by Ann Charles
She wasn’t sure whether his groan was meant for her or her corny pickup line. Before she could ask he followed it with a kiss. Not just any kiss, the kind that reached down into her chest and squeezed her heart.
It was getting hard to think beyond wanting him naked and inside of her. Reaching for his zipper she undid his pants. “Were you in the Boy Scouts, Mac?” She reached inside his jeans, her hands exploring, teasing. “Because you’ve tied my heart in a knot.”
“Shut up and have your way with me, woman.”
She planned to do just that, helping him shed his pants and then his shirt from around the sling, all while backing him toward the bed and then pushing him down onto it. The sight of the phone on the nightstand reminded her of something he’d said earlier. “Who did you call earlier tonight from The Shaft?”
He hesitated, frowning up at her for a couple of seconds. “That’s a new one. I don’t get the pickup part of it.”
“It’s not a line. It’s a question.” She wiggled out of her skirt, tossing it onto the chair in the corner of the room. “You left to make a call, remember? Who did you call and why?”
His focus seemed to be glued to her hips. “That’s not important right now.” He pointed at her underwear. “Do you need help removing those?”
She ran her finger along the waistline of her panties, snapping the elastic against her skin. “Tell me who you called and why, and I’ll do a trick that will knock your socks off.”
He gulped visibly.
Snagging both index fingers into the elastic waistline, she shimmied the flimsy satin down her hips an inch and then paused. “That’s no cheesy pickup line either.”
“I called Ruby,” he said so fast she almost didn’t catch it.
“Why?”
“The address listed on the Humdigger mining claim was different.”
“You mean Ruby’s address was different?”
“No, Joe’s. It’s somewhere in Yuccaville.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I needed to find out if Ruby had been with Joe when he still lived at the Yuccaville address.”
Joe had lived in Yuccaville? Of course he had, she answered her own question. He’d grown up in Yuccaville according to Ruby. But for some reason Claire hadn’t considered that he’d lived somewhere else in the area besides the R.V. park. “Had she lived at the other address with him?”
“No. She said when they married he brought her here to the R.V. park straight away.”
“Did she know anything about the other place listed on the claim?”
He shook his head, his gaze dropping to her hips again.
“Are we going to go check out this other address?”
“You are not.”
“Come on, Mac. Take me with you. Please?”
“No, Slugger. I’m going alone.” He reached out and snagged her wrist, pulling her closer so she stood between his knees. “Now, I held up my end of the deal, so let’s see this trick of yours.” He reached behind her and unclasped her bra with a quick flick of his fingers. “My socks are waiting to be knocked off.”
She let the bra straps slide off her shoulders. The black lace-edged cups slipped little by little down over her breasts. Down, down, down, teasing Mac with a tiny glimpse of her …
Someone pounded on the door.
Horsefeathers! She reached back and hooked her bra back on, sliding the straps back onto her shoulders. This lack-of-privacy baloney was getting old. She should have jumped Mac in Mabel’s front seat when she had the chance.
Claire held her finger to her lips, shushing Mac in hopes that their silence would make their late night visitor go away.
The pounding came again, harder. “Claire, I know you’re in there.” Ronnie’s voice sounded muffled through the wood.
“Go away. I’m trying to sleep.”
The door knob twisted. “Dammit, I need to talk to you.”
“I’m busy. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No! This is important,” Ronnie said in a slurred stage whisper through the crack at the bottom of the door. How many gin and tonics had she emptied tonight? Hadn’t Grady kept an eye on her?
“Not important enough.” Claire wanted to finish what she’d started with Mac.
“It’s about the diamonds,” her sister whispered loud enough for Sheriff Harrison to hear her clear over in Yuccaville.
Claire squeezed her eyes shut. Mac had known nothing about the diamond-filled glass eyeballs Claire and Ronnie had found last month, and she’d really wanted to keep it that way.
“Unlock the door,” the blabbermouth continued, oblivious to what she’d just leaked.
“Claire?” Mac’s voice sounded constricted, like his vocal chords were locked up in surprise.
She peeked at him with one eye, cringing at the sight of his rigid jaw and pinched brow.
“What diamonds?”
* * *
Saturday, November 10th
Mac woke in the semi-darkened room to the feel of a warm body pressed against him under the sheet. Sunlight was trying its damnedest to sneak in under the pulled window shades.
He frowned up at the ceiling. He could have sworn that he’d fallen asleep last night alone in his aunt’s bed. Claire had gone off to deal with her somewhat drunken sister and the so-called little diamond fiasco she’d promised to fill him in on today.
Drunken sister … His eyes widened. It was Claire snuggled into his side, wasn’t it? He pulled the sheet back and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her brown eyes opening.
“Morning, McGorgeous.” She nuzzled into his good shoulder, her hair tickling his nose.
Stroking her smooth, bare back, he breathed in the fruity scent of her favorite shampoo and enjoyed her soft curves brushing his skin. Her fingers threaded through the hair on his chest, her nails scratching downward, circling around his abdomen, and then drifting over his briefs.
“What’s this?” she asked, taking a firmer hold on him as she slid her warm body up along his.
His pulse leapt. God, this was pure ecstasy … and torture. He reached down and pinched her bare bottom.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Just making sure I’m not dreaming.”
“You’re awake, trust me.” She slid her leg across his thighs, climbing on top of him. “Very awake,” she whispered while pressing her hips into his.
Sweet Jesus! He blinked up at her, unable to process fully what was going on. Things clicked into place one at a time. Claire. Naked. Rubbing all over him. Turning him inside out.
“Slugger, what are you doing? Is this an attempt to make me forget about those diamonds?”
“Sheesh, Mac. After all of those pickup lines you hit me with last night, I’d think you’d expect to wake up next to a naked, man-starved girl.”
“I never expect that,” he shifted her weight so she fit closer against him. “But I’m always open to having any naked woman in my bed.”
“Any?” She leaned down and bit the skin above his nipple, then trailed her tongue down, circling, flicking, tantalizing. “Take that back or I’ll tell my mother you are only using me for sex.”
“I’ve told you before,” he groaned when her teeth scraped over him, cranking him up even higher. “Never mention your mother while we’re in bed together.” He stroked his thumb along the side of her breast and then palmed it, forcing all thoughts of Deborah from his brain.
Claire pushed down his briefs, sliding all over him in the process, making him writhe under her in need.
He growled in his throat. “You’re doing that on purpose.”
“Maybe.” She bit, nibbled, and licked her way down his stomach and further, toying with him until he teetered on the edge of bliss. He hauled her playful mouth up to his, plunging his tongue inside hers, unable to get enough.
“Mac,” she whispered when he came up for air. Her body hovered just out of reach, tempting him with brushes of flesh on flesh.
“What?”
he gasped at another brief touch. So close.
“Take me.”
“Hell, yes!”
“No, I mean take me to Joe’s old house.”
His gaze nailed hers. “You play dirty, Slugger.”
“I know.” She slid down onto him in one smooth push, making his mind reel with a burst of pleasure that would’ve knocked his socks off if he’d been wearing any. “But you like it dirty, Mac.”
“God, Claire!” He cupped her hip with his good hand, moving under her, urging her to finish what she’d started before he went blind from yearning. “I definitely do.”
She stilled suddenly, staring down at him, her eyes dark with lust. She shook her head when he tried to get her to keep moving. “Take me with you to Joe’s today, Mac.”
He cursed at the ceiling. He’d give her anything she wanted right now, and the temptress knew it.
“Only,” he tightened his grip on her, “if you finish,” he pulled her hip forward and then pushed her back while arching under her, “what you started.” His left side was beginning to ache, but he didn’t care. Claire surrounded him with her scent and softness, spiking his adrenaline, masking the pain.
She leaned forward, running her lips along his jaw. “You just lie back, handsome,” she whispered, a husky chuckle following. “Let me bring you over to the dark side.”
“I need to touch.”
“So touch.” She moved over him, touching him plenty. “Wanna get some coffee, hot stuff?”
He couldn’t make sense of her question in the midst of her rocking his world. “What?”
“Because I like you a latte.”
He gave that pickup line a thumbs down and then slid his hand up her ribs, his body’s RPM redlining. “All of these curves and me with no brakes,” he threw back a stupid line he’d first heard in college. Then he sank back onto the bed and let her run rampant over him until he couldn’t hold back any longer, slamming deep into her, every muscle locked tight.
Several gasps from her later, when her body stopped shuddering around him, he tipped her chin up. “You are a nefarious, seductive minx.”
She winked at him. “But you still love me.”
After this morning, he wanted to beg her to marry him and put him out of his misery for good, but he knew better than to bring up the M word with Claire. “More than zombies love brains,” he said instead, tickling her ribs.
After she’d captured his hand and stopped squirming, she asked, “It was that latte line that really pushed you over the top, wasn’t it?”
He rested his head back onto the pillow, laughing up at the ceiling. “Yeah, that was the tipping point.”
She slid forward and kissed his chin. “Come on, I’ll make you breakfast, and then we can go check out Joe’s old place.”
He squinted at her. “Two can play at that blackmail game, you know.”
“I know. I learned it from you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. Remember that morning in your shower when you blackmailed me into saying ‘Yes’ to going to your company’s summer picnic.”
“Oh, right.” He grinned at the memory of her all wet and panting. “I believe your exact words were ‘Yes! Yes! Oh, God, yes, Mac!’ There might have been one more ‘yes’ in there that I’m forgetting.” He stroked his finger down her cheek. “You were pretty excited that morning to go to the picnic with me.”
“That’s it, wise guy.” She rolled off of him. “Get your sweet ass out of that bed and let’s get moving.” She grabbed a pair of underwear from a stack of clean clothes on the dresser and stepped into them. “After we get back from checking out Joe’s old house, I need to rewire that other wall before Chester heads over to Dirty Gerties for Saturday night mud fights.” She hooked her bra behind her back and flipped the front of it up over her chest, ruining the view. “And I told Kate I’d close for her tonight at The Shaft so she can get some rest.”
“Whoa, Speed Racer. You’re like a Tasmanian Devil,” Mac said, slowly sitting up and lowering his feet to the floor.
She zipped up her blue jeans, grinning at him. “You didn’t mind me gyrating all over you a moment ago.”
“For the record, you can gyrate all over me whenever you wish, devil woman. Hand me that, please.” He pointed at his overnight bag. “Want to help me take a shower?”
“Ha! I’ve fallen for that one before.” She handed him his bag and cracked the bedroom door, making sure the coast was clear. “I’ll come check on you if you’re not out by the time I have breakfast ready.”
“Spoilsport.” He paused to sweep a kiss over her lips on the way out the door.
Twenty minutes later, he stepped into the kitchen with another one of Harley’s button-up shirts in his hand—this one dark blue with little Army tanks all over it. `
Jess wrinkled her nose at him from where she sat perched on the counter. “Your chest keeps getting hairier the older you get.”
“Shut up, brat,” he said, holding the shirt out to Claire. “I need your hands.”
“I noticed that this morning,” she teased and helped him slide into the shirt, buttoning it for him. Then she gave him a plate of scrambled eggs and slabs of fried ham and joined him at the table with coffee and cream.
“Eat up, big boy.” She dug into her own eggs. “Jess is going to run the store while we go to Yuccaville for supplies.”
He smiled like a lovesick idiot and dug in. He couldn’t help it. Morning sex and fried ham. This was the fodder of fantasies.
A half an hour later, Claire pulled his pickup to a stop in front of a two-story haunted house down a dead-end street in Yuccaville.
“That place looks like it should be on the cover of Halloween Illustrated,” she said, shifting into park.
Mac agreed. There was nothing ornate about the place with its tall, boxy bones and weathered clapboard siding. The A-shaped roof peaked above a small, broken circle window. The door and first-floor windows were boarded up, with NO TRESPASSING spray painted in black across the dry-rotted siding, along with plenty of other spray painted graffiti. A Property Condemned sign hung crookedly on the sagging front porch rail, broken glass littered the splintered floor boards. The front yard had been taken over by scraggly weeds which poked out of the dirt. The chain link fence surrounding it was bent outward in several spots like something had been trying to push its way out.
“Is that really it?” Claire asked, leaning over him to look out the passenger side window, her hand warming his thigh.
“According to my GPS it is.”
“There must be at least ten families of packrats living in there.”
“Unless the snakes have moved in and taken over.”
She shuddered at that notion, her hand tightening on his leg. “I keep expecting to see some shadow move in front of that attic window.”
“Maybe it’s covered with flies on the inside.”
She chuckled. “Another Amityville Horror wannabe.”
“Exactly. I suppose you want to go inside.”
Her face lit up. “Can we?”
“Not today, Slugger. I need both shoulders in shape before we go in there.”
Her hand crept up his thigh. “You mean you’ll really sneak in there with me?”
“Yes, but you have to wait.” He focused back on the house. “I’m as curious as you to see if Joe left anything else behind.”
“You got it.” She squeezed his leg a final time and then sat up.
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart.” Shifting into gear, she pulled away from the curb. “Creepy old houses give me the heebie jeebies.”
He watched the dilapidated structure disappear in his side mirror. “Yet you skip through old mines like they’re fields of daisies.”
“Old mines are only spooky when there is a crazy, gun-toting bitch in them.” She glanced at him while turning the corner at the end of the street. “Or they’re booby-trapped.”
He frowned, thinking about how that ore chute had been
rigged to release. What was in that mine that was worth possibly killing a trespasser?
His phone buzzed in his shirt pocket. He looked down at the text message on his phone, frowning as he read the note from the general contractor on one of his projects. “Damn.”
“What is it?”
“I have to go back to the jobsite tomorrow.”
“What? Why?”
“A temporary wall gave out, which caused a landslide. They had to close the road. They need to clean it up and get a new structure in place ASAP.”
She was silent for several blocks. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
Him too. “I wish you could come with me.”
“Yeah.”
“I know you don’t want to talk about the promotion, Claire.”
“I’m that easy to read, huh?”
“On this, yes.” He looked out the window at Yuccaville’s dusty streets, staring without really seeing the cars and trucks they were passing. “I’m going to need to give them an answer soon.”
She sighed. “How soon?”
“This week probably.”
He didn’t look her way, giving her the space he figured she needed on this.
“I love you, Mac,” she said, surprising him.
He wanted to reach out to her and pull her to him, but his arm was in the damned sling, so he smiled across at her instead. “It’s the sex, isn’t it? I wore you down with the amazing carnal fulfillment in the bedroom, didn’t I?”
She giggled. “You’re a funny guy.”
He turned back to focusing on Yuccaville’s streets, his smile slipping. Funny. Right. If only that were enough to keep her from falling out of love with him if they ended up living hours apart for the next few decades until he could retire.
Not liking the way his thoughts were headed, he changed direction. “Tell me about the diamonds.”
By the time she’d finished, they were parked in front of the hardware store.
He gaped at her. “Where did you get this article Manny translated?”
“Ronnie found it online. It’s from a Mexican newspaper.”
“This is bad, Claire.”
She grimaced. “I know.”
