‘Stop!’ she laughed, and her whole body seemed to shake when the hilarity transmitted to the man she sat on, and he began to laugh too.
The unknown man’s hands cradled Molly’s knees, those unwelcome hands caressed the flawless skin of Molly’s legs, and her hands fell into the stranger’s hair. Her graceful fingers, which had occupied Blake’s thoughts that day, were lost in the male locks that she used to steady herself.
‘Take your time about it, Mol,’ the man laughed. ‘Come on. I’m losing feeling in my hands.’
Blake wanted to snort. He wouldn’t be hurrying Molly if he found himself in that position with her. In fact, he may never release her. It would be nothing to carry her slight frame, and it certainly wouldn’t cause him pain. He imagined it would achieve quite the opposite effect.
The sight of her legs hooked over this man’s shoulders transfixed Blake, and he focused on her butt at the back of his neck. Blake was so distracted that he almost didn’t notice the click or the light that flooded down from the top of the stairs.
‘Ok, I got it!’ Molly said with delight.
‘About time,’ the man said. ‘Wait!’ The stranger took a step backwards and Molly snatched at his hair, but there wasn’t time for her to catch her balance as he wobbled back.
As Blake stepped in toward them, Molly shrieked and she fell. Blake didn’t hesitate in throwing his arms out to stop her descent. After catching her in his own embrace, Molly’s wide eyes blinked at him.
‘Blake,’ she murmured. ‘What are you doing here?’
Their gazes remained fixed while she lay in his arms, and his estimation of her slight frame proved accurate; she weighed nothing in his arms. He struggled to ignore the curve of her waist, which moulded to him, and the press of her breasts against his ribs. It took all of his willpower not to think about the hint of flesh he felt at his fingertips on the underside of her thigh where the heat of her supple skin burned through his fingers, right to his gut, and below.
‘Who’s this?’
Molly’s focus left his when she was distracted by the man who had dropped her. ‘This is Blake.’
‘Oh, the new guy,’ the stranger said, offering a hand to shake.
The hand of friendship puzzled Blake, since his own thoughts toward this man had been anything but amiable. ‘Blake, this is Mason,’ Molly said. ‘You can put me down now.’
What he wanted was for the intruder on his time with Molly to leave them alone. His mission didn’t involve having to see off competition. Time was of the essence in this case, and having to scare off Mason before he could get to seducing Molly himself could be costly.
Mason was still standing with his hand out toward Blake. So with little choice, he conceded to shake and let Molly’s legs slide down to the floor, keeping his hand at her back to ensure she had her balance.
‘You’re early,’ Molly said.
‘What were you doing when I came in?’ Blake asked.
‘The light switch at the bottom of the stairs always trips the fuse,’ Molly explained. ‘But the box is too high for me to reach.’
Blake followed her outstretched finger to see the fuse box high on the wall above their heads.
‘Yeah, I swear she does it on purpose,’ Mason said.
‘Me?’ Molly asked. ‘You flipped the light switch.’
‘Tonight, sure,’ Mason said. ‘But it’s usually you.’
‘It’s never me!’ Molly protested through her grin, and swotted at Mason’s chest.
‘No need to get violent,’ Mason said, stepping out of her reach. ‘First resort for her.’ He stabbed his thumb in her direction. ‘She always resorts to violence.’
‘I do not!’ Molly laughed.
‘Yeah, right,’ Mason said, holding up his right bicep to give it a rub. ‘I’ve still got bruises from the other night.’
‘Aww, poor baby,’ Molly mocked. ‘You should be made of harder stuff by now.’
‘Can I talk to you, Molly?’ Blake asked, resolute that he had to interrupt this irritating display of flirtation. ‘Alone?’
‘Sure,’ she said.
‘I’ll be in the bar,’ Mason said, and pinched her side when he walked past.
‘You’ll pay for that!’ Molly called after him as the door to the bar closed. ‘What’s up?’ Her hand curled around the spot that Mason had touched to give it a quick rub.
‘I wanted to check how you were doing after last night.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’
She moved to pass him, but Blake got in her way. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. If I did, I’m sorry.’
‘You said that last night. There was no harm done.’
Again, she tried to move past him, but he countered the action to block her. ‘I’m early for another reason too.’
‘What?’
‘I was hoping for a drink.’
‘You can drink whatever you want on shift, as long as it’s non-alcoholic. I need you to be sharp, especially when it’s as busy as tonight. It’s great to see, isn’t it? Every regular we have is in there, and they’ve brought friends. Of course it helps that Vanessa is behind the bar. She hasn’t been in on Saturday night for a while. We usually left that to the men.’
Attempting to once again reach the bar door, she side-stepped to try and skirt him, but this time Blake took her hand. ‘I didn’t mean alone,’ Blake said. ‘I wanted to have a drink with you.’
‘Oh.’
Her focus fell to his hand holding hers, so Blake let his thumb trace lazy circles on the tender skin of the back of her hand. The pulsing in his gut drew him a step closer to her.
‘One drink,’ he muttered.
‘Why?’
This wasn’t the response that Blake was expecting. It certainly wasn’t the one he usually got. ‘Why not?’
‘I mean, are you talking like a date? Because you’re working in half an hour. I need you out there—it doesn’t matter, I don’t do the date thing. Joel told you that yesterday.’
‘We don’t have to put a name on it,’ he said, and closed the last inch that had remained between them. ‘Two adults, enjoying each other’s company.’
‘That sounds like a date,’ Molly breathed, and took her hand out of his to swipe her pashmina from the banister. She wound it around herself and reached for the bar door. ‘I can’t anyway, Mason and I are going for dinner.’
‘I thought you didn’t do the date thing,’ Blake quoted at her.
Molly laughed. ‘It’s not a date. It’s with Mason. He’s a friend. He would never dream of—‘
‘Of what?’
‘Listen,’ Molly said, and released the door handle from her grip. ‘Last night was strange and intense and… fun. But I am not seeking any kind of relationship, romantic, sexual, or whatever. I’m sorry, Blake, but I’m happy as I am.’
‘You’re not attracted to me?’
Colour rose to Molly’s cheeks and her chin lowered toward her chest. ‘You’re a very attractive man, I’m sure you know that. I don’t mean to insult or reject you. It’s just not who I am.’
‘You’re a woman,’ he said, lowering his tone to a grumble. As he moved toward her, she moved away, but he continued his pursuit until her back hit the wall beside the door to the bar.
‘Regardless, I—‘
‘A beautiful woman,’ he grumbled. ‘A woman I want to get to know better.’
Her eyes, caught in the shadow of the lowered ceiling by the stairs, tipped to his. Against his chest, the thump of her heart told him that she was not indifferent to his words.
‘Sex,’ she exhaled, and the sound of the word on her lips tightened his jeans. ‘You want sex.’
Tucking her hair away from her face, Blake lowered his mouth toward hers. ‘Let’s just take this one step at a time.’
Her ragged breath told him that his words were working. The pound of her pulse increased at the same rate that her cheeks flushed again, and her beauty only seemed to intensify as her arousal gr
ew. Already, Blake had hesitated too long, so he thrust his fingers into her hair and pushed his mouth to hers. Despite being met by muffled shock, he persisted, because she didn’t struggle or try to push him away.
In teasing her mouth open, he felt her uncertainty, her fear, her inexperience. To put her at ease, he tickled her tongue with his own and explored every moist corner of her delectable mouth, taking his sweet time until her body melted against his.
Taking control of her hands, he wound them to the base of her back and he supported her weight against him. Her tongue leapt against his and they fought for supremacy with wet, devouring delight. What Blake had first thought was inexperience was not, if this kiss was anything to go by. Whatever principles she stood by that made her tentative had shot out of the window now. Her hands wriggled in his as her pliant body writhed against his, but he held her firm.
If he was to let her go now and her hands were to go wandering, his own composure would be stretched. If she was any other woman and he let her touch him, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have her here and now. Her skirt would be forced up, her underwear thrust aside and he would take her weight from her feet. Without ever breaking their kiss, he would find himself inside her. Blake would take control of this attractive woman and bury himself within her to brighten those cheeks until she screamed for mercy. But this kiss wasn’t meant to be for his pleasure, this kiss was for the job.
When she yanked her mouth down it was torn from his, which stumbled forward in pursuit of its mate, but she kept it at bay. After a moment of panting and regaining her composure, Molly lifted her eyes to his.
‘I have to go,’ she murmured.
Though his grip on her wrists had loosened, she remained in his arms, and in another context he’d tell her that she didn’t have to go anywhere. Instead, the knowledge that he had made an impact on her consoled him. Whatever her perceptions about him before this kiss, he wasn’t likely to be far from her thoughts tonight.
Blake released her and she cleared her throat, then smoothed her hair, and moved for the door. For a few fleeting seconds there was peace, seemingly while she processed what had happened, and then she sought the handle to open the door.
‘Have a good night,’ he said, ensuring to seep into her thoughts again. He wouldn’t be dismissed.
The illumination from the bar flooded her features, the dull light that emanated from behind her silhouetting her every feminine curve.
She turned to him, gazed for a moment, and walked away.
Chapter Five
By the time Molly pushed her way into the bar, the only light was that from the pumps. She glanced around and rolled her lips together. If there was no one left here, then the front door shouldn’t have been left unlocked. Vanessa had a key, she usually locked up when Molly wasn’t here, but she was nowhere in sight.
Making her way to the back of the bar, Molly grabbed the handle of the door to the rear. Thrusting her weight against it, she expected resistance, but received none and so she flew through the door. Finding herself against the bannister on the opposite wall, she reoriented herself and stared in astonishment at the door, which was now swinging shut.
‘It just needed a minor adjustment.’
Molly flipped around to see where the voice had come from and found that Blake was at the bottom of the stairs, screwing the light switch back into the wall.
‘You fixed it?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, and put the screwdriver he had used back into the tool box next to him. ‘The top corner just needed a bit of sanding. I greased the lock there and for the cellar. They should open without any trouble now.’
‘What were you doing with the light?’
‘It was just a short,’ Blake said. ‘I stripped it back and reconnected it.’
When he flipped the switch the lights came on, and Molly glanced up to the fuse box, waiting for the click, but it never came.
Her purse dropped from her fingers to the floor, as her jaw fell. ‘That’s been broken for as long as I can remember,’ she muttered. ‘Since I was a kid.’
‘I thought it might make things easier for you. I can put it back the way it was if you want.’
‘No,’ Molly said, spinning to face him. ‘Thank you. It was one of those tasks my dad always meant to do… He’d be happy that it finally got done.’
‘It was a quick job,’ Blake said. ‘No trouble.’
‘Let me know what I owe you… That’s above and beyond what I would ask my bar staff to do for me.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘Like I said, it was a quick job… I guess you were right about men having their uses.’
A tight smile formed on her face. ‘It pays to have at least one around, I suppose.’
‘Did you have a nice night?’
Molly shrugged. ‘It was nice to get away from here. Even just for a few hours. Was it a good night here?’
‘Busy,’ Blake said. ‘The last folks left about one thirty.’
Molly nodded. ‘That’s the latest we’ve had anyone here in a while. Any trouble?’
Blake shook his head. ‘Nothing worth reporting.’
‘Let me guess,’ Molly said. ‘Tony and his buddies were in.’
‘Yeah,’ he said, and hooked his fingers into his jeans. ‘Got a bit mouthy with Vanessa, but he shut up pretty quickly.’
‘When you stepped in, right?’ Molly said, and the hint of a smile on Blake’s lips told her that she was correct. ‘He’s an idiot. All mouth and arrogance when he’s talking to the barmaids. He likes to show off in front of his friends. He tells them how he’s screwed every woman to ever cross our threshold. He’s never touched any of us, even Vanessa.’
‘She told me. I think he got to her.’
‘I’m surprised you didn’t leave with Vanessa.’
‘Like I said, I’m not an easy pickings kind of guy.’
‘She tried, though, didn’t she?’ Molly asked. When Blake shrugged, she had to laugh. ‘See, didn’t I tell you?’
‘Don’t worry, Sugar,’ he said, and swaggered toward her. ‘I’m a one-woman man.’
Molly put her hands up and took a step back before he was anywhere near her. ‘Can we be mature about this?’
‘Whatever you need,’ he murmured.
‘No. I mean, can we just forget about the insanity earlier? We work together. I don’t even really know what happened.’
‘I can give you a replay if you want.’
‘No,’ Molly said again. ‘I would appreciate it if you just went home.’
‘I don’t have to stay over,’ he said. ‘But I think there is business to take care of.’
‘No,’ Molly said once more. ‘Please, Blake, just leave. Now.’
Although Molly let him visually search her for a moment, she tried to convey to him that she meant business, because she did mean business. He had taken her by surprise earlier, and she was still in shock. During most of her night with Mason, she had been in a daze. Her lips still stung from Blake’s possession of them earlier.
‘If that’s what you want,’ Blake grumbled.
‘Thank you.’
Giving him the widest possible radius that she could, Molly side-stepped around him still with her hands up in front of her. If he came toward her, or touched her, then her stomach would bubble again and she couldn’t handle that. That probing stare of his followed her every nuance as she shuffled her way to the bottom of the stairs.
‘I’m going to go upstairs for the books,’ she said. ‘I’m cashing out and then I’m going to bed. You go home.’
‘You said that.’
‘Good.’
Even though she hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol all night, her head was beginning to swim. Alcohol didn’t agree with her at the best of times, and she’d never touch the stuff when she knew that she’d be coming back here to cash out. Except the weakness in her limbs and the unsettling ice in her blood that Blake seemed to cause made her feel drunk.
His
focus was still on her and the more his gaze assaulted her, the more aware she became of every inch of her own body. Every thread of fabric that she wore stimulated her skin. Every naked inch of her legs and shoulders shivered against an unseen draft of icy air. With every passing second her breathing grew shallower. She had to get away from his presence, so she tried to find the bottom stair, but even as her foot landed on it, she was unable to take her attention away from his.
‘Are you ok?’ Blake asked.
‘Yes,’ Molly said through cracking lips. ‘Will you go now? Please.’
‘Is that really what you want?’
In reaction to his deep, grumbling tone, needles flashed to the inside of her thighs. Yet, her pumping heart threw lava into the ice of her blood. Water seemed to be filling her head, and the back of her neck began to prickle.
‘Yes,’ she croaked. ‘Please, now.’ Blake opened his mouth to say something else, but Molly interrupted. ‘Please Blake, no more games. Just go.’
At this she managed to push her weight to her foot on the stair, and tearing her stare from his, Molly ran upward, unable to bear the idea of looking back. At the top of the stairs, she launched herself against the wall, out of sight, and covered her face with her hands.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Molly tried to steady her breathing, but she could still hear him moving around downstairs, though she had no idea what he was doing. Doors opened and closed, and then there was silence. A long sigh fought its way from her chest when she was sure that he was gone.
Dropping her hands, she shook out her arms from her shoulders and told herself that she was fine, and that Blake had no effect on her. Then marching on with her head held high, she retrieved the books from the large walk-in closet in her bedroom, along with a stack of plastic bank deposit bags. It had been a busy night, so it wouldn’t hurt to get a jump on the accounts, especially when she knew that sleep would elude her tonight.
With her supplies in her arms, Molly rounded back into the hall and went down the stairs. Tomorrow she had an assignment to work on for college, and she had to staff the bar herself, but knowing it would be wise to get a decent night’s rest didn’t make it certain she would get one.
Reluctant Suspicion Page 6
