The Guy Next Door

by Lori Foster

To keep her just as he wanted her, he put both hands on her thighs. “You didn’t give me any details, but I have ways of finding out things.”

  Though he didn’t look at her face, he felt her new nervousness, the burgeoning suspicion. Any second now, she’d demand that he let her go.

  And of course he would. She needed to know that she could always trust him, and that for him, no meant no, period.

  To keep her from calling it quits, he cupped his hand over her mound again. “You are so hot.”

  She hesitated, just as he’d known she would. It had been that way from the beginning with Natalie. They were so sexually suited that a mere touch could ignite them both.

  But despite Natalie’s deliberate avoidance of emotional ties, he sensed that what she shared with him was more than sexual.

  She definitely loved having sex with him, but sometimes she used sex as an excuse to seek him out for other reasons. After weeks of the most detailed physical exploration imaginable, he could easily read her frame of mind. Within minutes of Natalie knocking on his door, Jett knew if she was upset with someone, if she needed comfort, or distraction.

  If she needed reassurance.

  He always gauged her mood and then adjusted the lovemaking to reflect it. That meant sometimes things were fast and frenetic, sometimes slow and easy, and at times, even sweet and…loving.

  Tonight she was worried. About what, he didn’t yet know, but he hoped before the night ended, she’d tell him.

  Natalie didn’t recognize it, but an emotional connection played a large role in making the sex so damn good. She was too naive to realize that the thrill of a purely physical encounter quickly dimmed, that just sex, cold and detached, could never be as intense as the involvement they shared.

  For a while now they’d been going strong. Neither of them had tired of the other, and neither of them sought companionship elsewhere.

  At least, that better be the case, because the idea of her doing this with anyone else felt like acid in his gut.

  There were days when he knew she was in her apartment alone, and it kept him on edge wondering why she didn’t come over. The urge to go to her, to change the dynamics of their relationship, prodded him more times than he cared to remember.

  It wasn’t until he’d heard her talking about taking off for vacation that he’d decided to push her for more than sex.

  “I like you like this, Natalie.” As Jett teased his fingers along her stomach, she shivered. “I like knowing that you’re here and that you’re not going anywhere.”

  Her lips parted, and then she dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling. After releasing a long, shuddering breath, she said with confidence, “You would never hurt me.”

  “I’d die first.” He saw the tension leave her shoulders, and he smiled slightly. “What were you thinking?”

  She squirmed in indecision.

  “Natalie.” He put his hands by her hips and leaned over her. “You can ask me anything.”

  “All right.” Her gaze dropped to his thigh but then flickered away. “That scar on your leg…”

  Though it still ached at times, Jett rarely paid it any mind these days. “An old bullet wound. What about it?”

  Her eyes flared wide. Hesitant, she licked her lips.

  Damn, but he felt that lick everywhere. “You are so fucking beautiful.” He had to hurry this along so he could get inside her. “Now tell me, what about the scar?”

  “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Jett had to shake his head at her indecision. She was so damn vulnerable and so defensive of her privacy. She shared her body without reserve but feared sharing anything more. “But you did, so tell me, does it bother you?”

  “No!”

  He looked at the scar and shrugged. “I’m used to it. To me it’s just a mark, but I suppose it’s ugly.”

  “Oh no, Jett.” Pure reaction tightened her thighs around him. “Nothing about your body is ugly. I didn’t mean anything like that.”

  “Then what?”

  She gave another small tug on her restraints. “This hardly seems the time to chitchat.”

  It was exactly the time to chitchat. “Why not now? We’re neither one going anywhere, so we have plenty of time on our hands.”

  After a few seconds more, she got her backbone and met his gaze with an exasperated expression of daring. “It looked like a bullet wound to me, so I’ve sometimes wondered what type of dangerous man you might be.”

  His mouth twitched. She thought him dangerous? Perceptive of her.

  “Is that funny?”

  Given his background and his capability, it really wasn’t much of a stretch. When necessary he could be deadly. “I guess not.” He hoped she wouldn’t be too put off by the life he’d led.

  “So why are you smiling?”

  Jett tried to look more serious. “I’m only a little dangerous, I promise.” Encouraging her toward more conversation, he explained, “I do security work now, mostly domestic investigation.”

  “Security work?” Her expression sharpened. “What does that mean?”

  “Means I’m a private eye.” Jett watched her and saw her eyes widen with understanding. “It makes it pretty easy for me to uncover secrets.” Your secrets.

  Aghast, her brows came down and her mouth firmed. “Have you been snooping into my life?”

  He gave a noncommittal roll of one shoulder. “Can’t help myself. I’m the cautious type. See, I’m also ex-military and ex-FBI. Being well-informed is the name of the game, and I’m afraid old habits die hard.”

  She absorbed all that with a frown. “So that bullet wound…?”

  “Is why I’m not still FBI. Other injuries I could brush off, but that one caused more damage and got me grounded, stuck on desk duty.”

  “You don’t have the body of a desk jockey.”

  One brow lifted. “I guess not. That’s because shuffling papers is not my thing, which is why I became a P.I. At least having my own setup, I can pick and choose the cases I want to take.”

  “Is it physically challenging?”

  “It can be. I stay in shape because I need to.” In an effort at full disclosure with her, Jett admitted, “I get most of my business from a surveillance firm that deals with divorce.”

  Even more aghast, Natalie said, “You spy on people having marital problems?”

  He didn’t like her tone. “It’s not that simple, but if you want to go bare-bones, then yeah.” To make sure she got a clear picture, he shared details. “A few months ago, some bozo who’d been cheating on his wife and got busted for it decided he didn’t want a divorce. He wanted her to give him another chance, and it didn’t matter to him that she preferred to move on. Thing is, he was acting so weird, she didn’t trust him, so she hired me to keep an eye on him.”

  Natalie frowned, but it seemed more out of concern than censure.

  “I started checking up on him, learning his routine, his habits. A week later when the asshole bought a gun, I knew he had something planned.”

  Her lips parted. “A gun?”

  Jett nodded. “That same day, he checked out an old barn at an abandoned farm out in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t like it, so I followed him the rest of the day.”

  As if forgetting her naked pose beneath him, Natalie shifted then asked, almost breathless, “What happened?”

  “He pulled the gun on his wife.” Remembering it made Jett tense all over again. Abuse of any kind sickened him, but abuse against a woman, a wife, left him rigid with fury. “His plan was to force her into the car and take her to the barn.”

  Attention rapt, Natalie whispered, “Why?”

  “He said he was going to do a murder-suicide.”

  “Oh my God. You heard all that?”

  “And recorded it.”

  Her entire countenance softened. “What did you do, Jett?”

  “I stopped him.” Jett took great pleasure in giving her that truth. It had been ugly, and he’d definitely lost cont
rol when the guy tried to stave him off by pointing the gun at his wife. More than anything, Jett had wanted to tear that guy apart. As it was, he’d done more than enough damage.

  He waited for Natalie to ask him how he’d stopped the jerk and wondered just how much he ought to tell her.

  Instead, she said, “You could have been killed.”

  She surprised him with that observation. “Maybe.” Shots were fired that day. Luckily they’d only struck a tree, a car and the side of the house. “But I wasn’t. Instead, the guy is now in jail on a string of charges, and the woman is free to live without always looking over her shoulder.”

  “I’m glad you were there to help her.”

  Jett felt compelled to tell her, “I’m damn good at any job I do.”

  She accepted that without comment then looked down at his thigh, currently under hers, keeping her legs apart. “Does it ever pain you?”

  “Not often.” He ran a hand up her leg to her hip. “For this, for you, I promise it’s not a problem.”

  Her gaze went from his leg to his boner. “I’m glad.”

  Jett watched the rise and fall of her breasts as she rested there. He didn’t want to push her, but… “Your turn, Natalie.”

  Her gaze shot up to his. “For what?”

  “Share something with me. Something that I don’t already know.”

  Her gaze immediately skirted away. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?” He brushed a few of those honey-colored curls away from her face.

  She turned her cheek into his palm. Sounding almost desperate, she said, “Because I like things how they are.”

  “What if I don’t?”

  Something close to panic darkened her eyes. Again she struggled against the restraint before giving up to say, “Try to understand, Jett.” She took a shuddering breath, licked her lips. “Sharing is…difficult for me.”

  Because she didn’t trust him—but he wasn’t giving up. Not yet. “I’ll make it easier for you.” Leaning down, Jett kissed her lightly on her lips, then her throat and then each breast.

  She held her breath as he sat up again, stroking his hands along her sweet, taut body, over her ribs, her hipbones, and coming to rest on her inner thighs.

  Her breathing accelerated. “I don’t see how—”

  “I know what you want, honey. I know what you need.” He eased a finger inside her, touching her carefully with slow, precise care. “Just relax now.”

  Her lids sank down over dazed eyes.

  “I’ll ask questions,” Jett quietly told her, “and you can just answer.”

  He knew she was confused but also aroused, and he hoped that might help weaken her resistance. “Where are you going for spring break?”

  She clenched, and he felt it on his finger. It was his turn to close his eyes as he struggled for control.

  Voice very small and shaky, she whispered, “Jett… I’m not sure—”

  “I know.” But he couldn’t let her uncertainty matter anymore. “Do you want me, Natalie?”

  No hesitation. “Yes.”

  Coaxing, he said, “You’re on the pill, and neither of us has been with anyone else since we started seeing each other.”

  He waited, and when she didn’t deny that, a strangling tightness loosened in his chest.

  It felt like relief.

  With that confirmed, he made up his mind.

  For the first time in over a decade, he wanted to skip the precautions to build on his special closeness with Natalie. It wasn’t something he’d do with a casual date, and neither would she.

  “I don’t want to wear a rubber.” Jett met her surprised gaze. “I want to feel you, Natalie. All of you.” He eased his finger out then pressed in again. “And I want you to feel only me.”

  Her chest labored and, voice lower still, filled with heat, she said again, “Yes.”

  Damn. Maybe he’d overestimated his control. He took a second to regroup then took his fingers from her. Bracing on one arm beside her, he wrapped a hand around his erection and used it to tease her. Up and down, over her turgid clitoris—but he didn’t enter her. Not yet.

  She lifted up, trying to encourage him, but he held off. It sure as hell wasn’t easy when every muscle in his body urged him to bury himself deep inside her. He had to remember his plan.

  Locking his jaw, Jett pushed just the head of his cock inside her.

  Slippery wet, silky hot and almost irresistible.

  If he wanted only this, he’d be a goner. But he wanted more.

  When Natalie squirmed, tightening her legs around him, he damn near lost it. Giving her his weight to keep her still, Jett cupped her face, brushed his mouth lightly over hers and asked again, “Where are you going for spring break?”

  She kissed him—until he leaned out of reach. “I need you, Jett.”

  “I know you do.” Not as much as he needed her, though. “Tell me where you’re going.”

  She paused in her fevered attempt to connect with him. “I don’t understand you.”

  Closing his eyes, Jett stroked into her, filled her and relished her ragged moan of pleasure.

  Then he pulled almost all the way out again.

  “We both need this, honey.” Talking wasn’t easy, but he figured Natalie was worth the effort. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than being inside you.”

  She stared at him with wanton concentration. “Then take me.”

  He touched his mouth to her jaw, her temple, in light, soft kisses. “Let’s go one better, okay?”

  “How?”

  “We can start right here, right now.”

  She couldn’t hide her skepticism. “What is it you want?”

  A little trust. “Tell me where you’re going.”

  She drew a deep breath—and relented. “To a vacation lake in Tennessee.”

  It was still chilly for that. He’d expected her to say somewhere farther south, maybe in Florida since that’s where most people went on spring break.

  His thoughts scrambled, but he couldn’t think of a good reason for her choice. “Why there?”

  “It’s peaceful.”

  Okay. He got that. Peace and quiet sounded fine. But why go all the way to Tennessee for it?

  Jett cupped her jaw. “What will you do there?”

  Almost desperate, Natalie pleaded, “Make love to me, damn you.”

  He kissed her, longer and hotter this time, his tongue slipping over hers, twining. And because he couldn’t stop himself, he stroked into her. Deep.

  Immediately, she tightened around him, her heels digging into the small of his back as if to keep him there, a part of her.

  Hell, he didn’t want to move. Not yet.

  He caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. “What’s at the lake, Natalie?” Lust made his tone more urgent. “Tell me.”

  She struggled with herself but finally gave in. “Anonymity.”

  Jett froze. A hell of a lot of people headed south for spring break. She could run into a student or one of the faculty members. But so what? Seeing someone she knew would matter only if…

  He stiffened, raising himself up the length of his arms. That position pressed their lower bodies closer together in exquisite contact.

  They stared at each other, him hot and irate, her soft and susceptible, both turned on.

  After a few seconds, her eyes closed and she shifted against him. “You’re filling me, Jett, and it’s so damn good. But God, I need you to move.”

  Instead, he pressed a hand down between their bodies until he could touch her. She jerked in reaction, clenching around him so tightly that he shuddered.

  He wanted her. Bad.

  But a horrible suspicion overrode other sensations, gnawing at him, as sharp as a blade. As his fingertips played over her, he asked silkily, “You planning to do this with someone else, baby, is that it?”

  Her eyes flashed open and she gasped.

  “S’that why you want anonymity?” He searched her face, turbulent with da
rk emotions. “So you can carry on another no-strings affair while you’re away?”

  “You’re serious?”

  Pressing deeper into her, until he felt her womb, Jett staked a claim even while asking, “Is it?”

  Rigid indignation replaced the soft voluptuousness of her body. “Jerk!”

  Now furious, she pulled viciously at the restraints. He rested between her legs—was still inside her—but she tried to kick at him. The frenetic movements only managed to push him closer to the edge, making him groan.

  She twisted beneath him. “Get off!”

  Taken aback by her reaction, Jett gave her all his weight, pinning her down. He held her arms near the elbows, not wanting her to hurt herself. “If that’s not it, then why?”

  Rancor had replaced the sexual haze. “You’re the hotshot private eye. You tell me.”

  Usually, even under the worst circumstances, Jett could think fast, piecing together clues to come up with a viable answer to just about any problem. With Natalie, he stayed so damned confused, thrown off by overwhelming sentiment that half the time he didn’t know if he was coming or going.

  Taking a guess, he said, “Not to have a fling, then?”

  Her head lifted off the pillow so she could say right into his face, “I’m already having a fling, you ass!”

  With him. But damn it, he wanted to move beyond that now. There wasn’t a single good reason for them not to be more social. He enjoyed dating. He wanted to take her to movies, to dinner…maybe to meet his family.

  Shit.

  He wasn’t seeing anyone else, and she claimed that she wasn’t either.

  So why not?

  Jett felt raw. “So this—” he pressed deep into her “—is enough for you?”

  Dropping back again, she gave a broken laugh devoid of any humor. “It would be, if only you’d quit playing this stupid game and give me what I need.”

  Ah, hell. Even furious, her voice shook with desire. They were both in a bad way. “I guess that’s my answer.”

  She turned her face to glare at him. “Don’t you dare leave me like this.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. Going back up on stiffened arms, he let his gaze wander over her. Fury pulsed through his blood.

  Fury…and something more.