by Anna Durand
I took another gulp from the bottle. He surged toward me, lashing his tongue across my lips to lap up the traces of whisky. In that sultry tone he'd perfected, he said, "Heavenly."
Setting the bottle down, I leaned back against the headboard. "How about tomorrow I give you the grand tour of Chicago? I mean, you're here on vacation, so you should experience the city."
"With you as my tour guide, I'd follow anywhere." His gaze wandered down my body to my behind. "Since tour guides walk in front, I'll get to admire your lovely erse all day long."
"Hate to burst your bubble, but we'll be walking side by side."
"Even better." He shoved a hand under my ass. "I get to hold your lovely erse all day."
I slapped his arm. Reluctantly, he pulled it away. I threaded my fingers through his, loving his firm-yet-gentle grasp when he curled his fingers around my hand. "Tomorrow, I'll show you all my favorite places in the Windy City."
"Can't think of a better way to spend the day." He brushed a kiss across my lips, exciting my skin with the barest touch. "Thank you."
"Wait till you see where I take you before you thank me."
"I appreciate the offer." He lifted my hand to his lips, feathering kisses over my knuckles one by one. "But the taking bit can happen right now."
"Well, get to it, mister."
Lachlan scooped me up in his arms and laid me down on my back, flat on the mattress with the pillow tucked under my head. He slithered up my body, covering me inch by inch with his own body, muscles flexing, skin heated, his erection hard against my yielding flesh. When his mouth reached my ear, his breaths teased my skin. "Time to break new ground."
"Three times in one night?" I raked my tongue over his throat, over that tender spot where jaw met neck. "Are you sure you're up for this, an old man like you?"
"Ye won't be asking me that again." He rocked his hips, grinding his swollen shaft into me. I gasped, and his dark, erotic chuckle rumbled in my ear. "I'm up for it, lass."
For the next hour, he proved it.
By the time we finished breaking new ground, I could barely move. An intense, delicious languidness left my muscles slack. I curled up against Lachlan, snuggled under his arm. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered what the next month might hold for us. Hot sex, for sure. More picnics, maybe. Sightseeing tomorrow, followed by dinner. A couple days ago, I'd wanted to forget my problems by losing myself in one night of passion with a stranger. Instead, I wound up in bed with an intoxicating man who fulfilled my every fantasy — and made me feel safe exploring my deepest desires.
An altogether different urge struck me now. "Gotta pee."
Lachlan, half asleep, mumbled. I made my way into the bathroom, took care of my business, and was washing my hands when I heard the faint twitter of a phone ringing. I dried my hands and sashayed out into the bedroom, but for once my nakedness failed to attract Lachlan's attention. His phone conversation engrossed him.
"Aye," he said, nodding. "She's well. We had a picnic at the beach yesterday — with Casey, of course. Couldn't leave the furry little fellow at home."
I halted at the bed, furrowing my brow at him. Who was he talking to? Gil?
"You are right, Mrs. Teague. She can be stubborn when —"
A breath exploded out of me. I ripped the phone — my phone — from his hand and, with my stomach in my throat, smashed it to my ear. "Mom?"
"Hi, honey. Lachlan was just telling me about your weekend." Her tone veered into that mixture of scolding and teasing only mothers can achieve. "Why didn't you tell us you were seeing someone?"
"I — well —"
Lachlan watched me without expression.
I whumped my butt onto the bed, turning my back on him. "I didn't think about it?" I guessed we were seeing each other in the strictest sense of the word, but I would not under any circumstances tell my mother about our arrangement. "It's a recent development."
"Don't worry about it." She paused, then switched to a conspiratorial whisper. "After hearing Lachlan's voice, I'd jump in the sack with him too."
"Mom!" I nearly sprang off the bed but anchored myself with fingers clamped around the mattress's edge.
She laughed. "I'm not a prude. He seems like a sweetie and I want you to be happy. Is he a hunk? I bet he is."
I angled away from Lachlan to mutter into the phone. "One hundred percent grade-A certified."
"Good for you, honey. I'll let you go. Talk to you soon."
"Bye, Mom." I hung up the phone and turned to Lachlan, my lips pursed. "Why did you answer my phone? It was in my purse."
"I…" He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging one shoulder. "I was groggy and when I heard a phone ringing, I tracked it down." He flashed me a frown. "You left it on the table by the sofa, not in your purse. Didn't realize it was yours until I answered."
I tilted my head back and grumbled. "Fine, it's not your fault."
He stretched out on the bed behind me, all his muscles rippling. "Your mother says you haven't called in some time. Why is that?"
I threw a hand up. "Off limits."
Lips landed on my back, fluttering soft kisses up my spine to my nape. "I'll make no judgments, you have my word. You can tell me anything."
Now that was absolutely not true. But it sounded wonderful, tempting, real. "Forget it."
He nibbled my shoulder and his tongue flicked out to dampen my skin. The air cooled it in the wake of his tongue, eliciting a faint shiver and a soft moan from me. His lips vibrated on my skin when he spoke. "Please tell me."
How I longed to confide in him. I shouldn't. I wouldn't. Even if I told him all my secrets, he'd still scurry back to Scotland in a few weeks. Tension straightened my spine, wrapped its icy talons around my chest, and ached in my jaw. "It's against the rules."
He sat there, unmoving and silent, for a long moment. His mouth rested on my shoulder, his fingertips lingered on my nape. At last, a sigh gusted out of him. "Understood."
A hard lump congealed in my throat as I glanced around the room, considering our non-relationship status. "Do I stay? It's fine if you want me to go. I'm not up on the etiquette of flings."
"Course I want you to stay."
Relief gushed through me, weakening my muscles. I checked my phone for missed calls. There were four — one from my parents and three from Doretta Harper. My skin itched all over at the memory of my last conversation with Doretta. I could sneak into the bathroom to call her. Worms burrowed in my gut at the mere thought of it, though, so I set the phone on the bedside table.
Lachlan coiled an arm around my waist. "Come back to bed."
I nestled back against his brawny body, content in a way I hadn't experienced in years. This feeling, it enticed me more than the incredible sex. It seduced me into believing our "companionship" might not end in one month. Dangerous thoughts. This was a fling for him. He'd made that clear and I agreed to his terms. But maybe…
No. I had to protect my heart, or else my fantasy lover would shatter it into a million pieces. He might not intend to, but if I caved in to my longings, he surely would. Hot guys turned into hot messes. Remember that, before you fall for him.
His arm slackened as slumber took him. I shut my eyes and tried to sleep, but my brain refused to turn off for the night. I couldn't fall for a man I met a few days ago. It made no sense and I thrived on logic, on things I could quantify, on the cold detachment of mathematics. Lachlan MacTaggart did not add up. Could I lose my heart to a near stranger? My head shouted no.
My heart screamed yes, yes, yes.
Chapter Sixteen
I craned my neck back, staring up at the underside of a huge Tyrannosaurus rex skull. Sunlight streamed down from the skylight onto the time-darkened bones of the dinosaur skeleton. Lachlan came up behind me, slipping his arms around my waist to link his hands over my midriff. When he rested his chin on my shoulder, sighing with contentment, I couldn't help leaning into him, into his strength.
&
nbsp; "Tell me," he said, nuzzling my cheek, "why do they call this monstrosity Sue?"
"I don't know."
"But you're my tour guide, the one who knows all."
"Are you calling me a know-it-all?" I teased, turning my head to peek at him.
"I wouldn't dare." He straightened, his chin brushing the top of my head. "Are you a dinosaur aficionado?"
"Suppose you could say that." I let my head fall back against his firm body, nestled against his neck. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a paleontologist."
"Why didn't you do it?"
"Eventually, I realized I needed to be practical. Jobs at universities are hard to come by."
"Do you love accounting?"
The safety of numbers used to comfort me, the way you could rely on them to tell the truth at all times. Until I learned how wrong I was. Numbers could lie when a deceitful human being manipulated them for his own gain. "It was more of a safe choice than a passion."
"What is your passion?"
I swore I could feel his attention on me, his scrutiny and curiosity, like a palpable force willing me to answer. Settling my hands over his, I tried to respond as honestly as possible, though without revealing too much. Keeping the balance between us, secret for secret, seemed vital for some reason. "Well, I've always loved animals. Maybe someday I'll buy a farm, grow my own food and lots of flowers. Raise chickens, cows, horses, whatever."
"On your own?"
"Maybe." I twisted my head around to get a glimpse of his face. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason." He surveyed the T. rex in front of us, seeming for all the world to feign an interest in the long-dead creature for my sake. "Tell me more about this charming lass."
I rattled off everything I knew about the dinosaur, which must've bored him, but he acted like I was reciting the most fascinating litany of facts he'd ever heard. He nodded, made "hmm" noises where appropriate, and studied the skeleton with rapt attention. When I'd finished telling him how Sue was the most complete T. rex ever found and how replicas of her toured the world, Lachlan stepped up beside me and clasped my hand.
To any onlookers, we were a normal couple enjoying a day at the museum — not two consenting adults engaged in a lascivious affair. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Turnabout time. Is finance your passion?"
He tipped into me, our shoulders bumping. "No, it's not."
"What is your passion?"
"Haven't found it yet."
A family of four wandered past us, the mother and father holding hands, the children scurrying this way and that, their round little faces excited. A lump formed in my throat. I would never have a family. I'd go to prison, a convicted felon, and who'd want me after that?
Lachlan leaned down to plant a kiss on my cheek, smiling sweetly.
My heart ached. This didn't feel lascivious, not even when we were in flagrante. It felt… right. Like more than hot sex, more than a meaningless fling, a way to pass the time until he went home, and I swapped jeans and blouses for prison orange. Would he want me if he knew?
Stop torturing yourself with what can't be.
I realized Lachlan was watching me, head tilted to one side, lips puckered slightly. When he spoke, his tone was uncertain. "Sometimes I think you're not here, you've gone somewhere else in your head. Those lovely eyes are seeing things far away that I can't see. Unhappy things." His hand tightened around mine, and his voice grew more fervent. "I don't like it."
His words enfolded me in warmth. I shuffled closer, my hand floating up to rest on the lapel of his silk dress shirt, my thumb grazing his skin. An electrical current rushed over me, from head to toe. He looked delectable, as usual, like a decadent dessert I knew I shouldn't eat but couldn't resist. My throat went dry as I gazed up at him. "Why do you care what I think about?"
Dark brows squished together, he cast me a quick sidelong glance before averting his gaze again. "Don't know. It just bothers me." His gaze went distant for a moment, then he pulled away the slightest bit. "Is there a gift shop here?"
"Museum store, yeah." The moment, whatever it had been, slipped away. I wanted to get it back, to understand why my unease bothered him, to believe it meant something. But if I tried to steer the conversation back around to the topic, I'd only wind up seeming desperate. Which I was. But why make it obvious? Vulnerability was not my friend.
"I'd like to buy souvenirs for my sisters." He led me away from the display, down the gallery. "Which way?"
"All the way down to the other end."
Lachlan captured my hand in his, and we strolled away from the massive dinosaur, past a re-creation of a mastodon or mammoth — I never could keep them straight — through the meandering crowd, to the far end of the gallery and straight into the museum store. Lachlan freed my hand so he could browse among the store's offerings, his eyes alight, like a little boy elated to see his first toy store. I trailed behind him, marveling at his broad smile and playful mood, so different from moments earlier when he'd confessed my somber mood disturbed him. Now he plucked up a stuffed T. rex with mottled green skin and red eyes that somehow managed to be the cutest thing ever. Especially when Lachlan held it up for me, waggling its puffy little arms and said, "Wouldn't you like to hug me? I love to cuddle."
His grin melted my heart. The silly tone of his voice demolished my flimsy defenses, and I snatched the toy from him, seizing the back of his head to drag him in for a firm, lingering lip-lock. A child shrieked in delight behind us. The noise punctured our bubble, and I realized with a start we were in a public place with children all around. I severed the kiss, hopping backward, and fussed with my blouse, focused on the pointless task of smoothing and straightening it.
Lachlan raised his warm palm to cover my cheek. "No need to be embarrassed. I love your impulsive side."
"Not appropriate here." I straightened, rolling my shoulders back. "You said you wanted souvenirs for your sisters. Brothers don't rate gifts?"
"Their tastes aren't this refined." He sounded serious while holding a plush, grinning dinosaur toy. "I'll find gifts for them somewhere else."
For the next twenty minutes, we roamed the store selecting items for each of his three sisters. Catriona got an embroidered purse, Jamie a scarf with bicycles on it — apparently, she loved biking — and Fiona, who collected souvenir spoons, got one featuring Sue's image. On the way out of the museum, Lachlan bought me lunch at the museum's bistro, amid rich wood decor. As we made our way toward the exit, he halted, bringing me up short with him.
"Hold this." He thrust his shopping bag at me. "I need to run a quick errand."
"I'll go with you."
"No." His expression turned a touch pleading. "Won't be long, I swear."
Taking his bag, I shrugged. "Fine, I'll just… stand here."
He trotted off down the gallery, leaving me alone by the entrance doors, behind the imposing skeleton of Sue. I gripped the bag in both hands and pretended to study the exhibit, though my gaze kept flicking to the other end of the gallery. Lachlan had vanished into the crowd, which left me with no clue where his urgent errand had taken him. The restroom, maybe.
"Erica Teague?"
A cheery voice nearly shouted my name, and I jumped. There, having just walked into the building, stood a face from my past. One I'd never imagined I'd see again. My gut clenched, my throat constricted. Oh jeez, why me? Out on the town for the first time since before my arrest, and what happened? I ran into a former coworker from Cichon, D'Addio & Rothenberg.
"It is you!" Danny Liao flung his arms wide as a grin squinted his almond-shaped eyes and surged toward me, clearly determined to corral me into a hug.
No-no-no-no-no. I'd always liked Danny, but I could not handle the topic that would inevitably arise in our conversation. I scoured the museum with my gaze for any sign of Lachlan, or for an escape route, but my fate was sealed. Running would be rude, anyway. "Hi, Danny."
He hauled me into a bear hug, a ble
ssedly brief one, then stepped back to study me. "Where have you been?"
Had he not heard? I assumed everyone at the firm knew.
Maybe my panic and humiliation showed on my face because his grin faded. "Wow, I'm sorry. That sounded weird, didn't it? I mean, I heard what they were saying about you and saw the newspaper article."
Two paragraphs on page four. The headline: ACCOUNTANT ACCUSED OF FLEECING ELDERLY CLIENTS. The sour taste of bile invaded my mouth as acid burned in my gut.
Danny slapped my upper arm. "Never believed a word of it."
I couldn't muster words. My face was hot, on fire, but a deep cold permeated the rest of me. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
"I'm sure you'll beat this bum rap."
Wished I was so sure about that. I couldn't figure out how to respond, though, so I just nodded.
Right then, a pretty Asian woman with two adorable little girls entered the gallery. The kids galloped up to Danny, clinging to his legs and giggling. The woman came up beside him, a genuine smile on her lips.
"Hey Erica," Danny said, "you haven't met my wife Mia, have you?"
Introductions. How would mine go? Meet Erica, the alleged embezzler who used to work in the cubicle next to mine, until the cops stormed in one day and dragged her off in handcuffs.
Danny said nothing like it. He laid a protective arm around Mia's shoulders and told her, "This is Erica Teague. She used to work at the firm with me and she is one of the best accountants I've ever met. One of the best people, period."
Tears. Hot. Stinging. About to pour down my face. I blinked them away, gulping against the lump in my throat, but knew blinking wouldn't work for long.
"Ah, there you are."
The sound of Lachlan's deep voice made my knees go weak with relief. I blinked faster as warmth suffused my chest. He'd come back. I all but swooned when Lachlan swung one of his muscular arms around my waist, bolstering me. I looped my arm around him too and clinched him tight. The tiniest wince crimped his face, but he didn't pull away. I forced myself to loosen my death grip on him, but I couldn't bear to let go. I turned my face up to him.
