Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (17 page)

His mouth curved into a slow grin and his eyes made a naughty suggestion... or was that coming from inside her own head?

"A drink would be very nice. I just moved here from St. Louis. Is there someplace nearby?"

She hadn't thought beyond her invitation. The only place she knew of was a restaurant a few blocks away where her coworkers had taken her for her thirtieth birthday last year. She remembered it having a bar. "Do you mind walking a little?"

He laughed. "Walking's fine. These shoes just weren't made for running."

She looked down at his loafers. They looked as expensive as his suit and haircut. She hoped he was rich. That would turn off her hormones in a heartbeat. As he got his trench coat out of his late-model sedan, she said, "I'm a customer service rep in the bank. What do you do, Mr. Trent?"

"Please call me Kyle. I work for IBM. Actually, I was a service rep too, before I got into sales. I was just promoted to regional sales manager."

"Does a car come with that kind of job?"

"That's one of the benefits. Save's me the cost of owning one."

Okay, so he's not rich like Howard. He wears good clothes because he's in sales. What else
?

"The other good thing about the job is I can pretty much make my own hours."

Aha, another bum like Russ. Doesn't like to work
.

"The problem with that is I always end up putting in more than forty hours a week because no one tells me when to start and stop."

There's got to be something wrong with this
guy
. "That must drive your wife up a wall."

He gave her another one of those slow grins. "No wife. No ex-wives. No fiancées or steady companions. No children, legitimate or otherwise. And yes, I am one hundred percent heterosexual."

She felt her cheeks flush. "I'm sorry. I was being nosy."

"Actually, I was trying to figure out how to bring it up. Your interview method is quite impressive. Now it's your turn."

Relief that he wasn't annoyed made her giggle. "I'm single and like that status. Just one ex-husband and a nine-year-old son."

"Good. Then let's have dinner with our drinks."

She was tempted. "I'm sorry. I can't. Not that I wouldn't be pleased to buy you dinner after what you did for me. But I promised to pick up my son by..." She glanced at her watch. "By seven, in Fredericksburg. That's about a forty-five-minute drive, and—"

"It's all right. I got the point. Let's see if we can stand each other through a drink first. We can work up to an entire meal later."

His tone was teasing, not angry, over her clumsy rejection. He had to have some fault she could focus on to stop this train before it picked up more steam. If she had learned one important lesson in life, it was that she could never trust her feelings when it came to men.

* * *

"I swear to God, man, this crazy dude tackled me and stole the purse back! Look at my fuckin' cheek, man. You think I threw myself down on the sidewalk for the hell of it?"

Russ relaxed his grip on the kid's skinny throat, then shoved him against the concrete wall. "Get the fuck away from me."

"What about my pay, man? You said—"

Russ delivered a hard punch to the kid's diaphragm. "There's your pay, asshole. You're lucky I don't make you give back what you got up front. Now get lost."

The kid wasted no time following his order as Russ headed in the opposite direction. After a moment, Russ allowed himself a chuckle over the screw-up. He could hardly wait to throw it in his partner's I've-got-every-detail-perfectly-planned face.

* * *

She shouldn't have remained celibate for so many years. Long-neglected physical need was obviously catching up with a vengeance. She was actually perspiring despite the freezing temperature.
One drink
, she reminded herself. He deserved at least that much. Surely she wouldn't do or say anything she'd regret in the time it took to have one drink.

As it turned out, she wasn't required to do or say much of anything while they were seated on two stools at the restaurant's bar. He did most of the talking. All she had to do was ask an occasional question and pay attention.

Unfortunately, that required looking directly into his incredible blue eyes. She wondered what he'd say if she asked him to put on sunglasses.

To make things worse, he was bright and, depending on the topic, he could be funny or very serious. Like her, he came from a middle-class background, was an only child with happy childhood memories, took some college classes without working toward a degree and loved the theater.

She didn't understand why she felt such a strong attraction to him. He wasn't needy or looking for a caretaker. He knew what he wanted and was working toward it. He didn't seem to be weak or indecisive like the men who had drawn her before. Kyle seemed genuinely pleased with his life without any assistance or advice from her.

By the time he walked her to her car, she knew she was in deep trouble and hoped he had found something terribly undesirable about her, so she wouldn't have to drum up any resistance on her own.

"Thank you again, Kyle. Not only are you a hero, you are delightful company." She held out her hand to shake his, but he brought it to his lips for a light kiss on her knuckles.

"It was my pleasure. Now, about dinner, how about tomorrow night?"

Resist, you weak-kneed, horny twit. You can't afford the complication or distraction of a man in your life. Especially not now.
She swallowed hard. "I can't."

He moved an inch closer, turned her hand around and kissed her palm. "You could if you wanted to. And I think you want to." He cocked his head and stared into her eyes. "Interesting. Are you afraid of me?"

He pulled back her coat sleeve and kissed the inside of her wrist. She felt it all the way to her toes. "I'm not afraid of anything. I just have a lot of things going on in my life right now and dating would only make it more difficult."

"If things are that difficult, a night out could be just what you need."

His eyes promised her a night that would make her forget the rest of the world existed, which was only one of the things she was afraid of.

"All right," he said with a look of exasperation. "I'm going to pull out all the stops now and destroy my macho image. I've always wanted to believe in love at first sight and happily ever after, but it never happened for me. That's why I never got married. This afternoon, the first time our eyes met, I felt like I'd been gut-punched. Of course, it could be the flu, but unless my instincts have taken a vacation, I'd say you felt the same thing." His hands moved up her arms and into her hair.

She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. "It's only because of what you did," she murmured. "It was romantic, like a knight in shining armor and the maiden in distress. It doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, I see. Well, if you're right about that, this probably won't make any difference." He tilted her head back and lowered his.

His lips on hers were as light and velvety as a butterfly's wing. Barely touching, he brushed his mouth from side to side over hers then gently caressed each corner until she began to follow the rhythm he set. Only then did he kiss her in earnest, drawing her into his heat, making her want to ease her body closer, wrap her arms around him, give him anything he wanted to take.

His seduction worked. She felt as though they were having sex, despite half a dozen layers of clothing between them. When he freed her lips, she wasn't much more than a puddle at his feet.

"Am I still standing?" she whispered.

"Barely. I'm pretty sure we're holding each other up. And I'm definitely sure this isn't the flu or a fairy tale. I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow. Dinner, a movie or dancing, your choice. I'll have you home by midnight and I swear on my Boy Scout oath that I won't try for more than some heavy necking in your driveway before you go inside."

"I won't promise more than one date."

"Understood."

"And that's only if I can make arrangements for someone to sit with my son."

"Also understood. And to prove that I know when to back off, I won't even ask for your number. I'll wait for you to call me. I'm temporarily staying at the Hilton here in Richmond. I'll be in and out, apartment hunting, but leave a message and I'll call you back. You can give me directions then." He took a step away from her and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "If I don't leave now, I'm going to lose my good behavior badge."

Fearing she had even less willpower than he did, she got in her car and escaped while she had the chance.

There was no way in hell she was keeping that date.

* * *

Kyle let out a low whistle as he watched Barbara's taillights disappear around the corner of the garage. His
accidental
meeting with her had turned out so much better than he'd planned that he decided it was a sure sign that he was doing the right thing.

He thought he'd figured every possible angle, but never in his most far-fetched ponderings had he imagined a mugger in the scene. Nor had he ever considered the possibility that he'd be attracted to her in such an elemental way.

The totally unexpected effect they had on each other convinced him that his original plan was no longer adequate, but he wasn't quite sure how to revise it.

As he folded his body into the driver's seat of his car and had to adjust the crotch of his slacks, he grinned. It looked like his body was way ahead of his mind on this one.

Despite her obvious interest in him, however, she hadn't jumped at the idea of seeing him again. In fact, now that he thought about it, he still got the impression that she was afraid of something, either him or what he made her feel. That didn't sound at all like the woman he'd heard about.
That
woman was passionate, strong, independent, and not afraid of anything or anyone.
That
woman would want to follow through with what they'd started. The woman who had just driven away probably intended to stand him up tomorrow night.
Very interesting.

Fortunately, his accountant's brother at the IRS had supplied him with Barbara Johnson's home address as well as where she was employed.

There was no way in hell he was going to let her out of his grasp now that he'd finally found her.

Chapter 8

By noon on Saturday, Barbara had scratched off every chore on her list and was looking for some other way to burn off her surplus physical energy. She knew precisely what her problem was—Kyle Trent and his amazing chemistry. Her body was screaming for her to call and give him directions to her house, and the sooner he could get there, the better.

On the other hand, her mind kept sifting through choices of how best to get out of it. She could tell him she couldn't get a sitter or say she forgot about promising her parents to see them. But then he might push for another time. The best plan seemed to be not to call at all, to let him think she was rude and thoughtless.

When her phone rang, she worried that it might be him, then reminded herself that she hadn't given him her number. On the second ring, she fretted that it could be Russ or Decker. Though she hadn't given them her number, either, Decker had confirmed what she already knew from past experience—that they could get it if they were determined enough.

On the third ring, she looked at the caller ID and recognized the number that had just been given to her the day before. Desperate for a distraction, Barbara picked up the receiver. "Hi Tammy. I was just thinking of calling you."

"Cool. I'm bored out of my tree today. I had a terrible fight with Michael last night and I'd even come help you with your housework just to have somebody to talk to."

Barbara laughed. Listening to Tammy's problems would at least keep her mind off her own. "Then by all means, get yourself up here and we can spend the whole afternoon male-bashing." She gave her directions and told her she'd have lunch ready when she got there.

By the time Tammy arrived an hour later, Barbara had prepared chefs salads for the two of them and franks and beans for Matt. Even in jeans and a sweatshirt, the girl was endowed with all the attributes that turn men's brains into mush. It hadn't occurred to Barbara, however, that those attributes would have the same effect on a nine-year-old boy.