Sex, Lies and Midnight (28 page)

She’d walked out of the sheriff’s office and went straight home. It’d been pure instinct. And once she’d gotten here, she’d curled up in her room and let Pandora go to the manor for her and gather her belongings. That’d been pure chicken shit.

But chicken shit avoidance was all she had left.

She’d thought they were falling in love. She’d never felt as safe, as wanted, as she did with Simon. To see him again, knowing he didn’t feel any of that for her, it’d hurt too much. Way, way too much.

“It’s easier to avoid Simon if I hide here,” she told Dottie miserably. The cat purred her agreement. That was the good thing about cats, they weren’t judgmental.

Not that she was avoiding him altogether. She’d had a grand ole time hacking into the FBI employee records. Sure, hacking the FBI had been a challenge, but she’d been too upset to sleep the night before. Always mindful of her father’s warning about greed, she hadn’t poked into anything except Simon’s file.

Simon really was his first name, Barton his last. Harris was his mother’s maiden name. That’d made things easier. And, oddly enough, most of what he’d told her about himself was true, too. His age, his family history.

She peered at the screen and read his resume. It claimed he spoke three languages, had a photographic memory for numbers and was versed in a multitude of weapons. She hadn’t been able to break past the basics to see what kind of work he actually did, though.

Yet.

He’d used her.

There was no getting around that fact.

Of course, she’d used him, too.

“I’m trying to be mad at him, Dottie, but I’m just as guilty as he is. That makes it a lot harder to heat up the mad.”

Torn in a million directions, Maya pushed the laptop aside, then shoved both hands through her hair. Guilt was at the forefront, but anger was coming in a close second.

She’d used him to save face—she hadn’t wanted to come home alone. And yes, maybe she’d hoped he’d distract Lilah.

But he’d come because he’d hoped to arrest her father.

She’d left her hometown, left her family and changed her name to avoid the connection with her father and his criminal choices.

And Simon? He’d used her for that connection.

There. Finally, anger was drowning out the pain of imagining the rest of her life without him.

Before she could decide whether to fan the flames or try and tone her fury down, there was a quick rap on her door. She didn’t have time to do more than glance over before it swung open.

“Hey,” Simon said, standing in the doorway. He glanced behind him, then stepped in and shut the door like he was aiming for privacy.

Her heart racing, Maya scrambled to her knees, glaring first at him, then at the closed door. What? He thought he could just waltz in here and pretend nothing had happed? That everything was hunky-dory between them?

“I didn’t invite you into my bedroom,” she challenged, trying tried to pretend she wasn’t melting at the sight of his gorgeous face. How ridiculous was it that she’d missed him like crazy in the day they’d been separated?

“I needed to talk to you.”

Maya lifted her chin in a silent dare for him to go right ahead.

He didn’t say anything at first, though. Instead, he walked over to pet the cat. Dottie, the traitor, purred and pushed into his hand instead of attacking as was her wont.

When his elbow knocked into the laptop, it shifted on the bed and pulled out of the sleep mode. He gave the screen an absent glance. Then he looked closer. Even as she told herself she didn’t care, Maya cringed a little.

Simon started laughing. A chuckle at first, then he threw back his head in a full-belly laugh.

Fear gone, Maya glared.

“What’s so funny?”

“Turnabout’s fair play, I suppose,” he acknowledged, waving his hand at his onscreen resume. “I have to admit, I’m impressed, too. I didn’t realize you were this skilled at hacking.”

“I’m sure you checked my criminal record. You knew I’d been arrested for computer invasion,” she snapped, humiliated that he’d known her history, both good and bad, from the beginning. He knew all her negatives, while she’d been in awe of his positives.

“You weren’t convicted,” he reminded her. As if that said it all.

She felt herself melt a little more. She wanted nothing more than to step around the bed—or dive across it—and cuddle into his arms.

“Why are you here, again?” she asked, crossing her arms tight to keep herself from moving.

“We’d planned to leave today, remember? To head home.”

“You’ll have to find your own way home. I’m not going back to San Francisco,” she dismissed with a jerk of her shoulder. “Not yet. Maybe not at all.”

He looked a little worried at that. Why? It wasn’t like he cared where she ended up.

“What about your job?”

She didn’t know. She hadn’t figured it all out yet. She just knew she couldn’t go back to living the lie of an average life.

“What about your job, Simon? What, exactly, is it that you do for the FBI? Or is lying to gullible women your specialty?” She arched a brow and gave him a thorough once over. She tried to ignore the intense and needy lust she felt at the sight of his long, hard body.

Harder to ignore was how much she loved him.

But she could damned well try.

“Shouldn’t you be off playing FBI hero? Finding whoever it is that’s trying to hurt my father?”

“I’m working on it,” he assured her. “After talking with Lucas, we have a little more information than before.”

“Do you know who bashed Jason’s head in?”

Simon grimaced. “Not yet. But Lucas was able to provide a list of all his delivery locations. Although we haven’t made any arrests, we have recovered the stolen weapons.”

“Has Jason confessed? Or provided any information at all?” She’d been asking her brother and Caleb that same question every few hours for the past two days, but neither would tell her anything. “And what about Lilah? She’s guilty, too, right?”

Simon nodded. “The state police picked her up an hour ago. She claims she doesn’t know who was actually calling the shots. She was approached by Jason after she started dating your dad, so he’s the only one she had any contact with. Apparently he told her that whoever is behind the crime ring is someone in power in town, though.”

“Someone in power?” Suddenly her excuse to avoid the emotional discussion turned all too serious. Eyes huge, Maya tried to process that. Black Oak wasn’t a large town. There were only a handful of people who could be termed movers or shakers. The top of the list, of course, was still her father. “Did she try and blame dad?”

Simon quickly shook his head. “No, your dad’s clear. We’re keeping that under wraps, though. Hunter doesn’t want to tip his hand.”

“Are you supposed to be sharing this with me?” she asked slowly.

“Nope. Officially, this is all confidential. But Hunter knows I’m filling you in on the basics.”

“And he’s okay with that?” Somehow she doubted it. Hunter didn’t strike her as the kind of guy to throw rules and regs out the window.

“Let’s just say he’s waiting to see how I want to handle things before he starts sanctioning me.”

His voice deepened, giving a husky edge to that sweet Southern accent. The look he gave her made Maya want to melt all over his feet and forgive him for anything. But she’d gone that route already in her life, until her father had disappointed her one too many times. She couldn’t do it again. Not even with someone she loved as much as Simon.

Those damned ever-present tears welled again. Needing him to leave so she could fall apart in private, Maya waved her hand toward the door.

“If
things
refers to me, then you have nothing to handle. We’re finished.”

SIMON WINCED AT THE misery on Maya’s face. So this was what it felt like to have your heart break. Kinda like getting kicked in the nuts so hard, you knew those poor damaged suckers would never work again.

Desperation surged. His thoughts raced as his brain tried to find a solution that would keep his chance at happiness from slipping off the edge of his fingertips.

She was who he wanted to spend his life with. What he hadn’t even realized he was searching for until he’d found her. She was the answer to that empty void that not even career highs and blinding ambition could fill.

There was no way in hell he was letting her go.

No way he was letting Maya go.

Determined, he strode around the bed, braving the unpredictable attack-cat guarding her mistress, and reached for Maya.

“We’re not finished,” he insisted, turning her to face him. “We need to settle this.”

“We’re settled,” she said with a wobbly lift of her chin. “You’re not undercover anymore, so you don’t need me. And I definitely don’t need you. We’re over.”

“What if I don’t want us to be over?” Terrified that he just might beg, Simon gave in to the desperation that’d been clawing at him. He gripped her shoulders and looked into her golden eyes, then gave in to the need and pulled her tight against him.

Before she could gasp, he took her mouth in a wildly out-of-control kiss. Technique, skill, hell even class, they all flew out the window as he gave in to the worry clawing at his gut. He was about to lose Maya, and the thought of that made him want to howl and beat his fists against a wall.

Then she kissed him back. Fingers digging sharply into his shoulders, she gave a low moan of surrender.

“Take me,” she whispered. “One last time.”

So he did.

Fabric ripped as he tugged and pulled her clothes out of his way. His mouth sped over her body, fingers plunged. Her delighted gasps echoed as her own hands clenched his ass, pulling him tighter against her undulating body.

Need pounded through him, passion a distant second. They fell onto the bed together, wrapping around each other as if they were terrified of letting go. Their tongues dueled, fingers urging each other higher, stroking the flames to an unbearable level. He shoved his jeans aside, yanked on a condom.

And plunged.

Maya gave a keening gasp, then a long, delighted moan. Her head fell back, exposing her neck to his questing mouth as she was swept away by an orgasm so strong it shook her body. He plunged once more, then twice.

Then he exploded. His entire body flashed hot as wave after wave of pleasure poured through him. Maya’s body milked every last ounce, making him want to come again, a million times over. God, she was incredible.

Then he came back to earth.

His face buried in the curve of her neck, Simon tried to calm his breathing. Had he blown it? Instead of an apology and a few sweet words to persuade Maya to give him another chance, he’d ripped her clothes off and thrown her on the bed. His body was still shaking from the aftershocks of the best orgasm of his life, so he couldn’t quite regret the sex. But he sure as hell regretted not winning her over first.

Because sex like this? It should be a prelude to something bigger. Something special that’d last a lifetime. His heart, still racing, sank to his feet as he gave in to despair.

It shouldn’t be a freaking goodbye.

PANTING, MAYA SLOWLY floated back to earth. Her head was spinning. Her heart was racing. And she felt incredible.

“That was just sex,” she said breathlessly.

“Bullshit,” Simon murmured, his words muffled because his face was still buried in the curve of her neck. “That was proof.”

“Proof?” Knowing she wasn’t going to find control lying naked under his body, Maya pressed her hands against Simon’s shoulders. He instantly rolled away. As soon as his body was clear, she jumped off the bed.

And almost fell on her ass since her leggings were still tangled around her ankles. With a quick tug she pulled them into place and adjusted her shirt.

“Proof of what? That we’re good at sex? That we can drive each other crazy wild with just a look? That the orgasms are the best either of us has ever had? So what? That doesn’t mean anything.”