Authors: Melissa Schroeder

A Little Harmless Fantasy (36 page)

BOOK: A Little Harmless Fantasy

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Finally, the
knocking stopped. She sighed and was almost back to sleep when the
knocking started up again.

"Fuck."

She got up out of
bed, barely able to see. She squinted at the clock. Dammit, it wasn't
even nine am. She was going to kill someone. First, she would torture
them slowly, until they begged for death. Then, she would kill them.
With some effort, she stumbled to the front door.

"You're dead,"
she said as she opened the door. She found Conner on the other side.

Great. This was
exactly what she needed. Her hair was a mess, and the man who had
broken her concentration the night before was here bright and early.

"I'm sorry, but
you said to come by around noon or one?"

She blinked at him.
"It's not even nine."

He frowned and
looked down at his watch. God, the man was gorgeous. Even in her
beleaguered state, she could appreciate him. She always had. From the
first time she’d met him, she had been intrigued. All that
muscle and brawn packed into one delectable package was too much to
resist. Throw in that he was so protective of his sister and he was
downright irresistible.

Until he opened his
mouth.

"It's way past
noon."

She frowned at him,
realizing he was being serious. Jillian grabbed his hand and pulled
him closer. She looked at the watch.

"You forgot to
change the time."

He blinked at her
with those steel gray eyes. Damn, how could a man have such
impossibly long eyelashes and look so masculine?

"What?"

"You're five
hours ahead there, Dillon. Didn't you notice?"

He blinked again
then looked down at her hand which still had hold of his. Heat
sizzled up her arm, throughout her entire body. She released him and
took a step back.

"I can't
believe I didn't change my watch. Or that I didn't notice it's only
nine in the morning."

She couldn't either.
She’d lived with Maura in college and considered her a close
friend, but she didn't know Conner that well. But what she did know
was that he was always on time. He was on top of things and took
control of just about every situation there was. This was just not
normal for him. Now she was starting to understand why Maura was so
worried.

"Sorry I woke
you, I'll let you go."

She wanted that. She
needed
that, seriously. Her brain wasn't working properly.
Little sleep, and now her brain had been sex sizzled by the former
agent. But he was Maura's brother, and the man looked completely lost
there for a second. Maura had told her that he hadn't been doing that
well, but Maura tended to overreact. Still, there was no reason to be
a complete bitch.

"Come on in.
I'll make some coffee."

He hesitated as his
gaze traveled down her body. She looked down and felt heat flare in
her cheeks. Dammit, she was wearing an old T-shirt that hit her
mid-thigh and nothing else.

She cleared her
throat. "I'll get dressed. Come on."

He smiled, and she
felt her heart do a slow roll. "You don't have to get dressed on
my account."

Her cheeks got even
hotter, but she ignored it. "Do you want some Kona or not?"

He nodded. She
stepped back and allowed him into her home. The moment he entered her
space, she knew it was a mistake. Her house was just the right size
for her. But with Conner in it, it seemed small, almost miniature. He
was a big man, about six foot four. She was no featherweight, but
then she figured the muscled god now surveying the area for intruders
also had the kind of presence that was bigger than normal.

"I'll get the
coffee started. This way," she said with a nod of her head
toward her kitchen. He followed her in.

"Your part of
the house isn't that much bigger than mine."

She glanced at him,
wondering at the tone. Shrugging, she grabbed the coffee canister and
started measuring the grounds out, dumping them into the basket.

"I don't need
much space. I guess if I lived with someone, it would be different."

He leaned against
the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "How so?"

"I need space
to write. I need privacy. If I was living with someone here, it might
be disastrous. I’m sure there would be a death."

He smiled, and
again, she felt heat spike through her blood. Damn, the man was
making her melt right there in her kitchen. She hoped it was just the
lack of sleep. Until now, she had never even felt the urge to act on
the attraction. Sure, she had fantasized. Any heterosexual woman in
her right mind would. He was the stuff she wrote about in books.
Confident, sexy, and she had a pretty good idea that he was a Dom.
Those three things had her imagination working overtime, and for the
first time, she went beyond thinking about what it would be like.
This was not a good development with him being in Hawaii for a month.

She turned on the
coffee pot. "I'll be right back."

He nodded, keeping
his attention on her but saying nothing. Dammit, why did she like
that? There was something different about him, something that was
making her want to giggle like a freaking teenager. Maybe because he
was looking at her differently than he ever had before.

She scooted out of
the kitchen and headed to her bedroom. God, it looked like a cyclone
had hit her room. She must have been really lost the last couple of
days working on the book. Clothes were all over the floor and draped
over the chair. She sighed, opening the dresser drawer and pulling
out a pair of faded cutoffs and a T-shirt. Dammit, she thought, and
she opened her lingerie drawer and grabbed a bra and a pair of
panties.

Five minutes later,
she was dressed, her teeth brushed, and she had her braids pulled
back with a do-rag. With a deep breath, she walked out to join Conner
again.

He was looking out
the front window, a mug of coffee in his hand. His expression told
her he was thinking of more serious things than his crazy landlady's
penchant for sleeping in shirts and nothing else. He looked like the
weight of the world was on his shoulders. It had always been like
that as long as she could remember. He had shown up at the University
of Georgia that first day with Maura, acting like a bulldog, daring
anyone to say anything mean to his sister.

He had been the talk
of the dorm. She hadn’t been lying about that. Girls had done
everything to catch his attention, but his main focus had been Maura,
and in that she had admired him. She wished she’d had someone
looking out for her like Maura had all those years. Strong,
dependable, sexy. Okay, she wouldn’t have wanted him for a
brother...but a lover? Maybe. She had a feeling he had a real
dominant streak and that was something she liked in a man.

For the first time
in months, she felt stirrings of attraction. He wasn’t her
type. She liked a dominant man, but Conner was over the top. Plus,
she was sure that a man like him would never be interested in a
pierced and tattooed erotic romance author who ran on no schedule.
Still, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t appreciate the
beauty of the man. It was a shame that he’d chosen to wear
jeans and a shirt today. She could just imagine what he looked like
without a shirt. Hell, now that she thought about it, she wanted to
see him like that. No shirt, a pair of board shirts, water dripping
down his chiseled chest...

“Are you going
to keep staring at me, or are you going to get some coffee?” he
asked. He hadn’t turned around, but he must have realized she
had been staring at him for a while.

“I was just
thinking that Maura was really lucky to have you growing up.”

He turned and looked
at her. “I doubt she’s thinking that at the moment.”

She shook her head.
“You really can’t blame her. You scared her.”

He shrugged, and she
could see why Maura said she wanted to throw things at him sometimes.
He said nothing and turned around to look out the window, sipping his
coffee.

“You might
want to get some coffee, Jillian. You’re looking a bit peaked.”

She chuckled. “You
don’t know the half of it.”

Shaking herself out
of her stupor, she headed to the kitchen. She needed to quit drooling
over her new tenant because nothing was going to happen with him. It
would be a mistake—a total idiotic act—to sleep with him.
He was a man that could fulfill her needs, and she would lose her
friend in the process. She didn’t have many women friends, but
Maura was a constant in Jillian’s life.

She poured her
coffee then took a sip, hoping the caffeine would jolt her head out
of the gutter.

“So, what do
you plan to do with me?”

The steamy liquid
caught in her throat and she began coughing. When she finally caught
her breath, she looked over at him. He was smiling at her and sipping
his coffee. Now she knew he was messing with her.

Jillian picked up a
napkin and wiped her mouth. “Do with you?”

“Today. You
said you would show me around. You haven’t changed your mind,
have you?”

“No. I
promised Maura I would keep my eye on you.”

His smile widened.
“That’s interesting.”

She rolled her eyes.
“I thought we could drive around, maybe pick up some lunch?”

“That sounds
like a plan.” Then he surprised her by winking at her. “For
now.”

He turned and walked
out of the kitchen leaving her completely aroused and thoroughly
confused.

Read Jillian and
Conner’s story now available everywhere in print and digital!

About
Melissa Schroeder

Born to an Air Force
family at an Army hospital Melissa has always been a little bit
screwy. She was further warped by her years of watching Monty Python
and her strange family. Her love of romance novels developed after
accidentally picking up a Linda Howard book. After becoming hooked,
she read close to 300 novels in one year, deciding that romance was
her true calling instead of the literary short stories and suspenses
she had been writing. Since her first release in 2004, Melissa has
had over 30 short stories, novellas and novels released with multiple
publishers in a variety of genres and time periods. Those releases
include the Harmless series, a best-selling erotic romance series set
in Hawaii. A Little Harmless Sex, book 1, was one of the top 100
bestselling Nook Books of 2010.

Since she was a
military brat, she vowed never to marry military. Alas, fate always
has her way with mortals. Her husband is an Air Force major, and
together they have their own military brats, two girls, and two
adopted dog daughters, and they live wherever the military sticks
them. Which she is sure, will always involve heat and bugs only seen
on the Animal Discovery Channel. In her spare time, she reads,
complains about bugs, travels, cooks, reads some more, watches her
DVD collections of Arrested Development and Seinfeld, and tries to
convince her family that she truly is a delicate genius. She has yet
to achieve her last goal.

You
can connect with Mel all over the web: 

Or
email her at: [email protected]

Other Books
by Melissa Schroeder

Harmless

A
Little Harmless Sex

 
A
Little Harmless Pleasure
 