Authors: Mackenzie Crowne
Shit. Had she walked in? A desire for privacy wouldn’t account for such drastic measures, would it? The question was, what did?
Hopping on one foot, she swiped blindly at the other leg and stretched her neck in an attempt to peer out one of the high windows. Her low growl echoed through the room. After an equally ineffective brush over the other leg, she tossed aside the towel and bent at the waist to shove a weight bench up against the wall.
He ran his tongue around his teeth at the visual gift of her tight, short skirt riding up breathtaking thighs. He held his breath as the dark material rose, coming tantalizingly close to displaying a view rivaling Christmas morning and a lifetime of birthday gifts, all rolled in one.
Disappointment coursed through him when she straightened but quickly gave way to baffled amusement when she climbed onto the bench and plastered her body against the wall in a furtive crouch. She dipped her head to the side, barely quick enough to peek through the window with one eye then immediately jerked back.
“Shit! They’re still here.” She dropped her forehead to the wall on a soft whine.
He’d seen enough. Pushing off the doorframe, he crossed the room and stopped a foot from the bench. “Gracie.”
Her scream pierced the air. Only blind luck saved his nose from being broken when she whipped around. He flinched back, causing her flying elbow to glance off the side of his head. Momentum from her flailing arms threw her off balance. She started to topple sideways. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off the bench and into his chest.
They stared at one another, nose to nose.
“I’m wondering what makes a seemingly sane woman trek through the woods in six inches of snow, simply to avoid a few reporters.”
Her breasts plumped against his chest when she drew in a ragged breath. “You scared me!”
“You nearly broke my nose. I’d say that makes us even. Now, answer my question.”
She squirmed against him in an attempt to free her pinned arms. “Put me down.”
He held her firm. “Answer the question first.”
She flattened her lips in a mutinous line. “I told you. I don’t want any part of your media circus.”
He tightened his arms marginally, refusing to feel guilty for enjoying the way her chilled curves molded to his frame from chest to knees. “I’m not buying it, princess. Nobody walks a half mile in the snow to avoid questions when a simple no comment will suffice.”
She shifted her wedged arms until her hands rested against his collarbone. Her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and her thigh brushed against his as she shifted one leg.
He contracted his arms in a bone-crushing squeeze. “Don’t even think about using that knee, or you’ll end up over mine.”
The mental image of Gracie draped ass up over his lap sent a rush of blood flooding toward his stiffening dick. Riotous color instantly flooded her cheeks, and he could swear the sensual image was reflected in her widened eyes. Her nipples, puckering beneath the silk of her blouse, stabbed his chest. She bit at her bottom lip.
Tempted to say the hell with it and drop his head the inch it would take to cover her mouth with his, the militant gleam in her eyes stopped him cold. Considering her surprising skill at laying him out in the foyer the other day, and his increasing hard-on, he was bound to sustain significant damage if she chose to call his bluff. He set her on her feet none too gently.
She skittered out of his reach, immediately heading across the room.
He sighed. “The truth, Gracie.”
The hesitation in her step was slight, but he noted it.
She continued to a cabinet in the far corner and opened the door. “I told you the truth. I can’t help you don’t believe me.”
She didn’t look his way, rummaging for something at the back of a high shelf. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was lying. The stiff movements of her body told the story, but with her quick temper, pushing her wasn’t going to get him any answers, at least not now. “What are you looking for?”
“Something to put on my feet. They’re freezing. Ah!” Her hand reappeared grasping a pair of sneakers. She dropped to a backless bench and bent over her thighs to shove a bare foot into one.
“You should’ve listened to me and changed your sexy boots. They’re ruined.”
She glared at him across the distance. “What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you out front, getting rid of the rabid wolves?”
“V is handling things. For now. But she’s only delaying the inevitable.”
She dropped her forehead to her knees and groaned.
He crossed the room and dropped to a crouch in front of her. “What’s going on, princess?”
She peeked at him from beneath thick lashes, her eyes wary. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Only someone with something to hide tromps a half mile through the snow to avoid driving through the front gate. What’d you do, rob a bank?”
“Of course not.”
“Did you steal a car? Sleep with a married politician?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I know.” He snapped his fingers. “You’re a computer whiz, right? You hacked into the Pentagon.”
Her lips pulled tight. “Very funny.”
“I’m serious. This is all about custody of the girls for you, and that’s how it should be. They come first, but I also have my career to think about. I’m not sure if you’ve read the sports pages lately, but my reputation is in deep shit these days.”
“Which is your own fault.”
“Yeah, it’s my fault, but I’ve apologized. I’m doing the best I can here. Help me out a little. I can’t afford to give the press another scandal to chew on. If you’re hiding something I need to know about, tell me already and we’ll deal with it.”
She sat up. A bright slash of red stained her cheekbones, but her violet eyes met his. “I assure you, I’ve done nothing I need to spill. I haven’t slept with anyone’s husband, politician or otherwise, and the only law I’ve ever come close to breaking is jaywalking.”
Her eyes quickly skittered away. From her comments the other day, she was none too happy with the interest from the
rabid wolves
, but traipsing through the woods to avoid them qualified as more than an aversion to the limelight. Gracie had secrets. Secrets she wasn’t willing to share. Not today, at any rate. They’d have to do something about that. In the meantime, they still had to deal with the crowd at the gate.
“Then let’s sit down with V and figure out the best way to satisfy the mob out front. She’s brilliant at handling this type of thing.”
“If she’s as brilliant as you claim, she can handle things without my help. I told you. I want no part of this.”
He leaned in menacingly. “I’ll find out what you’re hiding, princess.”
“I’m not hiding anything!”
She shoved against his chest. He straightened away from her but remained balanced on the balls of his feet. The blush deepening on her cheeks pleased him immensely, until she lowered her lashes, shuttering the flickering shadows in her amazing eyes. Guilt or alarm? He wasn’t sure.
He shook his head. “Has anyone ever accused you of being stubborn?”
She bared her teeth in a daring smile. “Frequently. Has anyone ever accused you of the same?”
He grinned. “At least once a week.”
Cupping her chilly calf, he slid his palm down the sleek column of her lower leg. In a slow caress, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the firm tendons. The daring smile slid from her lips, and she blinked. He leaned in closer until her stilted breath bathed his lips. Sensual awareness glazed her eyes, and the pink tip of her tongue peeked out to wet her upper lip, right next to that sexy little mole, before disappearing again.
If she was playing him, the way she had in the foyer… Shit, who cared if she was playing him? The results would be well worth the risk. The blood drained from his head, flowing straight to his dick as, tempted beyond the edge of reason, he dipped his head and nibbled at the corner of her mouth.
She whimpered.
Adrenaline surged.
He lifted his head and stared into her unblinking eyes. Propping his free hand on the bench beside her hip, he braced the weight of his upper body and leaned in closer. She pressed her spread fingers against his chest, but not in rebuff. Her hand lay still over his pulsing heart as if unsure what to do.
If she was unsure, he wasn’t. He wanted to sink into her, to absorb the darkly sweet scent of her. He lowered his head, craving the taste of her until he couldn’t think straight. Her eyes slid shut. He captured her mouth beneath his. No rebuff as he nibbled and nipped then twisted his head to deepen the kiss. Her lips softened beneath his, and he sunk his tongue deep. Her fingers clenched at his sweater as she curved into his chest.
Excitement coursed through him, heating the blood in his veins. A caressing squeeze of her shapely calf demanded further investigation. His exploring fingers rode up her knee and over her skirt-covered thigh. Another squeeze to the curve of her hip, and he dropped one knee to the floor. Cupping her bottom, he slid her forward.
Like bellows in a medieval forge, his lungs labored when he broke the kiss and lifted his head. Oxygen became a more desperate need when he glanced down at where he rested in the cradle of her spread thighs. The hem of her skirt rode deliciously high and played peekaboo with the pale peach satin of her panties. Bared to his view, the firm, white columns of her thighs hugged his hips. His erection thickened, straining dangerously at the confines of his jeans.
Damn. If he ever actually got her
naked
, he wasn’t sure he’d survive.
She sniffed in a sharp breath, drawing his gaze. Dazed and hungry, her eyes shimmered with a matching desire. What little control he had left slipped its tether. He took her mouth hungrily. She met his desperation, pressing closer and opening her lips to give his probing tongue entrance, and…
“Ha-choo!”
Pain exploded, shooting out from the throbbing cartilage where her forehead slammed against the ridge of his nose. He jerked back and toppled over, landing on his ass. Again.
Her eyes popped open. “Oh, God.”
She immediately sat forward. He lurched to one side, attempting to dodge her reaching hand and ended up with her finger in his eye.
“Ouch! Stop!”
She snatched back her hand and slapped her fingers over her mouth.
Tears leaked from his right eye and his nose was running—or was he bleeding? He swiped his upper lip with the back of his hand. No blood, but fuck! Had she popped him one on purpose? “Damn, you’re more dangerous than your dog.”
Her blush went scarlet. He eyed her critically. The seductive siren from moments ago was gone. In her place was a woman who looked far too young for the lascivious fantasies she evoked in him and way too vulnerable. She caught her lower lip with her teeth. Horror etched her wrinkled brow.
Shit. Was she about to cry?
Oh, hell no.
He could handle anything else, but not tears.
The best defense was a good offense. He took a stab, hoping to prod the scrapper who’d tossed him on his ass
purposefully
the other day into reappearing.
That
Gracie would never use tears as a tool. “Playing dirty again, princess?”
“No!” Her jaw dropped open. She snapped it shut. “I sneezed!”
He rose to his feet, snorting. A mistake. His nose resumed its throbbing. “How do I know you didn’t do it on purpose?”
The horrified vulnerability on her face flashed out with the immediate return of the scrapper. She narrowed her eyes and stood. “You’ll have to take my word for it.”
He smiled inwardly. Her buttons were damned easy to press. Now, if he could find the seductive siren switch, they could get back to fanning the raging fire.
Her lips flattened in an angry slash, and he swallowed a sigh. He was on his own in putting out the blaze…this time, but if she believed he’d back off, she was mistaken. The sexy football blogger was about to be blitzed by a pro.
Her chest rose on a bracing breath. Before she got all worked up and started to spout off about ground rules and why that kiss shouldn’t have happened, best he remind her of her part in the passionate encounter. “Why is it every time you kiss me, I end up on my ass?”
She crossed her arms on a strangled cough. “
You
kissed
me
!”
He mirrored her stubborn stance, crossing his arms. “Yes, I did.” He made his smile slow and intimate. “And I plan to kiss you again, soon, but I distinctly recall your tongue in my mouth. Not that I’m complaining, but you kissed me back.”
She angled her chin defensively. “Well, I
don’t
plan to ever again.”
He couldn’t prevent his chuckle.
She dropped her arms, doubling down on her attempted brush off. “As for why you keep landing on your ass, maybe you’re clumsy.”
Leaning close, her stiffening flinch made him smile. He tapped a fingertip to her pert nose. “Be careful, princess. I never could resist a smart ass woman.”
She slapped his hand away. “Try harder.” Bolting past him, she disappeared out the door.
Jake rapped his knuckles against wood and waited.
“Yes?” Gracie’s muffled reply came from behind her closed bedroom door.
“It’s Jake. Can you do me a favor?”
Silence, then, “I’m working.”
Not for long
.
He had yet to discover what her furtive trek through the woods yesterday was about, but he would eventually. In the meantime, other than dinnertime and getting the girls to bed, she’d spent the entire afternoon and evening hunkered down in her room. Did she plan to hide herself away like a hunted animal indefinitely? The tactic wouldn’t do her a bit of good with either the press
or
with him. The crowd at the gate might have dwindled down to a couple of determined holdouts, but they’d eventually get their picture of his elusive housemate, and they’d continue hounding her until they got their answers and their story.
He
meant to do the same, subtly, of course.
First, he needed to gain her trust. A tall order, but not impossible and necessary. He could hardly seduce the prickly princess if he never got her alone. From her sultry reaction to his kisses, she had no more willpower when it came to him than he did with her. Apparently, her solution was to deny the primal pull between them and run off and hide. Her strategy was fatally flawed as far as he was concerned. The gut-wrenching attraction between them was simply too strong to ignore. She’d cave. He’d make sure of it.