HOOKED

by Cathy Yardley

  Then he felt the silken lips underneath his mouth, the way they trembled, the way she seemed to melt against him, the force turning to pliancy, the anger turning to uncertainty.

  Then all thought of laughter seemed to evaporate in the face of a curious heat.

  He kissed her, tilting his head, closing his eyes. Tasting her--the rich, sweet taste of her. Rather than conquering, he softened her stance, anchoring her...exploring her mouth with his, a slow dance of lips and tongues.

  She let out a soft sigh and it was like she'd wrapped him in a satin net. He couldn't have torn himself away if he tried.

  She finally pushed away. When she turned back to Lloyd, he looked disappointed, and more than a little pissed.

  Rodney would've chuckled at the pouting man if his body hadn't suddenly shot into overdrive. He suddenly wanted this woman, more than he wanted anything he could ever remember. More than he wanted oxygen.

  She still leaned against him, her chin up. "Goodbye, Lloyd," she said, with a note of finality that was only ruined by the breathlessness of her voice. Actually, in some ways, that enhanced it.

  "Fine," Lloyd huffed, then turned on his heel and stomped away.

  Stacy waited, then she turned to Rodney, hugging him. "Oh my God," she whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry. That was ridiculous. That was insane."

  "That was fun," he whispered back, his beard brushing along her jawline. He felt her shiver against him, and his first instinct was to get her back into the car, drive someplace private, and finish what they started. "Screwing me, are you?"

  "We will speak of this to no one," she whispered, but still loosely held him.

  "Not a word," he swore.

  They stood like that for a moment, pressed together.

  Then she gasped, and he guessed that she'd finally felt his hardness between them.

  "I'd apologize, love," he said roguishly, "but you did sort of wake him out of a deep sleep. Only natural he'd pop up to see what's going on."

  She turned a deep rosy blush, and quickly turned. "I'll...um...get the cupcakes," she stammered, then glanced down. The blush went deeper. "Why don't you wait in the car?"

  "I know. Not a word," he repeated, and, despite the ache, he still found himself laughing as she flipped him off and hurried into the shop.

  Chapter 5

  Even while Tessa's birthday celebration was in full force up in the Pit, Stacy found herself in her office – or rather, Madge's office, when Madge wasn't out on leave. It was a tiny, windowless room on the bottom floor

  She took a big drink of ice water, hoping the ice would cool down her libido.

  She'd kissed Rodney. She still couldn't believe it.

  Worse, it had felt incredible.

  She held the bottle against her neck, despite the fact that it was maybe twenty degrees outside.

  She'd always thought Christian was a good kisser, but Rodney--holy hell. He was some kind of Zen kiss master. The Michelangelo of making out.

  Just... wow.

  She shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts. She had bigger issues to deal with right now.

  She went to Madge's office for some privacy when calling her, discussing what had happened with Steve. He'd already called and complained, but there was a security camera in the lobby, which he apparently hadn't realized. Not surprising, since she hadn''t realized it, either. He wasn't fighting termination at this point. For all she knew, he might consider leaving the city, which suited her fine.

  She'd just finished filling out her incident report when her cell phone rang. It was her mother, unsurprisingly.

  Before Stacy could quite get a word out, her mother was talking.

  "What's this about you having a new boyfriend?"

  Stacy blinked. "I don't have a new boyfriend."

  "Oh, really? Then why did Lloyd Weathers just call me to tell me you're seeing some bearded man and that you were all over him in public?"

  "That's a good question, Mom," Stacy said, her voice staying steady and cold as permafrost. "Why did Lloyd Weathers call you? He's twenty-eight, not ten. So why did he feel it necessary to call my mother to tattle?"

  "He's concerned," her mother said, her tone snippy.

  "Why?" Stacy shot back, snippy herself. "What does it have to do with him? Or you?"

  There was a long, pained pause. "All right. I admit. I handled that poorly."

  "You think?"

  "Still," her mother pressed, "who is this man?"

  "This man," Stacy said sharply, "is a poor co-worker who let me manhandle him to prove a point to Lloyd."

  "You kissed some stranger?" Her mother sounded shocked.

  "You sent my high school ex-boyfriend to a cupcake shop in Issaquah to ambush me?"

  Her mother took a deep breath. "Let's just say mistakes were made all around."

  "Agreed." Stacy closed her eyes, involuntarily shivering at the thought of kissing Rodney.

  Mistake. Big mistake. Huge.

  "But you're still going to be at the party, yes?"

  Stacy's stance softened, and she rubbed her forehead. "Of course I'll be there, Mom. Even if it wasn't a family tradition, the girls are counting on me."

  "You know, let's just have a different policy," her mother said, her voice smooth and cultured, what Stacy termed her "donations" voice when she worked charity fundraisers. "You just come to the party by yourself and have a great time. Don't worry about digging up a date. Just have fun with whoever's there. Sound good?"

  "Sounds great," Stacy said.

  "And do you have your costume taken care of?" Her mother asked. "Nothing too risqué?"

  "It's a ball gown from one of my favorite TV shows," Stacy said. "Kyla made it. Don't worry, though; it covers all my naughty bits."

  Her mother tutted. "It'd better. Love you, sweetie."

  "Love you too, Mom." She hung up, then surveyed the phone.

  She really did love her parents. When Christian had stolen from her, she thought her mild-mannered investment broker father was going to hunt him down with a tire iron and a host of harmful intentions. Hell, her mother was ready to shoot him.

  More importantly, they'd been genuinely worried about her.

  She tried to take their forceful efforts at making her happy in stride as a result. Still...

  Wait a second, she thought. "Just have fun with whoever's there," her mother had said.

  That should've just sounded casual. But it wasn't. She didn't just trot out the donations voice for no reason.

  It took Stacy all of fifteen minutes to hack into her mother's Dropbox account--password Chin Chin, for her mother's Pomeranian--and look at the guest list for the New Year's party.

  Sure enough, there were about twenty-five late additions, all of them young, male, and eligible friends of the family.

  She hid her face in her hands. "Oh, God." It was worse than she thought.

  She was Princess Charming--and they were looking to be her Cinderfella.

  A little knock on the office door interrupted her thoughts.

  "Hey...are you okay?"

  She glanced over. Adding insult to injury, there was Rodney, looking adorable, that magical mouth of his smiling, his eyes looking like sapphires infused with pure, sexy mischief.

  "Sure. I've just found out I'm being set up on the world's worst speed-dating cycle, but what the hell. It's that kind of day."

  He chuckled. "You do seem to find trouble, don't you?"

  "No. Apparently it has me on GPS." She groaned. "Did you need something?"

  She couldn't help but notice that he looked at her mouth for a long moment before he spoke. "Not particularly. The guys wanted to know if they could have a monthly birthday party with those cupcakes. Apparently they were a big hit. They said it would improve morale."

  She rolled her eyes. "They also said an open bar would boost productivity," she joked. "But okay. I'll look into it."

  "I brought you a cupcake," he said, producing one from behind his back. "It's salted caramel-fille
d yellow cake with chocolate frosting."

  Her eyes widened. "It's my favorite. How did you know?"

  Now his eyes sparkled in return. "I didn't," he said, his grin broadening. "It's my favorite, too. So I hope you realize what a sacrifice I'm making."

  "My hero," she said, biting into the cupcake and closing her eyes. "Oh my God. This is orgasmic."

  When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. Then he sighed, turning and closing the door.

  She put the cupcake down. "Wha...what are you doing?"

  Her heart started racing, and she got to her feet. Today had been so weird, so bad. What the hell was going to happen now?

  He kept his distance, his back against the door. "Listen. I know you were just having a laugh, and proving a point to that toff earlier," he said, his voice a bit rueful. "And considering how you've been crowded and hounded, I probably shouldn't even ask. But considering you, ah, needed me to help you out, I was hoping you could return the favor. One kiss."

  She blinked. "You want...one kiss? From me?"

  "Well, I don't see anyone else here," he said, putting his hands in his pocket and looking like a bashful teen for all of a second, until he glanced up and those wicked blue eyes met hers. "If you aren't interested, that's fine, no harm. I'll unlock the door, walk out, and we'll never speak of it again. I won't pester, won't ask you out. I'll even email you instead of saying good morning. Agreed?"

  She felt like she was missing something. "Just.. to kiss me? Why?"

  He tilted his head to the side. "Truly? You need to ask?"

  "Yes," she said. "Because I'm baffled as hell."

  His smile was gentle this time. "Because I don't think I've ever responded to a woman as quickly or as powerfully as I did to you," he said, his tone matter of fact. "I just want to see if it's a fluke."

  "So, it's like an experiment."

  His dimple pitted his cheek. "If you like."

  "Well..."

  Should she? What was she thinking?

  "...If it's in the interest of science," she said, before she could talk herself out of it, "I guess I--"

  He didn't wait a second longer. He moved forward, framed her face in his hands, and kissed her.

  It wasn't an onslaught--at least, not that kind. It was firm, yes, and just as drugging as last time. Maybe a bit hungrier. She felt his lips moving over hers, coaxing them open. Felt his tongue trace the delicate inner flesh of her mouth as she sighed.

  Then she moved.

  She grabbed him again--what was it, she thought, before all rational thought fled, that made her want to just latch onto him and get as close as possible?--and dragged him against her. She kissed harder and he stepped up the pace, matching her move for move.

  She bit his lower lip. He gripped her hips. Her tongue darted into his mouth. He returned the favor.

  Before she quite knew it, she'd bumped against the desk and she felt herself scooted onto it, her legs parting slightly as he stepped between them.

  He tasted like chocolate and caramel, rich and dark and sweet.

  She wanted to eat him up.

  She pulled away to gasp for air, and he kissed her throat, causing her to bite her lip, trying to prevent a loud moan from escaping. "Oh God," she whispered.

  He suddenly pushed himself away. "Well," he said, rubbing his fingers through his hair, his expression wild. "Quite."

  She was dazed, like she'd been hit by a two by four.

  "So?" she heard herself ask. "How did the experiment go?"

  "We blew up the lab," he panted, then laughed, his voice ragged. "Bloody hell, woman. You should be labeled as a dangerous substance."

  She felt sure she was wearing a silly grin.

  "Go out with me," he said, his voice still edgy and breathless. "That is...will you let me take you to dinner?"

  She sighed. She hadn't remembered feeling this attracted to anyone...

  Since Christian.

  "Ah...no. I'm sorry. I can't...I just...no."

  He stared at her hungrily for a moment. Then, like a perfect gentleman, he straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and said, "Of course. I shouldn't have.... Sorry about that." Then he quickly opened the door and left, closing it behind him.

  She quickly straightened out her own clothes, shocked at her behavior. Even with Christian, she hadn't been quite this reckless.

  Which probably meant Rodney was a serial killer, right? The way her instincts were going, she'd probably just dodged a bullet.

  So why did she feel so miserable?

  And why was she suddenly afraid she'd hurt his feelings?

  Chapter 6

  Stacy had managed to fill up the rest of the day, doing work by rote, barely able to keep her head together. Holiday hangover was bad enough--that week-long corridor between Christmas and New Year's when, essentially, nothing got done. But to add all the other shenanigans to it, her parents' ham-handed manipulations, the Steve incident, and Lloyd, she was pretty exhausted. All she wanted to do was grab dinner with her bookstore girls, maybe indulge in a glass of wine, soak in the tub, watch some Once Upon a Time, and go to sleep.

  Of course, that kiss -- both kisses -- had nothing to do with it.

  She grimaced. Naturally, her pesky conscience would pipe in at a time like this.

  The kisses had rocked her foundations. Which scared the hell out of her.

  She walked out to her car after locking up.

  "Bloody sodding whore."

  She stiffened. That was distinctly Rodney's voice. Maybe she'd been right not to trust her instincts, after all.

  He was pacing around his car, grumbling. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Come, now. You know I didn't mean it," he said, speaking directly to the car, his voice much gentler.

  "How do you not mean 'bloody sodding whore'?" Stacy asked.

  He spun around, and immediately blushed, which she had to admit was adorable. "Sorry? Oh, lord. I thought you'd gone." He rubbed his hands in front of his face. "Really. Thought I was alone."

  He turned away from her, getting back into the vehicle. She took another step toward her car, then heard the sick sounding "Zzzt-zzt-zzzzt" of a car refusing to start. She saw him muttering darkly before putting his head against the wheel.

  She sighed. They were the last two cars in the parking lot. All the other guys had bailed. She walked over, tapping on the window.

  He opened the door. "Really, I'm fine. I've called a tow company."

  "And how long did they say that would take?" She grinned slightly. "I told you your car was unreliable."

  "Actually, this is Fezza's," he said. "I swapped cars with him, as he's on a date tonight that he wants to impress. He correctly assumed that Esmerelda here," and he glared at the lime green car, "would probably not be impressive."

  "It's not even running."

  "No, that she isn't." He let out a breath, and it billowed into steam in the icy air. "You look tired. Go on home, I'll be fine."

  But he was starting to shiver, and despite his leather coat and stiff-upper-lip British stoicism, she noticed his teeth chattered slightly.

  Sure, she'd meant to avoid him. It was the prudent thing to do. But leaving a guy to wait, what, forty minutes for a tow truck in the freezing cold? That was just cruel.

  "Do you have to be here? For the tow truck, I mean."

  He shrugged. "Actually, no. I called Ruby's--they're used to towing this old girl at least twice a month. I think Fezza has a punch card."

  "I'd wait, but I have to go. I'm meeting some people for dinner," she said. "But...."

  "Please," he said, before she could ask again. "Don't feel bad. After the gauntlet you've had to run with our lot, I felt like a complete ass for asking you out earlier. Adding insult to injury, as it were. The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable."

  His sincerity, and his understanding, warmed her.

  "You don't," she admitted, then looked away when his blue eyes twinkled. "You make me very, very...not uncomfortable."

 
; He smiled. Those damned dimples seemed to mock her.

  "Admittedly, you make me mildly uncomfortable," he said, and she laughed. "But it's a burden I'm willing to bear if you are."

  She refused to be charmed. At least, she told herself that. "It's just--I was really, really attracted to my ex, as well. And that didn't go over so well."

  "I see," he said. Then grinned. "Find me attractive, then?"

  His outrageousness surprised a laugh out of her. "Apparently, I'm wildly attracted to con men, thieves, pirates, and liars. The more dangerous and crazy, the better. Still feel flattered?"

  Even more surprising, his expression turned serious.

  "You don't have to trust me," he said. "But you might want to think twice about trusting yourself."

  That would've sounded a lot more sage if his teeth hadn't been chattering wildly. "All right, this is ridiculous," she said. "Come on, before you freeze to death."

  He looked like he was going to be stubborn for a minute, but finally relented. "Where are we going?"

  "Back to my car." She pointed to the BMW behind her. "If you stay out here any longer, you're going to turn blue."

  "I've seen you drive, woman," he joked. "I may be better off in the cold."

  "In," she ordered.

  He paused. "I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do," he said stubbornly, even as he tucked his hands under his armpits, trying to keep himself warm. "But I know you want me, and I know I sure as hell want you, and that'll probably be an issue at some point. I'm not going to take your pity...and I'll be damned if I pick up another man's tab when I haven't done anything wrong."

  She thought about it. He had a point.

  Of course, if he was a con man, wouldn't he say the same? She bit her lip.

  "So what will it be?" he said, his blue eyes boring into her.

  She opened the passenger side door, pointing. "I have seat warmers."

  "Bloody hell," he muttered. "You play dirty."

  Then he got into the car.

  She grinned all the way to her door. This might be stupid, but she had to say--it felt right.