Forever Driven: Forever Bluegrass #4 (8 page)

Riley walked past Matt and took the messages Karen held out. “Thank you. But I told you I didn’t want those two in my office at all. My door is unlocked and they probably went into my office to snoop while you came and got me. I just hope they didn’t see the application to become a historical landmark. They can’t know about that. You’re my gatekeeper, and I have to trust you to keep the people out I don’t want to see.”

“Yes, Miss Davies. It won’t happen again. I promise,” Karen said without giving away her deception.

“Do that,” Riley ordered, striding into her office. Matt stood up and followed. They had some talking to do, and he wasn’t going to let Riley run away this time.

“
C
an
I ask you some questions about your meetings this morning?” Matt asked loud enough for Karen to hear as he closed the door. He held his finger up to his lips and walked to where Riley was moving to sit at her desk. Matt bent over and placed his lips by her ear. He smelled her soap that had a slight hint of lemon and vanilla when he breathed in. Matt found himself leaning forward as if to kiss her neck and stopped himself. He wanted her. He always had. He’d never stopped. It was time to admit that to himself. But now was the time to keep things professional. He didn’t want to give Riley any reason to kick him out—not that he would have left—but she could make things hard on him, and all he wanted to do was keep her safe. The safest place for her was in his arms and in his bed. No one would be able to get to her then.

He looked down at her shoulder, and his gaze slid to the top of her breasts. She was holding her breath and her nipples were hard underneath her blouse. Pride, satisfaction, and lust shot through him. So, she wasn’t quite unaffected after all.

“What?” Riley bit out in a whisper.

“Karen’s a spy. She’s being paid by Peel and Stanley to tell them everything you’re doing, including the historical landmark application, and about the votes you turned against the highway funding.”

Everything Matt had heard of redheads’ tempers were true. The words that came out under her breath were things the men on the highway job didn’t even say.

“What I am supposed to do?” she finally whispered.

Matt leaned back down toward her as his hands cupped her shoulders and began to absently rub her tight muscles. “What do you want to do?”

“What I want to do would get me arrested,” Riley answered sarcastically.

“That’s my girl,” Matt chuckled and Riley briefly stilled under his hands before relaxing back into him. She was back to hot and cold. It was time to see which was the true feeling and which was the cover. Matt continued to gently massage her shoulders as he moved toward her neck.

“I think you have two options,” Matt said, bringing his lips to her ear and letting them graze her sensitive skin. She shivered but didn’t pull away. Instead, Riley leaned deeper into his touch. “You could try to use her to relay false information to Peel and Stanley, or you can just fire her and find a bulldog to place out front who would stop anyone from getting past him or her.”

Matt let his hands slide lower over her shoulders so his fingers brushed the top of her breasts. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she suddenly jumped from his touch. “I think I’ll go with option two. I can’t stand having to whisper for fear she’ll overhear or worry that she’ll report every person coming and going. It would be very hard to get the support I need with her sharing that information.”

“Then let’s find you a gatekeeper,” Matt said as he straightened up and spun her chair around so that she faced him. “And it’s about time you tell me what’s really going on between us.” This was a conversation a long time coming and Matt stopped caring about the perfect timing. He needed to know he wasn’t the only one whose heart was already involved.

R
iley froze
. “What do you mean?” she cautiously asked. Her heart hammered so loudly she almost missed his response.

“I’m talking about you and me. You’re a smart woman, Riley. You must know I have feelings for you. But every time I start to make a move, you freeze me out. I thought it was because you didn’t have those feelings, but your response to my touch is like fire. Let’s get to the bottom of this right now.” Matt stepped up to the chair, forcing her to spread her legs as he stood between them. He bent over and placed his hands on the armrests cutting off any chance of putting distance between them so she could think.

“I . . . I . . . don’t know what you mean,” Riley finally got out with a degree of attitude behind it. She managed to lift her chin and look him in the eyes as if daring him to disagree. Instead of backing off like she thought, his lips quirked, and his navy eyes darkened as if she were looking into the deepest depths of the ocean.

“Then I’d better show you.”

It was all the warning Riley got before Matt pulled the chair closer and bent his lips to hers. It wasn’t a romantic kiss that started off slow and sweet. It was a set-you-on-fire kiss with power, heat, and an energy that made her whole body come alive in a split second. It robbed Riley’s breath while at the same time was the only thing that kept her alive. Matt pulled back and Riley gasped for air.

“There’s my firecracker,” Matt said with a triumphant smirk. “We could have been doing that for the last year. Why have you been running from it?”

Riley blinked. The carefully constructed walls protecting her heart started to crumble. The risk was too great. The feelings were too strong. If she lost them . . .

“I never took you for a coward, Davies,” Matt said as he shook his head and straightened up.

“I’m not,” Riley hissed back. “I was protecting us.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. “Protecting us? How? By denying our feelings for each other? By preventing us from having a chance?”

Riley was so embarrassed. She felt her eyes moisten, and she looked away quickly to regain her composure.

“Riley?” Matt asked forcefully.

“It’s my father,” Riley said softly as she kept her eyes on the books in the shelf to Matt’s right.

“What does your father have to do with this? You’re a grown woman. I’m a grown man. Nowhere does your father factor into my feelings for you.”

Matt put his hands on his hips. His pants were still slightly baggy from the weight loss but he was already looking better. Soon he’d be back into filling those pants, and she wouldn’t be able to keep from looking at him every time she saw him. “You don’t understand. You know my dad’s ex-CIA, right?” When Matt nodded, she let out a long-suffering breath and continued. “Well, he scares away every serious boyfriend I have. As soon as my emotions are involved, he swoops in and ruins it. They run from me the second he gets involved. And these are grown, intelligent men. The thought of letting you into my heart and then watching you run away from me as fast as you can is too much to bear.”

Riley’s eyes snapped from the bookcase and over to Matt when he started laughing. It was soft at first, but then he tossed his head back and laughed so hard the sound of it echoed in the room.

“You find this funny? I finally tell you that I have more than just casual feelings for you and you laugh?” Riley felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach.

Matt shook his head as he tried to stop laughing. “No, it’s not that. I’m just relieved. I thought it was something we couldn’t overcome. This is nothing. I think your dad already threatened me. I thought it was funny.”

“Funny?” Riley said and then realized her mouth was still hanging open.

“Yeah, I think it’s great. If a guy can’t handle a little hazing by the man who could be his potential father-in-law, then he’s not man enough for you. You’d be miserable with someone like that. You’d walk all over him. I’m just surprised you put up with it.”

The smile and confidence on Matt’s face had her feeling hope for the first time. “Are you saying you think my dad is doing me a favor by running everyone away, and you’re up for the challenge?”

“Yes, and hell yes. Full disclosure—I’ll probably do something similar if I ever have a daughter,” Matt told her seriously. Riley sucked in air as if breathing for the first time.

“You know he’ll hack your phone, find out what your last medical exam results were, and probably take you out hunting only to find yourself the one that’s hunted, right?”

Matt shrugged. “Sounds fun.”

Riley shook her head in amazement. A tornado of thoughts flew through her head. Her dad hadn’t been torturing her, he’d been weeding out the ones he knew couldn’t handle being with someone as strong-willed as she was. Matt didn’t care that her father would look into him. He wanted to be with her anyway.

“You . . .” Riley stammered as her thoughts fell into place.

“And me. Together. What do you say?”

Riley saw that Matt was trying to be casual but questions filled his eyes. Her heart swelled, her throat was tight with emotion. He was willing to fight for her. Riley jumped up from her chair and straight into his arms. He wrapped them around her as their lips hungrily met. They moved frantically as if desperate to make up for lost time, while the promise of a future together drove them on. His hands were splayed across her back, and he drove his tongue in deeper. She matched him stroke for stroke as they stumbled across the room and fell together onto the couch.

Matt had one foot on the ground, a knee on the couch between Riley’s thighs, a hand up her now untucked shirt, and was rolling her nipple between his fingers when Karen knocked on the door.

Matt groaned in frustration as he rested his forehead against hers. “Can we pretend we’re not here?” he whispered.

“No, then she’d just come in,” Riley said softly as she pushed him off and stood up. “Just a minute!” Riley called to Karen.

“
A
re
you going to fire her now?” Matt asked quietly as he straightened his clothes and gave thanks for Nora cutting his hair. Riley’s messy hair was bad enough, but both of them with messy hair would have been a dead giveaway.

As Riley tucked in her shirt, he ran his hand over her silken hair and plucked at the curls to disperse the tangles caused from being crushed into the couch. “You’re good,” he whispered quickly as he sat on the couch and pulled out his notebook.

“Thanks,” she whispered back and took a seat across from him. “I think I’ll wait until the end of the day. Come in!”

Matt nodded absently as he started writing in the notebook as if they were in the middle of an interview. Karen came in and tried not to be obvious about looking around, but Matt caught her easily enough.

“Yes?” Riley asked.

“Here’s the copy of the Milan historical landmark application you asked for,” Karen said, handing it to Riley. “And you have to be on the floor at two.”

“Thanks,” Riley said to Karen and then turned to him. “Are we about done?”

Matt smiled professionally. “Not yet. But why don’t we finish this up over lunch. I’m starving.”

Both Karen and Riley found amusement in that. Hey, he needed to gain some weight back. And after six months of working construction and eating cheap food he could make in his crappy motel, he was ready for some real nourishment.

“Sure. Why don’t we just eat in the cafeteria?” Riley stood and brushed imaginary lint from her skirt as she waited for Karen to leave. “Is there anything else?”

Karen shook her head. “Just make sure he fills up, our kitchen mysteriously ran out of almost everything,” she laughed.

Riley smiled and Matt looked offended. “I’m a growing man. I need to eat.”

“You eat more than my teenage boy,” Karen giggled before sending them both a smile and heading back to her desk.

Matt grabbed his bag and stuffed the notebook inside before he and Riley headed for the cafeteria. They got their food—three cheeseburgers for him and a club sandwich for her—and took a seat at one of the few remaining tables.

“Hey, guys. Do you mind if we join you?”

Matt looked up and saw DeAndre and a woman who might be five feet three inches tall if she stood really straight. She was DeAndre’s age with double piercings in her ears. One held a small diamond and the other a large gold hoop. Her dark black hair was short and tapered with her bangs swooping over her warm skin. A one-inch hot pink stripe highlighted the outermost swoop of her bangs. Matt had thought Riley was curvy, but this woman had a lot going on in a small package. Large bouncing breasts were pushed high on her chest and provided the perfect display for her cross necklace. The tight black spandex shirt would have looked bad on anyone else, but this woman had so much confidence, it worked. Her jeans hugged rollercoaster curves and had rhinestones along the pockets. Spiked, hot pink heels peeked out under her jeans, leading Matt to believe she really wasn’t over five feet tall.

“Of course,” Riley smiled at them, and the woman took the chair next to Riley and DeAndre sat next to Matt.

“Thanks,” DeAndre said. “This is my girlfriend, Aniyah.”

Matt and Riley shook her hand and introduced themselves.

“So what do you do, Aniyah?” Riley asked pleasantly.

“I used to work customer service at Kentucky Cable, but they got bought out by some national company, and they laid me off last week. I’ve been looking for a job ever since I found out. Nothing yet though. Since I don’t have to work, I thought I’d have lunch with my sugarbear,” Aniyah explained before biting into her sandwich.

“I heard about that deal. I’m sorry you lost your job,” Riley told her.

“It’s okay, sugar. It’s nice to not be yelled at every day while never being allowed to yell back. I had to be nice to all those people calling and complaining while cussing me from here to next Sunday as if I were the one personally messing with their cable.”

Matt looked up from his burger and stared at Aniyah, then looked at Riley. When he did, he saw the same look on Riley’s face. Had they just found the answer to the Karen problem?

“Have you ever thought of getting a job here?” Riley asked.

“I did for a brief second, but there are no openings. Besides, I can’t stand bullshit, and that’s all I smell here.” Aniyah popped a fry in her mouth, looking completely unruffled at insulting the entire room.

“Baby, this is where I work. Miss Riley is a friend. Be nice,” DeAndre cajoled.

“Oh no, sugar, I’m not talking about them. I was talking about all those stuck-up bullshitters I saw leaving for lunch. I heard them talking about blackmailing people and threatening them to get their way, all the while they’re smiling as if they’re feeding you a gourmet meal. Well, I know the difference between caviar and shit on a cracker and I don’t need anyone trying to feed me their shit.”

Matt choked on his burger. Riley pressed her lips together so tightly they were white, trying not to laugh.