Fast Deal

by Faye Avalon

  Lola studied the building, thinking that at some time down the line this type of building might be an option, but right then there was only one place she wanted.

  ‘Does it give you a good feeling,’ Connor asked. ‘Those instincts, remember?’

  She looked up at him and met his gaze. He certainly gave her a good feeling. And all her instincts told her to grab him and kiss the life out of him. He was so incredibly gorgeous, standing there in the muted light of a quiet street, his hair ruffled by the breeze, his dark eyes filled with that sexy gleam. All big and masculine in a tailored jacket that fit him to perfection, his tie rakishly loosened so he could unfasten the top button of his shirt.

  Her mouth positively watered just looking at him.

  It wasn’t just the way he looked, although that had the power to steal her breath clean away. It was much more than that. With every moment she spent with him she felt the attraction grow. He didn’t dismiss her dreams but seemed intent on helping her achieve them. He encouraged, supported, offered her his own insights. It was such an alien concept to her, having that encouragement, that support. How could she even try to resist him?

  She wanted him. Really wanted him.

  As if reading her thoughts, he stepped forward. ‘You’ve got a dirty mind.’ He grinned and slid his arms around her waist. ‘Here I am, trying my hardest to keep my mind on business, and you’re looking at me as if you want to do very wicked and erotic things to me.’

  His chest grazed her breasts as he pulled her closer and her nipples hardened to tight peaks.

  ‘No harm in looking.’ She hesitated for just a second, then slid her arms around his neck. ‘I really like you, Connor. Just remember that.’

  He grinned. ‘Okay.’

  Then his mouth took hers in a desperate, heated kiss.

  He circled her closer to the building, kissing her mouth, her jaw, her throat, and soon she was a quivering mess of need.

  ‘Why don’t we take a closer look at the entrance?’ Connor suggested as he placed open-mouthed kisses on her neck.

  They moved into the stone-floored entryway and Connor angled her back against the door. She searched around frantically, looking for security cameras. ‘This is insane, Connor.’

  ‘Yeah.’ He pressed her to the door. ‘Let’s be insane together.’

  ‘I hope we’re not being caught on camera,’ she managed as his erection prodded her and she opened her legs a little. ‘I don’t want to be on Crimewatch.’

  ‘I already checked,’ he said between those heated kisses, his hands moving to clamp around her hips. ‘No cameras.’

  He levered up her dress, pressing his knee between her legs and coaxing her to widen them even more. ‘We can’t do this, Connor. Not here. What if someone walks by?’

  ‘We’ll wish them a pleasant evening and tell them to sod off.’

  He grinned, quick and sexy.

  Even as she spun between pure lust and the decadence of having sex in a public place, Lola couldn’t find it in her to stop Connor from reaching for her panties.

  He stepped back so he could shimmy them down her legs, and all the while Lola kept searching around for hidden cameras. She gave a quick laugh as she stepped out of her panties, and Connor shoved them in his trouser pocket.

  ‘Oh, hell. I can’t believe I’m doing this.’

  * * *

  Connor grabbed his wallet from his jacket pocket and took out a condom. He unzipped his fly, the rasping sound in the quiet of the London back street doing nothing except to spur him on. He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed her now.

  When he’d covered himself, he pushed her back deep into the door-well, satisfied that they were as sheltered as possible and offering up a silent plea that they’d not be disturbed. Lola grabbed for his shoulders and raised one leg to wrap it around his waist.

  ‘Thanks be to the yoga gods for a flexible woman.’

  Lola laughed and tightened her leg against him as she dug her hands into his shoulders.

  ‘You haven’t even scratched the surface of my flexibility.’

  He grinned, squeezing her backside as his cock pressed against her heat. When her foot slid down his spine, pressing on that sensitive area of his back, he reached around and positioned her foot to ease the discomfort. Although, when she hiked up her hips and all her wetness curved around his erection, he didn’t think he was capable of feeling anything other than his blood rushing through him in a frenzied blast of lust.

  ‘Shit, Lola.’

  Her response was to bring her hand down between them and curl her fingers around his cock. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the door, her hips curving upward, encouraging him to slide inside her.

  He wanted to torment her, make her beg for him to take her. He wasn’t sure how he did it, but he managed to string things out, even as his cock throbbed and that lust in his blood gathered strength. Leaning down, he kissed her neck, letting his teeth graze against her delicate throat.

  Still her hips bucked and she gave an urgent, ‘Connor...’

  ‘What?’ His voice sounded low, grazed, as if his throat was raw. ‘Tell me what you want.’

  ‘You know,’ she complained, her fingers squeezing his thickness, her foot pressing into his back, her hips grinding as she tried to get him inside her. ‘I’m not going to spell it out.’

  She didn’t have to, not when her wet heat was like a siren call to his dick. There was only enough torment he could take, only enough resistance he could manage.

  He tapped her hand away, replacing it with his own as he positioned himself and pushed hard, deep and was inside her as she gasped and clung to him.

  He pumped hard, each shove pushing her harder against the door, which answered with a shaky, clanging sound that indicated an unsustainable lock.

  Each time he shoved into her she caught her breath, the sound travelling to her throat in a needy groan.

  ‘Connor... Oh, God. Connor...’

  She held him tight, her muscles gripping his cock, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

  He drove into her like a freaking train, but in his defence she was making him bloody crazy with her tight, hot body and those needy gasps and moans.

  Each time he pushed deep, the door gave way a bit, and in the small slice of his brain that still functioned with some coherence he had the thought that maybe the door wouldn’t hold out much longer against the determined battering they were subjecting it to.

  He placed his hands on her hips, squeezing tightly both to go even deeper inside her and to hold her safe in his arms in case the door gave way.

  He came hard, over and over, as he felt her answering response.

  He dropped his forehead to hers, their gasping breaths echoing around the silent back street.

  ‘Do you think someone heard us?’ Lola asked as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. ‘I think I was making a lot of noise.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Connor said as he withdrew from her. ‘You were sounding off loud enough to wake the dead.’

  She slapped at his shoulder. ‘You weren’t exactly quiet.’

  She looked so thoroughly fucked, her hair all mussed, her lips full from his kisses, not to mention her dress up around her waist. He zipped himself, then leaned down and lightly kissed her. ‘Let’s go back to my place and really put on a show.’

  She hesitated for a moment in the process of pulling down her skirt, and he knew those cogs and wheels were turning and trying to come up with an excuse. ‘I should get home. I’ve got some lesson plans to write up and other admin to do.’

  He noticed she didn’t meet his eyes and wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was thinking. That one-night stands were supposed to last one night, but neither of them seemed able to stick to that. They both wanted more.

  He didn’t want to dwell on what �
��more’ was. Didn’t want to think around why he couldn’t seem to get enough of her.

  All he knew was that this was starting to turn into more than sex. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed being with a woman this much. Lola was easy to be around and maybe that was part of the attraction. She knew what she wanted. She was focused, intelligent, and fun. No side.

  He’d enjoyed looking at those properties with her, getting a handle on what she was looking for and what she wanted for her business.

  She had plans, dreams, and he sensed an innate determination to achieve those plans and dreams. That energy bounced off her like a living thing. It was addictive.

  She was addictive.

  Fuck.

  Reality check. ‘Look, I know this has been pretty intense,’ he said as nonchalantly as he could manage while he battled with the idea that he wanted more with Lola than blow-the-doors-off sex. ‘But in my experience this kind of chemistry burns out faster when acted upon and not denied.’

  She reached into her bag and pulled out a tissue for him to use to dispose of the condom. After he’d taken care of that with a visit to a refuse bin a few yards away, he came back to find her straightening her clothes.

  There was a tightness in his chest and his breathing felt uneven. Unusual for him to feel stress after a great bout of sex, but something about Lola unsettled him. He wondered if it was because she might be about to say no. To walk away.

  He wasn’t ready for that. He hadn’t been lying when he’d suggested letting this thing between them burn out naturally, except he was no longer sure it was that simple. Regardless, the last thing he wanted was to have her stick in his system and not be able to do a thing about it.

  His mind flashed back a few years to the moment he’d realised Caroline had been manipulating him. Shit. That had hurt like nothing else. Maybe if he hadn’t been so damned obsessed with her, hadn’t allowed himself to fall too fast and too hard, he might have seen the signs, might not have gone against his instincts to slow down, take his time getting to know her better. Instead, he’d plunged straight into the deep end of the pool, only to come up gasping for air and finding himself in the role of scapegoat.

  He’d been a damned fool, and his only defence was that he hadn’t been thinking straight. When a man didn’t think straight because of a woman, there was usually hell to pay. He’d learned his lesson, and that lesson included keeping things temporary, light, easy. Fuck a woman and get her out of his system before she had chance to take up residence there.

  He knew he needed to do that with Lola, but it wasn’t a real problem. This time he was giving the deep end of the pool a wide berth, and there was no chance of falling in. His eyes were open, and he wasn’t about to be taken for a fool. Never again.

  ‘How about I help you with that admin work you mentioned?’ he said. ‘Then you can stay the night and I’ll make you breakfast.’

  She looked up at him, her direct green gaze indicating she was trying to resist him but failing miserably. He really liked that she wasn’t clingy and needy but was instead independent and focused on her own plans. Her determination to make her dreams a reality was refreshing, more so because she didn’t seem the type to step on anyone to do it. He should know, since he’d been privy to enough treachery and deceit to last him a lifetime.

  ‘You’re a difficult man to say no to, Connor.’

  ‘Then don’t say it.’ He slid his hands in his pockets. ‘Look, this is fun, right? And that’s what we both want. No strings, no commitment?’

  She nodded.

  ‘It doesn’t have to mean anything for either of us beyond good sex. We’re not making it into anything else. It won’t go on for ever.’

  Why did he keep saying this? Was he trying to convince her, or himself?

  Caution filled her gaze, only adding to his own sense of confusion and panic. What the hell was wrong with him? If she said no, he would let her go. No hard feelings. Nothing lost. He’d forget her, and the sex, soon enough. He’d make bloody sure of that.

  ‘You’re right,’ she said with a nod. ‘It doesn’t have to mean anything else. It doesn’t have to affect anything else. It’s just sex, and it certainly won’t go on for ever.’

  Having her shoot his own words back at him pissed him off, and made him want to press her right back against the door and show her just how long it could go on.

  It was bad enough that he wanted another night with Lola, but he feared he was already planning the night after that. And the next. He was at risk of stepping onto dangerous ground. What had happened to quick, easy sex-only arrangements? The kind that ensured he didn’t have to look beyond what was on the surface. He didn’t have to bother working out a woman’s motivations or wonder what the hell she might be plotting or planning. He didn’t need to figure out what her end-game was, and how it might bring him to his fucking knees.

  Once bitten was more than enough for any man, and he’d vowed that he’d never let himself be vulnerable again. That he’d never totally trust. And, family excepted, he never had.

  He stepped away from Lola so fast that he stumbled on the kerb.

  He winced as his back muscles protested, and Lola’s hand reached out at the very moment he righted himself.

  ‘Connor. Are you okay?’

  He grimaced, his hand shooting to his lower back as pain ripped through him. ‘Yeah, fine.’

  ‘You’re not fine. I’ve seen you flinch a few times now. What’s wrong with your back?’

  ‘Nothing. Just kicks up from time to time.’

  She came around behind him and put her hand on his lower back. ‘Where does it hurt?’

  She pressed and prodded, making Connor think that if his back hadn’t hurt before it certainly would after she’d finished with him.

  ‘Your muscles feel really tight. I can help with that.’ She came back in front of him. ‘Let’s stop by my place on the way to yours and I’ll grab a few things.’

  Tired of this particular conversation, Connor drew her closer, placing his arms around her. ‘The only thing you need to bring is you. I’m planning to keep you naked and very contented for the whole night.’

  ‘And what if your back seizes up?’ she asked, cocking her head to the side. ‘You’re not going to be much use to me then, are you? Think about it. I’ll be naked and there’ll be nothing you can do about it.’

  Connor drew in a breath. ‘When you put it like that...’

  CHAPTER NINE

  EMILY WAS STILL OUT when Lola rushed up to their flat. She grabbed a few supplies then scribbled a note telling her friend that she wouldn’t be home again that night.

  Lola knew she needed to put Emily’s mind at rest about what was going on. They’d spoken on the phone earlier that day when Lola had admitted that her conversation with Damian hadn’t gone well. She knew Emily was worried about her spending time with Connor while this secret lay between them. So was she.

  It doesn’t have to mean anything for either of us beyond good sex. We’re not making it into anything else.

  Would he feel that way when he knew the truth? Would he shrug off what they’d shared as something that didn’t matter? That didn’t have to influence a business transaction between them?

  She feared he wouldn’t be able to do that. Hadn’t he also said that he found it hard to trust?

  Nausea settled in her stomach at the knowledge that she would be responsible for adding another cruel layer to his trust issues. The very last thing she wanted to do was hurt him and the longer this went on between them without her admitting who she was, the worse it would be for Connor.

  And for her. Because she was getting herself in too deep. She was starting to really care about him, and about the consequences for him if she continued this charade. There was also the possibility that the longer she delayed telling him the truth, the more likely he was to refuse sellin
g the Cabacal to her.

  Despite everything, she couldn’t seem to not want him. Couldn’t deny herself the opportunity to spend another night with him.

  Soon, everything would change between them, so couldn’t she just have this one last time?

  She wanted it. So much. And she was going to take it. She slipped a change of underwear in her bag, along with some toiletries from the bathroom, then headed back out to where Connor was waiting for her. She knew that she should have invited him up, but she didn’t want him seeing anything that might make him suspicious. It was safer to let him wait in his car. Thankfully, he hadn’t pushed.

  The fact he had showed no interest in seeing where she lived confirmed that he saw this as a temporary thing between them. That it would burn itself out. There was no need for him to concern himself with the inside of her flat, or anything else in her life that didn’t relate to their time between the sheets.

  The thought sat heavily in her chest.

  Perhaps this was a good thing. If he wasn’t invested in anything they shared other than excellent sex, then her eventual revelation wouldn’t hit him as hard. She might not add to his trust issues as deeply as she’d feared.

  That was a cop-out, but it went some way towards alleviating her guilt. But only some way, because the spectre of her deceit was always lying there just beneath the surface.

  Yet she didn’t want that spectre to ruin what time she did have with Connor.

  On arriving at his apartment, Connor busied himself getting drinks while Lola went into his bedroom and unpacked her bag.

  When he came in with their drinks, he stopped dead. ‘What’s all this?’

  She looked to where he stared at the bottles of essential oils she’d unpacked on his side table, the scented candle and oil burner, and the huge towels she’d fetched from the bathroom, one of which she’d placed across the centre of the bed. ‘I’m giving you a massage.’

  He frowned. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because your back muscles need one.’

  A pained look passed over his face. ‘My back muscles are fine.’