“Hello, Addison. Fancy meeting you in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.”
She stepped out of the car and slammed the door closed hard enough that he thought pieces of it might fall off. Especially the parts held on with duct tape.
“Hey, Fox . . . if that is your real name.” She smiled sweetly. “There’s no need to look so pissed. I warned you I’d be back.” The way she walked toward him drew every bit of his attention. She had a classic hourglass figure, and the sway of her hips made him drool. Jeans and an old band T-shirt had no right to look so good.
“Fox is my real name. I’m not the one who’s a pathological liar here.”
She stopped right in front of him, firmly inside his personal space. Either she had crappy social skills or she was flirting. With some people it was hard to tell the difference.
“A girl needs a hobby. Lying, stealing cars . . . My mother keeps trying to get me into scrapbooking and needlepoint, but I’m afraid I’m not very crafty.” She regarded him through narrowed eyes. “Besides, did you expect me to tell you my name right away, considering?”
“You steal cars. Was giving out your name that much more dangerous?”
“It could have been.” She cocked her head to the side. “Should I trust you?”
“I really don’t give a fuck if you trust me or not.” He moved closer and glared down at her, making her fall back a step so he didn’t bump into her. For a bizarre moment, it felt like they were dance partners in a tango competition. “You want things from me. You don’t have anything to offer me in return. It’s a little hard for me to give a shit.”
“What can I offer you to make this worth your while?”
The question was asked innocently enough, but the possibilities ricocheted around in his mind, wreaking havoc.
“You tell me.” Fuck, he was horny. Probably not the best time to be having this conversation. He knew exactly what he wanted from her, but he wasn’t enough of a creep to say so out loud.
“I’m better than you are.” She arched a brow. “Maybe I could teach you how to steal cars without having to wait for me to do all the work first.”
Arrogant little thing. His laugh was loud and short, and not at all polite. If she thought she was better at boosting cars than he was, she’d been smoking something. There was no way—not when she was four years younger than he was, and new at this. Fifteen years of experience would beat out anything college girl could have learned online, no matter how smart she was. “You couldn’t even steal a moped without your gadgets.”
When she took another step back, he knew that had stung. The blue eyes were wide. “Oh, you think so? Has anyone ever told you that you’re full of yourself?”
“My father calls it healthy self-esteem. Do you think that’s a euphemism for ‘asshole’?”
“If it isn’t, it should be. You are one.”
“True. It’s also true that you want me to shove you down on the hood of my car.” As soon as he’d said the words he regretted them, but only because the visual became very distracting.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times as though she was thinking of snappy responses but then reconsidered saying them aloud. His dick was hard and he was pretty sure it was stealing some of the blood flow from his brain.
The girl reached out and dug her fingers into the fabric of his T-shirt, then pulled him close. Her mouth closed over his, insistent, demanding. She tasted like fresh air, the smell of ozone seeming sharper around her. Every molecule in his body was painfully awake—adrenaline surged through him like it had when he was young and stupid and running from the cops. He considered pushing her away, not wanting to let his attraction to her cloud his judgment. The life he led was no place for a suburban kid looking for a thrill.
But pushing her away was beyond him.
The initial forceful kiss gave way to something less full of bravado. Sweet and tentative, unsure of herself, she tried to get him to respond. Her tongue brushed at his lips, and he parted them, giving her access but not reciprocating, even though his cock throbbed painfully. The growly dominant parts of his psyche weren’t happy about being held back.
Eventually she stopped trying and pulled away. She let go of his shirt and retreated. He followed, backing her up until she bumped into the side of his car.
Nowhere to go now, little girl.
“Is that how you plan to get ahead in the world? If someone doesn’t want to work with you, you’ll kiss them?” He turned his head and spat, as though he was disgusted with her. She flinched, but didn’t turn away. “There are men in this business who won’t care that you’re beautiful. Actually, it’ll probably be a liability. There are no sexual harassment training videos and no security guards. You’ll either have to be charming or dangerous to get by. Possibly both. Why don’t you go home and take up something safer, like bungee jumping or skydiving?”
If he thought she was cowed, the smirk set him straight. “Why don’t you?”
The challenge in her gaze forced his body to respond. Without thinking, he pinned her against the car, one arm on either side of her, his body pressing her back against its unyielding frame. If he’d brought a sexier car, he might have been forced to see how she looked on the hood. When she didn’t object to being caught there, he kissed her, needing that much but denying himself more. He was going to pull away and send
her packing . . . in a minute . . .
She responded with reckless enthusiasm. Their kisses turned bruising and desperate. His hand tangled cruelly in her hair and she moaned into his mouth. When he ground against her, she reciprocated, and her hands slid up into his shirt, making him shiver. Control was slipping from his grasp. Her fingers abandoned their exploration of his chest and back muscles, and she fumbled with the button of his jeans. He shoved her hands away, not willing to let her rush him, even though his body was calling him an idiot.
Instead, he forced his thigh up between hers and pressed it against her pussy. Her breath caught and in a heartbeat her eyes went from surprised to unfocused. Heat radiated through her jeans, and he wanted to slip his hand into them to see if she was wet too. He could feel her trying not to move, but she squirmed subtly against his thigh, making him ache to be inside her.