Secrets and Lies (11 page)

“Not verbally,” he mumbled. That alone told her he was cursing up a storm mentally.

She tried to switch tactics. “I’m sorry, Thomas. I won’t let it happen again. But on the bright side, I met Deanne and she’s going to come work for me, so you see, some good came out of everything.”

He mumbled something under his breath.  She could tell he didn’t quite believe her optimism.

“Right, Deanne?” She needed an ally.

“I’m not sure I should be getting in the middle of this,” she said. “Your guy seems to have your best interest at heart. And from what I can tell, and I hope this doesn’t get me fired before I officially start, but from what you’ve told me it seems he has good cause to be worried.”

“Thanks,” he chimed in.

She sighed. “I wouldn’t fire you for voicing your opinion,” she shook her head. “Although I do wish you hadn’t sided with him. He’s winning all the arguments and I haven’t won one.” She didn’t think that was right at all. She understood Thomas’ reasoning. She had, after all, hired him, but at the same time she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. This was—well gosh, this was her mother for crying out loud. She didn’t want to see this swept under the metaphorical rug…not again. She didn’t remember much about the investigation the first time around, her father had been sure to try to keep most of it from her, but she had heard him talking to a friend one night and he told him the cops had already shelved the case. It had only been a month and they had shelved the case! She was sure they should have kept working on it for longer, but they hadn’t. She didn’t want to see that happen this time. That was her mother’s body, and if they weren’t going to find out what happened to her they could have at least returned the body so Thena could burry her mother next to her father.

“And he’s not my guy,” she added. Even though she wanted him to be, he wasn’t. “He’s a private investigator I hired to help me sort this all out.” Had she been thinking clearly earlier she could have just called Kyle to come get her. Had she called Kyle, Thomas would never know she was in lockup because she had done exactly what he didn’t want her to do.

Deanne chuckled. “Then I’d suggest you let him sort things out, honey, or you might find yourself in a wooden box.”

She really hated when everybody was right and she was wrong. But admitting that she was wrong wasn’t beneath her. “Yeah, I screwed up. Thomas, please forgive me?”

He mumbled something else before stopping the car outside her office. He turned to look at her. “It seems the only way I’m going to keep you out of trouble is to watch you like a hawk.” She started to protest and he cut her off. “I have some research to do. I’ll pick you up at six. Try to stay out of trouble until then.”

Try to stay out of trouble! What happened wasn’t her fault—well, not entirely anyway. And just what did he mean, watch her like a hawk? Was he planning to spend another night in her guest room? She hoped not. Having the man sleeping just down the hall from her had been extremely difficult last night. She couldn’t begin to count how many times she had dreamed about leaving her bedroom for his. In fact, every time she woke up and rolled over she had been tempted to see if any of those dreams would become reality if she did go to him.

Chapter Six

T
hena loved the steam room she had designed for her home. She didn’t have a chance to use it nearly as often as she wanted to, but after a long, hard, stressing day, the steam room worked magic on her body and her mood. After the day she had just had…she needed her steam room. Maybe she needed to take up drinking too…nah, she’d just settle for the steam.

The stupid captain at the stupid police station had locked her up in the stupid jail with the stupid guard…she couldn’t count how many times she had thought of how many things had been stupid about the situation. In fact, at one point she had called it the stupid car that took her to the stupid crime scene. Then there was the stupid front desk sergeant that sent her to the wrong department. She exhaled sharply. “Stupid cops,” she snapped.

 She took a series of slow breaths trying to calm herself back down. The steam room only helped if she let it. It wouldn’t help if she kept thinking about the stupid captain at the stupid police station with the stupid jail…”get a grip, Thena,” she sighed. So they lost a body…it could have been worse. She wasn’t sure how, but it could have been. After she thought about it for a second she knew how it could have been worse. They could have lost her body. That would have sucked—big time.

And now, she was stuck with Thomas McGregor. Just great! Being stuck with the man was going to drive her mad. She liked him—a lot more than she should. She had just met the man—almost literally, and here she was tripping over herself around him. And he, he just wanted to keep things professional. If he wanted professional then he shouldn’t have shown up at her office with his suitcase on the back seat of his car. He shouldn’t have insisted he move in with her for a while. He shouldn’t have even thought it…and she shouldn’t have agreed to it.

Thena had gone into the confines of the room she used to escape the stress of her more hectic days, trying desperately to escape the stress of this day. She didn’t think she would have a visitor inside her oasis, but Thomas had proved otherwise. Apparently he wasn’t content with just being the PI; he was now her self-appointed bodyguard. She wondered if he pulled extra duty for all his clients…or did he make a special exception for clients who did severely stupid things? That was just great; he probably thought she was stupid. She hadn’t exactly done too many things since meeting him that would tilt his opinion of her in any other direction. She needed him to work her mother’s case, not babysit her. How was he going to find out who had killed her mother if he was dead set on protecting her at every turn?

“I don’t need a bodyguard in here,” she said with her eyes closed and her head lulled back against the wall. “I’m really not so stupid that I can’t sit down without screwing things up, you know?”

“I never thought you were stupid. As for the bodyguard part…well, I beg to differ.” His voice was low, seductive even. The tone was arousing and disarming at the same time. He was the one who said he wanted to keep things professional. He was the one who assured her there could never be anything more than a business relationship with them. It wasn’t fair for him to arouse her with just one look, one word. He didn’t have the right to make her want him when he had no intentions of ever giving himself, his heart, to her.

“I thought I’d join you.”

She opened her eyes and took in his splendid body. All six foot four inches of him. Solid was an understatement because the man was built like a stone fortress. His hardened abs, his muscular arms, even his thick legs screamed sexy. He wasn’t overtly muscular like Arnold in his early days, but he was more muscular than the type of man she normally went for. In fact, he wasn’t her type at all. She normally went for guys who did PhDs in mathematics, science, astronomy. She didn’t know why. Maybe because they were so far from who she was. Sure, she was a genius when it came to architecture, but math had been her near downfall in every grade. How she managed to design structures with her math skills was beyond her. How she managed to run her fathers…no it was hers now…contracting company was another big question mark. Of course she knew she ran it well because she worked with her father from the time he thought she was old enough to tag along, throughout her college education, and on down to his death. She knew the men respected her because of who she was and what she did. They all knew of her house flipping on the side; she had been doing that since she met Kyle in college. While she had learned many things from her father, she had learned a lot from Kyle; including the ins and outs of installing a new bathroom. He never treated her like a fragile woman and he never offered to do a job that she hadn’t asked for help on. He treated her like one of the guys when they were working and she appreciated that. Her father didn’t handhold her, but there were some things he wouldn’t let her do. Thena on the roof helping the roofers was not something her father allowed. He taught her what he could about working, but was more concerned about teaching her what she needed to know to be a top-notch contractor.

She missed her father. Truth be told if he were still alive she wouldn’t be working in this business. She would still be focusing on her architectural firm. She had always said she would open it in partnership with her father’s company. She could design it and he could make sure it got built. His death changed everything. Now she was doing it all alone, trying to keep his company alive while keeping her dreams from fading away in the process.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

“No,” she stammered. Looking at his mostly naked body had her burning up with heat. The steam wasn’t needed because Thomas McGregor was his own heat source—scorching hot. The way his eyes roved her body made her tremble with desire. Was he feeling what she felt, or was the arousal one sided? One sided, she figured since he had already told her just what he thought about having a relationship with her.

“Good.” He slipped his fingers into the knot in his towel, loosened it and let it fall to the floor. “It’s too hot in here for the towel,” he looked her over hard and unwavering in his gaze, as if he expected her to strip of her towel as well. Her breath caught at the sight of him. Her heart felt as if it would pound its way out of her chest if it could. Good Lord, the man was gorgeous everywhere.

“Thomas…” she cleared her throat wondering why her voice sounded two octaves lower. “I don’t…that is…I…” Great she was babbling like an idiot. She couldn’t find the words. Telling him to put his towel back on would send her body into complete mourning at the loss of looking at him naked. Not telling him to put his towel back on was causing serious problems she wasn’t soon to rectify.

She let her eyes slide lower, settling on his manhood and wondering just what it would feel like if he were to put it inside of her. She wasn’t a virgin, but it had been awhile and even back then she had never seen a man so well endowed. She had four boyfriends in her lifetime, two of which she had seen naked. The first, Brendon Daniels, had assured her if she saw it she would want it in her and so he stripped off his pants like a Neanderthal and expected her to fall on her back. She fell on her back—laughing hysterically at the insanity of his arrogance. He hadn’t gotten what he hoped for and they broke up not even a week later.

The second man was Kyle. She had seen him naked, touched him naked, slept with him naked. While he was definitely not in the “need a magnifying glass” category, he was not as big as the man in front of her. She wasn’t sure she would be able to take him in even if he did want her.

Thomas crossed the distance between them, wrapped his big hands around her arms and pulled her up. She was breathless, speechless, thoughtless—other than the thoughts of how much she wanted to explore the hard body in front of her. When he untied the knot in her own towel and removed it from her body she couldn’t think. It happened so fast she was unaware that it was even happening until it was done.

She instinctively covered herself with her hands. She was small…very small…in that department. She was fitting A-cups and some B-cups, but as a friend had once told her, her breasts were like little mosquito bites that a man couldn’t enjoy. She had told her that right before giving her a gift certificate for a consultation with a plastic surgeon who could give her a perfect set of “D-cup boobs.” She had respectfully declined the offer. Now, standing here naked in front of Thomas she wondered if her friend had been right. She had seen the woman who had come into Thomas’ office the last time she was there to meet with him. She was tall, blonde, blue eyes, gorgeous and thin—oh and perfectly porn star sized breasts at a generous DD. She couldn’t compete with that—there was no way she could compete with that.

He caught her hands and pushed them aside. A low groan escaped from deep within his chest. “I’ve been trying not to want you,” he growled. “I’ve been trying so hard because I’m not in a position to give you what you deserve, Thena. But I’m done trying. I want you. And if you don’t want me then I’d suggest you stop me before I get started.” He slid his index finger over her breast, circling her nipple making it pucker tightly.

She felt the tremble that rushed through her body from head to toe. “I…” she tried to breathe, tried to steady the thudding of her heart beating wildly with desire, passion and anticipation. “I want you,” she whispered.

As if all he were waiting for was that admission he pulled her flush against his body, dipped his head low and captured her mouth with his lips.

The exchange was passion, heat, fire, as he hungrily explored her mouth as if making up for lost time. Feasting on her as if he needed to stamp his claim all over her mouth. She didn’t think the position of their bodies could be comfortable for him. He was over a foot taller than she, the tallest man she’d ever dated, and she couldn’t imagine being bent at such an angle could be comfortable.

She stood on the tips of her toes trying to assist him. He lifted her from the floor and placed her on the bench, brining her at a more adequate level for their interlude. She stood there, shaking, trembling from need and rising desire. A low moan escaped and his hungry kisses swallowed it up.

One firm hand sunk into her hair, pushing her closer as if being closer were possible, as if they weren’t connected enough. She moaned again, clutching his shoulders, edging him to take more of her, all of her.