Black List: HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries: A Black’s Bandits Novel

by Lynn Raye Harris

  He shrugged. “How could you?”

  “No, I guess I couldn’t. But how did that happen? I thought you were American…”

  His expression seemed troubled. “I am. I am also Russian. Or was.”

  “No longer?”

  He set his fork down and studied her intently. “It’s best if we don’t talk about this.”

  Maddy twisted her fingers into her skirt. She was out of her depth here. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry for prying.”

  He reached for her hand like he had earlier. Held her fingers lightly in his. “You’re refreshing, Madeline Cole. You say what you think, you wear your heart on your sleeve, and you’re tougher than you look. And you’re here with me again, even though I’ve told you it’d be best if you walked away and left me sitting by myself.”

  Her skin warmed at his words. Her nerve endings tingled at his touch. Her breath grew short in her lungs. “Well, I’ve never been good at hiding what I feel. Or in doing what I should do when my heart wants something different.”

  What the fuck was he doing here? Maddy was too sweet, too good—too innocent—for him. She had problems of her own to deal with. Her grandmother’s care was huge in her life. He’d checked into it, because that’s what he did, and he knew that she’d sold everything of value over the past few years. Except the house. She held onto that, wisely in his opinion, and worked hard to pay the fees that the Oaks charged. They were a top notch facility, and Medicare didn’t cover everything.

  Her grandmother was a woman of modest means. Maddy’s father’s life insurance had gone to her grandmother so she could use it to raise Maddy. By all accounts, her grandmother had been a good steward of the money and used it as intended. Maddy had attended good schools, graduated in the top of her class, and went to William & Mary on a partial scholarship.

  She’d apprenticed at the National Museum of Art, then gone on to work in museums with Russian art collections. She’d ended up at Barrington’s six years ago. She earned a good salary, plus commissions on the art she procured for clients when they were looking for specific pieces that she managed to track down. It was a good living, but not good enough when you had a beloved grandmother to care for and expenses of your own.

  He was in danger of losing his perspective where it involved Maddy Cole. Just because her father had been a spy didn’t mean they had anything in common. She didn’t even know the truth about her father. She thought he’d been in the military. He had, but he’d also been assigned to special duties that took him into danger. Was that why Jace was drawn to her? Because her life had been normal with a spy dad while his had been fucked up beyond belief?

  Last night, when he’d gone back inside after Colt opened the door looking for him, he’d found his teammate sitting on the couch, frowning. “What the fuck are you doing, Jace?”

  He hadn’t pretended he didn’t know what Colt was talking about. “Checking on her.”

  “Checking on her,” Colt repeated as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Direct contact with the subject. Making dates with the subject. Seems a lot more involved than just checking in.”

  So he’d heard. Figured. “I told Ian when I made contact earlier today. If you want to report this one, go right ahead.”

  Colt shook his head. “Nope, not interested. Just be careful, okay? We don’t know if Calypso is done with her yet.”

  “Calypso better be careful,” Jace growled. “Because if she comes for Maddy, she’s going to have to get through me first.”

  That had been the end of the discussion, but Jace was still thinking about it. About Calypso not being done with Maddy yet. He laid awake at night thinking of the angles, but he couldn’t see the big picture. Her father’s past shouldn’t affect her sixteen years later, so what was it?

  He dragged himself back to the present. Back to what she’d said about her heart wanting something different from her head. “What does your heart want, Maddy?”

  Her pretty eyes were the color of sunlight streaming through a green bottle. Bright, achingly lovely. She had thick lashes that swept down to cover those eyes while she thought about her answer. Then they swept up again and her gaze pierced him to the depths of his black soul. “I think it wants more of you, Jace.” She shook her head. “I don’t even know your last name. It’s like that country song by Carrie Underwood.”

  A shard of desire stabbed into him. Tightened his balls. There was guilt too. Guilt because he knew something about her dad that she didn’t. “It’s Kaiser. And you can have as much of me as you want. Just say the word.”

  A soft smile wreathed her face. “I think I just did.”

  God help him.

  The food came and they dug into it, the conversation moving to lighter topics for a while. Eventually, however, it was time to finish and pay—he insisted on paying again, even though she fought him over it—and then he helped her up and guided her toward the exit, his gaze firmly on her ass in the short dress she’d worn. Her legs were long and slim and pale, and he found himself wondering what they might look like hooked over his forearms as he spread her wide and drove deeply into her.

  “Are you in the parking garage?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you need to get back right away, or do you want to walk to the waterfront?”

  “The waterfront sounds good.”

  He took her hand and led her down the slight incline toward Spa Creek and the City Dock. Once they reached it, he continued toward the park where he’d watched her yesterday. They walked in silence, holding hands, and he found it comforting somehow. Reassuring. When they entered the park, her footsteps slowed. He cursed himself for bringing her here after the way she’d stood by the water yesterday and cried.

  “Do you want to leave?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “You seem hesitant.” He couldn’t tell her he knew what had happened when she’d stood in the park alone only twenty-four hours ago.

  “Mimi and I sailed past here many times on our way to the bay and a day of fun together. It makes me miss her, that’s all.”

  He spun her toward him, caught her in his arms. “Lean on me, Maddy. Let me help.”

  She curled her fingers into the fabric of his sleeves. He could feel her touch like a brand on his skin. “You already help me just by being here. Thank you.”

  He couldn’t stop himself from tipping her chin back with two fingers and pressing his mouth to hers. Lightly, in case she wasn’t interested in more. But her mouth, when it met his, was like flame. She opened to him, hot and wet, and he speared his tongue between her lips with a groan.

  She clung to him, kissing him back just as hotly as he kissed her. His dick grew solid as stone. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be running his hands up the smooth skin of her thighs, beneath her skirt, cupping her sweet ass in his palms as he dragged her against his erection.

  “Maddy,” he said on a groan, breaking the kiss and pushing her back just enough to give himself some breathing room. “I can’t.”

  She frowned. “Can’t? What do you mean, can’t?”

  He sucked in a lungful of briny air. “I can’t keep kissing you like this. I want more.” But he didn’t deserve it.

  She studied an imaginary spot on his sleeve, picking at it softly. “What kind of more?”

  “You have to ask?”

  Her long dark gold hair rippled in the breeze as the wind caught it and ruffled it against her cheek. “Maybe I do.”

  He dropped his nose to her hair, sucked in her sweetness. He shouldn’t say it, but he couldn’t help himself. “Okay,” he said in her ear, stiffening with need at the soft shudder that vibrated through her at their closeness. “Tell me if you want this kind of more. You, me. Naked, Maddy. Hot and sweaty and lost in each other. I want to slide that sweet skirt up your hips, drag your panties off, and fuck you on the nearest surface. Then I want to strip you and do it all again. I want my name on your lips, your fingers digging into my shoulders, and my cock buried in your pu
ssy. Is that the kind of more you’re ready for?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Oh hell. Maddy’s thighs clenched tight as a ribbon of desire uncoiled inside her. Her brain told her this was probably a bad idea since she barely knew him, but her heart urged her to go for it. To take the leap and see where it led. Her life had been very dull until Jace careened into it little more than a week ago. Since then, her thoughts had been filled with him. With the spark of his blue eyes, the handsome cut of his jaw, the mysterious and dangerous air that surrounded him. He was the embodiment of that boy from high school. The one that mothers—and grandmothers—told their girls to avoid. The bad boy who smoked cigarettes and thumbed his nose at authority—and academics—while being so appealing and tempting that teenage girls often lost whatever good sense they possessed just for a few exciting weeks as his girlfriend.

  There was nothing so tempting as a bad boy. And Maddy wasn’t an innocent schoolgirl anymore. She was a woman who could make decisions for herself. Though this decision was probably going to come with a lot of regret at some point, the ride was too wild and too promising to refuse.

  Maddy ran her fingers up his biceps, hooked them around his neck, and stood on tiptoe to deliver a sweet kiss to the corner of his sensual mouth. “I’m ready,” she whispered, her heart pounding recklessly, dizziness swirling in her brain.

  His hands on her waist tightened for the briefest of moments. And then he stepped back and took her hand, retreating toward the City Dock and the parking garage. When they finally reached her car, he turned her and backed her against it like he had yesterday. His gaze swept over her face, studying her. Probably for signs of second thoughts. Maddy leaned up and kissed him again.

  “It was a long walk, but I haven’t changed my mind. In case you’re wondering.”

  “Good.” He kissed her again and her stomach flipped. So good.

  When he stopped kissing her, she was dizzy, and she clung to him so she didn’t slide down the side of her car and collapse in a puddle on the pavement.

  “I still want you to think about it,” he told her, his voice rough and soft and warm all at once. Like smooth bourbon whiskey on the rocks. She loved bourbon.

  “I don’t need to think about it.”

  “Go home, Maddy. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Disappointment swirled inside her like smoke. “You’re a very confusing man, Jace Kaiser. Is that really your name?”

  “It’s my name now.” She must have frowned because he continued. “I wasn’t born with it, but it’s the name I chose for myself. So yes, it’s mine.”

  “I don’t understand anything about you.”

  “Which is why you’re going to go home and think about this.”

  She sighed. “Fine. You’re far more noble than I would have believed possible when I met you. Infuriatingly so at the moment, I might add.”

  He grinned. “I can be.” Then he opened her car door and helped her inside. Bent to kiss her before straightening, his eyes still on hers. “See you later, beautiful.”

  He shut her door and walked away. Maddy turned her key while she watched his ass. Faded jeans never looked so good as they did on that man. Once he was gone, Maddy backed out of her spot. Frustration tapped a steady beat inside her brain. Her body was all hey, what the heck happened? Thought we were getting laid…

  “Not yet,” she muttered. “Maybe not ever.” Because she wasn’t sure about him. Still. Except why would he meet her for lunch, kiss her so hotly, and then back off when she said yes? Why kiss her at all if he wasn’t interested?

  Maddy hit the button for the hands free and instructed the computer voice to dial Angie. Ang answered on the second ring. “Hey, babes! What’s up?”

  “Sexual frustration,” she grumbled.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the phone, Mads, and tell me everything.”

  Heat seared Maddy’s face. She cranked the air conditioner up to max, even though it was damp today and not as hot as it could be. “It’s Jace. I saw him again.”

  “Saw him as in bumped into him, or saw him as in spent time with him?”

  “Lunch. He texted last night after I talked to you.”

  Angie snorted. “I’m really going to have to school you on what it means to keep your bestie informed.”

  Maddy laughed. “I’m sorry. I guess I don’t know what to make of this whole thing yet, so I don’t know what there is to tell you. Except now. Now, I’m confused as hell.”

  “Go on,” Angie said as if she was a queen granting an audience.

  “He kissed me again, Ang. And then he told me what he wants to do to me—the words hot and sweaty and fuck were used.”

  “And the problem is? You don’t want him? What?”

  Maddy pulled into traffic. “Oh no, I want him. I even told him so. I thought we were going to do something about it—but then he walked me back to my car and told me I needed to think about it.”

  “Seriously? Is he gay?”

  Maddy rolled her eyes. “No, he’s not gay. At least I don’t think so. I guess a gay guy could fake-kiss a woman. Or maybe he’s bi—oh hell, I have no clue about him. I really don’t.”

  “Which is why you’ve called me.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “So tell me what kind of kisser he is.”

  Maddy thought back to the moment Jace’s lips had touched hers. To his silky tongue gliding into her mouth. Her body clenched with hot need. She was so wet she’d need to change panties when she got home. “He’s pretty amazing. Not the kind of guy who rams his tongue down your throat, or gropes you while he does. Somehow, he gives you just enough to want more.”

  “Okay, so he’s a decent guy who kisses like a dream and wants you to be very certain about having sex with him. Why is this a problem?”

  Maddy would have gaped at Angie if they were face to face. “You don’t think it’s weird that he put me off?”

  “No. I think it’s sweet. Old-fashioned even.”

  “The things he said he planned to do to me are not old-fashioned.”

  “It’s still decent of him not to push you. You’ve been out with him twice, right? Or are you hiding something from me?”

  “I’m not hiding anything,” Maddy lied. “When I first met him, it was work related—and not under the best circumstances. We didn’t get along at all.”

  “So what changed?”

  Maddy was glad that Angie didn’t push her for details on the first meeting. She didn’t know what she’d say if Angie had. As much as she wanted to share with her best friend, there were things she couldn’t. “I’m not quite sure. But when I saw him again yesterday and he asked me to lunch, we got along just fine. I think there were sparks. There must have been, right? Because he asked me out again today.”

  “Maybe he wants to do the romantic gesture. You know, book a hotel, flowers, champagne—really make it special.”

  Maddy pulled into her drive and hit the button for the single car garage. The old door ratcheted up slowly and then she drove inside and cut the engine. “Maybe.”

  “Or maybe he doesn’t want you to make a decision in the heat of the moment and regret it.”

  That sounded more realistic to her. Not that she knew how Jace thought, but he didn’t strike her as a romantic. Could be wrong, but the second option seemed most likely.

  “I thought of that too.”

  “Then wait and see if he calls you. Or call him later and tell him you’re ready right damn now. You don’t have to wait for the man to make the move, you know.”

  “I know. Thanks, Ang. I just got home, so I’m going to go in and feed Kitty and get some work done.”

  “Glad I could help. Now if he calls you and wants to come do the nasty, you let me know. At least I can get some vicarious excitement from your love life.”

  Maddy laughed. “I don’t have a love life.”

  “Honey, neither do I these days. Love you. Talk later!”

  “Yep, later.”

  They ende
d the call and Maddy got out of the vehicle. A woman in a car pulled up and stopped in front of the house across the street. Somebody had rented the place recently, but she hadn’t met them yet. The woman didn’t get out. A moment later she pulled away, the car rolling down the street and turning at the end. The rain picked up, splattering the sidewalk and driveway, making everything dreary and gray. Maddy powered the garage door closed and went inside. Kitty let out a yowl as she entered.

  “Hello, precious girl,” she said with a pat. She set her purse on the counter and went about freshening Kitty’s food. When she finished, she headed for the bedroom to change. Her door was closed and she frowned. She never closed the bedroom door because Kitty liked to sleep on the bed sometimes. Still, the cat could have knocked it closed somehow.

  But how had she gotten out if so?

  Maddy’s heart hammered as she leaned her ear against the door and listened. She didn’t hear anything. In fact, she was being paranoid. A few hours in a spy’s company and she was imagining things. Slowly, she twisted the knob. Then she pushed the door back.

  Her bedroom was as she’d left it. The curtains fluttered in the breeze of the open window and the suction pulled at the knob in her hand. All very normal.

  Except Maddy froze as realization hit her—she hadn’t opened the window today.

  Jace was just pulling up behind the house across the street from Maddy’s when his cell phone rang. He glanced at it, saw that it was her number, and snatched it up, some sixth sense telling him that she wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Jace,” she wheezed, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

  “Maddy, what is it?” He shoved the car in park and jumped out, ready to run across the street and do battle for her.

  “I think someone is—or w-was—in my house.”

  His blood ran cold. “I’ll be right there.” He didn’t know for sure she was there, but he figured that Colt or Ty would have warned him if she’d left again so soon after arriving. They’d parted twenty minutes ago, and he’d stopped by the store to pick up the snacks those two had asked him to bring.