Mara’s hand was on her lips like she couldn’t believe the wattage of that kiss. I’d admit, she would receive a gold star for kissing.
“Was that the appetizer?” Her luminous eyes reflected the city lights.
I ignored the tightening in my gut at her guileless expression. She was a con artist and I planned to con the con. She had targeted an old man with a bad heart, and maybe she’d slept with him, maybe she’d strung him along. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t worried about being compared to anyone, much less my father. We’d been nothing more than colleagues since I was a teenager. It’d been years since I’d felt like I even had a dad.
Shoving those thoughts away, I flipped the car into drive. “Where we going?”
Chapter 2
Wes
She rattled off her address. I thought my father would’ve set her up in better accommodations. It was in an older part of town. Not dangerous, but quaint.
Thinking of Sam with her, I put more pressure on the gas. It should be a turn-off, but she was so adorable. Is that how she’d done it? And how many other men had handed over money and property they’d worked hard for? Sam had literally worked himself to death.
I would make sure she knew what it felt like, give her a taste of how a duplicitous relationship felt.
“Whoa, Ensign.” She peered over her shoulder. “Ease up on the warp speed. Getting pulled over will only delay us and I want to see what you’ve got.”
Her statement alone had me slowing down. A chuckle slipped out. “What did you just say?”
Her grin was pure wickedness, her eyes flashing with mirth. “My store is a comic book and gaming shop, didn’t I mention that?”
“F’real?” I feigned surprise. “So you’re all up on your Star Trek knowledge?”
She tilted her head, her gaze speculative. “I’m not the only one.”
My grin faded. “I’m a nineties kid. Of course, I’ve watched the series.”
“Oh, I see.” She folded her arms across her chest, a smile playing over her lips. “You go to a swanky club, dress sharp, so it’s not cool to display your inner fanboy?”
Actually, that was really accurate. “Nailed it.”
She leaned close and whispered into my ear, sending shivers straight to my painfully hard cock. “Once I’m done with you, you’ll be screaming for me to beam you up and begging me to wield your lightsaber.”
My brows shot up and my foot twitched to stomp on the gas. “I’m going to test you on that.”
“Oh, right here.” She pointed to a small house that wasn’t any larger than my walk-in closet.
Like the other tiny, square houses on the block, hers had peeling, powder-blue Masonite siding. I’d call the dwelling and its yard tidy but not something she made a priority.
“Ignore the seventies chic. I’m going to paint it next summer if I have the time or money.” She climbed out of the car muttering, “I can’t seem to have both at the same time.”
“You live here alone?” I didn’t know why I’d asked. She’d hardly keep someone under the same roof while playing my dad.
“My mom moved out last year.” She trotted to the door, but her voice didn’t match the bounce in her step.
Her tone seemed melancholy as she spoke of her mom, whereas mine would have been resentful if I’d talked about my mother.
She let me in with a promising smile. I’d have taken her against the door, but the decor stalled me as soon as I entered.
Scanning the room, I didn’t know where to look first. Every time I spotted something of interest, another bauble caught my eye. “You have the whole Star Trek crew in action figures?”
“You’ll have to be more specific.” She laughed and shut the door. “I just got the remake’s crew. Can’t go wrong with the latest Captain Kirk.”
My gaze swung to the coffee table stretching in front of a threadbare couch. On it was a line-up of familiar characters wearing black pants and a mix of red-and-gold shirts with com badges. “I haven’t seen the new movies.”
The action figures coaxed unwanted memories to the surface. Sam’s broad smile as he brandished a two-foot replica of the Enterprise. Binge-watching whole seasons on the weekends. Making each other laugh by talking like Captain Kirk. I stuffed them back down. Figured Sam would turn his fanboy tendencies on a woman when he’d left me behind at warp speed after the divorce.
“Seriously?” She stepped out of her shoes and the flash of leg was enough to tear my gaze off her toys. “I have old Spock, new Spock. Old Kirk, new Kirk. They picked excellent actors for the remake, in my opinion.”
With her heels off, she was even shorter. Not quite petite, but a perfect size to lift and thrust into. As I examined her toys, my mind surprisingly turned away from sex.
“Maybe I’ll watch them sometime.” With Sam gone, would I still have the same animosity toward films we’d used to enjoy together? Nothing Trek had graced my screens since the turn of the century.
She closed the distance between us. “What about the new Star Wars? You had to have seen that? I think everyone in the world has.”
Star Wars. I clenched my jaw but forced myself to relax. “I saw Episode I with my dad.” The next episode I’d seen by myself…because Sam had decided spending time with me was a waste of time. Said those very words after I had called, asking why he hadn’t shown. Getting sent to an out-of-state boarding school had almost been a relief.
By Episode III, I’d given up on the things that’d bonded me with Sam and concentrated on college. It’s not like I hadn’t known who Anakin would turn out to be.
Her hands skimmed up my shirt front and stopped at the top button. My mind embraced sex again. She pulled in her lower lip to
