Hard and Fast

Raising his head a bit, he surveyed the lot outside the window. A group of people had parked beside them and were now unloading their baggage. “They’re right next to us,” he told her. “Stay down.”

“Oh, no,” she mumbled, and then again, more panicked. “Oh, no. Can they see us? Tell me they can’t see us.”

Propped up on an elbow, his erection still planted in the V of her body, he stared at her. Even in the dark, he could see the cute crinkle between her eyebrows. An urge to kiss that worry away came over him but he held back, thinking it would be inappropriate.

“It’s okay,” he said, reaching to brush a strand of hair from her cheek. “Stay where you are and we’ll be fine.”

She nodded, the crinkle deepening. He caved and bent down to kiss it.

The voices began to fade, the danger passing. “Stop worrying. They’re leaving.” He laughed then, the craziness of the situation becoming quite clear. “I haven’t gotten busted for making out in a car since high school.”

Amanda shoved at his chest. “Don’t you dare laugh. There is nothing remotely humorous about this. Let me up.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No,” he said, enjoying her outrage. “I’m not letting you up until you admit this is pretty funny.”

“I’ll admit no such thing. Let me up before they come back.”

“They’re not coming back.” Besides, he didn’t want to set her free without an invitation to her room.

“Brad!”

The level of frustration in her voice put an end to the game. “Oh, all right.”

Shifting to a sitting position, he did his best to avoid the discomfort of his zipper digging in. Beside him, Amanda straightened the clothes he wanted to strip off her.

But the odds of that happening were slim. She’d shut off the fire and brought on the ice.

“I’ll walk you to your door.”

“I don’t need to be walked.” She declined even faster than the last time.

She got out of the truck and slammed the door. Brad met her at the tailgate. “A gentleman always sees a girl to the door.”

“Right. Gentleman. We raced past that a few minutes ago, don’t you think?”

Ordinarily, he would shoot back a cocky comment. One that would remind her he hadn’t been alone in the front seat. But for some reason, he couldn’t.

“That wasn’t planned. It just happened.” He wanted to reach for her, but her body language screamed at him to keep his distance. “But I’m not sorry, either, Amanda.”

She pinned him in a hard stare. “This…thing, this…whatever it is between us, can’t happen, is not going to happen this way. Not in some semipublic place where anyone could see. I have a job and a reputation.”

“Look, I’ll be more careful. And I won’t tell anyone,” he said, knowing he’d just forfeited the bet with the rookie but not caring. Before, it had mattered. Now it didn’t. “Why would I make you look bad? You know about my arm. You could slaughter me.”

Color rushed to her cheeks. “Oh, my God.” The words were ground out from between clenched teeth. “You did this to hold it over my head, didn’t you?”

She stalked toward the hotel. He planted himself in her path. “No,” he said, realizing his mistake too late. “It’s not like that. This isn’t some trick to keep you from writing about my arm.” She studied him, anger evident into her expression. “Amanda. I want you. That’s not something a man fakes. Come on,” he said. “You felt how much I want you. I know you did.” Her cheeks flushed. “Think of this as a free ticket. You don’t have to worry I’ll tell our secret. I don’t have to worry you’ll tell mine. That’s not such a bad thing, now is it?”

Slowly, her posture relaxed. “I don’t know what to think. All I know is this was a mistake. I have to go.”

Defeated, Brad let her pass, not sure why doing so bothered him so much.

“Good night, Brad,” she said, her voice cutting him like a knife with its steel coldness. She walked away, ending a night that could have been filled with satisfaction, with frustration instead.

Brad didn’t follow. He stood there, watching. Knowing she was right. Behaving like hormonal kids was a mistake. Their careers demanded they be smarter and more discreet than getting naked in the front of his truck.

The sexy sway of her hips was a sultry seduction, teasing him with what he couldn’t have. Still, he didn’t move, waiting for her to enter that building and take away the hope she’d change her mind.

Then she paused. Only a foot from the sliding glass doors, she hesitated. She faced him and, even from a distance, he saw the invitation.

9

AMANDA WATCHED Brad approach, the sexy swagger of his walk warming her the way his kiss had. Okay. Not as much as his kiss, but almost. She could still feel those muscular legs pressed between hers as they had been in his truck. His hard body fitted above hers.