All Tied Up: Pleasure Inn, Book 1 (7 page)

She suspected it took a considerable amount of trust on his part to tell her something so personal. She suddenly recalled their conversation, just before they had sex. Her stomach lurched remembering how she told him there could only be sex between them, proving she was no different from any other woman he’d been with. “Well, I wouldn’t laugh. I think it’s wonderful, Brad.”

He leaned back on his elbows. His voice was low, soft, barely audible. “Thank you.”

It suddenly occurred to her why he’d come all the way to Mason Creek to work. “I’m guessing you took this job way out of town to make extra money to help pay for MCAT prep classes.”

“Pretty perceptive, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I pride myself on that,” she teased. “So tell me, do you have enough money?” Not that it was any of her business, but she really wanted to know. It mattered to her. He mattered to her.

He shook his head and she could tell he wasn’t all that comfortable talking money with her. She narrowed her eyes and studied him. There were fine lines around his eyes and she wondered for a minute if he even slept last night.

“Did you get any sleep after you left here?”

“No, I had another job to go to. The pay was too good to turn down.”

“Can you ask your family to help?”

“My dad died when I was in high school, and mom is sick. So with her expenses, and taking care of my two younger siblings, I don’t think I’m going to take the prep classes this year. I’m still a couple thousand short.” She could hear the sincerity, the love and the responsibility in his voice.

Mind sorting through everything, Lindsay leaned in next to his warm body and snuggled in tight. He turned until they were face to face, chest to chest and hip to hip. He touched her cheek and in no time at all, desire overtook them. Their lips met in a frenzied kiss and in that instant she knew she wanted more from him. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, and she had no doubt that she wanted something a little more permanent.

God, she’d told him this was just about sex, but in the span of a few short hours, things had changed for her. She cared for him. A lot. And she needed to show him how much. She knew of only one way to do that. By showing support where others hadn’t. She was going to do something she’d sworn she’d never, ever do again.

Chapter Seven

Less than two hours later, Brad had Lindsay’s room all cleaned up. He’d swept, cleared out all his supplies and had taken the plaster to the dump for disposal.

Now that his job was completed, he needed to talk to Lindsay, to tell her how he felt. To see if she wanted to explore their relationship further and see where it led. Like he hoped she did.

He stood back and admired the wide open space. Lindsay’s voice gained his attention. Just her sultry tone alone had his body reacting with heated anticipation. Desire twisted inside him as she stepped closer.

“It looks fabulous, Brad. It really opens the room up.”

He turned to face her and smiled at the endorsement. “Thanks.”

He held his arms out to her and she moved into them. He wove his fingers through hers and tugged until their bodies collided. God, her heat scorched him and made him wild with need. He brushed a wayward chestnut lock from her face and put his mouth close to her ear.

“Lindsay, we need to talk.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he mentally kicked himself. He hadn’t meant to approach her that way. He knew firsthand that those words were usually the kiss of death. He’d heard them himself a time or two, women letting him know they wanted sex, not emotional commitment from him.

She removed herself from the circle of his arms and stepped back, her lips thinned to a fine line. Her voice tight, edgy. “Brad, wait.”

Everything in him reached out to her. Damn she must have read him wrong, either that or she was about to give him the brush-off. Shit, either way, this wasn’t good. “Lindsay—”

She held an envelope out to him. “I want you to have this.”

“What is it?”

Looking a bit unsettled, she shoved it at him. “Just take it, please.”

“What’s going on, Lindsay?” As he read her body language, his gut churned, he had a bad feeling. Her face was anxious, her stance antsy. Brad accepted the envelope and ripped it open. When he peered inside, his stomach hit the ground like a felled wall.

Jesus H. Christ.

Nausea welled up inside him but quickly segued to anger. Pride crushed, he’d never been so offended in his entire fucking life.

“What the—”

Lindsay rushed out, “I want you to keep it.”

He stepped back, hands curling and uncurling as anger swept through his bloodstream until he saw red. After the intimacies they’d shared, after talking and getting to know each other on another level, how could she turn around and do something like this?

What made her think he was the kind of guy who would take money from her? Goddammit. And what the fuck was it for, services rendered? Lord, he’d never felt so used, so prostituted in his life.

“You can use it for your prep course.”

Jesus, did he seem that shallow? That he’d mooch off her. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Her eyes narrowed, confused.

“Lindsay, Christ.” He stumbled over his words and took a distancing step backwards. It felt like she was paying him off. To leave nicely. A thank-you for the good times. Wham, bam, thank you, handyman.

Incredulous, he looked at her for a long moment and then tossed the money onto the bench. The same bench where he’d made love to her and
thought
they’d made an emotional connection.

“Keep your money. My services were free.”

Before she had time to speak, he shoved the door open. It hit the wall with a thud and nearly ripped off its hinges. He stormed out the door and, without so much as a backward glance, flew down the staircase. Too bad his heart hadn’t come with him.

The sound of his heavy work boots reverberated through the hallway as he hastily sailed through the house and made his way to his truck. He shoved the key into the ignition, but the goddamned thing wouldn’t turn over.

“Now what,” he said, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. He pushed his door open and climbed from the driver’s seat. After popping the hood, he examined his battery.

“Having trouble, Brad?”

He angled his head to see Pamina behind him. He didn’t have time for this, not when he just wanted to get the fuck out of Dodge.

“It won’t turn over,” he bit out and immediately berated himself for snapping. Pamina wasn’t the one he was angry with and he had no right to take it out on her. The truth was, he was pissed with Lindsay and with himself. Pissed with her because she didn’t want more from him, and pissed with himself because he’d allowed himself to believe there was a possibility she would. When the fuck would he learn that women wanted him for a good romp and nothing else?

She touched his arm, and he turned to face her. “Do you love her?”

At first that question took him by surprise, but then it occurred to him his actions were pretty transparent. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I can’t blame you for loving her. She’s a very special girl.”

He narrowed his gaze, wondering where this was heading.

“I guess it makes one curious why such a special girl like her is still single.”

That thought had crossed his mind a time or two, or a thousand.

She lowered her voice. “Well between us, Brad, Lindsay has sworn off men. She doesn’t want anything more to do with relationships.”

His stomach clenched. Fuck, he already knew Lindsay was just in it for the ride, he didn’t need Pamina reminding him.

Pamina tsked and shook her head. “Such a shame, really. It seems that all the men in her life had been eager to mooch off her, eager to separate her from her money. A few months back, she’d had enough of it and had given up on the opposite sex.”

His mind raced, remembering their conversation over lunch. Him telling her he needed money for his exams. Obviously she thought he was looking for something from her, the same way every other man had. But after everything they shared, he thought she’d have known him better than that, thought she’d seen him as something different.

“I guess it would take a pretty special guy to get her to trust again. And if she ever offered a man money, it would merely be her way of showing she trusted, she cared. It’d be a big leap of faith on her part, don’t you think?”

Brad stilled. Oh shit. He hadn’t seen that coming.

Numb and a bit confused, Lindsay watched him go.
Okay
, that hadn’t gone quite as planned.

Just then Candace and Anna came racing in from their rooms. Candace reached her first. “What’s going on? I heard a bang? Are you okay?”

Stomach in knots, Lindsay said, “I don’t think so.”

Anna wrapped her arms around her waist. “You’re so pale.” She touched Lindsay’s forehead. “Are you sick?”

When she shook her head, Candace and Anna exchanged a worried look.

With kid gloves, Anna walked her toward the door, Candace tight on their heels. “Come on, let’s get you some water.”

They led her to the kitchen and once she was seated with a glass of ice water in front of her, Candace plunked down in the chair beside her. “What’s going on?”

She wrung her hands together. “I just gave Brad a shitload of money.”

Anna pulled a chair up beside her and kept her tone soft. “Are you kidding me, Lindsay?”

“Afraid not.”

“Holy shit! Why did you do that?” Candace asked, eyes wide in total shock.

She shrugged. “He needed the money.”

Candace threw her head back in disbelief. “So once again a guy has managed to schmooze you and separate you from your money.”

Anna cut Candace a stern glance. “Don’t be so hard on her.”

Candace ignored Anna. “So now that he’s got your money, he’s gone, right? Good Lord, when are you going to learn the kinds of guys you attract are lazy bastards who simply want to mooch off you.”

“Don’t talk about him like that, Candace. He’s not like other guys. He’s a hard worker and he takes care of his family.” She lowered her voice. “He’s really wonderful. And he didn’t even take the money.”

“Oh boy,” Anna piped in.

Lindsay and Candace turned to face her. “What?” they said in unison.

“Lindsay, do you realize what you’re doing?” Anna asked.

“What?”

“You’re protecting and supporting him. The same way you always protect and support me and Candace. You only do that with the ones you love.”

Oh God, she loved him. She really and truly loved him. And now her goddamn plan to show him just how much she cared had backfired.

“Did you tell him how you felt?” Candace asked.

“I told him I only wanted sex. He agreed.”

Candace shook her head in confusion. “So you gave him money?”

“He told me no one had ever supported his dream. I figured if I gave him money it would
show
him how much I cared. Show him that what was between us wasn’t just about sex for me, like I had originally said.”

Anna softened her voice. “Has he ever told you he felt differently?”

“No, why would he? He went into this thinking of me only as a playmate. And after talking with him, intimately, I now know he’s used to that type of behavior from women. He doesn’t expect anything more. That’s why I felt I needed to show him, and not just tell him.”

Brad’s voice sounded in the doorway. He pointed to Lindsay. “You. In your bedroom. Now.”

Lindsay stood on shaky legs and, as though fearing she was going to bolt, Brad cupped her elbow, packaged her tight against his body and escorted her up the stairs. When they reached the bedroom, she twisted to face him.

“Brad, I…”

He pressed his fingers to her lips. When his eyes met hers, a shiver traveled all the way to her toes. “I’m an idiot.” His voice was low, harsh.

Before she had a chance to respond, his mouth smashed down on hers. Hard. His kiss was so full of urgency, need and passion, her body responded in kind. Blood racing, she kissed him back with all the love inside her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his mouth, her voice rough with emotion.

Bodies still molded together, Brad inched his mouth back. He cupped her cheeks and held her face between his palms. God, she loved how he touched her in such a familiar way. She arched into him and when she saw love shining in his eyes, her heart slammed in her chest.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.” The heat of his breath assailed her neck and aroused all her senses. Her skin came alive with desire.

She worked to find her voice and slid her tongue over her bottom lip. “When I offered you that money, I didn’t stop to think it would offend you. Or make you feel used, the way other women have made you feel. It was just my way of showing I cared, where no one else did.”

His hands were all over her, like he couldn’t get enough. “I know that now, Lindsay. I should have trusted that it was a heartfelt gesture, that you were doing it because you cared.”

“Old insecurities are hard to let go of, Brad. I know that firsthand.”

“Fortunately Pamina helped me understand things.”

Lindsay’s fingers raced through his hair, pulling him impossibly closer to her. “Pamina?”

She could feel his body trembling with pent-up need. “Yeah, she explained to me how men always used you and how offering me money was a big leap of faith on your part.”

Lindsay furrowed her brow. “I don’t know how that woman knows so much.” But none of that really mattered to her right now, because standing before her was the man of her dreams and the look on his face told her all she needed to know. He loved her as much as she loved him.

Brad slipped his hands to the small of her back and splayed them open. She watched his throat as he swallowed. His voice dropped to a whisper and there was such tenderness in his gaze. “Before you I never believed in love at first sight.”

“Me neither.”

“I love you, Lindsay, and I’m never going to let you slip away.”

She grinned, her heart nearly exploding in her chest. “I love you too, Brad. But just how do you plan on doing that?”

Mischief filled his eyes. “I do have my ways,” he assured her, his glance going to the goodie box.

“Show me,” she said, inviting him to answer the pull between her legs.

“It’d be my pleasure.”

She smiled. “I’m pretty sure it would be my pleasure too.”

He furrowed his brow, his voice taking on a hard edge. “I’m sorry, did you somehow think I gave you permission to talk?”

Lindsay bit back a smile, thrilled with the way he so easily slipped into his role, a role he played just for her. She’d never met anyone so in tune with her needs, her desires or her emotions before. God she loved him so much she ached.

She assumed her role. “I should probably be punished.”

Brad stepped back and let his gaze pan over her body. “Take off your clothes but leave on your panties and bra.”

She obliged without hesitation, thankful that she’d put panties on that morning.

Her entire body shook as she watched the way his eyes devoured her with hunger, with heat. Once she was naked, he gripped her hips and backed her up until she was next to the window again. He went to the box and pulled out a set of leather straps.

Oh. Good. God.

With predatory moves he stalked toward her, gripped her wrists and wrapped the straps around them.

“Spread your arms.”

Brad shackled her wrists and tied her arms to the hooks meant for the curtain tiebacks, prohibiting her from moving. Such ingenuity. Her body quaked in anticipation, certain she’d never been so excited in her entire life.

His hand stroked over her body, a slow seduction that nearly unhinged her. He caressed the pattern of her curves and then casually made his way downward to her panties. He pressed his finger into her heat and moaned.

“You’re very wet, Lindsay.”

He was testing her to see if she’d speak, knowing if she did punishment would come. Hell, who was she too disappoint him?

Her mouth curved invitingly. “You make me this way.”

He silenced her words with a kiss and inched back. His eyes darkened with passion. His gaze dropped from her eyes, to her lips, to the damp triangular patch between her thighs. He gripped the thin white lace of her panties and, with a light tug, stripped them from her hips.

“Oh my,” she whispered, her head falling to the side.

He tsked and shook his head. “Such disobedience. I believe a tongue lashing is in order.” He dropped to his knees and put his mouth close to her pussy. His nose nudged her clit, drawing it out from its fleshy hood. He inhaled her scent before licking her lightly.