“What the heck’s that supposed to mean?”
Both of his eyes opened and he reached for her, threading his fingers through her hair and he said in a husky voice, “You’re just too damn beautiful for your own good, for our own good.” Then he cupped the back of her head, his touch one of possession, as if laying claim to her.
Okay, this was the part where she was supposed to jump up and run away because she and John were adversaries and talking about her being beautiful and thoughts of possession didn’t fit with being adversaries.
Slowly he brought her face to his and inch by inch she leaned to him till their lips touched, the connection like a gulp of hot chocolate warming her all over. And she wanted more, lots more, and not just kissing. She didn’t care how arrogant or pigheaded or closed minded he was or that he thought she screamed like a pig. She placed her hands against his chest—bare, muscled, tight, so male—and kissed him back.
His arms curled around her and he slid over her, not breaking the kiss as she wound her fingers into his wet hair, glistening with moonbeams. His erection pressed hard against the juncture of her legs and she parted them, letting his body sink down into hers.
Thank God she didn’t stay in Chicago and miss this. Smoothing her hair from her face he kissed her temples—one, then the other—her ears, and behind them, driving her nuts. “You smell like heaven,” he whispered, in a ragged breath.
She tucked her thumbs into the waistband of his jeans. “How fast can you get these things off?”
He stilled; his eyes opened wide. “You sure about this?”
“I shouldn’t be, but I am. Bet I can get these jeans off you pretty fast myself. Want me to show you?”
He grinned, the wolfish kind that said this suited him just fine. “Well, damn. I had no idea.”
“Yeah, well I did and it won’t go away no matter what I do. And believe me I’ve tried.”
He stood and peeled off his jeans, least he tried to. He grunted and yanked one side, then the other, not making much progress. “Never dress when you’re wet. I think these jeans are glued to my skin.”
Her one great chance to get laid by a really hunky guy and he has glued-ass problems. She kicked off her sandals, gathered her skirt, slid her panties over her legs, and flipped the bit of lace off the end of her toe into the darkness.
He watched, mesmerized. “I think you’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She scooted up onto the little table across from where he stood and crooked her finger at him. “There’s more.”
He glanced down at his jeans around his thighs. “I look ridiculous.”
She eyed his erection. “Ridiculous is not the word that comes to mind, and I’m sure not complaining about your looks.” Her heart beat in her throat, and the juncture of her legs felt soft and wet. “But we need to hurry.”
“Before we change our minds? I really don’t want you to do that,” he said in a strained voice, as he took a condom from his wallet. She watched as he slid it on.
Oh my stars! He was hers, all hers, every wonderful inch, and she hadn’t seen inches like this in a really long time…probably never. Chicago inches weren’t the same as Texas inches.
He cradled one thigh in each hand, his sure touch an incredible turn-on. Then he pulled her to the end of the table and spread her wide. Her legs straddled his bare hips, skin to skin, heat to heat. He peeled back her skirt, giving him a full view. He smiled, his eyes liquid fire and his breaths shallow, erratic, making her want him all the more. “You’re so beautiful.”
“You’re so big.”
Her hands embraced his neck, then trailed to his nape as he sucked in a quick breath. “Oh, honey.”
She locked her legs around him. “God, I want you.”
“I’m glad this isn’t one sided.” And he cupped her hips and slid into her in one long, continuous stroke.
She gasped, the intimate connection more powerful, more complete than she’d imagined, taking her to the brink of passion…then beyond. In one quick, unexpected flash she climaxed, the world spinning out of her control, and John with her, his body shuddering with hers.
As she clung to him the pulsing orgasm tore through her, filling every need, every desire, every fantasy. She never had fantasies this good. And never this fast! Darn!
He held her against him, every muscle taut, his skin sleek, hot, damp. “You’re fantastic,” she said, in a shaky breath, as she rested her cheek against his stubbled one.
“I wasn’t ready for something like this,” he whispered in her ear.
“Trust me, you were ready. I saw the evidence. Heck, I felt it but it was over too quick.”
He grinned, his teeth white against the dark. Then he kissed her forehead. No arrogance or pigheadedness now. Just a man; just a woman. She said, “That was some sex for two people who don’t much like each other.”
“Except some parts of us like each other a lot.”
“I wonder why?”
“Maybe because we fit together so well. Animal magnetism.”
‘Yoo-hoo,” came Melinda’s voice from the hallway below. “Lillie? Are you in the attic? What are you doing up there? The front door was wide open. Everything okay? Lillie?”
“Does anyone in this whole blasted town know how to mind their own business ever?” John whispered as he slid off the condom. Lillie stood up and found her kicked-off panties, snatched them from the floor, and handed them to him, nodding at the condom. He wrapped it inside, not looking too pleased about that but not having any choice. He stuck the panties in his pocket and zipped his jeans as Melinda’s footsteps sounded on the creaky stairs.
“Lillie?”
“I’m over here and Sheriff Snow’s with me.”
“Don’t you have a flashlight and why is the sheriff in our attic?” Melinda lit the oil lamp and held it high, casting around a golden glow. “And with his shirt off no less?” Melinda added with a grin. She puckered her lips. “Well, well, well. Anything you two want to tell me about? The attic is rather ingenious for a rendezvous. A little hot and dusty and cluttered but it’ll do. I’m great at keeping secrets.” She made the zip and lock gesture across her mouth.
Lillie said, “You’re gossip on parade and you know it, but this time there is none. I came up here to find mementoes about the hotel or Grandpa Pete for the memorial we’re having for him over at the Rooster tomorrow night. Someone shoved me and I screamed and John came running and he’d just gotten out of the shower. We were looking for clues as to who was up here and why. Any ideas?”
“Oh, girl, do I have ideas, but I think you have better ones.” Melinda cut her eyes from Lillie to John. “You two got a thing for each other and don’t want it to get out because it won’t look good—that’s it, isn’t it? The men will think John’s wimping out on his duty to shut down the spa because he’s got the hots for the babe who runs it, and the women will think Lillie’s caved in to John and she’ll turn the spa back into a hotel. That’s why you’re in the attic, least I hope so.”
Lillie parked her hands on her hips. “There was someone up here and that’s the truth.”
“Maybe, but it isn’t all the truth. I can tell. I know men and women and sizzle when I come across it. I can feel it in the air.” Melinda fluffed her hair. “Besides, you both have your shoes off and this isn’t the beach.”
“John was in the shower.”
“And what’s your excuse, missy?” Melinda flashed her best “gotcha” grin and aimed for the stairs saying in a sing song voice, “I’ll be leaving you two alone now to find more burglars. There’s just so much to steal in an old attic. Burglars must be waiting in line to get their hands on dusty books and photos and musty furniture. Have fun you two.”
Lillie rubbed her forehead to ease the tension as Melinda’s words trailed off. “How’d she know?” she asked John, in a low voice. “I’m never going to hear the end of this. I give her lectures about hooking up with the wrong kind of guy and now I have.”
&nb
sp; “Your flattery overwhelms me, but she does have a point. There’s nothing of value up here, so why would someone break in?”
“A valuable piece of whatever that we didn’t realize we had? What else could it be?”
“This place has been boarded up for a year. Anyone could have broken in anytime, so whatever brought them here has to be something recent not something that’s been here all along.”
The dim light silhouetted John’s fine physique as he leaned against the table where she’d sat minutes ago. He was exquisite…and virile as all get-out. Her belly tightened at the memory, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. Maybe she should bronze that table in dedication to the very best sex she’d ever had.
“I’d bet the break-in has to be related to Pete’s death in some way,” John said, snapping her back to the moment, even if she didn’t want to be snapped back and was enjoying her memory just fine.
He continued, “That’s the only thing new around here and from what I’ve heard everything associated with Pete’s demise is a little off. How could a man who’s fished a river all his life drown in it? Why would he go out in a flood in a little rowboat? He wasn’t senile, more like smart as hell and yet…”
John stroked his chin. “Pete being gone sure set this town on its ear in a lot of ways. Changed a lot of people’s lives, like Lance Colby and Rod Carter. I’ve known them all my life. We grew up together and they’re the only two guys in town who didn’t stop hanging with me when Dad went to prison. Lance thought he’d inherit Pete’s ranch till Nina came along, and Rod assumed he’d take over the Ragged Rooster but then Juliet showed up.”
“Grandpa Pete had the properties in trust for me and Nina and Juliet, and that lawyer, Gabe Rankin, was to notify us about the trusts if anything happed to Grandpa. That’s exactly what Rankin did and we inherited the properties.”
John stared off into nothingness as if deep in thought. “So that means things got better for you and your sisters after Pete died. You all got your own business and some start-up money, right?”
Lillie’s spine stiffened. She smelled a big rat, and this particular rodent had dark hair and a great body and had just had incredible sex with her on an old wobbly table. “Your point being?”
“Did Pete really die in an accident? I’ve been thinking about this since I got here. And now with this break-in…”
“Hold on I don’t like the way this is going. You’re really suggesting that Nina and Juliet and I had something to do with Grandpa Pete’s death? Are you out of your mind? Do I look like a murderer?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well, you might as well have.”
“I’m simply speculating.”
“Simply heck.” She poked him in the chest, not caring one bit that he was strong and male and delicious and she could still taste him on her lips and feel his arms around her. “For your information Juliet, Nina, and I hadn’t met till a few hours ago at Sweets ’n Treats. We didn’t even know each other existed till a few months ago after Grandpa passed.”
“Unless…something else was going on, like one of you learned about Pete and the trust before and—”
“And decided to help things along so we or she or whoever you have in mind could get their hands on the property and money? Okay, Sherlock, why would that person be in my attic tonight?”
“Making sure there weren’t papers or letters hanging around that would connect her to Grandpa before he died. Especially now if she knew you’d be hunting for memorabilia for the wake tomorrow night.”
“Or, I’ve got a better idea. Maybe I faked the whole blasted break-in tonight and there wasn’t anyone here at all and I wanted to keep suspicion off myself because I killed Grandpa and am trying to throw the blame on my sisters because we all have a motive.”
“That doesn’t wash. If you wanted me up here you wouldn’t have told Rusty I’m a rotten kisser then seduce me—”
“I seduced you?”
“Well somebody sure as hell seduced somebody tonight. How else do you explain what just happened between us? I don’t think it was our instant camaraderie or brilliant introduction that brought us together.”
“Stupidity. Pure, blatant, unexplainable stupidity is what got us here. Mixed with basic lust. You’re trying to close my spa and throw me and my sisters in jail.” She shut her eyes and slapped her palm to her forehead. “I think this makes it official. I am truly the biggest jerk magnet on the planet.”
“I deal in facts and the facts are that no one else benefited from Pete’s death but the three of you. That gives you a good connection.”
“Sometimes called motive, and here’s some facts for you, buster. You said Lance and Rod thought they inherited the saloon and the ranch. Maybe they offed Grandpa Pete to get what they thought they had coming all along—what about that?”
“No way.”
“Yes way. Facts, remember. If you’re suspecting my sisters of doing in Grandpa Pete then you have to include Rod and Lance.”
“I know them. I don’t know Nina or Juliet.”
“And you don’t know me.”
He leveled her a heated look that suggested otherwise and let out a deep resigned breath. “How the hell did we ever get to this point from where we were fifteen minutes ago?”
“That’s a really good question, sugar lips, because this sure ain’t afterglow.”
Three
John ground his teeth as he clambered down the attic steps and turned for the first floor. He should write a book called Endless Ways to Really Fuck Up Your Life, because he was a damn pro on the subject. Not only was he screwing around with the one gal in town he disagreed with on everything, but she just might have knocked off her own grandfather and gotten away with it, until now.
John yanked open the front door to find Jimmy on the other side. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Uh…”
John stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him as Jimmy added, “What are you doing here?”
“Business. What’s your excuse?”
“Well, Melinda and I had dinner over at Mizz Jones’s bed-and-breakfast. Then she asked me in for coffee—Melinda, not Mizz Jones—and I stopped at my place and got some chicory—you know how I like chicory in my coffee—and…” Jimmy stopped and a sly grin spread across his face. “Business? As in getting a personal after-hours tour of the place?”
“Chicory my ass,” John said, not able to keep the tease from his voice. “You’ve shaved, got yourself all spruced up, and you smell good, not like the sheriff’s office.”
Jimmy reddened. “It’s Old Spice, and what do you mean I smell like the office, and I still don’t know why you’re here, and don’t try to change the subject.”
John lowered his voice. “There’s something going on with Pete’s death—I can feel it—and Lillie and her sisters are involved.”
Jimmy grinned. “That’s the only reason you’re here at this hour? To talk with Lillie June about Pete? You really expect me to believe that?”
“It’s complicated.” And getting worse every time he looked at Lillie. “Did you find anything besides the overturned boat when Pete went missing?”
Jimmy pushed his Stetson to the back of his head. “Complicated and women go together like ham and eggs but women are a darn sight prettier.” Jimmy shrugged, then added, “And they taste a whole hell of a lot better and—”
“The accident?”
“Yeah, right, the accident. All we found was Pete’s overturned rowboat on the shore about two miles downriver from the bait shop. We searched the riverbank for weeks, didn’t find hide nor hair of Pete. That’s pretty much it. Real sad. He was a good guy. We all miss him. Now can I get my damn coffee?”
“You didn’t find his tackle box or his vest? He never went fishing without his lucky vest. And doesn’t it seem convenient that he dies unexpectedly, no body found, and his granddaughters come into a boatload of good fortune?”
Jimmy eyed the do
or behind John and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Juliet and Nina are really nice, just ask Rod and Lance. I think there’re wedding bells in their futures, and I think Melinda’s expecting me right now, and people die all the time, John. Give it up.”
“Maybe I’ll have a little talk with the granddaughters three.”
Jimmy pulled a frown. “Gabe Rankin will be totally honked off if you pester the girls. He treats them as if they were his own, and since he and Pete were like brothers I can understand that. Besides, what could they know? They got here after Pete died.”
“Pete gave me a job sweeping out the saloon and doing dishes at the Rooster after Dad got convicted. I owe it to him to figure out what happened and I’m not convinced we got all the facts.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, boy, if you think those girls had anything to do with their grandfather’s death. It was an accident pure and simple, nothing more. What’s Lillie June think of your cockamamie idea?”
“That maybe Lance and Rod did the deed because they thought they’d inherit the ranch and the saloon.”
“Well, piss up a rope.” Jimmy chuckled. “This is getting to be a real mess. You accuse Lillie and her sisters and she accuses your friends. Doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven.”
“No kidding.” Except Lillie felt like heaven in his arms. “Tomorrow I’m going to drive downriver and look around where you found the rowboat. You never know what can get caught in bushes along the bank. Now that the river’s low and more of the bank is exposed I might come across something that wasn’t there before. Can you cover for me?”
“And you can cover for me tonight, or at least get the heck out of my way.” Jimmy stepped around John. “Right now I’ve got coffee waiting for me.” He gave John a little salute and a man-to-man look. “See you in the morning, sheriff.”
John watched the door close behind Jimmy. What the hell. Jimmy was in for a night of chicory and a lot of other tasty things while John Snow headed for a night of tossing and turning and thinking about Lillie June. Not that he wanted to, but the kind of sex they had just had wasn’t the sort you walk away from and forget.
Texas Bad Boys Page 18
