done the things Bo said she’d done. “Because…”
“Because you’re a liar,” he said softly, and took a step toward her. “Because you’ve been lying to them for a long time, haven’t you?”
Another step, and she felt the hard wood of the desk at her hips, and the harder body of Bo Black at her front. The cool steel of the letter opener remained a comforting weight in her palm.
“Because you know if you admit it,” he said, “they’ll stop thinking the sun rises and falls on your shoulders.”
No. She shook her head in denial of that. Having them admire and look up to her was absolutely not why she ran this place for Sally.
She did it because the place was home, the only real home she’d ever had.
Well, okay, on second thought, damn it, yes, and because they looked up to her and admired her. It gave her a sense of worth. Was that really such a crime? Could he really not understand at all?
Of course he couldn’t. He was confident to the point of complete obnoxiousness. He didn’t care what people thought of him, it would never even occur to him to wonder. He’d probably never doubted himself, not once.
“What’s going on in here, Mel?” he asked, gently tapping her temple. “You’ve left me. To think about what else you’re hiding?”
Hard to think, much less talk, with his body so close to hers, and she resented that he probably knew it. “You didn’t by any chance e-mail me the other day, did you?”
His eyes narrowed. “No. Why?”
“Just…wondering.”
“You get a strange e-mail?”
No, just a threatening one.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. His eyes darkened. “Stubborn to a beautiful fault. That’s okay, I’ll figure it out.” Caging her in by putting a hand on either side of her hips, he shifted closer still, forcing her to tip her head back to keep looking into his eyes. “You could just tell me and save us both a lot of time and frustration.”
She tightened her mouth, making him laugh. “No worries, mate. So…back to ex-lovers?”
She licked her lips nervously. “It’s not so unreasonable a story. It’s obvious we’re on edge around each other. We…had a falling out. It was for the best, with you being an ass and all.”
He ran the pad of his finger over the base of her throat, and something warm and delicious and utterly dangerous slid into her belly. If I’m so off-putting,” he murmured, “you’re going to want to work on this, then.”
“On what?”
Again a swipe of his thumb over her wild pulse. “On how bad you want me.”
She slapped his hand away but in a lightning-quick move, he snagged her wrist, and then her other, the one that held the letter opener. He eyed the steel point with curious amusement, then squeezed until it clattered from her fingers to the floor. “You might want to work on that, too. That temper you clearly have smoldering for me.” He tsked. “Dead giveaway on that wanting-me-bad thing.”
“You are delusional.”
“Why?” His gaze met hers. “Are you taken?”
“Taken?”
“Committed.”
“No. Not committed.” Not that she had anything against the idea in theory, but though she’d had lovers here and there over the years, she’d always discovered some fatal flaw and broken things off before anything too serious began. Char called the phenomenon the Anderson Chronicles. Dimi called it pathetic.
Closing the gap between them, Bo pressed his body to hers. Her nipples had gone hard at the beginning of this little discussion, and now they bore into his chest. Could he feel them? She thought maybe by the look on his face that he could.
“So you don’t want me,” he said a little hoarsely. “Not even a little.”
She had to clear her throat to talk. “Not even a little.”
“Prove it,” he whispered, lowering his head so that their mouths were only a fraction apart.
“I don’t have to prove anything-”
He clucked like a chicken.
“This is so juvenile.” Her hands came up between them, her palms open on his chest. To push him away, she told herself, only she didn’t push so much as hold on like he was her lifesaver and she was going down. “I am not going to kiss you just to prove I don’t want you-”
“Shut up and do it, darlin’.”
“You know what? Fine.” Grabbing his ears, she yanked his face closer and laid one on him. Only the joke was on her because the moment she felt his warm, delicious mouth touch hers she forgot that this was supposed to be about making her point and instead got sucked into the hot wave of lust that washed over her, drowning out all good sense.
His good sense, too, apparently, because she got much more than she bargained for. He met her halfway, kissing her hungrily, possessively, then deeper still, pushing her back against the desk, his thigh pressing up between hers, his hands-God, his hands.
She might have let him do whatever he wanted, possibly even have stripped her naked and begged him to touch bare flesh this time, because she was lost in the sensations, one hundred percent lost.
But then the radio crackled, and Charlene’s voice filled the air. “Mel? Bo’s got an incoming. He still in there?”
Her heart pounding, pounding, pounding, nipples hard, thighs quivery, damp between them, Mel stared up at Bo.
He was breathing just as heavily as she was. “It’s, uh, about a vintage Stearman PT-13D I’m thinking of buying.”
Mel nodded, cleared her throat again, then lifted the radio to her mouth. “Thanks, Char, I’ll tell him.”
Bo, having apparently proven his point, gave Mel one last long look filled with heat and some other stuff that made breathing difficult, then simply walked out.
She let out a long breath. Well. If that wasn’t the cruelest thing he’d done so far, making her like him, making her want him. With a shaking hand, she stroked the hair from her face. One of them wasn’t going to survive this, and at the moment, body humming, buzzing, aching, she wasn’t sure who’d be left standing in the end. She sagged back against the desk, thankful for its durability, because, wow.
Just wow.
Seemed she wanted more than for Bo to simply go far, far away. She wanted him to do her first. Which solved it, really. She wasn’t lost, she’d merely left reality and had driven right into insanity.
Chapter 7
Dimi woke up on a plane. Now if it had been in the air, she’d have freaked and needed serious aromatherapy, but all was still and quiet, and she relaxed.
It wasn’t the first time she’d woken confused…There’d been many nights hanging out with the guys until late, drinking with them, getting a little too toasted to drive home. She’d always just made herself comfortable in one of the planes they stored for people who had too much money.
But as she sat up and put a hand to her reeling head, she realized this wasn’t just any plane but a Lear Jet, luxurious and plush and gorgeous.
Oh, and bigger surprise, she wasn’t alone.
A muscled forearm was wrapped around her waist. Then a pair of lips pressed to her shoulder as a husky, sleepy male voice whispered, “Morning, Sexy.”
Before she could get her wits together, she was turned over into his arms. With a sexy smile, he slid a thigh between hers, bent his head, and sucked her bare breast into his mouth.
Right. She remembered now. Gorgeous Guy from Sunshine Cafe. Brother of the owner of the plane she was currently butt-ass naked in. He’d ditched his buddies and his brother on their night on the town to be with her, and
