Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (15 page)

He wasn’t sure how or when, but
his woman
slept peacefully in his bed. His mouth felt like a cotton field. He carefully slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom. Before he woke his angel, he needed a few minutes to pull himself together.

He almost didn’t recognize the man staring back at him from the mirror. He’d gotten so used to the pathetic and miserable, the shit-eatin’-grin threw him. He used the toilet, washed his hands, splashed water on his face and brushed his teeth.

Feeling more like himself, Ricky went back out into his room, grateful when she still slept. He got back in bed,
leaning against the pillows propped against the headboard and
just watch
ed
her.
Her small ribcage expanded and contracted with her steady breaths.

Last night, as the minutes turned into hours, he’d
drunk himself stupid while deciding
to cut his losses, lick his wounds and prepare to move on with a life that didn’t include Shayne and Matt.

Utterly and completely devastated.

He’d turned off all the lights, s
tumbling to the bedroom. B
lowing out all
the candles, his dreams wafted
away with the smoke
. H
e stripped down and prayed he’d sleep forever.

But that was last night.

This morning, it seemed the world had righted itself and Shayne had come to him. He didn’t know what it meant, but he’d take the lifeline and hold on tight.

He
inched down to lay on his side,
his head in his hand.
Unable to help himself, he ran his fingers
over her back, feathering them
from one shoulder blade to the other. She flinched, snuffled a bit and snuggled deeper under the pillow.
Goosebumps dotted her pale skin. He smiled and trickled his knuckles down her side
s. She moaned, shifted. Her legs scissored
under the sheets.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her birthmark, trailing kisses up her spine. He knew the moment her reactions turned from instinct to impulse. She
stretched, her body undulating from her toes up. He hoped like crazy she’d roll over, and yet found himself praying she wouldn’t. Seeing her breasts would eliminate a
ny chance of coherent thought. And t
here wa
s a conversation to be had. A
s much as he wanted to make love to her, doing so without talking first would only screw up their already messed up relationship.

A little moan escaped her lips. She brushed the hair out of her face and turned her head to look at him. Her slee
py smile shot straight to his groin
. H
e bit back a groan.

“Morning.” She rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. “Sorry I was late.” The husky tone of her voice made him think of all the sexy things he wanted her to say to him. Hell, she could make the encyclopedia sexy.

Thankfully, the head containing his brain remai
ned
in control. He laid down next to her, getting close
,
but keeping space between them. “What took so long?”

“Matt.”

Mack truck to his
headlight-stunned-deer
. Of course. She’d have to consider her son. He kicked himself for not thinking of him.

She sniffed and cleared the morning out of her throat. “At first I didn’t want to leave him.” She reached out and traced a fingertip up and down his arm. “He’s the one who convinced me
to come, that
he’d be okay. I’m just sorry I made you wait so long.”

He shrugged. “It was just a few hours.” The longest hours of his whole freakin’ life!

She shook her head
. An auburn curl fell
across her face. She brushed it away. “No, I’m talking about the months I made you wait.” Her chocolate eyes sparkled. “I missed you like crazy!”

“Then why?”

She clutched the sheet and covered herself as she sat up. Ricky got upright too, leaning against the headboard. His heart jackhammered his ribcage. She tucked the sheet under her armpits, then smoothed away imaginary creases.

“Shayne?”

A near eternity passed
in the time she stared at the sheets. Her eyes glittered when she finally looked up at him. He folded his arms to keep from comforting her. It didn’t seem like she’d gotten all
gloriously naked to dump his ass
,
but stranger things had happened.

“I need to tell you some things and I don’t want you to interrupt me until I’m done, okay?”

“Okay.” His croak had nothing to do with the state of the sun in the sky.

“I love you.”

Well, that wasn’t so bad.

“And I missed you like crazy. Watch
i
ng you with the boys made me want to run down the bleachers, rush into your arms and never let you go.”

He felt his brows crunch. “Then why?”

“There are things in my past, unresolved things. I want to marry you. More than anything. But you shouldn’t have to deal with my problems.”

“
Amor
, there’s nothing we can’t get through together.” He gave into the i
m
p
ul
se and grabbed for her hand. “Do you believe that?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean you should have to deal with my crap.”

“Shayne, I love you.” He kissed her knuckles. “I want to marry you. I want to be Matt’s dad. I want to have lots and lots of
b
ebe
s
. Now, stop dawdling and tell me what’s so dam
n awful you made me miserable
for
so long.”

She remained quiet for so long, Ricky doubted she’d open up to him. Just when he opened his mouth to offer her an out, she opened hers a
s well. “You know I lost the di
ner.”

“Yes.”

“I got behind on my taxes and was never able to catch up. They took the diner. Liquidated everything. But it wasn’t enough to pay off the debt.”

Finally. A sliver of light shone on the situation. “How much do you owe, Shayne?”

She didn’t meet his eyes as she whispered, “A little over seventeen thousand.”

1
6

Ricky didn’t say a word, just got out the bed. Despite the warmth of the blankets, Shayne shivered in the cold of his proverbial pink slip. Her heart relentlessly pounded against her ribs, making her chest ache.

He crossed the room, all sexy muscle and tanned skin, until he stood in front of the dresser. The soft scrape of the drawer opening ricocheted through the quiet room like a bomb blast. Shayne jumped. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She knew she should be
collect
ing her things, but couldn’t take her eyes off of Ricky. Being that she’d never see him again, she wanted to memorize every part of him, from his jet black hair, strong shoulders, t
rim
waist,
firm backside,
muscular thighs.

But s
he would miss his smile
most
. That smile had captured her heart on their first meeting and she would see it in her dreams for the rest of her life.
Or her nightmares, rather. Because living without him would be her own personal hell. Her purgatory.

His face held absolutely no emotion as he
pulled on a pair of boxer-briefs
. He reached back into the drawer then
,
with a black t-shirt in hand, came to stand next to the bed.

She wiped at her eyes and tried to decipher his expression
as he came to stand in front of her at the side of the bed
. The dimness of early morning made that impossible, casting extra shadows. Neither of them spoke, just looked in the other’
s eyes. The
fierce
intensity in his black stare made her want to yank the covers up over her head and wait for him to find something better to do.

“Stand up.”

She swallowed hard and did her best to shield her body from his view as she followed his direction. He didn’t ogle though. Hi
s eyes remained locked on hers, his jaw set.

“Arms up.”

Beads of sweat broke out on her skin. Instead of raising them, she wrapped her arms around her middle and narrowed her eyes at him.

He narrowed h
is right back
. “I said. A
rms. Up.”

Standing naked as a jaybird didn’t fortify her defense
s
, but somewhere she found the courage to put her hands on her hips and lean forward, bringing their bodies so close she could feel the warmth of his chest on her breasts. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. She dug her nails into her hips to keep from slapping him. He closed his eyes, blew out a minty breath.

Holy crap
, he was so effing perfect, he didn’t even have morning breath.

His half-assed smile preceded his, “Will you
please
lift your arms?”

She did and he slid the t-shirt over her head. The cotton was so soft, she wanted to move just to feel it caress her skin. It fit like a dress, falling to mid-thigh. And that it smelled like Ricky made her want to smother herself with it.

“Come on.” He grabbed hold of her hand and none-too-carefully tugged her out of the room. She stumbled a bit. Ricky slowed and tightened his hold. “Sorry. You okay?”

“Yeah. Where we goin’?”

He didn’t answer, simply led her through the family room and down the hallway that bisected the front of the house from the back.
She’d never been in this part of the house.
A
ll the way a
t the end
,
two glass French doors awaited them.

Ricky pushed the doors of the office open and led her inside. With purpos
e, he strode over to sit
in the
brown
leather chair behind the
giant oak
desk and jiggled the mouse
to awaken the PC. His fingers clicked over the keyboard. He pointed and clicked with the mouse. After a miniscule nod, he reached for her, tugging her down
ward
. “Come here,
a
mor
.”

Absolutely no grace accompanied her descent. She sprawled onto his lap. He groaned when she made contact with his groin. She wriggled to get comfort
able and he hissed. “Sorry. I’m…
sorry.” She
started
to stand and his hand clamped down on her waist.

“You’re fine.” He kissed the back of her neck. “Just stop moving. And we’ll both be fine.”

Although her heart still hammered with all the force of a lumberjack, she did her best to relax, letting her body soak up the feel of him under her.

He moved the mouse again
and
typed a username and password into the bank’s website. She turned her head, tucking it into his shoulder. “I don’t wanna know—”

He pinched her on the upper arm. “Shut up and look.”

S
he opened her mouth to blast him with what he could
do
with his bossy attitude. He stopped her
with his lips. Her anger
became liquid and oozed
out her toes to puddle on
the floor. When his tongue swept along her bottom lip, she dug her fingers into his hair and returned his kiss. She’d missed his taste, his strength. Him.

Much too soon, he eased back and rested his forehead against hers. “No more gripes.”

Her lips parted.

He shook his head. “No. Look.” His eyes sought the computer screen. Hers followed.

She nearly choked. She blinked, looked at him, blinked again. “That’s a lot of zeroes.”

He pointed to the screen
to the largest of the three numbers
. “This is
my
savings. I don’t touch it. It’s for a rainy day.”

Numbness started in her toes and crept up her body. She stood, rounded the desk to pace in front of it. She’d never seen that kind of money,
never
actually known anyone with that kind of green sitting in a bank. Or anywhere else for that matter.

His chair squeaked as he stood. His bare feet made no sound as he crossed the room to stop her mid circuit.
“Shayne. Your problem is nothing but a drop in the bucket—”

That stung!

She wasn’t sure what her face looked like, but could guess since he stopped talking. He scrubbed his face with his hand.

“That didn’t come out right.”

“No shit.”

His breath hit her face in a rush. “You’re going to marry me, yes?”

Her eyes flicked up to his. “You still want—”

“More than anything,” he quoted her from earlier. “And you’re going to marry me, yes?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t sure where this conversation was headed, but she could
guess and had pretty much deter
mined she wasn’t going to like it.

“I don’t believe in prenups. I don’t plan on ever getting a divorce.” He enclosed her in a hug. “So what’s mine is
yours and vice versa. The good…
and the bad.”

Her eyes prickled with emotion. “I got a lot of bad, Ricky.”

“Bullshit.” He jerked his head in the direction of the desk. “You saw those numbers, Shayne. I’m not frontin’ just to get you to marry me. Those are honest-to-God real figures. Let me take care of you.”

“But—”

“No buts,
mujer bonita
. I love you. You love me. We’re getting married. And I’m going to pay off your debts.”

“I’ll pay you back.
”

“Only in sexual favors.” He raised a brow, the corner of his mouth quirking.

She wanted to laugh, but somehow managed to scowl. “You’re going to turn me into your whore?”

All
amusement vanished faster than a flash of lightning. His glower
crackled
so violently,
even Chuck Norris would
have
ducked for cover
.
“Don’t you
ever
refer to yourself as something so vile. Ever.” He ground his molars, his eyes turning to ice. “Ever. Do you understand me? Nobody talks about
my wife
like that. Nobody.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Got it?”

She nodded.

“Now that that’s
all
been decided—” He
gathered her in a hug, crushing her to his body
. “—we’ve got some celebrating to do.”

His hands smoothed down her back, cupping her backside to his growing need.
He dipped his head and captured her mouth with his, swiping at her lips with his tongue. She opened to him and he growled as h
e lifted her
. S
he wrapped her legs around his waist.
The heat of him seared her, turning her insides to molten lava. She loved him. Her fiancé.

Not breaking their l
ip-lock, Ricky stumbled
back to the bedroom, only tripping once. He dumped
her on the bed. She bounced
. The look in his eyes reminded her of an African cat and she suddenly knew how an antelope felt just before it was about to be devoured. Unlike the hooved animal of the
Sahara
, Shayne had a feeling she was going to enjoy being eaten alive.

Ricky licked his lips, tucked his thumbs into
his
waistband and, just like that, the cotton hit the floor. He grinned when she gasped. He advanced,
all sure-footed and confident. Sh
e watched him, looked her fill.
Once at the edge of the bed,
he stalked her, crawled over her and began his assault.

One kiss at a time he undid her.

He slip
ped the
shirt over her head. His eyes roamed over her. She bunched her hands into fists to keep from hiding her body from him. She’d have preferred their first time to have been in the dark, or
maybe by candlelight, yet here they were
,
with bright morning sunlight streaming through the window, lighting her every insecu
rity, every vulnerability like T
he Strip
on New
Year’s
Eve
. She really didn’t need to see the disgust plain-as-day on his face.

She jumped when he kissed her abdomen.
Her eyes flipped
open. She blinked, unsure of when they’d closed.

He ran his tongue over one particularly ugly stretch mark, then blew on the spot, making her shiver. “You’re beautiful.” Another loving touch. “And I can’t wait
to
add a few more of these.”

“More?” she squeaked.

He chuckled. “I plan to keep you barefoot and pregnant.”

She was about to tell him
how sexist his comment was when
his hand moved up the inside of her thigh. Every thought she’d ever had flew
right out of her head. She moaned his name.

He crawled up to cover her, nuzzling her neck. She’d only had one other man on top of her like this and panic swirled around in her stomach
, clawing its way through her insides
. Breath rushed in and out of her lungs. She clutched the sheets until her fingers began to go numb.

But then Ricky
kissed her ear and
whispered her name.

Like resurfacing after diving deep, Shayne
gasped
. She
reached around to pull him closer. Her fingertips traced his muscles, his solid body, his soft skin. With his wei
ght grounding her, she gave in to
the unfamiliar feelings he awakened in her. His hands explored. His kisses consumed. Her entire body buzzed with awareness.

She felt herself drifting, getting lost then hot hard reality nudged her.
Dread rose in a wave, capsizing her.

Her eyes popped wide. She grabbed onto his biceps, feeling his skin give under her nails.

“Matt’s father—”

He cut her off with a kiss. “I do want to know about him, but he doesn’t belong here now.” His tongue swept across her lips. “It’s just you and me.” The love radiating in his gaze calmed her like nothing else. He nudged her again. “You ready?”

She nodded.
No chance of finding her voice. But not because she was frightened or worried. She knew this time would be different.

He moved, slowly, as if he had a lifetime to love her, and therein
she found
pain. This experience with this wonderful man was so unlike the last time she’d experienced sex. Ricky loved her, and she him.

His strokes awakened instead of assaulted. Her nails bit i
nto his back to cling not claw
. She arched into him versus
trying to get away. And as pleasure overwhelmed her, the s
cream that raced up her throat
begged him to
never
stop.