Lip Lock (18 page)

“I’m not trying to punish you.”

“Kyle, you fired me because I had a book on my desk. I didn’t get a chance to defend myself. You decided I was guilty. Case closed.”

“It’s standard procedure. As part of the non-disclosure—”

“And then you have me investigated”—she bit out the word—“thinking I’m going to lead you to whoever wants your stupid green book.”

“I—”

“And now Glenn is coming over.” She hurriedly fitted the sheet over the other corner. “Like having one warden isn’t enough.”

“Warden?”

“I already find life difficult,” she told him as she walked around to his side. “Why would I want to add to it?”

“Molly, I promise you. While you’re here, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She fixed the corner he left undone. “Because you want to drag me back to your office, make me break down and give you all this information off record.”

Kyle didn’t say anything. He didn’t deny his plan and his silence tugged at her.

“I didn’t do anything,” she muttered for the hundredth time as she grabbed the top sheet.

“I’m beginning to believe you,” he said softly.

She glanced up at him. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“I don’t know if it’s because I want to believe you,” Kyle admitted.

Her mouth tilted into a cynical smile. “You want me to be guilty.”

His eyes widened. “No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do.” She flipped the sheet open and watched it unfurl. “Then it would be easy to hate me. I got it.”

He grabbed at the sheet. “I don’t hate you.”

Molly didn’t want to talk about it. She tried to yank the sheet away from him.

“I don’t.” He pulled the sheet harder, dragging her closer.

“You don’t like me,” she said, unable to look him in the eye.

“I never said that.”

She gave a little huff. “You don’t have to.”

“I like you,” he said roughly. “More than I should.”

“What’s that supposed—” He muffled her question with a hard kiss. Her pulse leapt from his possessive touch.

Kyle tilted his head to the side, his lips still rubbing against hers. “You distract me.” He dropped the sheet and cupped her face with his hands. “You make my head spin.”

He kissed her again, his tongue surging in her mouth. She parted her lips, desperate for more. As he explored her mouth, he curled his arm around her waist. It was a good thing, too. She felt a little dizzy.

“I should be working,” he murmured against her lips. “Making the deal of a lifetime. But what am I doing? I’m up here with you. Trying very hard not to throw you onto this bed.”

Really? Excitement flickered deep inside her. “What’s stopping you?” she asked.

The feral gleam in his eye was her only warning. Kyle pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

She felt the fierce, hot need all the way to her toes. His hands flattened along her spine, her stomach pressed against his. She felt contained. Wild. Hot.

Her world spun and her back rested against the mattress. She lay across it and tried to find the floor, but her feet dangled from the bed.

Kyle hovered above her, his arms bracketing her head. He kissed her again, this time slow and deliberate, creating a fire inside her she didn’t know existed.

Molly tasted that heat she wanted. That untamed quality lurking under the sophistication. She reached for his head, her hands tangling in his hair.

His hands drifted to her waist and found the edge of her sweatshirt. He slid his fingers up her ribs, and she wiggled under the acute pleasure of his feathery touch. He pulled her flimsy bra up and splayed his hand on her bared breasts.

She felt her heart racing as Kyle caressed her tight nipples. She desperately wanted him to taste her. Suck. Bite. Go wild.

Kyle leisurely trailed one hand down the waistband of her jeans. Molly’s heart jumped into her throat. Her skin crackled with anticipation.

He unsnapped her jeans and slowly dragged the zipper down. Molly wanted to do the job for him. Kick off her jeans. Rip them down her legs.

He cupped her sex against the palm of his hand. Molly felt the steamy heat contained. When Kyle pressed the heel of his hand against her, she was ready to leap off of the bed. She arched her back, her hands grabbing the sheets, bunching them in her fists.

Kyle pulled her panties down her legs and Molly forgot to breathe. She was exposed. Nervous. Needy.

She closed her eyes as he reached down and rubbed his fingers along her wet slit. Molly all but whimpered as he dipped into her wetness.

He took her nipple into his mouth and wildfire streaked through her blood. Molly dug her nails into his shoulder as she gasped jaggedly for her next breath.

The doorbell rang.

Molly froze, the chime screeching in her ears. She looked at Kyle as he raised his head. Their gazes met, his blurry with desire.

And he continued to stroke her.

She flopped her head back on the bed. Oh, did that feel good! But they had to stop. Molly turned her head from side to side. She had to move away.

Her gaze flew to the door of the bedroom. It wasn’t locked. Anyone could walk in. Anyone who was looking for them, wondering where they were…

“Doorbell,” she whispered.

But Kyle didn’t stop. He dipped his finger deep inside her and brought his other hand down on her clit.

Oh, she didn’t want to stop. And he didn’t understand. It could take her
forever
to come. Sometimes she didn’t. She couldn’t orgasm on command. She couldn’t let the doorbell ring until she did.

And she couldn’t take the pressure to perform. The delicious pressure building inside her. Should she fake it?

The doorbell rang again.

She was really good at faking.

“Ignore it,” Kyle said against her breast, his hot breath wafting over her sensitive nipple.

She couldn’t ignore it. And she couldn’t fake it. That was like lying. And she’d promised she wouldn’t lie.

That, and she really wanted to hold out for the real thing.

But the doorbell was right there. On the brink of her consciousness. She wondered why Kyle didn’t feel this sense of urgency. Wondered how he could dip into her core with a languor she was far from feeling.

And then she felt it. Right in the back of her knees. The white-hot tingling that threatened to grow. Burn bright. Consume.

The sheets came undone from the corners and bunched around her. She grabbed for Kyle and kissed him hard. The tingling shot down her legs and arms.

The doorbell rang again.

Oh, go away!
She almost yelled.
Leave!

She had to find out. She didn’t want to stop. She was almost there. Almost…

Kyle seemed to sense it. His touch became more aggressive. Deeper. His kisses were slick and unrefined.

“Kyle?” Bridget called up from the stairs.

She tensed, her gaze dragging to the door.
Oh, almost…

“Molly?”

She ignored Bridget, just like Kyle was. Ignored the world around her. The world stopped outside the door. Didn’t exist past the edges of the mattress.

“I’ll get the door,” Bridget said, with a thread of laughter.

Molly didn’t understand what Bridget said as the blood roared in her ears as sunbursts exploded behind her eyes. She…she…

And it crashed against her. She launched off of the mattress, anchored only by Kyle. She may have screamed, but he took that with an openmouthed kiss.

She pulsed around him. She couldn’t catch her breath. She felt like she got too close to the sun and she was melting.

And once she regained her strength, she was going to take a hammer to that doorbell…

It was past midnight and Kyle was nowhere finished with the work he had to accomplish for the day. The house was quiet, but far from peaceful. Because he knew Molly was asleep in the master bedroom. Wearing nothing more than a large, rumpled T-shirt.

Which was why he was here, and planned to work through the night. Kyle glanced across from the study and spotted Glenn staring at the flickering flames in the fireplace. He wondered when the CFO planned to turn in like the rest of the household. If he was hoping to find a nightlife on the island, Kyle thought as he returned his attention to his work, then the guy was out of luck.

Glenn took a sip of his whiskey, the ice clinking against the crystal glass. “I don’t think she did it,” he mused quietly.

Kyle stared at the computer screen and then looked at Glenn. “What did you say?”

His friend slowly turned his head and looked at him. “I don’t think Molly took the blueprint.”

Kyle sat back in his chair. He was tired, but his body suddenly went into full alert. “Why?”

“There were no leads on her computer. The forensic computer expert went all over Molly’s computer and found nothing incriminating. There is no hint of her anywhere near the specs on our online database. Nothing.”

“We have Curtis’s statement.”

Glenn squinted. “And we’re believing him…why?”

It was always a risk to take a thief’s word over a liar’s, but Kyle was guided by one simple fact. “Because he already lost his standing in the computer industry and had nothing else to lose.”

“I don’t know about that.” Glenn made a face. “He now stands out in the sea of nameless computer geniuses. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an agent before the end of the year.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kyle decided. He turned his chair so he could go back to work on the computer. “We found Molly with the blueprint. End of story.”

“Let me ask you something.” Glenn slid his feet off of the ottoman. “If she’s such a pro, and there’s nothing that links her to this crime, why would she put the blueprint on her desk in clear view?”

“It wasn’t in clear view,” Kyle said as typed on the keyboard. “It was under a pile of papers.”

“But the blueprint is in that weird green. You can spot it in a sea of white. She wouldn’t hide it like that. That would be stupid.”

Or brazen
. Kyle paused from his work. “What are you getting at?”

Glenn’s sigh was slow and uneven. “I think Molly was framed.”

Kyle closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to rehash old business. “No one would get the blueprint only to dump it on Molly’s desk.”

“They would if they were about to get caught.” Glenn set his glass down and rested his elbows on his knees.

“Curtis was nowhere near Molly’s desk that day,” Kyle pointed out.

“Okay, forget Curtis for a minute. I was talking to Molly tonight at dinner.” He motioned toward the dining room. “She knows less about computers than I do. Take my word on it, you can’t fake that.”

“You don’t have to know how a car operates in order to steal it.”

“True.” Glenn acceded to that point with a nod of his head. “But you do have to know where to take the stolen car. And you need to know the market value. Plus you have to know how to drive the car so you don’t get caught.”

Glenn was making sense in his own way. Molly would have needed contacts in the computer industry. She would have also needed to know how to access more than her e-mail program.

“But then, why is Molly here?” Glenn splayed his hands in the air and fell back against his chair. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“Have there been any security breaches since Molly left?” Kyle asked.

Glenn pressed his lips together. “No,” he said reluctantly.

So there was no reason to question Molly’s guilt. But he did. It nagged at him. Had been after that first wash of anger. “She probably was framed.”

“Or sacrificed,” Glenn suggested, gazing at the fire. “Low guy on the totem pole.”

Kyle wasn’t too sure about that. If she really was someone holding on to her job, she wouldn’t risk it for a small cut of money. “You know what this means?”

His friend froze from retrieving his whiskey. “The thief is still in business.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Kyle whispered.

Glenn raised the glass to his lips. “My thoughts exactly.”

Molly walked into the study early in the morning and almost dropped her basket of cleaning supplies when she saw Kyle at his desk.

“Uh, sorry,” she said as he looked up from his computer. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She started to back out of the room.

“No, it’s okay.” He motioned for her to enter the room. “I’m catching up on some work.”

She noticed his ruffled hair and the tired lines bracketing his mouth. “Have you been working all night?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his face with his hands.

That would explain where he’d been. He never came to bed. She thought he was avoiding her because of what happened when she was preparing Glenn’s bedroom. He probably was, but using work as his excuse.

“Where’s Darrell and Bridget?”

“They are still asleep.” She grabbed the soft cloth from her basket and swiped at the top of the table next to the door. “I think Glenn is, too.”

“What’s that?”

“This?” She lifted the cloth in her hands. “It’s called a dust rag.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Yes, I figured that one out on my own. Why do you have it?”

“Do you think this house runs by itself?” Oh, great. Now she was sounding like her mother. She never thought that day would happen.

“I never expected you to do all the cleaning…”

Molly shrugged. “I don’t mind. It’s kind of fun,” she said as ran the cloth over a beautiful sculpture.

“Fun?” Kyle repeated, obviously not believing a word she said. “Dusting is fun?”

“It is when you’re taking care of nice things.” Which was really causing her problems. She liked pretending that this place was hers. She was once again dreaming for something that was out of reach. She needed to keep her distance. Keep her heart out of it.

“Hey,” she said as she picked up a framed photo. “I’ve seen this picture before. It’s on your desk at work.”

“Yep.” He turned back to his computer.

It was the only truly personal thing in this room, too, Molly noticed. She was sure the other items had meaning, but this was the only window to Kyle’s true self. “What happened that day?”

He paused from typing and glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you have this picture on your desk here and at the office. It must be a special memory.”

“It was the first day Ashton ImageWorks was in business. Ten years ago.”

That was his most special occasion?
Wow, way to live it up, Kyle.
“Do you have a picture when you made your first million? How about when you took over the tech world?”

“No, I don’t remember when that happened.”

“Maybe you should.” She returned the picture to the table and started dusting the leather box next to it.

“Molly, sit down.”

She paused and cast a quick look at Kyle. “Am I bothering you? I can leave.”

“No, I have something to say to you.” He motioned for her to sit at the chair in front of his desk.

Molly froze. This did not sound good! Any news that required sitting down never was. She wanted to bolt from the room, but reluctantly found her way to the chair and slowly lowered herself onto the cushion.

Kyle exhaled sharply. “I’m sorry.”

About what? Having sex? Not having sex? Sleeping together? Not sleeping together? The list was endless. “About what?” she asked, hunching her shoulders.

He met her gaze head-on. “I don’t think you had anything to do with the blueprint.”

She sat completely still. “Oh.” She didn’t know what to say. She had truly given up on making him believe her. The sudden gift made her nervous. She looked out of the corner of her eye. “What brought this on?”

“Circumstantial evidence points to you,” he said, “but there are a lot of unanswered questions.”

She glanced at the door. “Should I be thanking Glenn for this change of heart?”

“No, although he feels the same way.” Kyle folded his hands on the edge of his desk. “Rather than assume you’re guilty, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Th-thank you?” So he didn’t really think she was innocent. He just knew she wasn’t guilty. It was a start, she guessed. Molly moved to get up.

“And I’m going to repair the damage I’ve done,” he promised.

She sat back down. This she wanted to hear. “How are you going to do that?”

“I’ll do something about your work record,” he offered. “I will make sure you won’t have difficult finding another job.”

Another
job. Not her old one. Why?

“And I can recommend you to some businessmen I know. That would simplify the job hunt.”

Another company altogether? Why not make it another state, while he was at it? “Why can’t I go back to Ashton ImageWorks?”

His sexy eyebrows dipped as he frowned. “I thought you would be better off elsewhere.”

Ow. He didn’t want her around. He very well might be planning a transcontinental move for her.

“I thought you would rather have a change of scenery,” he added. “A new start.”

She stared at him. He was trying to make up for his mistakes, so why did she feel like she’d been kicked in the stomach?

“Was I wrong?”

“No. You aren’t.” She jerkily got up and grabbed her cleaning basket. “Thank you, Kyle. I’d appreciate any help you can give me.” She headed for the door, wondering how she could fall for a guy who went to extreme measures to keep his distance!

“I’ve been thinking about this since he told me yesterday morning,” Molly said into the phone, “and I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Well—”

“I could go after any guy, so why am I hung up on him?” She drove her hand into the cavity of the thawed turkey.

“Uh…”

“I mean, why am I falling for him?” She grabbed the packet filled with the turkey’s giblets and neck. “He doesn’t want me here. Not that I blame him. And he had no problem firing me.” She ripped the packet out of the ice cold carcass.

“He fired you?”

“Yeah.” She tossed the packet to the side. “Didn’t I tell you that?”

“I must have zoned out at that point.”

“And when this week is over, we are over,” Molly said as she readjusted the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder. “
So
over.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So it’s probably in my best interest not to have sex with him.” Not that she really had a say in the matter. Kyle did not return to the bedroom last night.

“I…guess so.”

“And I’ll try to remember that before my jeans wind up around my ankles.” She tossed the turkey into the sink and turned the water on.

“Huh?”

“But there are lots of reasons why I like him. He’s everything I want in a guy. He can be very protective, which I think is sexy. He’s smart and he’s got a weird sense of humor, but I kind of like it.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But he doesn’t think the same way about me.” Molly rested her elbow against the sink’s edge. “He thinks I’m a con artist.”

“He called you that?”

“Yeah. To my face.” She was so glad she wasn’t the only one who was appalled by that.

“Wow.”

Molly sighed. “So, what do you think I should do?”

“Maggie?”

“Molly,” she corrected.

“Right. Molly, do you realize that you’re calling the Just Like Mom’s Turkey Hotline?”

“Yeah…” Who else could she talk to? No one in this house, or on the island, for that matter. And Bonita was out of town visiting relatives. “Your point?”

“I’m an expert on basting and roasting turkeys,” the woman said. “Nothing about love.”

“Then what’s your gut feeling?” she asked the woman as she rubbed water over the turkey.

“Gut feeling? Dump him and keep your distance.”

“Really?” Molly grimaced. That was
not
what she wanted to hear.

“Honey, he’s not going to get close to you unless he trusts you.”

“And I’m working on that.”

The woman tsked with regret. “I think it’s too late in the relationship.”

“Oh…”

“But you should still have the sex,” the woman was quick to say.

Did she hear that correctly? Molly pressed the phone closer to her ear. “Have sex all weekend and then leave him?”

“Pretty much.”

“But…but…” That wasn’t what she wanted!

“Look what happened last time,” the woman said. “You held out and you got nothing.”