The Set Up (38 page)

“I have to leave,” he breathes.

“I know,” I tell him, pushing myself against him. “But you need your shirt, don’t you?” I tease.

“I do,” he murmurs into my mouth.

I step back. My tongue dips into the tiny well in the center of my bottom lip, wetting it. Offering it to him. “You’ll just have to come and get it.”

His gaze falls to my mouth, watching, and his own lips part. “Is that a challenge?”

I take another step back and shrug.

His sexy smile sends tingles down to my toes. And then he darts for me. Leaping forward and reaching for me so quickly I barely have enough time to circle the table. “You’re fast,” he says with a grin.

“I am,” I say, keeping more than an arm’s length away from him.

“Just not fast enough,” he says, and he pounces and scoops me up, tossing me over his shoulder.

I tug at his towel, pull it off, and slap his naked rear end. “Put me down.”

Before I know it, he’s pushing the plates aside and setting me on the small counter. “Charlotte, you surprise me with your kinkiness.”

I blink at him and laugh. “I’m really not kinky. Not at all. Really, I’m not.”

Two hands lift my shirt. “Got it.”

Even with the sunlight peeking in through the blinds his eyes have gone liquid. They are a dark, dark brown. All traces of gold are gone. He places his rough hands between my thighs. Parts them. He doesn’t look away from my eyes as he does.

I draw in a breath. “What are you doing?” My voice sounds weak and hoarse, full of need.

He smiles. Looks down at his hands. “I think you should know, every time you talk dirty it turns me on.”

“Oh.”

Jasper leans over me. Spreads my legs even wider. Slides his hands beneath my rear end and lifts me to his mouth. I am already wet. I have been perpetually wet in his presence. “Mmmm,” he groans, like I taste delicious.

I gasp when he starts to suck me. Slow and soft. I cry out when he flutters his tongue, oh so softly, over and over. I find myself on the edge faster than I’ve ever been. Then I rock myself into his mouth, urging him on. His tongue jets inside me and I let go. My hands slap the polished marble, squeaking, and everything in the world is a rainbow. I shake and shudder, seeing bright colors. “Oh, Jasper,” I cry out.

Jasper removes his hands from beneath me and stands straight. I pull him toward me and kiss him.

He laughs into my mouth. “See what happens when you challenge me?”

Bare-chested, barefoot, and bare all over, he is still giving me butterflies even after he had his hands all over my body. I stare at him. Lock this moment away to remember later when I’m gone. “Yes, you really showed me.”

His hand cups the back of my neck and his tongue traces my lips like he wants to taste me just a little bit more. “Careful.”

I push him to the side and hop off the counter. I walk over and pick his shirt up. Hand it to him. Start walking backwards down the hallway toward my bedroom. Pause. Flutter my eyelashes and say, “Is that a warning? Because I’m really scared.”

Dropping his shirt to the ground, he growls and lunges for me.

Turning quickly, I start to run but am laughing too hard to gain speed. Still, I make it all the way to my bedroom threshold before he catches me.

We don’t get much farther than that.

MORE TROUBLE

Jasper

THE HUDSON CAFE
isn’t the same place I go to with the guys every Sunday. In fact, it isn’t even a diner.

A classically trained French chef owns it, but he isn’t pretentious in the least. He’s actually a decent guy who believes in the importance of revitalizing downtown. Just by opening down here he has helped the rebirth of this area tremendously.

Zooming into a parking place, I shut the engine off and get out of Jake’s car. Other than the color, it’s identical to mine, and so are Will’s and Drew’s. Four prototypes. Four machines of power that once replicated in mass production could change the way America thinks of automobiles—if only all of this shit would just go away.

I shove the thought of that poor woman’s dead body and the mob of people who looked like they wanted to lynch me from my mind. I have to focus on moving forward and getting the plant up and running. With that I direct my attention back to Jake, who is still talking to me on the phone without noticing that I zoned out.

“Besides your freedom-of-speech photo, the news also reported four arrests due to indecent protesting. What the hell is indecent protesting any—?”

Done talking about last night, I cut him off. “Your meetings with the potential new investors on Monday are still on, right?”

“Two have canceled.”

“Fuck. How many does that leave?”

“Three. But I have a few more leads I’ve reached out to. Don’t worry about it. I’m good at this. Let me handle it.”

“Thanks, man, I know you are. And by the way, I’ll have the car back to you tomorrow night.”

“It’s cool, Jasper—I already told you that Drew has agreed to be my bitch.”

Unable to stop myself, I laugh as I part ways with Jake and walk into the café. It takes me a few seconds to spot Alex tucked away in the very back booth. In a sea of running clothes and jeans, the youngest mayor in Detroit’s history’s broad shoulders, navy suit, and white collar give him away.

Alex spots me too and when he does, he lowers his reading glasses and tosses his menu aside.

Not in any hurry, I slowly slide into the booth.

Narrowing his eyes, he sets his glasses on the table. “You’re late.”

I take a deep breath and pick up the menu to distract my fists from wanting to punch him in the face. “Yeah, well, your summons was a little last minute.”

Reaching into his briefcase, he throws a newspaper on the table. “I assume you’ve seen this.”

In black and white, front page and center, is the picture Jake just told me about on the phone. It’s of me flipping the bird to last night’s mob. It looks worse than Jake described. “Fuck me,” I mutter.

Alex turns the page. “That’s not all.” On page two is a picture of Charlotte and me sitting at the corner booth in the restaurant we ate at last night.

Jake never mentioned this one. I stare at it.

Alex closes the paper and reaches for the carafe of orange juice. “Are you fucking her?”

My eyes dart to his. “Watch it.”

Unmoved by my threat, he pours a glass of juice and sips on it. “Come on, man, she’s the daughter of the guy who left your mother and so many others in this town high and dry. That doesn’t make for good news or goodwill.”

As if by magic, the waiter appears and gives us some much needed cooling-down time. He has two coffees in his hands and sets them down. “Are you ready to order?”

“Where’d Carly go?” Alex snaps.

Is he fucking for real?

“She had to go on break. Do you want to wait for her to return to order?”

That stony stare turns icy. “No, I don’t want to wait. But in the future, let the manager know that when I request someone, I expect that’s who I will get for the entirety of my meal.”

Such an arrogant ass.

Alex’s sharp tone flusters the waiter, but he manages to take our order and leave the table without pissing his pants, so that’s a plus for him. Alex has a way with men that make them shake in their boots. Most men, that is. I’m not one of them, and that’s why he’s always trying to spar with me.

Alex points to my neck. “You don’t have to answer my question. The hickey does it for you.”

Ignoring him, I take a sip of my coffee. “What is it you wanted to talk to me about? I’m sure it isn’t my sex life.”

The lascivious grin pisses me off. This man knows how to push my buttons. “I called you here to help you out, believe it or not.”

Curiosity gets the best of me and I lean forward. “I’m listening.”

The ring on his finger shines bright against the black coffee cup clutched in his hand. “Yesterday, just before five, the back taxes on the old Laneworth Automotive Plant were paid off.”

That gets my attention, because only Tom Worth or someone he appointed as his proxy could legally do that. No wait—that’s not the only person. Adam Lane’s next of kin would be able to as well. “By whom?”

Before he can answer, the waiter is at our table setting our plates down. “Anything else?” he asks.

“That’s enough. Just the check,” Alex snaps.

“No, thank you,” I tell him, trying to soften Alex’s rude behavior.

Once the waiter is gone, I stare at Alex. And wait for an answer.

He unfolds his napkin and sets it on his lap. Peppers his egg-white omelet, then takes a bite of his turkey bacon.

Feeling my palms turn clammy as my heart rate increases, I know better than to press. I have to wait him out. With each passing second of silence that stretches between us, I want to shout across the table for him to tell me. But I know Alex. I know his game. And that would only fuel his fire. He has to be in control. Always. So I sit here and wait. And say nothing more. Make like it’s no big deal. I even fork my ham and cheese omelet, although I have no intention of eating it. My appetite disappeared as soon as I sat down.

Setting his fork down, he looks at me. “Her name is Tory Worth.”

“Tom’s daughter?” I ask in shock, dropping my fork to the table with a clank.

“One in the same. And she’s filed a petition to recover ownership, citing hardship on her father’s behalf.”

“Does she actually have his proxy?”

“No; that’s where it gets sticky.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s unprecedented but not impossible. Now that she’s taken action, her request for land recovery will go in front of the council a week from Monday. If they agree to hear her case, it will void their previous decision to put the property up for auction. If that happens, there is a good chance the land could revert to her.”

“Can they do that?”

He nods, and his grave expression tells me he’s not happy about it either. “They can. And with the bad press you’re getting, I’m going to have a hard time convincing them not to agree to hear her case.”

I lean over my plate. “Alex, I need
that
property to build the plant.”

“Look, I know you want it, and believe it or not I understand why you’d bring closure to that part of your life, to turn something bad into something good, but it might be time to start looking for another site because practically at every turn you’ve made so far, something happens that sabotages progress. At this pace you’ll be dead before you get this plant off the ground.”

Sabotage.
Max’s word. I look at him with nothing but utter seriousness. “I will not give up.”

“Hey, I don’t want you to, but she has the right to petition to claim it, just like that little girlfriend of yours did too.”

Ignoring his snide comment, I try to stay focused on the matter at hand. “Where the fuck did Tory Worth come from anyway?”

He shrugs. “I have no fucking idea, but I have someone looking into her past. And they’re aware that I want to know
everything
there is to know about her. Where she’s been. What she does. Where she got the money. Who she’s fucking. Even what color panties she wears.”

There are times when enemies are enemies, and there are times when an enemy can be your closest ally. As I look across the table at Alex, I know he’s on my side. He wants me to build that plant on that very piece of property for his own selfish reasons. He promised the people of Detroit the prosperity it would bring. So on this front, at least, I know we’re united. I draw in a breath. “What can I do to stop this?”

He sighs, stabbing a piece of fruit with his fork. “Stay out of the news and away from Charlotte Lane. ”

I shove my plate aside. “What is it with you and Charlotte?”

Reaching for his wallet, he tosses two twenties on the table. “I think she has some kind of agenda with this Tory Worth and I don’t like it.”

I pull out my own wallet and toss a twenty on the table, pushing one of his toward him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

He rolls his eyes at the money. “I don’t know anything for sure yet, so I was going to wait to share this, but my investigator has uncovered photos of Tory at the very same B&B that Lane’s aunt owned, and I’m not so certain they aren’t in on this together.”