She wouldn’t meet his gaze, staring instead at a spot just past his ear. “Oh. Um, yeah. Better. I slept for a while and drank a lake of water. My tongue feels a little fuzzy, but I’m okay.”
He stroked his finger across her cheek, tipping her head up. Her warm, minty breath washed over him, and he leaned in close. “Maybe I can be the judge of that.” He claimed her mouth in a kiss, reveling in the feel of her soft, pliant lips. His shaft thickened as countless hours of desire culminated in this one, solitary moment. A low hum vibrated in her throat, and he answered it with a groan, shifting his body to line up with hers. Her unbound breasts pressed against his chest, taut nipples searing his skin. She shivered, burrowing closer. Spearing a hand into her hair he pulled, deepening the kiss, thrusting his tongue into the heat of her mouth. She met his sally with one of her own, and when her teeth closed on his bottom lip, his body jerked as if touched by a live wire.
He growled, and she tore her mouth from his.
“See?” She sat straight up, panting and breathing hard. Snapping a look down, she searched his gaze with wide, wanting eyes. She pressed a finger to her mouth. “What was that? Who are you right now, Mick?” She wriggled until there was distance between them and flopped onto her back, still gasping for breath. “If you’re playing at being Michael, you have to stop.”
He came up on one elbow. “I’m not.”
She studied him for a few seconds and then looked away. “We can’t do this. It isn’t right. Our little fib is getting all mixed up with reality. This isn’t real. Our friendship is real. Our business is real. And thriving.” She turned back to him. “Let’s take a step back and try to keep this train on track, all right?”
His train was barreling down the track all right, but apparently she felt like it was the wrong one. Okay, so she wasn’t convinced yet. Maybe she just needed a few days to get used to the idea. The volatile situation with her parents was confusing enough, and he didn’t want to push. Now that he’d figured out what he wanted, he could afford to be patient.
“Sure thing. Let’s get some sleep.” He flipped to face the wall and willed his body to relax. Still, it took five minutes for his thundering heart to slow to a gallop and another five before his Code Orange erection was downgraded to a Code Yellow. By the time he was settled enough to sleep, Leah was breathing softly beside him. Must be nice. Her level of comfort with him in the bed next to her, despite that knee-knocking kiss, told him one thing for sure.
He needed to up his game.
Chapter Four
Leah swiped the huge wad of paper towels across the black and white checkered marble floor of the elegant brownstone. Of all the days for it to be sleeting outside. “Stupid open houses,” she muttered as she mopped up the mess. No one but lookie loos and tire kickers out today. They were the only people annoying enough to brave the weather.
“You think we’ll get a few more people through before four? I think we will.”
Leah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Bunny Hutton was a royal pain in the ass. Always hovering, asking questions and answering them herself. She was supposed to have left and not come back until the showings were over, but for some reason, she always found an excuse to come home early and get all up in Leah’s business.
“Hard to say. The weather’s pretty nasty, and being only three days left until Christmas doesn’t help either.”
“Christmas affects sales? Maybe I should call a few friends. They’re all Jewish.”
Leah shook her head. “Friends won’t buy your house.”
“I know. But when Mick does the open house I usually invite them to come because the only unkosher meat they like to feast on is some Prime Grade A Kilpatrick beef. How long have you been Mick’s assistant anyway? Two years, I think he said.”
She closed her eyes and counted to three before she replied, “Once again, Bunny, I’m not his assistant. I’m his partner. And, yes, we’ve worked together for two years.”
“Are you married?”
Leah came up from all fours into a kneeling position. Dropping the mushy mess of paper in a nearby puddle, she grabbed the roll from the side table and yanked off a couple of squares. “No.”
“Divorced?”
She shook her head and dropped back down to continue with the cleanup.
“Lesbian?”
Shooting a look over her shoulder, she frowned. “That’s kind of personal.”
“I knew it.” Bunny popped off the kitchen stool and made her way to the door. Her red stilettos clacked against the tiles, getting louder the closer she came, until finally she stopped and tilted that lethally pointy Vera Wang Leah’s way. “You missed a spot.”
“Oh.” She leaned over to swipe the miniscule smudge. “Almost done. I can’t believe that guy left this door open. I’m sorry I didn’t notice it sooner.”
“Mick would have noticed. He notices a lot of things.”
“So you’ve mentioned.” She didn’t add “like a cabillion times.”
Bunny gave a wistful sigh. “He’s so masculine, don’t you agree? Well, you would agree if you weren’t into women. Do you know if he’s seeing someone on a permanent basis?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say, “He’s engaged,” but she swallowed that reply. “I wouldn’t know. He’s very private.”
“Hmm.” That red shoe tapped while she thought and then stopped. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to draw him out of his shell.”
Draw him out of his shell? She almost snorted. More like drag him into your bed.
“He’s such a terrific guy. So dependable. If he didn’t have that child he’d probably loosen up. Then he’d be a perfect ten.”
Leah stopped swiping but didn’t look up. “The fact that he has a son makes him the man he is, though.”
“How would you know? You’re not into men. Maybe I could ask him to do a Broker’s Open. One at night. Make it more of a date-like atmosphere for us.”
Leah started swiping—no, more like scrubbing—as she fought the urge to squeegee the sopping towels over the woman’s Wangs.
“A man like him would know what to do with a woman. He’d…”
Leah started mentally singing “la, la, la, la,” hoping to finish so she could get out of there. Normally she could handle a pint-sized—what was she, eighty pounds with the shoes?—cougar but after a restless night’s sleep next to Mick and the drama with her parents, she didn’t have the strength.
“Mick has great hands,” Bunny was saying.
Leah knew better than Bunny did because those hands were all over her last night. Just thinking about what happened got her scrubbing so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if the sealer on the marble floor came off. In her defense, she’d tried to escape. She’d spent ten painstaking minutes attempting to detangle herself from him only to have him roll over, readjust and pull her back into the warmth of his big embrace. Unfortunately though, the second time had been more solid. She’d lain there barely breathing, listening to his soft snores against her ear as they spooned. Her back to his front. Oh, she tried to stay awake and plan another escape, but between her earlier alcohol intake and the heat his body radiated, she had no choice but to give in.
Mick’s voice is so sexy.
Bunny didn’t know the half of it. If she’d been treated to the sizzling Mick that Leah had met last night, she was sure the woman’s inner cougar would be growling rather than whining about the loss of seeing him today.
Mick’s eyes are the color of a cloudless sky.
Personally, Leah wanted to upchuck at that one. Clearly the lonely she-cat had been reading too many romances because Mick’s eyes were far from that kind of blue. His eyes were a stormy Mediterranean blue, especially when he was simmering like he’d been last night. Or this morning…
Oh God, she went double time on the floor polishing—Mick in the morning. It didn’t get better than that. All scruffy and rough with bedhead and a day’s worth of shadowy beard covering his cheeks and jaw
. The lust that shot through her at the recollection brought her up short. It had been dark inside the kitchen, but he’d had the fridge open. The silvery light had bathed his naked chest in such a way that the ripped and corded muscles gleamed in certain areas and fell into darkness in others. It hadn’t taken her long to acknowledge that he was the finest piece of man-candy she’d ever had in her house.
“Well?”
“Sorry, what?”
“Do you do housecleaning on the side or something? I could use some backup. I have two maids and a cleaning service, but I’ve never seen anyone as thorough as you are. Does that have something to do with being a lesbian?”
Leah gathered the discarded paper towels into one big ball. Careful not to let any water drip on the sparkling floor, she stood. Once the last of Bunny’s words registered she said, “I’m sorry. I have no idea what that means.”
Truthfully, she was a little glad when Bunny didn’t try to explain, instead choosing to stick to the topic that was near and dear to her lusting heart. Leah tossed the paper into the wastebasket and mentally rambled off another three count.
“Do you think Mick will do the evening Broker’s Open? I can’t imagine he’d leave an important event like that to his secretary.”
And another three count. “I’m his partner.”
“Of course, it would have to be on a night I’m available. I’m going to the Caymans tomorrow for a few days, and then I’m in New York for the ball drop. I’ll have to check when my next hair appointment is. I want to look good. I’ll let you know.”
Ding-dong.
Bunny clapped her hands. “More people.”
Before Leah could stop her, Bunny hurried through the back hall toward the front door. “Please, Bunny, really, I’ve got this.”
“Don’t be silly.” She waved. “It’s my house.”
For the next five minutes, she grilled the poor young couple who had made the mistake of coming to the door. Bunny did everything but ask them for their blood types and bank statements.
“Really, Bunny, I think I’ve got it from here.”
Ding-dong.
Great, now she’d have a crowd to contend with. She turned to the couple and held up her index finger. “Be right back!” But when she spun around to head for the door, Bunny had beaten her to it. “No, I’ll—”
Bunny pulled open the door. “Well, hellooo there.”
Leah halted. The guy standing on the doorstep looked baffled. Probably because Bunny was attempting to pull off sexy, draped against the doorframe, but in actuality she looked more like an exhausted hooker who’d turned one too many tricks. Perfect.
“Come on in.” Leah smiled and waved. “I have an information sheet in the kitchen and then you can look around.”
He stepped in and said, “Is Mick here? He told me I needed to see this place.”
“He’s not here, but his assistant is,” Bunny purred as she pulled him toward Leah.
“He said he’d be coming…”
“Yes, well,” Leah smiled tightly. “Mick—”
“Is right here,” Mick said, sweeping through the door with a smile and a basket in hand. “Hi, Ben. Why don’t you take a quick walk around the house. Let me take off my coat, and I’ll be right with you.”
“Mick.” Leah hadn’t meant for his name to pour from her mouth on a relieved sigh, but it did. And when he smiled at her she wanted to die. He was so calm. So together. Her Mick. “I didn’t think you’d be coming.”
“Leah-mia, Leah-mia, Leah-mia!”
Mick made a grab with his free hand as a tiny figure barreled through the door but was too late. “Luke!”
Leah didn’t have time to brace herself when Luke shot past his father and threw his arms around her legs in a big squeeze hug. “Gotcha.”
His hat dangled precariously to one side. The huge pom-pom on the tip jiggled and danced while the cold he’d brought in with him wrapped all around her. “Hey there, big guy. Long time no see. I thought you were with your mom this week.”
He eagerly nodded. “Dad just picked me up for a while so we could drop off some gifts and then come say hi to you.”
She looked over at Mick and when she saw his killer smile trained on her, she grinned right back, her insides flip-flopping all over the place. Mick was different somehow when Luke was near. She thought back to what she’d just said to Bunny about Mick being the man he was because of his son. This is what she’d meant. Seeing him fill the room with the air of authority that came with being a dad, and the love for his son, made her realize that the whole, awesome package of Mick was made up of all his pieces. And Luke was a pretty big piece. Mick wouldn’t be the same without his son in his life.
The little boy spoke up then. “We brought the lady that lives here a present. You wanna see it? Dad said I couldn’t eat any of the candy in the basket because the lady needed it all to make her sweeter, but he promised that Santa was going to bring me some chocolates shaped like great white sharks.”
“Sweeter?” Bunny scowled at Mick and he chuckled.
“Like that is even possible. I had to tell the boy something to keep his little paws out of the goods.”
He made googly eyes at Luke, and then handed the basket to a now-blushing Bunny. How Mick turned the blowsy old tart into a teenage girl was a miracle. Leah worked to hold back a grin.
“Thank you, dear Mickey. I’ll just put this someplace safe.” She peered down her nose at Luke before scurrying to the kitchen with her prize.
Luke leaned back into Leah with a sigh. She didn’t even realize she’d begun brushing a hand through the curls poking out from under his hat until Mick’s heated gaze locked onto her. Her heartbeat sped up, and she was lost in that stare until Luke pulled on her arm, breaking the spell. “Dad said you needed help,” he whispered.
“What?” She bent down so she could hear better.
“Dad said since we had to deliver the gifts anyway we may as well help you.”
She took his chin in her hand and pulled so they were nose to nose. “Help me with what?”
“Theshibeble.”
“The-she-beble?”
He nodded.
She blinked.
He grinned, showing off his jack o’ lantern smile. But it wasn’t until he stuck his two index fingers against his forehead and wiggled them, that she got it. The horns were a dead giveaway.
“Ah,” she nodded and released his chin. “Help with the she-devil.”
“Yep, and dad says she’s sad because she doesn’t have a kid like me and it would really brighten her day if I hung around her a lot.”
“Wow.” Leah stood and looked around for Mick. He stood at the stairs, explaining something about the house in detail to Ben. “He said that? Was he dodging lightning bolts at the time?”
Luke’s nose crinkled. “Um, no, he was driving actually.”
The kid was something else. So literal. “Hey, how’s the 8 Ball? Still giving you all the right answers?”
“Yep.”
“Luke?” Mick called.
Luke’s grin was ear-to-ear. “I gotta go do my job real good.”
He was true to those words when ten minutes later, Bunny was seated at the kitchen counter and forced to break into the holiday basket in the hopes of bribing Luke into silence. It was the first time Leah had ever seen Bunny nervous. She wasn’t going to question her good fortune, though. With the seller occupied by the pip-squeak, she was free to do the grand tour with the young couple while Mick dealt with Ben. It didn’t take her long to realize that everything felt right with the world. That’s what happened when she and Mick worked together.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Mick said after he showed Ben out.
“Not bad at all. I think that young couple is interested.”
“They better hurry because I think Ben is seriously considering this one too.”
“Wouldn’t that be great?”
They heard Bunny’s high pitched cackle and said in unison. “Awesome.�
�
He glanced at his watch and then tapped it. “Okay, only a couple more hours and your work here is done. I think it’s safe enough, and we can leave you. Yes?”
“Yes. And thanks.” She couldn’t look away when Mick looked at her like that. “I mean, you and Luke make a great tag team, and I needed you in my corner today.”
The silence that followed those words swelled around them. She barely breathed as she waited. For what she didn’t know.
His gaze never wavered and his voice rolled out like slow moving thunder. “Just today?”
“I—”
“You cheated, and I’m telling my dad!”
Mick let out an exasperated breath and turned away. “Seems the tiger is trapped by the Bunny. I better go save him.”
Leah gave herself a mental shake, fearful of what she would have said, what she might have admitted if they hadn’t been interrupted.
And the answers she came up with scared her to death.
…
By the time Leah fought the holiday traffic through slush-filled streets and was within a block of her house, all she wanted to do was get home, have a nice long bath and gear up for the casual dinner out she and Cassandra had decided on this morning. She was thinking an hour and a half tops with the parents, no sweat—
No.
Mick’s sedan and her parent’s rental sat in her driveway. Great. That meant no bath, no time to prepare herself. And, more urgently, no time to talk herself off the ledge she’d been clinging to for the latter half of the day. Once Mick had left with Luke, Bunny had reverted back to she-beble mode and Leah had been this close to killing her.
She stepped through the front door to her Dad seated on the recliner. “There she is! The lady of the hour.”
“Hi Dad, how are you feeling?”
“Sketchy with the cold, but I’m hanging in there.”
She gave him a hug. “Great, but you see why Arizona works so well for you?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. She wanted to move along and get this evening started and over with as soon as— “Are you watching a movie?” And was that roast beef she smelled? Her stomach growled. “Someone made dinner?”
White Lie Christmas Page 5
