A Little Harmless Lie 4 (8 page)

She smiled. “Anything else?”

“Well, you have somehow convinced me to walk in public along the beach so that I can’t touch you.”

She shivered at the dark intent in his tone. It slid over her skin, sank into her blood.

“You’re holding my hand.” She lifted their joined hands. “Besides, I thought you wanted to do this.”

He stopped and pulled her closer. There was no mistaking the erection pressed against her stomach. The simmering lust she had been fighting all night exploded, sending a rush of heat dancing through her blood.

“I think I established pretty early on what I wanted. But I can be patient.”

She shook her head even as her body yearned for him. “Micah, I am not going to do this with you.”

“Not tonight, but maybe we can have a little fun.”

The way his voice moved over the word fun had her body humming with need. “Why don’t we head back to your place? If you don’t want me touching you, you can kick me out.”

She sighed. She wanted to tell him to go to hell and take his cocky attitude with him. But instead, she nodded and hoped to God she had the control to kick him out of her house when things went too far.

Micah smiled as he followed Dee into her house. The night had been part heaven and part hell for him. Being near her had his entire body yearning to strip her naked, take her, claim her. He could just imagine how it would feel to slip into that tight snug passage, feel her pussy pull on his cock.

He counted backwards from ten. He had been doing that a lot tonight. He wasn’t sure he would even get to touch her, let alone be allowed the privilege of sinking between her thighs. From what he knew of her, could gauge from her reactions, he would not be in her bed tonight. He pushed aside the disappointment. It would happen soon.

It was a small house. She’d been living in Waikiki in an apartment, but he remembered she’d moved here a couple months ago. It wasn’t huge, more like a cottage. He noted there were no family pictures, but there were lots of pictures of the ocean, taken by herself and professional. A picture of a Wyland whale filled the wall behind her couch. There were precious few things that would tell him much about her.

“I like your place.”

She looked at him as she dropped her keys on the small dining table. “Yeah?”

He didn’t miss the skepticism in her voice and he smiled.

“Yeah. It suits you. Clean lines, uncluttered, straight- up sexy without being tacky.”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Really. That’s a mouthful of words for such a little space.”

God, he loved that sassy mouth of hers. He couldn’t wait until she used it on him. “As I said, it fits you.”

She looked away then, but not before he saw the flash of hunger in her eyes. To keep from touching her, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. He got the idea that while she had been dated, there hadn’t been a man who tried to romance her. At least no one recently. Keisha had made it very clear that Dee rarely dated, and she had yet to get serious. Of course, he knew that, especially after what she’d blurted out the other night.

“Would you like something to drink? I don’t keep alcohol, but I do have some sodas and homemade lemonade.”

He chuckled and watched as she shivered at the sound. God, keeping his hands off, or at least keeping his needs at bay, would be hard. He wanted her so damn much, and if there was a woman in need of a good, long hard fucking it was Dee Sumner. But he knew she was skittish.

“A bartender who doesn’t keep alcohol at home. I’ll take a glass of water.”

She looked back over her shoulder and made a face. “By the time I was twenty- one, I was working in bars. And some of them make dives look good. There were a few with chicken wire to protect the band. Drinking alcohol had lost its thrill by then.”

She handed him his glass of water and then poured one for herself.

“I’ve got a nice lanai if you’d like to go sit outside.”

What he’d liked to do was toss her over his shoulder and take her to her bedroom. But that wouldn’t be possible, and the back porch was probably the safest place at the moment. He nodded and followed her out. As he stepped out, the simplicity of it matched the interior. She had a small table, enough for two people, cheery red cushions on the black wire chairs. He waited for her to shut the door and settle in a chair before taking his.

She took a deep breath. “God, I love nighttime here. The air is so sweet.”

He licked his lips and then caught himself. He was starting to act like the wolf in
Little Red Riding Hood
. “You said you worked in bars by the time you were twenty- one. I take it you lied about your age.”

She laughed and glanced at him. “Most of those places paid under the table.”

He studied her for a second. “Yeah? How old were you when you started working at them?”

She rolled her shoulders and he hid his smile behind his glass. That was definitely one of her tells. When a customer was irritating her, Dee tended to do that with her shoulders. It was nice to know that he was getting to her.

“Eighteen.”

She glanced at him again when he said nothing, just sipped his water.

“What, you have nothing to say against that?”

He shrugged. “What am I going to say about that?”

She relaxed against the chair. “People always seem to have an opinion about it, like I should have done something else.”

“I can’t talk. I was working the tables with a fake ID in Vegas when I was sixteen.”

Her eyes widened at that. “Sixteen? I could have never gotten away with that. Especially in Vegas.”

“Vegas isn’t any different than anywhere else. Just have to know the right people.”

She paused and then looked at him. “Yeah, I guess, but with my stature, most people questioned my age up until a couple years ago.”

“That’s not something that I had to worry about. Not at my height.”

“You were this tall at sixteen?”

He nodded. “I was over six feet by fourteen.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow.”

“So, you worked dives. How did you end up here?”

It was her turn to shrug. “I just needed a change of place.”

The vague answer irritated him. Granted, he had talked to the man she had worked for in Seattle and he had told Micah how much he’d hated to let her go. So apparently there hadn’t been a problem with the work situation. He wanted to press, more than was good for him. The woman intrigued him on so many levels, but he had learned too many questions would have her closing up.

He let the silence stretch as they enjoyed the Hawaiian night. It was hard, because he wanted her. Her spicy scent mingled with the Hawaiian air. Every fiber of his being was telling him to take her, to pull her up out of that chair and lay her across the table, strip her naked—

“Micah?”

“What?” He bit out the word, his fantasy dissolving as he looked at the woman who had been the featured star of every one of his fevered dreams for the past six months.

“Did you say something?”

He pulled in a deep breath and shoved his hand through his hair. “No.”

She lapsed into silence. Great way to seduce her, Ross. It didn’t escape his notice that he’d always been the one in control of the seduction, the way he liked it, and he was damned good at it. With Dee, he felt like a bumbling seventeen- year- old.

By the time she led him back into the house he could feel the evening slipping away... along with his chances. He knew he had to go slowly with her, had to awaken everything he saw beneath the surface. It had taken him almost two years and there was no way he wasn’t at least easing her to step one tonight.

She set their glasses in the sink and before she could turn around, he approached her. He stopped directly behind her and placed his hands on each side of her on the counter. Leaning forward, he closed his eyes and drew in her scent.

“Micah, I said this wasn’t going to happen.”

Even as she tried to be strong, he heard the tremor in her voice. The sound of it tripped over his heart, dug deep into his soul. He knew he affected her, knew that she wanted him. But with her resistance, it never hurt to get a little reminder to boost his ego.

“I heard ya. I just thought we might do a little— ” he drew in a deep breath and started to nibble on her ear, “— necking.”

“Hmm.” She shivered and moved her head to the side to give him better access.

Just as he expected, her skin was as sweet as the woman. He pressed closer, settling his jean- encased cock against her ass. When she said nothing else, he slipped a hand up her torso to her breast. Through the layers of fabric, he could feel her hardened nipple. One little brush against it had her moaning his name. It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. It took every bit of his control to drop his hand and step away.

She fell forward as he took another step. It took a few moments for her to gather herself and turn around. Her breathing was rapid, her eyes dilated.

“Just what was that about?”

“I... ” He drew in another deep breath, calling on the patience he’d promised himself he would have for her. His inner warrior was screaming to be let loose. “I got a little carried away.”

She studied him for a moment and then looked away. He slipped his finger under her chin and turned her to face him again.

“Look at me.”

Slowly, she raised her gaze to his. Arousal was there, but there was a hint of fear. It was understandable. He also saw a flash of embarrassment.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of your feelings.”

She sighed and looked away. “I’m not ashamed.”

He knew then he couldn’t push her any more tonight. He wanted to. His body was begging him to ignore her feelings, coax her into the bedroom and take her. She would do it. He knew he could convince her, but she would regret it afterwards... and maybe hate him. That was something he could not accept. Ever.

He cupped her face with his hand, rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip before leaning closer to kiss her again. The sassy, sweet taste of her lured him like no other woman. He pulled back a moment before he lost control.

“I think that’s my cue to leave.”

“Thank you for dinner.”

He smiled. “How about lunch tomorrow?”

She hesitated. “Sure. Where do you want to meet?”

“I’ll give you a call in the morning.” He allowed the screen door to close before turning around. “I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.”

“I didn’t say it would be bad. I was afraid that if you asked for more, I wouldn’t be able to say no.”

With that, she closed the door on his face. He was frustrated as hell and his body was ready to revolt against him. But he couldn’t help whistling on his way back to his car.

Chapter Six

Dee leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The midday Hawaiian sun warmed her face as the sound of fellow patrons of the ocean- side café faded into the distance. It didn’t take her long to feel the weight of Micah’s gaze. Ignoring it wasn’t easy, but she did for a moment or two. She pulled her head back up and opened her eyes.

“What?”

“It just struck me that we’ve never really spent time together during the day.”

She cocked her head to the side and said nothing as she studied him. She couldn’t. Because as soon as he’d said it she’d realized he was right. They had spent a lot of time together or at least in the vicinity of each other, in the last couple of years. They had never spent time outside together in the sun.

While he was a man who was dangerous in the moonlight, he was vivid and beautiful during the day. He would probably scoff at the idea, but he was. The golden undertone to his skin, along with the hint of copper from his Native America heritage, added a depth to his image that she hadn’t seen before. She had never observed him dressed so casually, if she didn’t count the times she’d seen him dressed in... well, almost nothing at the club. The sunlight allowed her to see the blue- black tone to his hair. She looked out over Waikiki Beach and sighed.

“You’re right. But both of us are usually sleeping, until probably noon, right?”

He laughed. “That’s true. Still, there’s something to be said for spending the day at the beach. Especially in Hawaii. I just find it odd that you love the sun so much but you work at night.”

She shrugged. “Not really. This way I can spend time enjoying it during the day. If I had some kind of daytime job, I’d only have my two days off. And after several years in the Seattle area, I needed the sun.”

“That was your last town, right?”

She nodded. He knew that much because she’d had to apply for the job. “I had to get out of there. Nine months and I couldn’t shake the feeling I was sick all the time. I ached some days.”

“Ah, so you have that disease where you can’t take the gloomy days.”

“Yeah. Doc suggested California, but I figured if I was going to be at a beach, I couldn’t go wrong here.”

He laughed. “That’s true.”

“How did you end up here?”

He took a sip of water. “I’d come over to find a fugitive, then I talked Evan into coming over for a vacation. We knew then that we wanted to live here. Neither of us had any family, so it was easy. I know Chris has a hard time with his family back on the mainland.”

“Yeah, not having the ties makes things easy.”

“But then, I have ties here now.”

She looked at him as he studied the beach.

“Ties?”

He glanced at her. “Chris and Evan, their soon- to- be wives. The club. It has become sort of a family atmosphere.”

“Yeah, but we never do anything like this during the day. Maybe we should.”

“Like a picnic for Rough ’n Ready?” he asked with a chuckle. “It might work. Hell, I know that we could close down on Monday and not really hurt. I’ll talk to Evan about it.”

She nodded and looked over as a kid went running by, squealing as his older sister ran after him.

“Are you going to keep me at arm’s length now?”

She smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I didn’t count you for a coward.”

A sigh of irritation escaped before she could stop it. “I’m sorry, but I told you that there would be nothing else.”