Bad Boys Online

by Erin McCarthy

  Bad Boys Online

  Erin Mccarthy

  Mack Stone can't believe he's just walked in on Kindra in Flagrante computer delicto. When they're mistakenly signed up for sensual couples counselling, co-workers Jared and Candy are shocked.

  Erin McCarthy

  Bad Boys Online

  A book in the Bad Boys series, 2003

  Hard Drive

  Chapter One

  "I want to lick your nipples until you…"

  Kindra jumped in her swivel seat as a low voice spoke over her shoulder.

  Please don't let that be who she thought it was.

  She turned. It was. "Ohmigod. Mack!"

  "Whipping the mouse around on her desktop, she tried frantically to close the e-mail that was up on her computer screen. The dirty e-mail from her cyber partner, Russ. The dirty e-mail that was being read by her real live crush and coworker, Mack Stone.

  God, where was the minimize button?

  "Come like a rocket, hot and wet…" Mack's amused voice trailed off. "What is this?"

  "Spam," she managed to say, a sweat breaking out under her white blouse and black jacket. "I get all kinds of junk e-mail."

  Kindra clicked the close button as Mack's finger touched the screen.

  "Then why does it have your name on it?"

  "I don't think it did," she lied without compunction. There was no way she was admitting to Mack "different girlfriend every week" Stone, that she had been engaging in a cyber-affair.

  "Yes, it did," he insisted.

  Annoyed, she looked over her shoulder at him and gritted her teeth at his total and utter perfection. Why? Why did she have to spend every day for eight hours looking at this paragon of masculinity? From his short black hair, past the strong jaw, down to the broad chest and gorgeous pecs covered in GQ-inspired clothing, and continuing on down lower, he was perfect.

  And very out of her league.

  She glared at him, willing him to back away from her chair and take his arousing aftershave scent with him.

  A grin spread out across his face, showing off perfect white teeth. He probably never even got cavities. "Kindra Hill, are you having cybersex? I never would have guessed."

  Her impulse was to just push him out of the way and run down the hall and hide in the ladies' room until he left the building. But that hadn't worked in ninth grade when Tommy Slade had pantsed her in front of her geometry class, and she didn't think it would work now.

  Two choices here. Deny. Or brazen it out.

  Being a proverbial wallflower, she had never brazened anything out in her life. It was time to try.

  Taking a deep breath to gather some courage, she said, "So what if I am?"

  Okay, what was meant to sound seductive came out defensive. She sounded like a bitter divorcee who goes through a vibrator battery a week.

  His ice blue eyes went wide. "Then I'd say there's more to you than meets the eye."

  Then he shook his head, clearly curious. "But I figure, why talk about it online, when you can be doing it live and in person?"

  Yeah, if she had him to do it with. But Kindra's choices had never been so appealing. After a few mishaps that had ranged from yawn inspiring to borderline gruesome, she had decided she was better off snuggling up with the blue light on her computer screen every night.

  "It's easier this way… safer, cleaner," she mumbled. Then she straightened up and turned back to her computer, on the verge of collapsing from mortification. Had she said that out loud?

  She had. Mack leaned over her, his hot breath tickling across her ear. His tie fell forward and brushed against the back of her hair, sending a shiver through her.

  "But it's so much more fun the old-fashioned way."

  "Sometimes. And sometimes it's messy and complicated and just plain lousy." She gave a shrug that was meant to be worldly and nonchalant, as if she'd sampled men aplenty and found them all lacking. Instead she managed to clip him in the chin.

  He grunted. "I think you're wrong."

  "I don't care." She scooted forward, away from him. Hint, hint, take it please. Go away and take your hot bod with you.

  "I can prove it to you."

  She froze. He couldn't possibly mean… no. Mack Stone had never given her the time of day before.

  But if he did mean that, did she want to take him up on it? Her head said of course not, you naive and greedy slut. Her inner thighs had an altogether different answer, one that had her pantyhose turning into a mini-oven.

  He wasn't serious though.

  "I'm serious," he said.

  Help.

  Kindra opened her mouth, knowing full well her brain had ceased to exist and her crotch was in complete control.

  "What kind of proof are you talking about?"

  She fought the urge to clap a hand over her mouth.

  Now she'd done it.

  He'd think she was actually interested.

  Which, of course, she was.

  But she shouldn't let him know that.

  Mack was still leaning over her. He said in a low voice laced with amusement, "I think you know what kind of proof I'm talking about."

  Well, she thought he was talking about having sex with her. But if she said it out loud, and she was wrong, she would have to quit her job and move to Europe.

  Kindra cleared her throat. "Maybe, if you explain it to me?"

  Mack's hands gripped the back of her chair and she found herself slowly being turned around. Since grabbing the desk and clinging for dear life would be rude, she settled for crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap.

  Perfect position for a woman claiming to be disinterested in live-action sex.

  Except that somehow Mack had managed to place a leg on either side of her chair and his… pants were eye level. Fascinated, she took a long look. Kindra licked her lips. Mack's pants jumped.

  Oh, my.

  She forced her eyes upward. He no longer looked amused. His legs and other body parts took a large step backward, removing the masculine scent of him from her personal space.

  "If I'm going to prove to you that one-on-one sex is better than cybersex, I can only think of one way to do that."

  Here it was. It was coming. "Oh?" she squeaked.

  Mack nodded, his hands sliding into his pockets. "Yes, that's right, Kindra. It looks like I'm going to have to have sex with you."

  Wow. If this was a dream, may she never wake up.

  @ Mack watched shock cross Kindra's face and he fought the urge to smile. Because behind the shock, right there in those fascinating green eyes of hers was… interest.

  He had her interested.

  Strolling into Kindra's office to borrow some software CDs he wanted to install on his computer had been a much better idea than he could have ever anticipated. It was a pure stroke of luck to find her staring intently at her screen, biting her lip as she read a dirty e-mail. An unoriginal dirty e-mail, in his opinion.

  He had read about half of it before he had announced his presence by speaking out loud. He would have expected Kindra to blush, but she hadn't, even though she had clearly been flustered.

  Kindra Hill was a mystery. One he had been studying for a year, since he had accepted the position at Ohio MicroDesign, a graphic design company in Cleveland. Kindra gave every appearance of being shy and quiet, but when she thought no one was looking, he had been watching her.

  Instead of being demure, Kindra rolled her eyes a lot and snorted to herself. She crossed her arms and slouched in her chair when she was alone. If he was quick enough, he could catch her green eyes spitting fire sometimes.

  But she always banked it.

  And he wanted to know why.

  Kindra closed her mouth, then reopened it. Her eyes narrowed. "Why would yo
u want to do that?"

  "Are you kidding?" Now he was the one in shock. Hadn't she looked in a mirror lately? "What guy wouldn't want to?"

  She appeared to mull this over and nodded. "That's probably true. Guys are like that."

  Her feet pushed on the floor, inching her chair back farther away from him. "But so you know, to prove what you want to prove, well… you're really going to have your work cut out for you."

  Damn. His groin tightened painfully. Somehow he didn't think he'd mind the extra effort. Besides, he had twelve months' worth of spontaneous hard-ons caused by Kindra to ease. He stuck his foot behind the wheel of her chair so it stopped moving.

  Gripping each arm of the chair, he bent over and murmured alongside her cheek, "I think I'm up for the challenge."

  She shivered and leaned back in her chair as if she needed distance. Her eyes were half closed and Mack reminded himself to ease up. Take it slow.

  Kindra wanted this. But he wanted to make sure nothing changed her mind.

  Just because he had a year's worth of frustration wasn't a good excuse to throw charm and finesse out the window and just attack her in a fit of adolescent lust.

  If he wasn't careful, he would screw up this perfect opportunity. And he didn't want that. What he wanted was to see what Kindra kept hidden under those boxy suits she always wore. He wanted to pull down that hair she kept tightly bound in a clip and see if it really had auburn highlights like he suspected.

  He wanted her.

  With deliberate steps, he moved a few feet over to her desk and leaned against it. "So, what do you think? Can I prove you wrong? Or are you perfectly satisfied with what you're getting right now?"

  He held his breath.

  "Well…" She fiddled with the clip on her head, forcing her jacket to rise up a little and give him a hint of her curves.

  "So, what did you have in mind?"

  Yes. Mack mentally spiked a football in the end zone. "Tonight. Dinner. Then your place."

  She would feel safer in her own apartment, he rationalized. More comfortable. And he didn't care where he was as long as he was naked with Kindra.

  But her head was shaking no. "I have plans tonight. It's Friday. I bowl in a league on Fridays."

  Kindra bowling? That struck him as odd. Maybe because he'd never seen her wearing anything but black or navy suits and high heels.

  Bowling was hard for him to understand. You stood there and threw a ball at plastic pins. Now golf was a different story. That was a game.

  "Can't you skip tonight?" Damn, he sounded eager. Maybe he should rein that in a little.

  "No. My team will lose my score if I don't show. I can't do that."

  Fine. It's not like he was in a huge hurry or anything. He wasn't desperate. He'd had plenty lately. Sort of. Well, not really.

  And not with Kindra.

  He said, "Tomorrow night then?"

  She licked her lips again.

  Soft, plump lips that were made for kissing and sucking and biting. Lips that would feel fantastic sliding across his cock.

  He gritted his teeth in agony.

  "Okay," she said, looking as if she'd just been given ten to fifteen years in federal prison. "Tomorrow night."

  She wasn't exactly brimming with enthusiasm.

  Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought. After all, she was choosing to abstain from sex. There had to be a reason. A reason he had to get around. Even if it took all night.

  Speaking of which, that needed to be stated clearly. "You have to guarantee me at least twelve hours to make my case, Kindra."

  Kindra blinked. Twelve hours? He was planning on proving it to her for twelve hours? She would have been happy with ten minutes and a wave on his way out.

  "Isn't that a little long?"

  He was leaning casually against her desk, and when he shifted, his leg brushed against hers. Kindra shivered and re-crossed her legs in the opposite direction to move them away from him.

  A slow knowing smile moved across his face. "To get it right, sometimes you need to take it slow. And sometimes it's so good, you want time to do it again."

  That hadn't happened yet to Kindra. In her experience, the first time had never been worthy of an encore performance.

  A sudden vision of Mack coming at her over and over again for twelve hours, determined to squeak an orgasm out of her, flashed through her head. Maybe this was a really bad idea.

  If she slept with Mack and it was just awful, well, then what fantasies would she have left? She didn't even want to count how many times it had been Mack's face she'd pictured when chatting intimately with Russ online.

  Plus, if this was a disaster, she would have to see Mack every day in awkward hallway encounters where he would avert his eyes and she would blush. They were designing on the coffeehouse website project together, which put them in each other's company constantly.

  It would be horrid, awful, migraine inspiring…

  "Kindra."

  "Yes?" She shot Mack a panicked look.

  "Don't panic. It doesn't have to be twelve hours. It can be as little or as much as you want." He leaned forward and took her hand.

  But it wasn't a gentle caress. Or an understanding squeeze. It was a forceful pull. With little effort, he tugged her to her feet. Kindra swallowed hard as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him.

  This couldn't be happening.

  She was in her office in the middle of the day wrapped in Mack Stone's arms from neck to calf. His body was as hard as it looked, and she put her hands on his chest to create a barrier between them.

  Instead of pushing him away, her traitorous little fingers gripped his crisp dress shirt and rubbed against the solid muscle underneath. His thigh moved across hers restlessly.

  "I have this feeling," he whispered, his lips brushing against the lobe of her ear, "that we're not going to need anywhere near twelve hours to prove my point."

  His tongue dipped into her ear and Kindra gasped.

  "But I think we're going to want twelve hours."

  Kindra suddenly wanted a lot of things, most of all Mack to throw her down on her office floor and put his theory to the test right now.

  With a whimper, she pushed her waist forward, bumping his erection.

  Mack groaned.

  Heat surged through her body. She had made Mack Stone groan out loud. Could there be a bigger turn-on?

  "Shit," he said fiercely, his hands gripping her shoulders. "I'm going too fast."

  Said who?

  If she were gutsy, she would grab him and force him to go fast again, but Kindra had never claimed to be gutsy. Not in her career, or her social life, and certainly not when it came to sex.

  "I want this to be right," he said, setting her away from him. "After all, I've just promised you the best sex of your life."

  Kindra struggled not to collapse on the floor in an anticipatory seizure at Mack's words. She couldn't speak.

  She gulped.

  Mack rammed his hands in his pocket. Then pulled them back out. "Ah, hell. Are you sure you're busy tonight?"

  He looked desperate. He sounded desperate. Mack Stone. Desperate. For her.

  The words were on her lips. She was about to say, Screw the bowling and take me, when Kindra's office door flung open. She watched in horror as her friend Ashley walked in.

  Ashley took three perky steps before she realized Kindra wasn't alone.

  "Oh! Sorry. I didn't know you were in here with Kindra, Mack."

  Kindra stood there, inches from Mack, sure her face was a picture of guilt. She might as well have a sign on her forehead saying desperately seeking sex.

  Mack gave Ashley a light charming smile. "No problem. Can you just give us a minute alone? Then I'll be out of your way."

  Kindra crossed her arms and took a step back. Did Mack have to be so obvious? Long after he had his twelve hours, she had to work with these people. She didn't relish the idea of being office gossip, even if Ashley was
a good friend. If he was this obvious in front of Ashley, who else would he embarrass her in front of?

  She said tightly, "What did you need, Ashley?"

  Ashley looked startled, and smoothed down her wild blond curls. She looked back and forth between the two of them, her eyes wide. "I wanted to see if you were ready to go to lunch."

  "I'm ready." Maybe a cool soft drink could douse this fire Mack had started in her stomach.

  Her feet were already carrying her toward the door when Mack's hand stopped her. "We haven't finished our business."

  His voice was like fingers down her spine, tickling and teasing. Kindra froze. "What else is there to discuss?"

  His thumb stroked her hand. "What time I'm picking you up tomorrow."

  She shouldn't have asked. Now Ashley was doing an imitation of a hooked trout.

  "We can discuss that later," she said in a high, strangled voice.

  He moved around her, letting go of her hand. His eyes followed hers as he headed to the door. There was a wicked grin on his face. She didn't trust that grin.

  "Okay," he said with a nod.

  Then he strolled out the door in a powerful masculine strut, tossing back, "Bye, Ashley. Later, Kindra."

  Kindra was so over her head with him.

  "What was that all about?" Ashley demanded, whispering fiercely.

  "Mack asked me out." Sort of. As a precursor to twelve hours of horizontal research.

  "No kidding?" Ashley fanned herself. "Whoa. You go, girl! Now you've got to tell me every single thing he said, you know."

  Not a chance. "Hey, listen, Ash, can I meet you in your office in five minutes? I've got some stuff to finish up real quick."

  Like deleting the e-mail from Russ so she wouldn't get caught again.

  Ashley gave her a curious look, but shrugged. "Okay."

  "Thanks."

  The second Ashley left, Kindra sat back down in her chair and reopened her e-mail. For the last two months she had been exchanging sexy e-mails with Russ, and on Friday and Saturday nights they went into a private chat room and talked "live."

  It had been harmless. Until now.