by Tawny Weber
Subtle, Pandora, she told herself with a mental snicker. Why didn’t she ask him to drop his pants and do her instead?
“Nah,” he said. “This won’t take long and I’d like to help.”
Her heart melted a little. So did her knees, so Pandora leaned against the dolly and cleared her throat, not wanting to sound all choked up when she said, “I appreciate it. I feel like I’m…”
She trailed off, scrunching her nose and scraping at the chipped paint on the dolly. “Feel like…?”
Flustered and wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, Pandora met his gaze with a shrug.
“Pandora?”
“I feel like I’ve finally found my thing, you know? My niche. I’m having fun getting to know the customers and matching them to the right motivation.” She blushed again, giving him an abashed look. “That’s how I think of it. Motivation. What products will get them excited, give them the boost or direction they need. Even the aphrodisiacs in the café are all about motivation.”
Pushing the dolly toward the back room, Pandora caught his doubtful look.
“They are,” she insisted. “The aphrodisiacs aren’t like popping a little blue sex pill and getting it up for anyone or anything. They’re about amplifying a connection that’s already there. About giving a couple the impetus, the energy, to lose their inhibitions and explore everything that’s between them.”
Caleb leaned against the counter, his fingers tapping the edge of the laptop as he smiled.
“You love it.”
Centering her statue, Pandora rubbed Eros’s bare shoulder and nodded. “I really do.”
“Then let me help you out. I’ll just take a peek at your program, see what info I can pull together for you.”
Could anyone be sweeter? To hell with the town and the gossip. She was going to listen to her heart. It might not be a special gift like intuition or a honed skill like reading body language. But it was hers and she was going to trust it.
“I APPRECIATE YOU LOOKING at my books,” Pandora said, her smile both sweet and sexy at the same time. She crossed the floor, pausing to pet one of the cats, who was sprawled inside a large copper bowl. “I figure I’ll take a business class or something after the first of the year. But in the meantime, I really am grateful for the reassurance that the store is really doing well.”
Caleb felt like the world’s biggest dick. And not in a good way. He spent most of his life lying to people. Using them for information. He’d learned the art of taking advantage of people at his father’s knee.
And now?
Now he was standing in front of a woman who made him feel things, believe in things that he’d always scoffed at as feel-good lies before. And he was bullshitting her, poking into her business while pretending to help her out. He was digging into her books trying to find the dirt to convict her of an ugly crime.
No, he corrected himself. He was assuring himself that there was no dirt, so she didn’t get unfairly accused.
Big difference, he thought with a mental eye roll.
She reached the counter and hesitated, her smile dimming as she studied his face. A tiny crease marred her forehead and she took a little step back, as if to get a better view of him.
“Seriously. What’s the matter? You’re really tense and, well, off feeling,” she said, studying him through suddenly narrowed eyes.
Caleb was impressed. He’d spent the past eight years working with career cops whose lives depended on their ability to read people. And most of them didn’t come close to her aptitude.
“What’s wrong?” she asked again, her voice rising to a squeak as she wrung her fingers together. “Is the store losing money and I didn’t realize it?”
“No. I mean, I don’t know, I haven’t started poking into your books yet,” he told her. Giving a quick flick of the mouse pad, he gestured. “I need your password to get into the program.”
“Ooooh.” She reached around, angling the laptop and tapping a few keys, then trailed her hand over the back of his. He felt tingles, freaking tingles, from his fingers to the tip of his dick. It was as if she had some special power or something.
“Have at it,” she told him, offering another warm smile before turning back to her naked-angel statue and boxes of stuff. “There are cookies there in that box, too. Help yourself.”
He glanced at the box of Decadently Orgasmic Double-Chocolate Delights. Homemade horny treats. Curious, he flipped the lid and tasted one.
Delicious.
As Pandora restocked, tidied and replenished the bookcases and swept the floor, she kept up a steady stream of chatter. Caleb was alternately intrigued, amused and filled with an alien sense of comfort.
All the while, he invaded her privacy in horrible and disgusting ways, poking into all her files, opening her emails and reading her OneNote journal of store plans. He scrolled through the photo album, he checked her recycle bin and he surreptitiously jotted down names and numbers. He also ate her entire box of cookies.
The only loose end he was seeing was Fifi, though. But as far as he knew, she’d been employed at Moonspun off and on for years. He’d dig deeper into her history later, but from what he’d seen in the reports Hunter sent, she had a few financial issues and had been caught with the wrong crowd from time to time. However, she had no record and no real criminal ties.
Done with the laptop, he closed the lid. And gave thanks that Pandora was one of those organized, ethical people who kept their work and private computers completely separate. Because her work computer was clean, and he hadn’t had the opportunity-ie: had to force himself-to look through her private files. Poking into her private emails and photos would feel really grimy. As opposed to just slightly nauseating.
“So how’s it looking?” she asked as she came out of the storeroom.
It?
His conscience? That was looking like shit.
But he figured she wasn’t interested in that. And if he played his cards right, she never had to know that he was so far beneath her in terms of moral values that he should be eating worms.
“The store’s doing great. I’m impressed at how low you keep your overhead,” he commented, bringing up the only area left that might offer an opening for drug sales through her store. Unrealistic, of course, but once he’d crossed it off the list, he could tell Hunter this was definitely a closed door.
“Overhead?”
“Yeah. You don’t have a big employee list. Just you and Fifi, right?”
“Well, yeah. Until tomorrow.”
“Beg pardon?”
“Fifi thought we were going a little crazy with how busy it’s been. Without knowing exactly how solid we were financially, I wasn’t sure about hiring, but she convinced me that her friend Russ would be willing to work just the lunch shift while the café is open, and that he was cool with the fact that the job will end after Christmas.” She gave a little shoulder wiggle and added, “Isn’t that lucky?”
Caleb sighed. Of course she’d hired someone. She, and Fifi, who had a maxed-out VISA card and rent issues.
“Yep. That’s lucky, all right.” Bad luck, though. While he hadn’t found anything to point fingers, he couldn’t in good conscience cross the store off, either. Not until he’d checked out everyone.
“I guess I need to figure out how to add him to the payroll program, don’t I?” she asked, biting her lip and giving Caleb the cutest eyelash-batting look that just screamed pretty please.
“I can do that,” he offered, feeling like ten times the jerk because she looked so grateful.
“His application is back in the storeroom,” she said, hurrying around the counter and stepping over the blanket of black furry cat lying in the doorway.
Since he couldn’t have manufactured a better excuse to poke around in her storeroom, no pun intended, Caleb sighed and followed her. The cat lifted his fluffy black head and gave Caleb a long, narrowed look that made him want to hunch his shoulders and apologize.
God, it was time to
get out of this business. Now a cat was calling him out on his bullshit.
“This is a storeroom?” Caleb asked, his eyes wide as he stepped into the tiny room. It was maybe eight-by-eight, with shelves lining three walls, boxes stacked in what he assumed were organized piles and a desk shoved in the back.
With a little squeak, Pandora turned to face him. Hand pressed to her chest, she laughed at herself. “I didn’t realize you’d followed me.”
He knew he shouldn’t be here. He knew it was every kind of wrong to pursue her when she was under investigation. But, dammit, he’d already had a taste and now he was addicted. She was delicious. And he wanted more.
Caleb tried to justify it. He told himself he wasn’t officially on the job. He argued that he’d already investigated her enough to know she was clean.
It was all bullshit.
But it was still good enough for him.
“The view wasn’t as nice without you out there.”
He loved how the color warmed her cheeks, bringing out the red highlights in her hair and making her eyes sparkle even brighter.
“I like it in here,” he commented, stepping into the tight space and crowding her against the desk.
“Cassiopeia used this as an office,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder to indicate the desk and file cabinet. She sounded a little breathless, though. Good. He liked the idea of taking her breath away. “She, um, she stored most of the stock in the back room. But, you know, I turned it into the café.”
Her eyes were huge, so huge he could see the brown rim around the green irises. Her lashes, thick and black, swept down to hide her eyes. But he’d seen the desire in those hazel depths. Which was all the permission he needed.
Caleb took that last step. The one that brought his body within inches of hers. Hot, welcoming and so freaking soft she made his head spin, her curves melded into the hard planes of his chest.
Pandora tilted her head back so her hair swept over his wrists. Her hands slipped over his shoulders and she gave him a saucy wink.
“So you like tight spaces, do you?”
And just like that, his brain short-circuited. Caleb knew he was on the job here-even if he wasn’t exactly ‘on the job.’ He knew there was a specific purpose to his being in this office, which was to find proof that would eliminate Pandora from suspicion so he could go back to happily enjoying the delights of her company without guilt. He should be looking for the job application so he could eliminate the new guy as a suspect.
But all he could see was Pandora, her hazel eyes laughing up at him. Her smile, so wide and amused. Her. Just her.
When had she gained so much power over him?
He had to get the hell out of here. Years of living on the edge of his nerves had honed his awareness razor-sharp. He knew when he was in trouble. He knew when he was in danger. And he knew when things had the potential to get freaking scary.
This situation? It was all three.
“Are you hungry?” Pandora asked, running her tongue over the fullness of her lower lip. “Did you want another…cookie?”
He didn’t think she meant those delicious chocolate treats he’d eaten earlier. But he didn’t care any longer. All he wanted was her. She was worth whatever problems he had to face-on the case, or with his conscience.
“I’m starving,” he said. Then he gave in to the desperate need and skimmed his fingers down to gather the material of her skirt. Inch by inch, he pulled it higher, baring the deliciously soft skin of her thighs. “Another round with my boots on?”
“It’s going to have to be, since I don’t think you’re going to have time to take them off,” she mused, trailing her hands down to his belt buckle and having her way with it.
Her mouth met his with fervor, her tongue challenging his. She had his jeans unzipped and his dick free before he could do more than groan.
Suddenly desperate, he grasped her waist and lifted her onto the desk. His fingers found her wet, hot core, stroking her through the soft fabric of her panties. Impatient, needing more, he ripped the material away.
Her response was half laugh, half moan. And all delight.
Not sure he could stand much more of her fingers’ wicked dance over his straining erection, he grabbed a condom from his pocket and sheathed himself.
His fingers returned to her soft folds, but she wasn’t having any of that foreplay crap. Pandora grasped his hips, slid forward on the desk and rotated her hips so her wet heat stroked him.
Losing his mind, Caleb plunged.
It felt incredible. Her body, the power of the passion between them, the need.
Desperate for release, his eyes locked on Pandora’s as he pounded into her. She didn’t look away. Even as her eyes fogged, as she panted and started keening excited cries of her orgasm, she kept her gaze on his.
It was the most incredible experience of his life. Passionate, raw and emotional.
Terrified and exhilarated at the same time, he gave himself over to the pleasure of her body. His orgasm slammed him hard, exploding out of control. He shouted his pleasure, then, his face buried in the sweet scent of her shoulder, he tried to catch his breath. And restart his brain.
Because while he might not have a clue what he was going to do about the case, he did know one thing for damn sure.
He was in trouble.
And he liked it.
Ten minutes later, Caleb still couldn’t think straight. He’d barely had the presence of mind to slip that job application in his pocket while she wasn’t looking. He could check into the new employee later, then slip it behind the desk tomorrow. She’d never know.
“Thanks for the, um, help with my books,” Pandora said with a laugh as she gathered her purse, keys and coat in preparation for closing up shop for the night.
He held her long suede coat so she could slide her arms into the sleeves.
“Ready to party?” he said, lifting the silky swing of her hair aside so he could brush a kiss over the back of her neck. God, he couldn’t get enough of her. She was like a drug, addicting and delicious. And as far as he could tell, without any debilitating side effects.
“I have to say I feel a little weird going to a party with no undies,” she said with a naughty glance over her shoulder. “Even weirder when it’s your dad’s party.”
He wanted to tell her they’d skip it. He’d much rather go back to her place. Or to his hotel room with that big claw-foot tub. He wasn’t a foofy bath kind of guy, but he could totally imagine Pandora lounging there, surrounded by steam and frothy bubbles.
But he had a job to do. He’d identified most of the dealers in town by now, so he needed to see if any showed up. And find out who they were hanging out with if they were there.
“We’ll just stop in. Thirty minutes, tops,” he said. That’s all he’d need to gauge the players and gather a few names. “And if we’re there too long, all you have to do is whisper in my ear a reminder of your lack of panties, and we’ll be out the door in an instant.”
Pandora’s laugh was low and husky, making him wish like hell that he could toss this whole mess aside and just focus on getting on with his damn life.
As soon as this case was solved, he was through. He had no clue what he’d be doing. He didn’t even know where he’d be doing it, although Black Oak offered some serious temptation. Not quite enough to allay the issues it presented, though.
“You sure you don’t want to just skip the party and get right to the lack of panties,” Pandora said, only sounding as if she was half teasing as she gathered her purse and gave the cats each a cuddle.
“I want to,” he said in an embarrassingly fervent tone. Caleb coughed, trying to clear the dorkiness from his throat. “It sounds crazy, but I feel like I have to stop in. I can’t figure out what I’m doing until I figure out where things are at with my father. Not just for tonight, but in the big picture, you know.”
Pandora paused in the act of pulling catnip-filled toys out a little mesh bag and tossing them a
round the room for Paulie and Bonnie to entertain themselves through the night. “Big picture?”
“Yeah.” Caleb felt like an ass, but still something forced him to say, “I figure it’s time we made our peace. Or at least found some neutral ground. See if we can both handle being in the same town for a length of time.”
An earless furry bunny dangling from one hand, Pandora pressed the other to her lips for just a second, as if she was trying to hold back a slew of questions. There was just as much worry and hesitation in her eyes as there was curiosity and delight. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.
“By length of time, do you mean the week left until Christmas?” she asked hesitantly.
While she waited, her eyes all huge and sexy, Bonnie, the black-and-white cat, padded across the floor and started batting the bunny with her paw. When Pandora didn’t respond to the command to play, the cat batted harder, sending the toy flying from Pandora’s fingers across the room. Both cats bounded after the furry treat.
“I’m…” He trailed off. How did he answer? He didn’t want to get her hopes up. He wasn’t the kind of guy who made promises. Not even ones he was pretty sure he could keep.
“Don’t,” she said, interrupting his mental struggle. She crossed over and took his hands. “Please, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I should warn you, though, that the town grapevine is working overtime and you’re the main topic. So if you stay, that’s only going to get worse.”
It wasn’t the town he needed to worry about, he realized as he looked into those heavily fringed eyes. It was Pandora. She was more dangerous than an arsenal of AK-47s. At least, she was to his once happily frozen heart.
“Sweetheart, I honestly don’t know where I’m going to be, or where I want to be, in two weeks. But I do know I’m exactly where I want to be right this minute.”
Pandora’s eyes were huge and vulnerable. He’d like to think it was because of his heartfelt declaration. But there was something else there, lurking. Something that made his gut clench. Because beneath the nerves and sweetness there was a fear. Like she was afraid of him sticking for too long. Afraid of what he’d find out.
