Window to Danger

by Olivia Jaymes

  “Should I order pizza for everyone?” Dizzy asked when they were finished. She felt much safer with the cameras surrounding her home. “I think I have some coupons around here.”

  But everyone shook their heads and made their excuses to leave so within a few minutes it was only Dizzy and Easton. Leann and Zach needed some quality couple time and Carter had mumbled something about a date later.

  “I can’t believe how quickly they all left,” Dizzy marveled, giving Easton a questioning look. “It was as if someone had encouraged or flat-out told them to leave. You don’t know who that might be, do you?”

  “I have no idea,” Easton replied with an innocent air. “I think they all just had busy evenings planned. You know how Carter is with his girlfriend of the month. plus Leann and Zach are disgustingly in love.”

  He wasn’t going to confess so she didn’t push it. Clearly, the quick exits were planned but she wasn’t going to complain about spending more time with Easton all alone.

  “I’m sure they did.” She dug into the kitchen drawer for takeout menus. “So it’s takeout for two, then? What sounds good?”

  “Pizza is fine. I’ll eat anything so order what you like.” He tugged at the neckline of his shirt and wrinkled his nose. “I’m going to take a quick shower before we eat. I worked up a sweat out there despite the temperatures.”

  Easton clomped up the stairs while she phoned the local pizza parlor, ordering enough food for an army. There could never be too many leftovers in the refrigerator with him around. Placing the phone back down on the counter, she heard the shower running upstairs. Images of Easton stripped down to nothing with water running all over his body had her hurrying toward the stairs.

  There was plenty of time. The restaurant was backed up and dinner wouldn’t be there for an hour. Plus, a person could never be too clean. A shower sounded like the perfect way to kick off an evening with just the two of them.

  * * *

  The bathroom was hot and steamy when Dizzy entered it, her blouse immediately clinging to her skin. Easton’s naked form was distorted behind the glass shower door but she could see him moving under the spray, rinsing soap from his hair. Apparently, she had her very own sex god rock star because he was singing a Bruce Springsteen song at the top of his lungs. He was pretty damn good too. His cousin Jason sang with a band every now and then but it looked like musical talent ran in the family. But then Easton was probably good at everything he tried.

  Quickly stripping off her clothes, she hesitated to swing open the shower door, not wanting to scare him to death. If he slipped and fell she’d never forgive herself, but she couldn’t stand here all day either. He didn’t take long, drawn-out showers.

  “Are you going to come in here with me or stay out there like a creepy stalker?”

  So much for surprising him. She stepped into the steam and heat, pressing her body right up against his wet one. “How did you know I was there? I was quiet like a ninja.”

  Chuckling, he picked up the bottle of body wash. “Baby, you are no ninja. I didn’t hear you but I felt you. I think it’s part of that spell you put on me. Now I’m already clean but I think we need to get you scrubbed up.”

  Pouring the liquid into his palm, he then knelt down and rubbed her legs and feet, his rough fingers sending tingles to all the right places. Her knees immediately turned to water and she had to place a hand on the tiled wall to brace herself so she wouldn’t fall into a heap on the floor.

  “You keep talking about that damn spell. There is no spell. But If I did put a spell on you it would be one where you’d bring me chocolate every day.”

  Twice a day when she was PMSing. Maybe some wine too. And ice cream. But the part about feeling that she was close by was kind of sweet and romantic.

  He didn’t reply, intent on his task of washing every inch of her flesh. His hands glided down her back and over her bottom. He seemed to take a long time washing her breasts, especially the pebble-like nipples that he worried with his thumbs until she was moving restlessly on her feet.

  “You’re doing a very…thorough…job,” she gasped, sucking air into her aching lungs with every syllable. “I didn’t even…need…a shower.”

  “But you needed this,” Easton purred into her ear, lifting her up and pressing her back again the wall. “Don’t you, baby?”

  Wrapping her legs around his hips, she braced her hands on his wide shoulders as he entered her in one hard thrust, filling her completely. “Stop talking and give it to me. Hard.”

  And he did. Repeatedly. Again and again, each stroke rubbing her sweet spot until she thought she would scream with the pleasure. Squeezing her eyes shut, there was nothing in the world at the moment except Easton pounding into her, the spray of the water running down her overheated flesh and his lips plundering her own. It was sensation overload and she couldn’t take much more. Liquid heat ran through her veins and she tossed her head back and forth as the pressure built in her abdomen. She couldn’t take much more but her orgasm was just outside of her reach, mere millimeters from her fingertips.

  Frustration made her groan and cry out his name but then he was there – exactly where she needed him to be – circling her clit until her toes curled and her climax exploded. Her body shook with its force and she barely registered his own release, so lost in the waves of bliss from her own.

  Much later when they were back on earth, he slowly lowered her feet to the floor, holding her steady on legs that felt like jelly. Eventually she was able to balance on her own and she allowed him to finish washing her, this time efficiently rather than sensuously. Docilely, she followed him out of the shower and stood quietly while he dried them both off. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt but wrapped her in her warm robe before lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed.

  Snuggling close, she breathed in his clean scent that was already mixing with the shower gel. It was warm, manly, and clean and she couldn’t get enough of it, pressing her nose to the cords of his neck and inhaling until her lungs were full of him.

  “What are you doing, baby?”

  “Smelling you.”

  His chest rumbled with laughter at her silly answer. “Smelling me? Why?”

  “Because you smell good,” she replied simply, a yawn escaping that she couldn’t hold back. It had been a long day. “Take it as a compliment.”

  “I do. I’m just not sure how to feel about it, but I do admit that I like the way you smell too.”

  “It’s primitive. It’s the animal in us that’s attracted to scent.”

  His brows pinched together in a frown. “You mean if I didn’t smell this way you might have ended up with someone else?”

  “Doubtful. I like the way you look too.” Her limbs were heavy but she managed to sit up on the bed. Literally the last thing she wanted to do was get up but the pizza delivery would be showing up at the front door any minute. “I need to get dressed. Dinner will be here very soon.”

  “Can we have our pizza in bed?”

  They could. She’d had pizza in bed while watching television too many times to count.

  “I’ve created a monster,” she teased. “You’ve gone from an uptight workaholic to a man who never wants to get out of bed. Anderson Industries will never be the same.”

  He sat up and surveyed the room, his gaze running from left to right and then back again.

  “I’ll run the entire empire from here. Video conferences and email can handle it. Then I can keep you naked in bed right beside me.”

  Uh…no. He hadn’t thought this through.

  “If I’m naked, maybe those conferences shouldn’t be video.”

  “There are a few flaws in my plan but I think I’m on to something here.” He grinned and then dropped a kiss on her lips. “I have another plan for after we eat our pizza.”

  She’d bet anything that his plan looked a hell of a lot like hers. Neither one of them were going to get much sleep tonight. But it would be worth it.
r />   Chapter Twenty-Four

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  Dizzy awoke to the most annoying beeping sound she’d ever heard and all she wanted to do was make it stop so she could go back to sleep. She and Easton had been up half the night exploring each other’s bodies and he’d found and catalogued every spot of flesh that when caressed sent her eyes rolling back into her head. But he’d promised that if he’d missed a spot or two they could do it all over again the next night. It was a promise without making a big production about it. It was Easton’s way of saying that he was here and wasn’t going anywhere. Her heart had melted when he’d said it.

  But that damn beeping was still ringing in her ears and she lifted her eyelids, heavy from fatigue only to see that Easton had already levered up from the bed and had his phone in his hand. Distracted by the very fine view of his naked backside, it took her a minute to realize that it was the new app that was making that noise. Someone was on her property. Maybe Trip?

  Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her robe and dragged it on, not bothering to smooth her hair or put on shoes. If Trip was in her yard, she certainly wasn’t going to dress up just for him. Easton had managed to pull on a pair of boxers and in his hand was the gun he’d placed on the nightstand last night before they’d fallen asleep. She wasn’t a huge fan of firearms but she had to concede that in this case she felt much better knowing he was armed.

  “Just stay here,” Easton commanded as he paged through the camera angles on the phone looking for the right one. “It’s probably just a rabbit or a bird, but I need to make sure.”

  Oh hell no.

  “I’m not staying behind,” she hissed, tying the sash on her robe. “If Trip is out there I’m not going to cower in my bed.”

  He scowled at his phone. “I’m not seeing anything. Just stay here. There’s no reason for both of us to freeze our asses off. I’ll be right back.”

  The sound of Dizzy’s front door opening and then voices carried up the stairs and Easton immediately pushed her behind him. “Stay here.”

  She did as she was told but something wasn’t quite right. In the dead of night it had been so quiet she’d heard the click of the deadbolt. Whoever was in her house…well…it sounded like he had a key. And those voices? There were two distinct people and they sounded familiar.

  Leann and Zach? No, it wouldn’t be them. Then…shit. Double shit.

  She tried to grab at Easton’s arm to stay his movements but before she could stop him he was heading downstairs with a gun in his hand. This was bad. So very bad. They hadn’t yet invented a word for how terrible this was about to be. Poor Easton had no clue what he was walking into and she couldn’t stop him.

  Hurrying behind him, they both paused at the bottom of the stairs as a lamp came to life with a click, illuminating the living room and the people that had turned on the light. Easton’s mouth hung open and Dizzy could only place her hand on the arm that held the gun, pushing it down.

  Because it was in poor taste to point a firearm at her peace-loving, pacifist parents. Tami and Louis Foster had arrived unexpectedly and they were standing in the middle of her living room surrounded by luggage and staring at herself and Easton. They appeared too shocked to say anything after finding their daughter spending the night with a half-naked man. She was sure she looked the part of a wanton too, with her hair standing on end and her lips swollen from the night’s activities, plus Easton wearing nothing but boxers. This was so screwed up and the silence stretched on. It was up to Dizzy to break the tension. Except that she sucked at stuff like that.

  “Tami. Louis. Nice to see you. You remember Easton Anderson?”

  * * *

  Easton was in the living room making awkward small talk with Dizzy’s father while she made coffee with her mother in the kitchen. After greeting her parents, she’d found out that they’d flown back to the States as soon as they could wrap up their work when they’d heard about the murder next door from her latest email. They were here to… What she didn’t really know. Protect her? She’d told them in the email that she had that covered. Help her prove Trip killed someone? The closest Tami and Louis had ever come to a murder investigation were the Agatha Christie novels they liked to read. Maybe they were simply tired of Greece and looking for a reason to leave?

  Tami slapped the coffee filter into the basket, not looking at her only child. “It’s not that I care that you were in bed with a man, Dizzy. That’s not it at all. We’re sexual beings and of course you have needs like any other woman. We raised you not to be ashamed of your sexuality but to embrace it. Celebrate it.”

  They sure had and boy, had it been embarrassing as hell when she’d dated in high school. She’d wanted to hide when a boy would pick her up and they’d tell him that Dizzy didn’t have curfews because she had to learn to make good decisions by making a bunch of bad ones. That teenager had quickly realized he was considered a bad one. And then there had been that time her mother had asked her when she turned fifteen if she wanted to go on the pill. It wouldn’t have been so bad but they were all at the diner and Leann had been sitting there too.

  Tami shook her head and finally her gaze landed on Dizzy, her expression stormy. “I can understand casual sex. Lord knows, I had my share before I met your father. I can understand exploring different lifestyles. But I cannot understand this. I thought we raised you better than this.”

  Tami was acting like Dizzy was the killer, not Trip.

  “You’ve put about four scoops too many in the coffeemaker. You’ll be able to clean the toilets with that.”

  Dizzy’s idea of a joke fell flat. Tami didn’t crack a smile.

  “I hope it poisons me,” she said dramatically. “I can’t believe what I saw tonight. My daughter having sex with a…with a…millionaire capitalist.”

  Her mother shuddered with distaste and scooped some of the coffee out of the filter and back into the container.

  “That man stands for everything we loathe. He’s all about making more money and building the family empire. We were okay with you being friends with the Andersons but did you have to sleep with one too?” Tami threw up her hands. “Where did we go wrong as parents?”

  It made sense now. Of course, Tami and Louis didn’t care that they’d practically caught their little girl fornicating outside of marriage. That wasn’t an issue. It was that Easton was one of those Andersons. The one percenters. Part of the corporate oligarchy. The upper class.

  “Would you rather I shag a penniless artist? Would that make you feel better, Tami?”

  Her mother slammed down a coffee cup she was retrieving from the cabinet. “At least he wouldn’t be part of the systematic disintegration of workers’ rights in this country.”

  Dizzy hadn’t had much sleep and she was out of practice dealing with her parents but she still remembered when it was time to put her foot down. If she didn’t, Tami could go on and on all night about this and frankly, Dizzy didn’t have the patience. Or the energy.

  “You know that the Andersons are good and decent people and that they treat their employees very well. I can assure you that Easton isn’t trying to chip away at their rights, nor is he lining his pockets by making shoddy products or fighting against fair compensation.”

  Pressing her hands together, Tami’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Did it have to be a rich man? You couldn’t find a poor man to love? Did you even try? And don’t tell me you don’t love him. He wouldn’t have been here all night if you didn’t. Oh my God, are you two engaged? Are you going to marry him?”

  For just a brief second, Dizzy wanted to say yes, she was marrying Easton and they were going to live in a big mansion with servants and have lots of little capitalist children that would go into the family business or just live off of their trust funds, adding nothing to the betterment of society.

  But she didn’t.

  Dizzy pressed the power button on the coffeemaker. “I am not marrying him. We haven’t been dating long. But if I were, you need to know that Ea
ston is a good man and is not defined by his bank balance.”

  “But you’re in love with him,” Tami persisted. “You are, aren’t you?”

  In love. Two simple words. Six letters. Not a big deal but somehow they really packed a wallop when said out loud.

  Did she love Easton?

  And if she did, did he love her back?

  This was why she avoided dating most of the time. The uncertainty was terrible.

  “I am not going to discuss that with you when you’re in this mood,” Dizzy said instead of answering the question. “If I say no, you won’t believe me and if I say yes, you’ll have a stroke. I can’t win either way.”

  “This is his doing. You would have answered me before dating him. He’s changed you already.”

  Yes, Dizzy had changed from a little girl to a grown woman but her mother and father had been too busy gallivanting around the globe to notice. They believed in freedom of expression but at this moment they weren’t acting like that.

  “I’ve changed.” Dizzy pointed to herself. “Me, Tami. Just me. This doesn’t have anything to do with Easton and everything to do with me. You brought me up to be whatever I wanted to be and do what I please, not caring what other people thought. Well…you’re other people too. This is who I have become and it isn’t because of Easton. I was this person before but you were too busy digging up relics and protesting corporate mergers to notice. I’m a part of you and Louis, but I’m my own person as well. If you can’t respect the decisions I’ve made in my life then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to change. Not for you or anybody.”

  Dizzy had rarely stood up to her parents – had rarely needed to as they were permissive to a fault – but she wouldn’t let this go without saying something. The Andersons were her second family and wonderful people.