Freaky by Nature (8 page)

“Perm aSlim ? Nev er heard of it.”

She lowered her ey es from his face and m ov ed them down the

front of his body . Her perusal m ade him want to beat his chest and

y odel like Tarzan. Instead, he cleared his throat.

She snapped her gaze back to his ey es and her cheeks pinked.

“You don’t need to lose weight.”

Holly ’s blatant desire sucker-punched his libido. Brett fought

the prim al urge to pin her to the table and take her right there in

the m iddle of the fajitas. Patience, he rem inded him self. Help her

first.

“Albert dev eloped the drug alone? No partners?”

She shook her head. “No partners. Albert was a chem ical

genius. And an expert at keeping secrets.”

Brett intercepted the bitter tone in her v oice. Did she expect

m ore m oney after Albert’s death? Or did she discov er som ething

else?

“Secrets?”

Holly tossed her hand in a dism issiv e gesture. “Nev er m ind.”

“What happened to the business after his m urder?”

“Nothing, really . He’d already m arketed the pill. The roy alties

transferred to m e. I’m sure the scientists at the drug com pany are

attem pting to analy ze the com ponents as we speak.”

“And then they ’ll m anufacture the pill them selv es?”

“Not until the patent expires.”

“Who holds the form ula now?”

There was a long, brittle silence before she finally answered.

“Me.”

Bingo
. “That’s what they ’re after.”

“What does m essing up the swim m ing pool hav e to do with the

Perm aSlim ?”

“A sm oke screen. If y our concentration is focused on

v andalism , som eone hopes y ou won’t notice their search for the

form ula.”

“The form ula’s not at the gy m .”

“Nobody knows that but y ou,” he argued.

“And y ou.”

Brett tilted his head. “And m e.” He watched her purse her lips

and twist her hands. “You won’t tell m e where it is, will y ou?”

“No,” she said softly .

“Because y ou don’t trust m e.” And she shouldn’t. Ev ery scrap

of inform ation he pulled from her, he already knew. He tested her

and she passed.

Holly ’s hand shook as she lifted her glass to drink. He sat,

m esm erized by the cream y skin of her neck as her throat worked

the liquid.

“I can’t,” she answered as she set the glass back on the table.

He reached across the table and cov ered her hand with his.

“You can.”

Brett felt the heat from his touch warm the cool surface of her

skin as she processed his adm ission. Just when he felt she would

relax, electricity sparked between them and she slid from his grip.

“No, I can’t. You’re lethal.”

Encouragem ent flooded his v eins. Either hell had just frozen or

he’d m anaged to conv ince her of his sincerity .

He couldn’t stop his grin. “Lethal?”

“Don’t get too excited. I just m ean y ou’re not easy to ignore.”

“So, don’t ignore m e.”

“I don’t intend to, but I still don’t trust y ou.”

With a cocky sm irk, he decided to back off. A little tim e and

space would change her m ind.

“You did the right thing by calling Sterling. We’ll figure out

this m ess.”

She gav e him a m ischiev ous sm ile. “I didn’t hav e y our phone

num ber.”

Barely restraining him self from jum ping across the table, he

reached into his back pocket, fished a business card out of his

wallet and pushed it toward her. “Now y ou do.”

“I don’t hav e a reason to call now.”

He gav e her his best
but you will
sm ile. “Just in case.”

Holly twirled the card between her fingers. “Do y ou really

want to know what happened to Albert?”

He nodded.

“He was killed when his fishing boat exploded. Apparently ,

som eone planted a bom b on board.”

“Do y ou think stealing the form ula was the m otiv e?”

“I didn’t until now.”

“Who knew about it?”

“Ev ery one. The one thing Albert couldn’t keep a secret was his

success. He spent m ore m oney on press releases and personal

appearances than actual m arketing. It was totally ridiculous.”

Ridiculous? Obv iously , Holly didn’t share Albert’s lov e of

attention.

“You didn’t appear with him ?”

“No. Not only did I refuse, I m ade absolutely sure I was too

busy at the gy m to participate.”

“Did any one know y ou were the beneficiary of the Perm aSlim

patent?”

“Most people probably assum ed, but ev en I didn’t know until

Albert’s will was read.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Six m onths.”

“You just started hav ing trouble?”

“Just what I m entioned earlier, and we contributed that to

Cam eron’s stalker.”

He folded his lips to stifle a grin. Thanks to Cam eron’s stalker,

Brett was giv en the opportunity to m eet Holly , up close, personal

and half naked. On the down side, she’d been shot in the thigh in

the process.

He lifted an ey ebrow. “You still hav e a scar?”

Holly laughed and threw her napkin on the table. “Okay

Prince Charm ing, I see where this conv ersation is headed. Take m e

hom e.”

They drov e back to Holly ’s house in a com fortable silence.

Holly seem ed to hav e let her guard down som ewhat, though Brett

could tell she still held back. He could probably find out what she

hid, but he would rather she tell him . He needed her trust.

Holly reached for the door handle as they stopped in her

driv eway .

“Sit tight,” Brett said. “I’ll open the door and go inside with

y ou.”

Holly rolled her ey es and folded her arm s ov er her chest.

“That’s really not necessary , Brett.”

He felt him self harden as he ey ed her cleav age, plum ped from

her arm s crossed under her breasts.

“Hum or m e.” His patience now paper-thin, he got out and

slam m ed the door. How in the hell could two m ounds of flesh affect

him this way ? Brett reached between his legs and m ade an

adjustm ent as he storm ed around the truck.

Without thinking, he opened the door, grasped her waist, and

lifted her out of the truck. The m om ent she left the seat, she slid

down his body like m elted butter and the friction between them

crackled the air.

Obv iously burnt from the sam e spark, Holly jum ped away

from him and headed for the front door. Alm ost thankful for her

hasty retreat this tim e, Brett followed behind. When she reached

to put the key in the lock, he nudged her to the side.

He pried the key from her grasp and pushed her behind him .

“Let m e.” As soon as the lock snapped, he eased the door open and

pulled his gun from his waistband. “I won’t leav e y ou here until

I’m conv inced no one is in the house.”

She sighed. “No one is in the house.”

He turned to look at her ov er his shoulder and frowned. “You

don’t know that, Holly .”

She flinched as if his tone had poked her.

“Just let m e check,” he said, stepping inside.

Brett felt Holly close behind him as he checked each room . In

fact, the heat from her body scalded him . Desperate for relief, he

attem pted to distract him self by concentrating on his task. Finally

satisfied no one was in the house, he went back to the front door.

“Lock it behind m e,” he rem inded her.

Their ey es m et and locked as she nodded her silent assent. The

slight elev ation of her chin taunted him . His lips tingled with the

urge to press his lips to hers. Just once, for a split second, to take

the edge off. He cursed his stupidity . Once their lips m et, he’d kiss

her until they were both breathless, touch her until he was on the

brink of m adness and then take possession of her body . Ov er and

ov er again. Only the doubt that filled her ey es stopped him .

“Goodnight, Holly ,” he said finally .

“Goodnight,” she said softly , closing the door.

Brett waited to leav e the porch until he heard the locks echo in

the silence, a stern rem inder that she locked him out of her life.

He scrubbed a hand down his jaw as he walked across the lawn

to his truck. He had to find a way past those walls or he’d go crazy .

No m atter how m any tim es she shunned him , he still persisted.

His attraction to her, along with his faithful, willing, constantly -

hard cock, seem ed to grow. And he was a whole lot pissed off at

him self for allowing her to affect him that way .

He slung open his truck door, clim bed inside, and then

slam m ed it shut. In the m eantim e, m ay be he should just get laid.

One phone call would solv e the problem . He m entally kicked

him self in the ass. No one except Holly would cure the persistent

ache in his bones. Or in his heart. Resolv ed to the idea of waiting

her out, he started his truck and headed hom e. Alone. Again.

***

Sweat trickled down the sides of his face and wet the tangled

sheets beside him. “Oh, baby, my dick worships you.”

The wild-eyed brunette whose normally professionally-styled hair

now resembled a rat’s nest gave him a sultry smile before she lifted

herself off his still-erect cock. “Of course it does.”

He braced himself on his elbows and watched her wiggle back

into her clothing while his cock twitched and saluted her. “Too bad

you can’t stay.”

She threw her head forward and then back again. Her hair fell

into some sort of a tousled look and then she glanced at his groin.

“No. We can’t risk it.” She reached for her purse in a nearby chair and

slung it over one shoulder. “Besides, you haven’t delivered your part

of the bargain.”

Panic urged him off the bed and he stood in front of her, his dick

bobbing between them. “Now, sweetheart, I’m still working on that.

She’s a stubborn woman.”

His breath caught in his throat as she reached between them and

locked his balls in her fist. Flames flew from her narrowed eyes when

she spoke. “Try harder, sweetheart, or the deal is off.”

At his nod of agreement, she opened her fist and released him.

Without another word, she turned on one heel and left the bedroom.

He reached between his legs to massage his injured anatomy.

Damn Holly London. What happened to make her so uncooperative?

Everything had progressed smoothly until she changed. Until she

accepted help.

He hobbled back into the bedroom and eased himself back on the

bed. He hadn’t anticipated her weakness and now he would have to

take a different approach. He cursed his aching balls. No way would

he let her ruin his plan. Somehow, some way, he’d make her pay for

this
.

CHAPTER SEVEN

With his com bat boots propped on the top of his desk, Brett

rubbed his forehead before he glanced out of his office window into

the m orning sunshine. Sleep ev aded him again last night, leav ing

him wide awake to think about Holly . He should hav e just taken

her hom e with him . Sure, she would’v e thrown a roy al bitch fit

about it, but he owned at least one pair of handcuffs and he wasn’t

afraid to use them . He needed help, quite possibly professional. As

m uch as he wanted to deny it, the cold hard truth was that Holly

controlled him , m ind, body and soul. He shook his head in

frustration. Where was he when that happened?

Brett folded his hands behind his head and attem pted to put

things in perspectiv e. Protection had been his business for a long

tim e and he’d alway s m anaged to keep his m ind on business. Until

Holly . If he intended to keep her safe, he needed reinforcem ent. He

palm ed his cell phone and dialed, confident in his decision.

Just about the tim e he was ready to hang up, a fam iliar

sm art-ass v oice answered. “How the hell are y a, jungle boy ?”

Brett let the nicknam e slide, m om entarily distracted by the

sound of island m usic. “Where are y ou?”

“On the beach in Hawaii.”

Brett snickered at the thought of his best friend, Malcolm

Windsor III, dressed in bright colored, knee-length swim trunks.

Shadow, as he was known to his SEAL buddies, was norm ally an

expert at blending into the darkness. If he was try ing to fit in with

the locals, his current predicam ent could be prim e bribe m aterial.

“I thought the Shadow only cam e out at night.”

“Nah, thought I’d catch a couple wav es.”

Brett twisted his lips. More like a couple babes. Shadow nev er

went long without fem ale attention. “How long do y ou plan to be

there?”

“You know I don’t follow a schedule. What’s up?”

“Sterling and I could use y our help.”

“I’m listening.”

“We need extra security detail for Hawke’s concert.”

Shadow didn’t hesitate. “I’m there.”

Brett released a heav y sigh. “That’s not all.”

“Is Claire okay ?”

Brett frowned. Only Shadow knew about the relationship

between him and Claire. Did he know som ething Brett didn’t?

“Yeah, why ?”

Shadow cleared his throat. “Just wondered. I’v e tried to call a

couple tim es but I can’t catch her.”