steadily.

Hetty's voice flowed on.

 

T
HE HOUSE WAS QUIET
when Lexie entered an hour later. Odd. Her mother liked to chat. She'd thought Hetty would be talking Rafe's ear off. Peering into the living room, she could see that Rafe was alone, his back to her, bent over the table. His computer sat idle.

She dropped her purse on the hall table and kicked off her shoes. “I'm back. Where's Mum?”

He straightened and glanced over his shoulder, brushing a thick strand of black hair out of his eyes. “No idea. She said something but I wasn't listening. I think she left.”

He was working on the skeleton clock. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up over forearms smattered with dark hair. His hands were well shaped, his long fingers delicately manipulating the inner workings with a tiny screwdriver and tweezers.

She sank into the chair next to him.

“I replaced a spring, tightened a few things.” He sat back. From the compartment at the bottom of the base he took the small key and inserted it into the keyhole. He turned it a few times and listened.

The clock started to tick.

Rafe grunted with satisfaction and glanced sideways at her.

Lexie's eyes blurred. The clock wasn't going to help her finish her portrait or do her taxes but it felt like the first thing that had gone right in days. Maybe weeks. “You did it.”

As if he'd fixed her life.

Without stopping to think she leaned over, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.

K
ISSING HIM
was like touching her lips to a live electrical wire. A current flowed through her, lifting her off her chair and onto her feet. Rafe surged upward, too, his hands framing her face as he pressed his mouth to hers in a long breathless kiss. She slid her arms around his neck. He gathered her close, pressing hot kisses to her cheeks, her nose, her neck. Then his mouth found hers again and his tongue plunged inside, flooding her with heat and sensation…

Her hands slid down his shirtfront, pushing against his chest. “Stop,” she gasped.

Instantly, he released her, breathing hard, eyes wild. “I shouldn't have done that.”

Aghast, Lexie fled down the hall to her bedroom. She slammed the door shut and paced between the end of the bed and the closet. Rafe was a government tax accountant here to audit her, not to…to…

She breathed in deeply and slowly, taking the air all the way to her stomach. Then she let it out through her mouth. Normally that would calm her. Not quite.

Another breath. She would go back out there, act
normally and not do anything dumb. Shoulders back and down, she opened the door.

Rafe was standing on the other side, fist raised to knock. Face-to-face. She stared.
That mouth.

“I'm
so
sorry,” she said, the words tumbling out. “I don't know what came over me. That was inappropriate. Please forget it ever happened. I'll go out to my studio. Stay out of your way. I go a little crazy when I'm not working. Please don't think anything of it.”

She paused for breath.

“What just happened out there?” He looked shell-shocked, as if he hadn't taken in a word she'd said.

“That's what I'm trying to explain,” she babbled. “I didn't mean to kiss you. Well, obviously on one level I did. I've been thinking of it all day. And yesterday—”

“I've been thinking about nothing else.” His dazed eyes settled on her mouth. “I only know two things. I shouldn't be doing this. And I don't want to stop.” He kissed her again. “Tell me to stop.” His voice was low and rasping. Almost pleading.

Holding his gaze, she took his hands and settled them on her hips. The heat of his fingers burned through her thin cotton yoga pants. He drew her closer.

Rafe glided the tip of his tongue into the hollow behind her ear. His mouth moved over her neck, his breath warm against her skin.

“I don't want you to stop.” Easing back, she met his hot dark eyes and melted. “I want to go to bed with you.”

He went still. Lexie felt every hair on her body stand on end. She held her breath.

“I should not be doing this,” he said again, strip ping his shirt off. Underneath he wore a white T-shirt that accentuated his tanned shoulders and strapping chest.

If he was prey to her cougar, he was willing prey.

Her nerves jumping, she stepped back, pulling him toward her by his belt. Kissing him as he stumbled forward. Her breath got stuck somewhere between her throat and her chest as she worked his buckle.

And then he was shucking off his gray trousers and tossing them, along with his shirt. Lexie drank in the sight of him. Her last lover had been in his for ties with the beginnings of a paunch and a softening jawline. Although a hard body wasn't everything, Rafe's smooth skin, sculpted muscles and erection were just…wow.

She practically tore her clothes off, trembling with need, almost unable to stand. She pushed down his black boxers as he fumbled her bra off. He cupped her breasts in his hands, sucking hard on one nipple, as he slid her panties over her hips. They were both naked, pressing against each other, so hot she could swear she heard her skin sizzle against his.

“Oh, hell,” he groaned into her ear. His hands tightened. “I don't have any condoms. Do you?”

“No. But I have an IUD.” She rested her fore head against his chest, breathing hard, praying they weren't stopping now. “I'm healthy.” She glanced up, searching his eyes. “You?”

He met her gaze straight on. “Yeah, I'm good.”

Growling low in her throat, she pulled him down on top of her on the bed in a tangle of limbs, tongues and hands. She was aching to feel him inside her. His biceps tensed as he poised over her. His thighs nudged between hers. So much power, so much heat. Lexie ran her restless hands over his hips, urging him.

Thick and hard, he plunged. Lexie thrust her hips upward until he filled her completely. She savored the delicious sensation, her legs trembling with strain.

He thrust again, grinding into her, his breath hot against her cheek. “Tell me if I'm too rough.”

She was so aroused she couldn't speak.

His low voice rumbled next to her ear, saying wicked things that made her laugh and gasp. And all the time he was moving, pumping, hard and fast.

She climaxed quickly in a white heat that obliterated everything but the waves of pleasure pulsing through her. Dimly she was aware of Rafe, every muscle taut as he strained above her. And then an unearthly groan as he spilled himself into her.

 

R
AFE OPENED
his eyes. In the dim light of Lexie's bedroom he could see her tangled blond hair, a bare shoulder and a small square of pillow. He nuzzled her neck, breathed in her scent.

He rolled over onto his back. She stirred sleepily and rolled with him, draping an arm across his chest.

Suddenly he felt very cold.

What the hell had he been thinking?

Obviously, he hadn't been thinking.

He didn't
want
to think. He wanted to bury himself in Lexie again. To trace the whorls of the shell tattoo on her hip with his tongue, to dip lower, licking his way up the slender muscle of her inner thigh. He was getting hard again just thinking about it.

Larry didn't have to hear about this.

Not if Rafe did the audit properly, everything aboveboard. No fudging to save Lexie money. No going easy on her, overlooking the odd painting sale to reduce her income. After all, she wasn't expecting anything like that—

Was she?

He felt even colder. Could she have seduced him so he'd reduce her taxes? People tried offering much less with the same expectation.

Nah. That was crazy. She wasn't the type.

On the other hand, how well did he really know her?

 

L
EXIE PEERED
over the mound of files between her and Rafe. The best sex she'd ever had, bar none. This
morning, though, he was ignoring her. He'd barely looked at her.

“Can I claim video rentals?” she asked.

Rafe kept his head down, the calculator clicking nonstop. “Did they inspire you to paint?”

“Everything inspires me.” She frowned at the receipt in her hand. “Except doing my taxes.”

“Claim the video.”

She dropped it on the Save pile.

Theirs was just a fling, she knew that. Rafe was a government tax agent. She'd known him for all of two days. As soon as the audit was over he'd be hitting the road.

Anyway, he was too young for her.

“Dinner at the pub?” she asked, moving on to the next receipt.

“Not unless it was a meeting with a gallery owner or a potential buyer or somehow business-related.”

She tossed the receipt in the rubbish bin. Going through receipts was the most boring thing in the world. Her gaze kept drifting to Rafe. She wanted to go over there and wrestle him to the ground and kiss him until he cried uncle.

She rose restlessly, and paced through the living room, coming to a halt at the bookshelf. The quietly ticking skeleton clock caught her eye. She carried it back to the table.

Lexie laid her chin on her folded hands and studied the series of linked wheels of decreasing size. In
the time it took the largest wheel to turn a quarter of the way around, the next wheel had spun a full circle and the next one down had gone around five times. The final wheel turned a spring that was coiled in a loose spiral that expanded and contracted with each click of a cog.

Like a heartbeat.

The minute hand ticked over to twelve and the hour hand pointed to three. There was a whirring noise and a tiny hammer struck a chime.

She glanced up to share her delight and found Rafe watching her.
Finally,
he was looking at her. “Do you want to…” She nodded in the direction of her bedroom.

A red flush spread across his cheeks. “I have to get this finished.”

God, what was wrong with her? She shouldn't have been so direct. She was scaring him. But they couldn't just act as if nothing had happened. Last night they'd stopped long enough to eat dinner then had gone back to bed. He'd gotten up before she awoke and went back to his B&B.

“I know what's going on,” she said. “You're feeling guilty because you're not supposed to sleep with clients.”

“Something like that.” he muttered.

“That doesn't mean you have to ignore me,” she said matter-of-factly. “Last night was amazing. Can't we just accept that we have this freakish natural
chemistry and enjoy it until you have to ride into the sunset?”

He put down his calculator and dragged a hand across his face. With his chin in his palm, he stared at her. “I can't reduce your taxes because we slept together.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. “Is that what you think?” she demanded, surging to her feet. Slips of paper fluttered to the floor. “You think I'm hoping you'll give me some sort of concession for…for services rendered?”

Rafe started to shake his head. “I—”

“I'm an artist, not a… Oh!” she exclaimed, hands clenched. “I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing.”

She brushed past him, striding through the kitchen and across the backyard. Sorting receipts was bullshit. She needed to at least attempt to paint.

Inside her studio she paced some more, trying to calm down. Of all the arrogant assholes. He had a hell of a nerve saying that to her after the things they had done together. He should have said no last night if he was so worried about his precious integrity.

Sienna's portrait struck her as terrible, no good at all. Maybe if she started over, layering in the background before she even began on the face….

Her large canvases, stretched onto wooden frames, were on top of the high cupboard. Jack had put them there for her, out of the way. Dragging a stool over,
she climbed onto it and reached up. Her fingertips brushed the edge of the top canvas. Frustrated, she stretched onto tiptoe, leaning closer.

“Lexie,” Rafe said from behind her.

Startled, she glanced over her shoulder. The shift in her balance made the stool rock dangerously. Arms flailing, she tried to catch herself. Rafe ran forward but she was able to right herself before he could help.

“I was fine until you yelled,” she snapped. “Don't sneak up on me like that. In fact, better not come near me at all. I might try to seduce you again.”

“I'm sorry.” He stood below her, awkwardly. “I didn't mean to insult you.”

“Well, you did!” She slowly got down. God help her, she still wanted him. Realizing that only made her angrier.

“The fact remains, I shouldn't have slept with you,” he said. “It isn't just some company policy, this is the government. Tax agents are supposed to maintain an independent state of mind. We can't allow ourselves to be bribed with expensive scotch or restaurant meals—”

“I wasn't trying to bribe you.” She glared at him.

“I admitted I was wrong. I apologized.” He spun away and back again. “I don't know what more you want from me.”

“I want you to kiss me.”

He stared at her. “Kiss you? Are you trying to make me lose my mind?” Then with a groan he took her in his arms.

Lexie pressed her lips to his. But she'd barely registered the earthy scent of his skin, the firmness of his lips, the heat rising between them, when he abruptly pulled away, leaving her gasping.

“I can't concentrate when I'm around you. And if we're in bed, I'm not getting your audit done.” He sank onto the same stool she'd just got off and propped his elbows on his knees. “What am I going to do?”

“Kiss me,” she repeated.

“I don't think you fully understand just what's coming once I finish the audit. You're going to owe a lot of money. In my experience people tend to want to shoot the messenger.”

“I'm not going to blame you for my mistake,” she said, pushing a hand through his hair. “
I
did the wrong thing, not filing a tax return.”

“Not just wrong. It's illegal,” he reminded her. “There will be a fine.”

“I don't usually jump into bed with every hot guy that comes along.” She took his hand and flipped it over, placing hers on top, palm to palm. She could feel the energy flow from him to her, feel the surge of heat in her blood. Her eyes met his. She could tell he felt it, too.

Lexie believed in letting the things that were meant to happen, happen.

“I. Can't. Do. This,” Rafe said.

She released his hand. “All right. If that's the way it has to be.”

“Good.” He sounded weary. Relieved and regretful at the same time. “I'll take the envelopes back to my bed and breakfast and work on them there.”

Lexie turned away. “Fine. You know the way out.”

 

R
AFE LEANED
back and stretched his arms over his head. He'd set up his laptop on the small table at the bed and breakfast. The cozy sitting room contained a pair of love seats, a coffee table and a kitchenette with coffee-making facilities. A door opened into a bedroom where a light glowed in the en suite.

Envelopes and piles of receipts were spread over the furniture and the floor. He'd gotten a lot done without Lexie around to distract him. Lunch had been a toasted tomato sandwich while he worked and he'd ordered take-out Thai food for dinner.

Now it was nearly eight o'clock. Murphy had lain with his muzzle on his paws staring hopefully at him for the past hour.