If You Believe

CHAPTER 2

A week later, she was checking the progress on Bean There, Done That. Her insurance agent was still duking it out with the company that had installed the sprinkler system, but she’d gotten the green light on starting repairs. She had a feeling Price had stepped in and smoothed over a few bumps for her in that little snafu. He’d never said anything about it, but he’d been by a few times to see how she was doing, always polite, always watchful, always with that simmer of too-tempting awareness in his gaze.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she ignored thoughts of Price and focused on her shop. The nauseating smell seemed to have dissipated. Thank goodness. The ceiling and floor tiles around the stove needed replacing, as did the stove and the counter beside it. A fresh coat of paint would cover up the blackened wall behind the stove. Every bit of cloth, from curtains to chair cushions to dishrags had to go. They all stank of smoke.

She’d already hired a crew who specialized in fire damage to scrub the place from top to bottom and had done a whole lot of the nasty work herself. Bone-deep exhaustion sapped at her strength, but Bean There, Done That was starting to look as good as ever. A little spark of joy lit inside her. She rubbed her hand down the new door that separated the front and back rooms.

Yeah. Everything was going to be okay. Some quiet panic that had gripped her belly and weighed on her chest since she’d seen the damage began to ease. Bean There, Done That had been her lifeline, her escape. A shaky sigh eased past her lips.

After all the workmen filed out for the day, she locked up behind them and walked across the street. She had to pass through the park to get home. Jericho sat in his normal place on the park bench. Her stride checked a bit when she saw him. His prediction about the fire still freaked her out a bit.

Get over yourself, Aubrey. The man is off his meds. She snorted and jogged across the street, automatically rooting around the bottom of her purse for coins. Crazy or not, he was a vagabond with no real way to get food.

He smiled his usual smile as she approached. “Hi there. How’s the restoration coming?”

“Just peachy, thanks.” She handed over the change. “How’re you?”

“Good, good.” He waved her off. She sped past, relieved he didn’t say anything weird this time. A ridiculous amount of gratitude filled her at the reprieve. “Hang on a second, Aubrey.”

Freezing, she muttered every curse she knew under her breath. She even came up with a couple of inventive compound cusswords. Smiling—and hoping it didn’t look more like a grimace—she turned around. “Yeah?”

Mr. Crazy Man was back. He hummed a little before speaking again. “Dogs are bad luck for you today.”

Shit. She hunched her shoulder and spun away. “Thanks.”

If she went her normal route home, she’d have to pass by the dog park that made up a corner of the town square.

Maybe she would try a different way. Just for the change of scenery. Change was good for the soul, wasn’t it? If she went by the dog park, it just seemed like too much self-fulfilling prophecy.

Taking a left off the main path where she usually took a right, she wandered into the older district of town that had great Victorian houses. She’d always loved that style of architecture, but Scott had wanted modern. Now that she lived alone, it just seemed like too much upkeep. And maybe it was because she was afraid it would put her one step away from crazy cat lady to rattle around in a big old house like that. She turned the corner on to her street. She had four blocks left to go.

“Woof.” Her blood ran cold at the deep bark that came from behind her. A lot of people walked these streets in the evening. And took their dogs with them.

A kid of about twelve had lost the leash on his Great Dane. The air went whistling out of her in what might have been a high-pitched squeak.

It wasn’t that she believed Jericho or anything, but the fire thing had kind of creeped her out. Watching that pony-sized excuse for a dog running at her made her blood run cold. Anyone would freak out. It had nothing to do with Jericho’s warning. Nope. Not a thing.

She backpedaled as fast as her legs could carry her just the same. The back of her ankles hit something that yelped and the next thing she knew she was going down hard on the pavement. Her back arched when her tailbone made sharp contact with the ground and all the breath rushed out of her lungs. Curling into a fetal position on her side, she wrapped her arms around her knees and tried remember why she didn’t want to die right then. When she opened her eyes, a pointy little muzzle snapped in her face as a dachshund yapped. Dog breath, blech. She groaned and pushed into a sitting position. A strong arm wrapped around her back to cradle her against a wide chest. Price Delacroix.

“Don’t move, Aubrey.” His deep voice rumbled, and that was all it took to get her hot and bothered. Her sex dampened at the sound of his rich, deep tones. The way he smelled. The hardness of his muscles against her body. Thank you, Jesus.

“I’m fine.” She tried to pretend the breathiness of her voice was just from having the wind knocked out of her. The way her nipples tightened and her muscles softened told her it was a lie.

“You took a hard fall. Stay there.” His words were almost harsh, but his touch was gentle when he brushed her hair away from her face. She fought the urge to lean her cheek into his palm. Everything about this man made her react. Her original assessment that the two of them were destined to burn up the sheets was dead on. She really wanted to try him on for size. She’d bet he fit just fine. “I’m really all right, Chief.” “Price. You’ll call me Price.” His other arm slid under her bent knees and lifted her as he stood. She squeaked and clutched his shoulders. His soft T-shirt bunched in her fingers as she held on tight. “Don’t drop me.”

A wicked grin flashed over his face before he focused on her eyes. Some of her panic must have shown because he cuddled her closer. “Not a chance, sugar.”

“Is she all right, Chief Delacroix?” Mrs. Chambers, the biggest gossip in town, reined in her wiener dog and stared at the two of them.

“Oh, she’s fine. Ma’am.” He dipped his head in a nod, dismissing the older woman while he turned to walk up the driveway in front the big Victorian on the corner. She sighed in envy when she saw it. She glanced over his shoulder at Mrs. Chambers. An avid gleam entered the older woman’s eyes as he mounted the porch. Pitching her voice low, Aubrey had to warn him. “Look, I know you’re new in town, but Mrs. Chambers—”

He nudged the front door of his house open, and then kicked it shut behind them. “Will spread it all over town that I carried you into my house? And will probably embellish it by saying that I practically stripped you on the sidewalk and fucked you against the street lamp.”

“She won’t say ‘fuck’, but yeah.” She arched her eyebrows. If people wanted anything to be discreet in a small town, they made damn sure the town gossip did not find out. He was from L.A. Maybe he thought it was only in Mayberry TV-land that gossips told the whole town, who then knew your business, and felt free to chat with you about it.

“Well, that’s fine.” He sounded unruffled as he set her on his kitchen counter. Oh, man. The whole place looked like something out of Architectural Digest. She almost whimpered.

Focus, Aubrey. Future sex life at stake here. She was not interested in having her customers comment about her boffing the police chief. Even if she intended to do so. “Um, you know I have to live in this town? And no nice girl is going to date you now because they’ll think we’re an item. It doesn’t matter if they all know Mrs. Chambers is making it up.”

“Then we’ll have to make it the truth. You’ll just have to date me.” He shrugged and started to feel her up. She told herself he was just checking for injuries, but her hormones didn’t care. Price was here, and he was sliding those big, strong hands over her body.

She clenched her teeth to hold back a different kind of whimper. “And fuck you against a street lamp? I think not.”

“We can improvise.” He angled a cocky glance up at her. “Fucking me in my house is close enough.”

She laughed, inserting as much derision in her tone as possible. He didn’t need to know that the thought of fucking him anytime, anywhere, made her quiver, did he? No. No, he didn’t. And that was her final answer… at least until they’d gone out once or twice. Well, once would probably do at this point.

She pushed herself forward on the counter until her feet touched the floor. “Well, thanks so much for—”

His eyebrow arched, and that wicked flash of white teeth in his tanned face was her only warning before he crowded her against his cupboard. His hands braced on either side of her. Trapped. He leaned forward until his eyes were level with hers, until his lips were a whisper away from her mouth. “Laugh now, sugar. But I’ll have you stripped bare and in my bed tonight. Count on it.”

She swallowed hard, fumbling for something witty to say, but nothing came to mind. Heat spiraled tight within her belly, and liquid flooded her pussy.

“I—” Her breath rushed out on a whoosh as she pictured them together, naked on soft sheets in a big bed. Oh. God.

Yes. She wanted that so much. Her heart leapt and began to race, the muscles in her legs shaking with the effort to keep her upright.

The sides of his eyes crinkled when he grinned. His green gaze dropped to her lips, and they tingled. She licked them, and his gaze followed the motion. One hand lifted to bracket her jaw and hold her in place while he closed the infinitesimal distance between them to brush his mouth over hers.

She shouldn’t let him get away with his cocky proclamation about sexing her up, but damn. The man could kiss. Her mind went hazy, and time seemed to stretch. His lips played over hers in slow, worshipful sweeps. Not demanding, not taking. It wasn’t what she’d expected. Nothing about him was what she expected. She shouldn’t let him touch her, but right now she couldn’t remember why.

His hands curved around her ribs, one sliding down to cup her backside, the other moved up to palm her breast. He pulled her pelvis flush against his, and the ridge of his cock rubbed her through their pants. She wanted him inside her. She burned with the craving. Still he kissed her, licking his way into her mouth, twining his tongue with hers.

His thumb chafed her nipple, circling the nub until lightning strikes of pleasure flashed from her breast to her pussy.

A moan tore from her throat and she tried to climb him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

A low groan rumbled in his chest as he ground against her. She fisted her fingers in his hair, sucked his lower lip into her mouth and arched into him.

Ripping his mouth from hers, he let his head drop back. She slid her tongue up his throat, the hot, masculine taste of his flesh flooding her mouth. His breath hissed between his teeth. “Aubrey—”

“Price.” She bit the corded muscle in his neck and he shuddered, jerked back and set her on her feet. Swaying, she slid her hands over the muscled planes of his chest.

“So, I was just about to have dinner.” He grabbed her wrists, stilling her movements. Her breath caught and her eyes popped wide in shock as he stepped away from her. The shrill beep of a timer going off echoed in the big kitchen. He smiled. “Right on time.”

“You’re stopping?” She was going to kill him. Dead. Her whole body screamed with want, her skin felt too tight, and she would implode any moment.

He stroked a finger down her arm, and goose bumps followed in the wake of his touch. “You’ve never heard of foreplay, sugar?”

Shoving both hands in her hair, she tried to straighten the mess. “That was more than foreplay, damn it.”

“Not the way I do it.”

Damn him, now she wanted to know how he did it. She bit back a snarl. She had two options here. She could stomp out in a huff for him toying with her and leaving her high and dry. Wet. Whatever. Or, she could eat dinner and then make him carry through on all those promises. The needs rushing through her body made the first one a non-option.

“Okay. We’ll do it your way.” She grabbed the edge of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, dropping it on the counter. Her bra was a barely-there scrap of lace, and the cool air brushing over her arms and midriff made her shiver.

His eyes heated as he took in her bare skin, but wariness also flashed in his gaze. “What are you doing?”

She offered him up a smile sweet enough to send him into sugar shock. “Foreplay.”

His breath whooshed out as she flicked open the snap on her jeans and made a slow show of pushing them down her legs. He reached for her when she stepped out of the denim. She danced out of his reach, smacking his hands away.

“Ah, ah, ah. What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

“You little—”

Arching an eyebrow, she ran her fingertip around the lace band of her panties. “Don’t start a game you don’t want to play, Chief.”

“Oh, I want to play,” he growled, emerald fire flickering in his eyes.

“Good.” She sauntered over to the stove to peek in and see what they were having. Some kind of casserole. It smelled great. She didn’t care, she just wanted Price to touch her again, but she’d play this out to the end.

Eating was a dance of erotic pleasure. Every movement, every bite, every breath heightened the need between them until she could have cut through the sexual tension in the room with a knife. Her nipples were so hard the lace of her bra brushing against them was painful. Her underwear was damp with moisture, and she kept her thighs crossed tightly to try and suppress some of the ache between them. A hot blade of want sliced through her until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Setting her plate aside, she stood from the dinner table.

In one fluid motion, he was on his feet, blocking her path. “Going somewhere, sugar?”

“Yes.”

He folded his arms across his broad, muscled chest. “Oh?”

Giving him the kind of smile that should have sent his blood rushing straight to his groin, she spun toward the staircase. She let her fingers trail up the silky smooth wood of the banister as she mounted the steps. His heavy tread followed her up. Her breathing sped until she was almost panting with the excitement twisting deep within her.

Reaching behind her, she unsnapped her bra and tugged it off to hang on the newel post at the top of the stairs. The wide balcony overlooked the living room as well as the dining room with their abandoned dishes.

An open doorway directly across from her showed rumpled navy blue sheets on a king size bed. Grinning, she spun around and crossed an arm over her breasts to cover herself from his view.

He chuckled. “You can’t play shy now, sugar.”

For each step he took forward, she took one back. He jerked his T-shirt over his head and dropped it on the carpet.

The backs of her knees hit the mattress and she let herself fall. She cupped her hands around her breasts, tweaking the nipples with her fingers. He groaned. Slipping one hand down over the swell of her stomach, she dipped into the damp lace of her panties. “You seem to think I have a problem starting without you.”

“Oh Jesus.” He stripped out of his jeans so fast, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had rug burns on his legs.

Which was fine with her—he deserved some pain for making her stop for dinner earlier.

He didn’t wear underwear. Interesting. A smile curved her lips as she looked him over in all his sculpted glory. He was beyond beautiful. Golden skin stretched taut over hard muscles. His cock jutted in a heavy upward arc. The fading sunlight from the window flashed on the bead of moisture at the tip of his dick.

She bit her lip and rubbed her fingertips over her clit. Her knees fell open against the mattress, and she arched into her hand. Moisture slicked her fingers as she circled her clit slowly, teasing herself, teasing him. His brilliant green gaze burned a path from her taut nipples to her lace-covered pussy. She could feel the way he moved his gaze over her like a caress, and it only made her yearning deeper. Choking on a breath, she plunged two digits into her hot channel, fucking herself with her fingers while he watched. “Now, Price. I want you now.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Kneeling on the bed, he reached for her and froze. Then he stood and turned away.

She propped herself on one elbow, her fingers stilling as uncertainty darted through her. “Price?”

He flipped on the light in his bathroom and rifled for something in his medicine cabinet. When he came back, he lifted his palm to show her a handful of silver condom packages. He tossed them on the nightstand.

Oh. Embarrassment curled through her. She hadn’t even thought of protection. She always practiced safe sex, and she was so out of her head for this guy… she hadn’t considered something as basic as condoms. Her lips twisted. This was not good. In fact, it was dangerous and stupid. What the hell was she doing messing with someone like Price? He had the tall, dark, and cynical thing that she found incredibly attractive, even likeable. He was the kind of man who was easy to fall for, and she wasn’t interested in falling. The kind of man she avoided, the chemistry too potent to control, too dark, too complicated.

She shuddered and refocused on him when his fingers curved around her knee. Instant reaction, her body flashing hot as tingles exploding over her skin. His other hand lifted her palm to his lips. “Something wrong, sugar?”

His heavy-lidded gaze watched for her response, assessing her. But desire underlay the penetrating look. He wanted her—she could see how much. Answering need throbbed through her, reminding her why she had agreed to this in the first place. Could she do this just once and not get addicted?

His lips played over the sensitive flesh of her palm, biting the base of her thumb. The slight pain was nothing to the dart of pleasure that went through her. She closed her eyes and swallowed. Fire skated over her flesh in rolling waves. She wanted this too much. She couldn’t turn away from it. From him.

Just this once.

“No, nothing worth mentioning.” She grinned at him, holding his gaze as she reached for his cock. Every muscle in his big body tensed as she stroked up and down the long length of him. She massaged the glistening beads of cum that dripped from the head of his dick into his hot flesh. His veins pulsed beneath the skin, his cock jerking in her hand.

His breath hissed out when she rolled her palm over the head of his dick and used the other to cup the heavy sac at the base of his thick shaft. “Aubrey.”

“Kiss me.”

He chuckled, swooping down to cover her mouth with his. There was no gentleness now, no slow seduction. Just hot, naked want. His hands cupped her breasts, pushing them together so he could suck each of the nipples into his mouth. When he bit down on one tight crest, she slid her fingers in his hair and tugged on the silky strands. Her body bowed and writhed underneath him as he batted her nipple with his tongue, shoving it against the roof of his mouth.

“Condom,” she gasped.

Lunging, he swiped a foil packet off the bedside table. A light tremble shook his fingers as he unwrapped the condom and rolled it down the long, hard length of his cock. She loved that she could push him to the edge of his control—she doubted much could make the man’s hands shake. It turned her on even more that she could do that to him. She opened her arms as he moved between her thighs.

She arched as he seated himself to the hilt in one swift plunge, wrapping her legs around his flanks. Her pussy fisted around his cock, the stretch almost painful, but even the pain was edged in ecstasy. She bit down on his shoulder hard, the taste of his sweat-damped flesh bursting over her tongue. He shuddered and fucked her hard, his rhythm deep and relentless. She was right there with him, raking her nails down his back, silently demanding everything he had and then some. She wanted more and deliberately clenched her inner walls on his cock.

“Jesus, Aubrey.” He groaned, the sound as helpless and needy as she felt. He ground his pelvis against her, every thrust hitting her just right until she was sobbing for breath. His hot scent filled her nose, as well as the musky smell of sex and sweat. Their flesh slapped together with ruthless strokes, the carnal sound echoing in the room. She was so hot, she thought she’d burst into flames at any moment. And she didn’t care. She grabbed the taut globes of his ass, urging him on with soft gasps and cries.

Reaching between them, he rolled his fingertip over her clit, still hammering his cock deep inside her pussy. It was too much. It was exactly what she craved. “Price, Price, Price!”

Her sex milked his dick in never-ending waves that dragged her beyond any understanding of pleasure she’d ever had before. Tingles raced over her skin as he continued to penetrate her, driving her orgasm to new depths until every muscle in his big body locked and he came too. Another spasm shook her and made her sob, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

God, nothing had ever felt so perfect in her entire life. It was crazy. He groaned and sank on top of her. She held him close, allowing herself a single moment to breathe in his scent and feel the solid heat of his body against hers. It was comforting and warm contentment wound through her. She sighed. Her eyes drifted shut, and she stroked a hand down his back. She’d get herself together and go in a few minutes. She was asleep before she finished the thought.