Warily keeping one eye on her, Marty pulled up his jeans, refastened his shirt and tucked it back into his jeans before zipping them closed.
Taking a deep breath, Belle shoved a thick swath of silky curls back over her shoulder before moistening her lips nervously.
Oh Jesus, what the sight of her little tongue sliding across her lush lips did to him. His shaft actually jerked in response. Marty closed his eyes briefly. He could take her again, right here, right now. Somehow he just knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. Damn it.
Feeling her shift, he opened his eyes immediately and reached out, wrapping his hand gently around her upper arm and bringing her to a halt. Still she refused to look at him, her head bent down, the flush in her cheeks bright. No way was he allowing her to avoid him. “Belle?”
Without answering, she turned her head further away.
“Please look at me, honey.” When she didn’t, he placed his fingers beneath her chin and turned her head, tilting it back so he could meet her eyes without bending down. Immediately his gut clenched at the misery in her expression. “Oh, Jesus. Don’t cry, Belle.”
“I’m not.” The tears shimmering in her eyes belied that denial, but true to her word she somehow managed to stop any tears escaping.
“What’s wrong?” Shifting his hand, he ran his thumb caressingly across one flushed cheek, concern filling him, wanting to comfort her but not sure exactly how. “Speak to me, Belle.”
“Nothing.” She blinked the tears away, but the misery was something she couldn’t hide.
“Honey-”
“You have to go.” Pulling abruptly out of his hold, she slid out of reach and around the counter. “Now.”
“Go? But-”
“Now!”
Okay, this was unexpected. Hands on hips, he eyed her closely. What harebrained idea was she cooking up inside that pretty head now? And he knew she was, he had a sister, he knew how the female of the species thought. Without commonsense.
Not that he’d ever tell his sister that, not if he wanted to live.
Her hand smoothing low across her belly suddenly had concern spiking through him. “Did I hurt you?” He walked around the counter. “Was I too rough?”
“What? No.” As skittish as a wild deer, she backed away.
“Are you sure?” Watching her closely, he stopped moving.
To his relief she halted her retreat as well. “I’m sure.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He couldn’t prevent the snort of disbelief. “Trust me, when a woman acts like this and says nothing is wrong, something sure as hell is.”
“Well, you’d know, wouldn’t you?” There was a bite in her tone.
His eyes narrowed. Oh yeah, she was cooking up a harebrained idea, all right. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know.”
“I don’t.”
Lifting her chin, she met his gaze unflinchingly, though her hands wringing her skirt gave away her nervousness and the red in her cheeks sure as hell gave away her self-consciousness.
Not phased by either tell-tale sign, Marty started forward again.
Almost immediately she started backing away.
“Stay right there,” he ordered.
She halted, but her chin remained up and her eyes glittered, this time with anger.
Okay, anger he could handle. Tears were another story.
He hadn’t gotten close to her, however, before she held up a hand. “Stop.”
“Oh no, honey.” He shook his head as he continued striding forward. “That doesn’t work with me.”
Belle actually stamped her foot, which did make him pause momentarily, right before he laughed in genuine amusement. “Jesus, you are a ferocious little thing when you’re angry, aren’t you?”
“Damn you, Marty! Go away!”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.” Stopping directly in front of her, he changed tactics, sliding his thumbs into the loops on his jeans and rocking back on his heels, smiling beguilingly and letting the rebellious hank of blonde hair fall low over his brow.
Yep, this pose had brought many a woman off her high horse and tumbling back into his arms. It was his relaxed, I’m-just-a-naughty-boy pose that women loved.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work with Belle. She simply folded her arms beneath those magnificent breasts and looked down at the floor. “I don’t want you here.”
Pursing his lips, Marty studied her. “I need more than that.”
“I think you got enough already, don’t you?”
Oh ho. Now he was seeing where this was going and no way, boy, no way in hell was she going to take this and run with it. “Belle-”
“The door’s that way.” She pointed, still not looking at him.
“I don’t give a rat’s arse where it is, I’m not leaving while you’re jumping to yet another conclusion. A big, fat, mistaken one, if I’m correct.”
This got a reaction. Belle’s head snapped up and she glared at him. “The only big, fat mistake I made was in opening my front door when you rang the bell.”
“Ah, so you admit that making love wasn’t a mistake.”
“That was the biggest mistake.” Her cheeks flamed but she continued to gamely meet his gaze.
“Oh no. You just said the only mistake was in opening the door.” Leaning down a little, he smiled. “You can’t just change the list of mistakes, honey.”
“You’re at the top of the list.”
He shook his head, unable to stop his smile widening when she clamped those luscious lips shut. “I’m on the top of your best decisions ever list.”
“You are so full of yourself.”
“Honey, you were so full of me not long ago.” Holding up two fingers, he added, “Twice.” And winked. “You enjoyed it, too.”
“You egotistical arse!”
“Just telling it like it is, honey.”
“And I’m not your honey, so stop calling me that!”
“Baby.”
“I’m not your baby, either.”
“Firecracker?”
“What?” She shook her head. “No! Look, Marty…” When he simply quirked an eyebrow at her, she seemed to run out of steam and slumped back against the wall. “Just go away.”
“Why?” Subduing his natural joking inclination, Marty moved forward, halting when she held up her palm. “Belle, what we shared was magical. I can’t just walk away now.”
“Magical?” She shook her head again. “You got what you came for.”
“I didn’t come for sex.” That was an added bonus, but not advisable to admit right now. “I came for you.”
Chapter 6
“You keep saying that.” Wearily, she ran one hand through the thick curls flowing across her shoulders and down her back. “But really, Marty, why did you come here? To warn me off embarrassing your family? Talking to the media? You don’t have to worry about it, I’ve no intentions of doing anything like that.” The thick lashes hiding her eyes lifted, the green of her irises almost startling against the black of the pupils. “I’m fine, your family is fine, everything is fine. Okay?”
“No,” he replied quietly, “It’s not okay. I didn’t come here to ensure your silence and I’m a little insulted that you’d think so. Jesus, Belle, how can you deny what happened between us?”
“I’m not denying it.” Her gaze shifted a little, red tinging her cheeks. “But it wasn’t your sole reason for coming here.”
“Fine. It wasn’t, and I never said it was.” Ignoring her halting gesture, Marty strode forward. This time she just watched as he closed the distance between them, her expression almost resigned. Laying one hand on the wall above her head, Marty leaned down to look her directly in the eyes. “Here’s the truth, Belle. I was worried about you. I knew you were upset, I knew the photo upset you even more. I should have been able to simply inquire after your welfare but it wasn’t enough, especially when I knew you were so upset tha
t you cried over that stupid photo.”
“It was embarrassing.” She glanced away. “Now everyone knows.”
With one finger against her soft cheek, Marty turned her attention back to him. “Forget the stupid photo.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Fine. The photo is out there, everyone knows you called Trevor out for cheating on both you and his fiancée, so sad too bad.”
“So sad too bad?” Her expression switched swiftly from sad to outraged.
“Yeah. I don’t care about Trevor, I don’t care about the media.” Sliding his finger down to her lips, he brushed the tip over the lushness. “You’re why I’m here. I worried about you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind, I couldn’t get our kiss out of my mind. I wanted to see you again.” He blew back the hank of hair that flopped over his brow. “To put it bluntly, Belle, you got under my skin.”
“Like an itch?”
“Yeah.”
“So now you’ve had the scratch you can go home.”
Geez, she had a whip for a tongue at times. Marty shook his head. “Look, Belle, I’m trying to explain why I came. Will you stop jumping to conclusions and making this hard?”
“Fine.” Folding her arms beneath her breasts, she looked up at him, those lush lips pressed together and a storm gathering in her eyes.
Women. Who could understand them?
With a sigh, Marty dropped his hand to her waist, instantly feeling her stiffen. Another new experience, he wasn’t used to women withdrawing from him, they’d always thrown themselves at him. He’d never had to work so bloody hard to convince a woman before of his interest.
Maybe because Belle wasn’t just another woman.
“Okay,” he said. “We’re going in circles and getting nowhere. Suppose you tell me why you think I came?” As she opened her mouth, he warned, “Not crudely, either. I want you to be truthful.”
“Fine.” She glared at him. “I can’t imagine why you’d be interested in me except as a novelty. I slept with Trevor, was dumb enough to believe him, made a fool of myself, and think…”
“Yes?”
“I think you’re just amusing yourself with me.”
Yeah, women did lack commonsense at times. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“I see.” Wondering how to convince the stubborn female that he wasn’t here for any freebies, Marty studied her face.
In return, she quirked an eyebrow in silent challenge.
He stared her directly in the eyes. “Right, I hear you. Now you listen to me. I came to see you, as I’ve said countless times already. I didn’t expect to make love to you, that wasn’t on my plan for today-”
“Today?” She just had to leap on that one little word.
Ignoring her, he continued, “I find you desirable. I want to get to know you better-”
“You sure know me a little better now.”
Jesus, she was like a dog with a bone. “You’re a little fixated on that, aren’t you?”
“Kind of hard to forget.”
He couldn’t stop the grin, his masculine ego over-riding his commonsense. “I made quite an impression, huh?”
She returned his gaze stonily.
With a sigh, Marty straightened. “Look, I don’t know how to convince you that I’m not here to amuse myself.”
“You won’t convince me.”
She was right. Looking down at her expression, the anger in her eyes and the mulish set of her lips, Marty realised the truth. Right now she wasn’t going to listen and anything he said was going to be twisted. Jesus, what a woman.
Yeah, what a woman, and one he wasn’t going to just let go. But right now he was smart enough to back off.
“Okay.” Stepping back, he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “You win. For now. But I’ll be back, Belle.” Reaching out, he tapped her lightly on the nose. “I’ll be back when you’ve calmed down and we can talk.”
“Me calm down?” Fire lit her eyes.
“Yep. But meanwhile, here’s something to think about.” Snatching her up against him, he kissed her hot and deep, quick and hard. Pushing her back, he managed not to grin at her dazed look and the way she unconsciously swayed towards him. “I’ll be back.”
Turning on his heel, he walked out of the house, shutting the door firmly behind him. Getting into the rental car, he backed out of her driveway and onto the road, but as he left, he couldn’t resist one last glance at her house. The curtain at her lounge room window twitched. Yeah, she was watching, all right.
Turning onto the main road, he headed back to the flat he was currently staying at, his mind working on how he was going to convince Belle that she was more than just a diversion and why the hell would she even think it, anyway? Sure, Trevor had tricked her, but that was no reason to be so out and out angry with him, Marty thought. Just the idea of it had both anger and indignation flare to life inside him. Hell, if he had any brains, he’d just head home and forget about the generously curved woman, but unfortunately that wasn’t an option. Not now, especially not after tasting her ample charms and finding them to his taste.
It didn’t ease his sudden spurt of anger, though, and he pulled into the car park with a frown that was quickly turning into a scowl. Getting out of the car, he locked it and headed for the flat.
Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Alan sprawled on the sofa with Sugar lying on his chest. Alan was eating from a bag of chips, and the scattering of crumbs on his shirt and around Sugar’s mouth indicated that he’d been sharing with her.
Taking one look at Marty’s face, he drawled, “Didn’t go as planned with the big chick, huh?”
“What makes you think that?” Marty caught Sugar as she launched herself up at him, cradling her wriggling body close. “Hey, sweetums. Has Uncle Alan been feeding you junk?”
Sugar yipped and licked his chin.
Sitting up, Alan brushed the crumbs from his shirt. “You left looking happy but returned looking like she’d given you a wedgie.” His grinned. “Did she give you a wedgie?”
“No.”
“So what happened? You ruffled her feathers with your charm?”
He’d done more than ruffle her feathers, but he wasn’t telling that to Alan. Flopping onto the sofa, he reached for the bag of chips. “She’ll come around.”
Alan studied him for several minutes in silence.
Sugar settled herself at Marty’s feet and picking up the TV channel remote control, he flicked over to the football game.
“Holy shit!” Alan slapped his knee. “You had sex with the big chick!”
So much for not telling the loudmouth anything. Marty sighed inwardly.
“And then she kicked you out!”
“Belle did not kick me out.”
“Then you’re boinking technique needs work, because she obviously wasn’t happy.”
“My technique is just fine.” Yeah, better than fine in fact. He could still feel her undulating against him, soft and curvy and hot, her moans filling the air and her lush body pressing back against him, her sheath clasping him tight. Shifting on the sofa to try and subdue a sudden boner threatening to arise, Marty scowled. “Mind if we watch the game?”
“So what did you do to make her kick you out?”
“Nothing. I didn’t get kicked out.” Marty glanced sideways. “I walked out.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed. “But something happened.”
“What are you, the guru for relationships? Because I’m telling you right now, you’re expertise is shit.”
“You can’t fool me. Something happened between you and the big chick. You had sex and then come back here all shitty. What happened?”
Alan wasn’t going to let up. Marty slid further down on the sofa. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No. Okay?”
“Not okay. Now tell Uncle Alan what happened and leave nothing out.” When Marty cut him a narrow-eyed look, Alan relented.
“Well, leave out the sex, unless there’s something there I can use.”
“I think you’ve been hanging around Mike too much.”
“Mike won’t tell me about his sex life.”
“I mean the talking.”
“Hey, I’m just here to help an old friend.”
“Could have fooled me. Amuse yourself, more like.”
“Hey, I volunteered to come here to have your back, man.”
“Volunteered? You practically threw yourself under the car until I gave in.”
“To have your back. Be your bud. We’ve been mates since high school, man, the least I can do is be your support person.”
Marty shot him an incredulous look.
Alan pointed down at Sugar. “Plus, I baby sat your dog while you’re off making sexy with your girlfriend. Do you know how much it hurts my image to walk the fluff ball with the pink collar and leash? Only for a mate would I do this. ”
“Belle’s not my girlfriend.”
“So we’re free to go to a topless bar tonight? There’s a strip joint-”
“No. I have other plans.”
“Involving Belle?”
Marty’s jaw clenched a little. Maybe not. Maybe Belle needed the night to think about things.
Alan held out a can of beer. “If you’re going to sit and sulk, the least you can do is relax.”
Popping the tab, Marty took a swallow and grimaced. “What the hell is wrong with women?”
“What’s right with them?”
“That’s your answer?”
“Just think about it for a moment.”
Okay, it did make sense, which was more than he could say for Belle’s cockamamie opinion. Geez.
Slouched down, scowling, Marty sipped at the beer.
Utterly content, Sugar rested her tiny chin on his foot and went to sleep.
After several minutes Alan broke the silence. “I’m disappointed in this new side of you, Marty.”
Marty glanced at him. “What?”
“Where’s that go-get-’em bloke with the take-no-prisoners attitude?”
“Seriously? Have you ever known me to have to chase a woman?”
“Are you bragging?”
“No, just stating a fact.”
“Huh.” Alan thought about it for several seconds. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”
The Lawson Boys: Marty Page 15
