Strip Search

by Erin McCarthy

  “Oh, shit,” was Axl’s opinion. “I’m lucky you even gave me the time of day then.”

  Leighton wasn’t sure if he was serious or not. He had to know he looked good without his shirt on. But if anything, she hadn’t believed he was serious about talking to her. “Axl bought me a drink and I refused to take it.” It was weird talking about this when they weren’t actually engaged. Or even dating. Yes, they’d had sex. But they weren’t together. But she wanted Axl, and Bill, to know that Axl had proven himself a nice guy right from the beginning.

  “Actually,” she said. “The dancing caught my attention, but his kindness is what stuck with me.” She eyed him, but he was looking at the photos on the wall. So she turned to Bill. “He saved me from a panic attack.”

  Axl cleared his throat. He looked embarrassed. “All right. Let’s go see this garden.”

  “Take a compliment from your lady, geez.”

  “He’s not that kind of guy,” Leighton told Bill. “It’s okay. He is romantic, though, whether he wants to admit it or not. He brought me here, didn’t he?”

  What Leighton could admit was that she liked Axl as a person. She liked that he wasn’t bragging or patronizing or full of charming platitudes. He was the very definition of what you see is what you get. It was very appealing.

  She wasn’t sure what she was going to find in the back yard, but when she spotted the arched trellis dripping with pink roses, she felt her heart squeeze. Yep. Axl was a romantic. “Oh, Bill, it’s beautiful,” she said.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he told her, pride in his voice as he stepped off the back porch and started across the grass.

  Leighton could see that in the distance, beyond the trellis, was the lake, dark and sprawling. The arch of the roses seemed to be framing a structure but it was hard to see because the density of foliage created a blanket of green and pink. The second they stepped under the arch she realized why. It wasn’t a simple trellis. It was a series of trellises creating a hallway of roses. They were all around, a tapestry of perfumed blooms, encapsulating her in a cocoon of flowers. It was a veritable tunnel of roses. She gasped and turned in a full circle, and up above her, looking up in amazement at how the roses were carpeting the ceiling. Or rather, creating a ceiling.

  “This is fantastic.” Running her fingers gently over some of the open blooms, she felt Axl’s eyes on her. Turning, she saw raw lust on his face. It made her gasp a second time because of the sheer raw desire in his expression.

  “You look beautiful,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. She could see he wanted to kiss her, and that if Bill weren’t with them he would. Moistening her bottom lip, she looked away, unable to shield her feelings under that intense scrutiny. “Is this a greenhouse?”

  There was a glass doorway at the end of the ten feet or so of roses.

  “Yes, come on in.” Bill opened the door. “This was Soon-ja’s favorite spot. She would read in here for hours.”

  When Leighton followed him inside, she could see why Soon-ja would want to spend time there. It was like a fairytale. The entire greenhouse was constructed of old wooden windows. There were lights strung across the ceiling and several comfy couches and chairs with pink cushions. But the most extraordinary thing was the flowers.

  They were growing everywhere. In pots, in boxes, on trellises. Among the flowers were whimsical water features burbling away. All the flowers were varying shades of pink, from the palest pink to a rich magenta. Leighton touched a bloom in awe. “Rose of Sharon.”

  Bill was standing with his hands on his hips and his jaw was working a little. Leighton realized how emotional it must be for him given that he had just lost his wife. “Good eye,” he told her. “Rose of Sharon is the national flower of South Korea and I wanted something to remind Soon-ja of home. But turns out Rose of Sharon can’t grow outside in Minnesota. Too damn cold here to survive the winter. So I started collecting old windows at garage sales and flea markets and garbage picking. In two years I had this greenhouse put together. Then we just started growing and it kept getting bigger and bigger. Now it’s this.”

  “It’s magical,” she told him. “Seriously magical.” Leighton reached behind her and snaked her fingers through Axl’s. There was a lump in her throat and she wasn’t sure what to say to him but she wanted to convey her appreciation for him bringing her there.

  “Like I said, Leighton loves roses,” Axl said, squeezing back. “That’s why I wanted her to see this.”

  Bill didn’t answer. He just went to the opposite end of greenhouse from which they’d entered and opened a set of double doors. It framed a perfect view of Lake Superior.

  “Wow,” she said for the second time. She went to the open doors and found a little deck extending off the back of the greenhouse with yet more roses framing either side of the wooden platform. She could smell the water along with the heavy scent of all the flowers. The air on the deck was cool after the humidity of the greenhouse and she stood there for a minute, doing a full 360 degree turn. “This is perfect. We’ll stand here,” she said. “I’ll walk up through the roses. Chairs here in the greenhouse. It will be tight but we can make it work. We will only have immediate family at the ceremony. The reception can be bigger.” She could see it easily. It required barely any work, which was important on their timeframe.

  She turned to Bill. “That’s of course, if you don’t mind us getting married here. I don’t want to intrude on your special place.”

  In fact, she felt a little weird having a fake wedding in a place that celebrated a lifelong love. She didn’t want Soon-ja haunting her from the afterlife. Which frankly, she would have every right to do.

  “Of course you can get married here. I don’t even come in here anymore. I have a gardener who takes care of the flowers now, but I can’t bring myself to spend time here. It’s a waste if no one is using it.”

  That made her feel a little better. If he sat there every day she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to violate his space like that for the very mercenary reason of saving her job. “Thank you. We’ll be careful and respectful with the space.” She turned to Axl. “I mean, if you want to get married here.”

  The look he gave her made her nipples harden and a warm sensation pool between her thighs. He was undressing her with his eyes and it made her both completely aroused and flustered.

  Seeing in her a garden should not be a turn on. That it was made her feel about as sexy as she ever had in her entire life.

  “Yes,” Axl said, and his voice was low, raw. “I will marry you here.”

  Suddenly Leighton wanted nothing more than for him to mean that. Because to be loved by a man like Axl would be like being swept away on a raging river. It would be endless passion and unfaltering loyalty.

  It would be forever. Like Bill and Soon-ja.

  And now she ached for something she hadn’t even known she wanted.

  Axl.

  Nine

  Axl was torn between thinking that bringing Leighton to Soon-ja’s garden was the biggest fucking mistake he’d ever made and the best decision ever.

  She belonged here, among the thick walls of flowers, all pink, super feminine. Leighton was a girly-girl and he responded to that in the very depth of his masculine soul. He felt big and strong and protective around her. He liked her delicacy, her womanly curves, her sweet kindness.

  The backdrop made him want to scoop Leighton up into his arms and haul her off to bed and never let her go.

  Which was insane.

  And the reason this was potentially a very dangerous mistake.

  This was all fake and she was leaving in a week and he wasn’t cut out for forever. And Leighton wanted that. He could see it in her eyes.

  What he wanted was a short hot affair that let him feel everything and nothing. That sparked high then flamed out so he could go back to his ordinary bachelor life. The loner on the lake.

  They were staring at each other, clearly both wishing they
could strip each other down, when Bill cleared his throat. “So when is this shindig happening?”

  Leighton broke their gaze and turned to Bill. Her cheeks were pink. “Saturday. If that’s okay.”

  “This Saturday? Damn, kid, you don’t let the grass grow under your feet.”

  “It’s because it’s going to be filmed for TV. Leighton works on a wedding show. Are you cool with the greenhouse being on TV?”

  “TV? No kidding. That’s fine. Soon-ja would be tickled by that, I’m sure. The last few years she was big into those Korean reality shows with all those young kids dating each other.” Bill shook his head. “Not my thing. I like a good fishing show.”

  “Me too.” Axl would rather rip his fingernails out than watch reality dating shows.

  “I’ll send a crew out here tomorrow,” Leighton said, pulling her phone out. She started taking photos of the space. “Axl, do you have a tape measure?”

  That made him laugh. “Now where would I have a tape measure? My pocket?” He patted his jeans. “Fresh out of tape measures.”

  “Don’t be a smart aleck. I was more hopeful than anything.”

  “I can go get you one. I’m sure Bill has one lying around.”

  She made a face. “Don’t worry about it. The crew can measure it tomorrow.”

  Leighton was on her phone, planning this wedding, looking very official. He thought she was cute. Adorable, actually. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.

  He whispered in her ear, “You’re very beautiful when you’re organizing things.”

  She pulled away, tossing her hair back. “Hush.”

  Bill had sat down on a bench and Axl sat next to him, watching Leighton take more pictures and touch foliage, and bend over to smell a flower.

  If he ever were going to get married, it would be to a woman like Leighton. Or hell, Leighton.

  The alien thought crept in with such randomness and authority Axl jumped back up off the bench.

  He didn’t know Leighton. This was a fake engagement. And he was never getting married. “Are you ready?” he asked her.

  She shot him a startled look but nodded. “Yes.”

  She and Bill chatted, wrapping up their conversation and Leighton getting Bill’s phone number so she could keep him abreast of the plans. Axl stepped out onto the back deck, needing air. He suddenly felt like he was being choked by flowers. Maybe like she had in the bakery. It was too much, crashing in on him. He’d spent the last few years convinced that he wasn’t cut out for marriage and being totally cool with that and now without warning, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He could see how fulfilling and enriching being married to a woman like Leighton could be, and it made him uneasy.

  “Are you okay?” she asked him, putting her hand on his elbow.

  He glanced down at her, not wanting her to read anything in his expression. He wasn’t even sure how to process what he was feeling and he had no words to share that with her. “Yep. Totally fine. Let’s go and give Bill his peace and quiet.”

  Without waiting for her, he took the outside path, not wanting to walk through Soon-ja’s greenhouse again.

  For the first time since he had come home from the service he regretted the solitary life he had forged for himself.

  Because he was picturing a house on the lake with a garden for Leighton and a whole lot of time spent in bed together or out on his boat.

  Which was insane because of all the women in Beaver Bend, he had to go and picture a future with a chick from LA who was faking her relationship with him?

  It was stupid.

  Leighton was on her phone the whole drive back to his place. She was doing wedding shit. That wasn’t the way she had put it, but it was how he thought of it. It sounded complicated. Lots of details, with flowers being flown in from California overnight and centerpieces from somewhere else. Lots of champagne. The whole thing sounded sadly lacking in beer but that was okay. He wasn’t going to drink when he had a wedding night to look forward to, and when it might be his last time to see her gorgeous naked body.

  She glanced up when he pulled in the driveway, so wrapped up she didn’t even realize he hadn’t been driving her to the hotel she was staying at. “Oh, you’re not taking me back to the hotel?”

  “I will later if you want.” Axl felt a restless stirring inside him that only she could satisfy. “But my house was closer and I need to fuck you now.”

  Her jaw dropped. “I see.”

  He wanted her with an urgency that made his balls ache and his dick throb in his pants. His fists clenched on the steering wheel as he turned the truck off. Hell, he wanted to take her right here in the car. The ferocity of the need was overwhelming and unexpected. He wasn’t a man who lost control of himself.

  Other than his words, he didn’t now either. He got out of the car, went around, and opened the passenger door for Leighton. She was eyeing him like he was a beast who might throw her on the hood of the truck. If she only knew how close he was to that.

  “Are you angry?” she asked, slipping down out of the truck. “Did I do something wrong?”

  That made him stop short. He reached out and cupped her cheek. “Of course not. I don’t want to hate fuck you. That’s not my style.”

  “Then how do you want to, um, fuck me?” She pursed her lips.

  He grinned. He couldn’t help it. She had a way to shaking him loose. Lightening his mood. “How do you want it? Ladies’ choice.”

  “Well. I hadn’t been thinking about it in the last five minutes.”

  “So, think about it. It’s sixty seconds to my bedroom.” He dropped his hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Come here, babe.”

  She came willingly, though she did say, “I’m not sure I like being called ‘babe.’ Isn’t every woman with every hookup called babe? We’re supposed to be engaged.”

  “Do you have a nickname?” He didn’t see what was wrong with babe but he could step it up if that’s what she wanted.

  Leighton made a face. “My boss calls me Amazon Prime because she says she can get anything from me in two days or less.”

  That made him laugh. Axl unlocked his front door. “That’s as bad as what my co-workers call me. Ice Man. It’s so stupid.”

  “Why are you Ice Man?” Leighton closed the door behind her as they entered his living room. “I don’t get it.”

  “Allegedly I have no feelings. I’m cold.”

  Her head actually cocked slightly. “I don’t know you very well, but what I’m seen in just a few days is the exact opposite of that. I wasn’t making up a story when we were talking to Bill. I do think you’re a nice guy. You are very compassionate.”

  So maybe there was something to his reputation because he felt uncomfortable as fuck talking about his so-called positive attributes. It was awkward. “I’ll just keep the Ice Man label. It’s all good.” He tossed his cars on his coffee table and headed for the kitchen. “Do you want a drink? Water, a beer, anything?”

  “Do you have some wine?” She wandered behind him, touching the art and pictures he had hanging on the wall.

  It was a habit of hers. Her fingers just briefly brushed over things she was taking in, like she needed confirmation they were real. He wondered if she even knew she did it.

  “I don’t have any wine, sorry. I’m not really that big of a drinker. I have a six pack of beer, a bottle of vodka that has been in the freezer for two years, and a bottle tequila that I use maybe once a summer to make my mother a margarita.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll just take a water. What’s your mother’s name?”

  “Hillary.” He realized if they were put to any sort of test to see how well they knew each other they would fail miserably. “My father’s name is Rob. How about you?”

  “My mother’s name is Barbara, though she doesn’t go by that. She’s Barbie.” Leighton rolled her eyes, but she smiled at the same time. “Barbie suits her. She’s very plastic. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just the truth. My father’s
name is Dieter. I think I mentioned to you he’s German.”

  “Do you speak German?” Axl opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water.

  “Not at all.”

  “Damn. I wanted to hear you say something sexy in German.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you.” She took a water from him and twisted the cap. She took a delicate little sip, then nearly destroyed him by taking the tip of her tongue and rimming the bottle.

  His cock hardened. Enough of this chatting about their parents. Now was not the time. He wanted to get her naked. “Did you think of how you want me to fuck you?” he said, knowing she would blush, and knowing it would make him even harder.

  She didn’t disappoint. Her cheeks turned pink and she tucked her hair behind her ear. But then she turned the tables on him. “I want to fuck you. On top.”

  Holy shit. Axl groaned. “Then come on, babe. I mean Leighton.” He would have to think about a better, unique nickname for her. “Miss California. You can have whatever you want.”

  She was wearing a dress again. Axl just reached out and lifted it over her head and tossed it on the kitchen counter.

  “Axl!”

  She was wearing a pale pink bra and panties. They were lace, which did not surprise him. Her bra was pressing her voluminous tits up into an even perkier position than they were naturally, which was pretty fucking perky, he had to say. She started to cross her arms over her chest, but he stopped her by taking both of her hands in his. “What?” he asked, as if he didn’t know.

  “You can’t just rip my clothes off.”

  He grinned. “No?”

  She realized what she had said and what she had asked him to do two nights before. “You know what I mean.”

  “Do you want me to strip for you? Would that make you more comfortable?” He lifted his hand to grab his shirt at the back of his neck.

  “That’s not stripping.” She stepped back and leaned against the counter. “Stripping for real. Like you do at Tap That.”

  “That’s for charity,” he said, putting up a mild protest. Hell, he’d do whatever she wanted him to do.