by Cathryn Fox
As Pamina walked to the kitchen, Candace followed. “Pamina, I wanted to ask you about Marc.”
With a squirming Abra tucked under her arm, Pamina grabbed two apples from the bowl and handed one to Candace. Candace polished it on her shirt then took a big bite.
“What about him?” Pamina asked, her mystical green eyes glistening.
“He’s new in town and hasn’t set up shop yet, so I was just wondering how you found him.”
Pamina got quiet for a moment, thoughtful. “Well, he was walking toward the house the other day, and I assumed he was the paint stripper I’d hired. When I questioned him, he said he was the right man for the job.” She gave a light chuckle, bit into her own apple. “Who knows? Maybe I accidentally hired the wrong guy. The wrong guy who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Just like he was in the right place at the right time when you needed a woodworker.”
Candace swallowed hard as an uneasy feeling moved through her.
Pamina gave an easy shrug. “But what does it matter really? He’s proven himself to be the perfect man for the job, don’t you think?”
Yeah, in more ways than one.
“So who he is and where he’s come from shouldn’t matter, Candace. What matters is what he’s done since he’s been here.”
Before she could comment, her cell phone rang and she excused herself.
Five minutes later, she hung up with her father. As she considered his tone, a knot settled into her stomach. There had been something in her father’s voice that upset her. Although he’d assured her everything was fine, she sensed he was hiding something from her.
Deciding then and there that she needed to see him, she hopped into her car, drove to the station and boarded a train to Grand Central Station.
* * *
Marc paced outside Krane’s office, catching glimpses of him talking to his secretary through his glass door. Jesus, what the hell was he supposed to say to him? Oh yeah, everything is going just fine, sir. Sure I’ve been keeping an eye on your daughter.
And a hand on her.
A tongue on her.
A cock in her.
Oh fuck!
He knew he was going to be out of a job, but none of that mattered to him. All that mattered was that he wanted to come clean with Candace so they could begin this relationship on the right foot and take it to the next level. If it wasn’t too late for that. And the last thing he wanted was to be paid to take care of her. It was a job he’d happily do for free.
He just hoped Candace would understand and forgive him for his deceit.
A moment later Krane’s door opened, and his secretary ushered him inside.
With Krane seated at his desk, Marc faced him straight on and said, “We need to talk.”
* * *
Candace stepped off the elevator and moved through the marble foyer as she made her way to her father’s office. Stepping up to Olive’s desk, Candace greeted her with a smile.
Excited to see her, Olive rose from her chair and gave Candace a hug. “Candace, how are you?”
Candace hugged her back. “I’m great. I was just in the area and I thought I’d stop in to see my father.”
“He’s with one of his security guards right now, but go on through. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”
Candace slipped past Olive’s desk and walked down the hall. As she neared her father’s office, she took in the very familiar outline of the man with him, his legs wide, his back to the glass door. Candace’s heart began to pound against her chest, and her knees went weak beneath her.
Oh good God, no.
She took a measured step closer, praying she was wrong but suspecting she wasn’t. There was only one man she knew of who had that short military-cut hairstyle, broad shoulders that tapered to a trim waist and long powerful legs that she’d felt wrapped around her body. Intimately.
Her father looked past the man’s shoulder and his eyes widened, surprised. But wait. Was that surprise that had registered on his face, or was it something else entirely?
The man with his back to the door—the security guard as Olive had identified him—angled his head and met her glance, confirming what she already knew. It was none other than Marc Collins.
As intense dark eyes met hers, she understood the look on her father’s face because Marc was wearing the exact same expression. Guilt.
Candace felt her blood drain to her feet as understanding dawned. Her father had hired Marc to guard her without her knowledge. They’d both been deceiving her. She suddenly remembered an old conversation with her father after he’d been attacked on set, and how he’d hired and trained the set designer to be his guard. That had to have been Marc, seeing as how he could so easily talk shop with her.
Every emotion from confusion to mortification to anger whipped through her blood as she spun around and rushed down the hall. Tears poured down her cheeks, blurring her vision. She could hear Marc chasing after her as she wiped the moisture from her eyes and hurried toward the waiting elevator.
Candace pressed the button and watched the metal ping shut, drowning out the noise and closing both the door and her heart to him. Numbly she tracked back to the train station, wanting to be as far away from Marc as possible. Sure, what her father had done was wrong, but at least he did it because he cared. What about Marc? He took the job to guard her because he was getting paid, and he jumped at the chance to be her woodworker simply to keep an eye on her. Was sleeping with her a fringe benefit, or was he getting paid for that too?
Her mind raced, trying to sort through the godawful turn of events as she boarded the train to Connecticut. Marc might not have been using her to get to her father, but he had been deceiving her, pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Which made him no different from the other men who’d used her. She should have known he was too good to be true. The signs were there—the haircut, the way he moved, the way he continually scanned the area. But she had been too damn smitten to pay attention. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
A long while later Candace made her way to the inn, both physically and mentally drained. With her emotions in a tangled mess, she needed to be alone, to come to terms with everything that had happened. As she entered the front door and made her way to the staircase, she wondered why the hell she’d broken the pact she’d made with her best friends—to stay away from all men. Hadn’t lessons learned long ago taught her anything?
She put her foot on the first stair, but the sound of Marc’s voice behind her stilled her movement.
“Candace, wait.”
Her whole body tightened, and she wrapped her arms around herself, not wanting to hear any more lies from him. “I think you should go.”
“I think you need to hear what I have to say.” The emotions in his voice made her heart clench.
She spun to face him and bit out, “Why do I need to hear what you have to say? I don’t even know who you are.”
“Yes, you do, Candace. Everything between us is real.”
The pained look on his face touched her deeply, and the soft tone of his voice spoke of sadness and distress, and made it so damn difficult to keep hold of her anger. “How can I believe that?”
“I never meant to hurt you,” he admitted. She was astonished by the sincerity and tenderness in his tone. “I wanted to tell you who I was, and I tried to keep my distance from you, but I couldn’t. I wanted you so much I just couldn’t fight it anymore.” His hands clenched at his sides and she could see the way his breathing had changed, become harder, more erratic.
She suddenly remembered the conflict in his eyes. The hesitation. Had he been trying to pull back, to fend off her advances? Honestly, what chance did he have? There was no denying the attraction between them was palpable, and with the way she’d been teasing and tormenting him, she’d made it impossible for him to fight the attraction. Perhaps she too carried some of the blame.
“I went to your father’s office to quit, Candace.”
That caught her
by surprise. “You quit?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want money to protect you. That’s a job I’d gladly do for free.”
She gulped air. “You can’t just quit. What are you going to do? Where will you work?”
“I don’t know. Working here with you has reminded me how much I love to use my hands. How much I miss set design and woodworking. Maybe I will set up that shop after all.”
“What about all your training as a security guard? You’re going to let that go to waste?”
“Not a chance, because if you’ll let me, I’d like to spend the rest of my life protecting you.”
Her heart leapt, aware of what he was asking of her. She planted her hands on her hips, not ready to let him off the hook just yet, but deep in her heart knowing she would. Because he was warm and kind and loving and gentle. A fiercely protective man who gave without taking, and to her that spoke volumes. He was a man who’d made a mistake and was now suffering every bit as much as she was. “Who says I need protection?”
“I do.” He stepped closer and brushed his thumb over her cheek. “You father has enemies, Candace, and I plan on making sure none of them ever finds or touches you.”
As she leaned into him, absorbing the heat from his hand, she knew he truly was sorry and hadn’t intentionally hurt her. In that instant she felt her anger melt and thought more about what Pamina had to say. Pamina might have mistaken him for someone else, but there was no doubt that he was right guy at the right time. And forget about too good to be true. This guy was good. Great, in fact. And he was true, honest and giving. Not to mention the best thing that had ever happened to her. It also occurred to her that she didn’t feel smothered by him or his protective nature. She felt loved and cherished.
He must have sensed the shift in her because he pulled her tight. “But the only question is, who’s going to protect you from me?”
She pressed against him and chuckled. “Uh, do you have something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”
He laughed. “I picked something up for you while I was in the city today.” Sadness crossed his eyes. “Then I was worried you’d never speak to me again, and I’d never get the chance to give it to you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a new iPod. “After all, I was responsible for damaging yours in the first place.”
Warmth moved through her as she recalled their seductive encounter at the lake. “You really are one of a kind, aren’t you?”
He turned serious. “Candace, I really am sorry I never told you who I was. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”
“We can put that behind us, Marc.” Once again she recalled the mystical Pamina’s words. “What matters is what you’ve done since you’ve been here. And what you’ve done is opened my eyes and shown me what love really is.” With that she grinned and held her hand out. “I’m Candace Steele and I’m an interior designer. I’m also the daughter of Jason Krane, famous New York movie director. Oh, and I’ve recently discovered I’m a regular old exhibitionist.”
Marc covered her hand with his and visibly relaxed. “I’m Marc Collins, set designer turned security guard for Jason Krane, famous New York movie director. And I’m totally in love with his daughter. Oh, and I’m a regular old voyeur.”
Candace laughed out loud, the love she felt for him filling her darkest corners. “Then that makes us quite the team.”
“That’s right Candace, we do make a good team, and always know this, that I love you for who you are.”
Her heart soared. He loved her. “I love you too.”
“Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the bedroom.”
Desire moved through her. “Oh, yeah.”
“There are some other things we need to square up.”
“Like what?”
“Well, like this.” He pulled her tight and pressed his cock against her. “And since you had your wicked way with me this morning…”
Candace smiled and wet her mouth, knowing full well it was Marc who’d had his wicked way with her that morning. “So what exactly are you suggesting. A little tit for tat?”
“I believe I might be, Candace. I believe I just might be.”
Afterword
Thank you so much for reading, ALL WORKED UP in my Pleasure Inn series. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I loved writing it. Be sure to check out books 1 & 3, ALL TIED UP, and ALL LIT UP. Please read on for an excerpt from ALL LIT UP.
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Interested in leaving a review? Please do! Reviews help readers connect with books that work for them. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.
* * *
Happy Reading,
Cathryn
All Lit Up
Now that had to be the most scrumptious ass Anna Deveau had ever set eyes on.
Tight.
Defined.
And downright squeezable.
The warm autumn sun beat down on Anna as she swiped her tongue over her dry bottom lip and zeroed in on the delectable male before her. Cripes, that man had buttocks like none other. Firm, ripe, ready for the picking.
Oh my…
As a shiver of awareness tingled deep between her legs, derailing her hard-fought ability to think straight, Anna took extra care in negotiating the cracked and pitted walkway in her thin-soled flip-flops.
Pamina kept pace beside her—the mystical-like woman who’d hired Anna’s firm to create fantasy-inspired theme rooms in the rundown Victorian inn situated on the outskirts of Mason Creek. As they strolled along the dilapidated path, Lindsay, a childhood friend and fellow colleague, caught up with them, and they all made their way to the masonry van in the driveway—where said scrumptious buns stood waiting. With the back doors spread wide open, Mr. Sex in a Pair of Jeans braced his muscular thighs against the bumper and leaned forward, presenting her with a perfect, unobstructed view of his magnificent backside.
Yummy…
His gluteus maximus muscles were perfect, all right. Perfect for pinching, or grabbing hold of and palming while he made sweet passionate love to her. A romantic at heart, Anna envisioned those strong hands of his removing her clothes, slowly, methodically, taking the utmost care with her body. Her thighs quivered as she gifted herself a moment to play out the sexy scenario—gentle fingers touching her private, intimate parts with purpose, the rough pad of his thumb working her sensitive nub into orgasmic bliss, his warm, wet mouth buried in the crook of her sensitive neck as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. A small rapturous moan threatened to crawl out of her throat, and she promptly choked it back as the erotic slideshow played out in her mind’s eye.
Taking her by surprise, small beads of moisture broke out on her forehead, and she swiped at them, but the dampness had nothing at all to do with the hot sunshine beating down on the quaint town, and everything to do with the pact she’d made with her friends. A pact she was suddenly questioning the intelligence of. Damn, it had been so long since she’d engaged in an intimate relationship that her body had turned mutinous. Deep between her legs she felt libidinous, needy and hungry.
Positively horny.
Which had her questioning the logic behind their pact, and begged the question—exactly why had they all renounced the opposite sex again?
“What do you think, Anna?” Pamina asked.
Anna turned toward the tall, willowy woman with the knowledgeable green eyes, and struggled to comprehend the question. As Pamina stared at her, obviously awaiting a response, she shifted Abra—her very overweight cat—in her long, lithe arms as the ornery feline hissed and swatted at an imaginary fly.
Lindsay shot her a questioning glance. “Yeah, what is your opinion on it, Anna?” Her friend’s brow furrowed in concentration as she carefully picked her way forward in a pair of three-inch spiked heels that only a wild brazen woman like Lindsay could pull off.
Not understanding the questi
on and feeling a bit flustered by the sexual energy zinging through her bloodstream, Anna tucked a short blonde lock behind her ear and blinked her mind into focus.
“Anna?” Lindsay asked again.
Just then one of the many skilled workers on assignment at the inn crossed in front of her, and she nearly bumped into him.
“I, uh.” Goodness she’d been so caught up in lusting after Mr. Sex in a Pair of Jeans, completely preoccupied with the delicious images of his hard body climbing over hers, that she hadn’t been paying any attention to their conversation, or to all the other laborers milling about in an effort to return the inn to its natural, beautiful state. Truthfully, it was hard to believe that the mere sight of a hot guy had the ability to render her senseless. She was a smart woman, logical, proper, always maintaining a professional demeanor at the workplace, so what had suddenly gotten into her? What the heck had her thinking wayward thoughts about a man she didn’t even know?
Lack of sex, she supposed.
No doubt it would shock her friends if they discovered the naughty direction her thoughts had taken. Not that she would tell them. When it came to sex, unlike the bold and vivacious Lindsay, Anna was a very private person. Then again, she shouldn’t be fantasizing about the laborer Pamina had hired in the first place. It was a distraction she didn’t need. Especially since time was of the essence. She’d put so much work into perfecting her design that she was just beginning the renovations and Lindsay and Anna were well on their way to finishing.
From her peripheral vision, she spotted Candace, the third and final partner in their bustling interior-decoration business, Styles for Living. Candace lunged forward, stretching her muscles on the sun-crisped lawn before her habitual early-morning run. Thankful for the distraction, and deciding to take the focus off her and her current lack of communication skills, Anna gave a wave and shouted a friendly greeting. Pamina and Lindsay fixed their gazes on Candace and followed suit.
