Hook Up (17 page)

It was hell on the heart.

The next morning, Crystal unlocked the back door, wishing she’d had time to stop at Tim Hortons for coffee. It had taken them half the night to get the office back in order, and she’d overslept. She stared at Bonita’s keys, trying to remember which one opened the front door. She glanced at the clock—nine on the dot as the key turned in the lock. At least she wasn’t opening late on her first day in charge of the shop.

The bell on the front door tinkled just as she made it behind the front counter and tossed her purse in a drawer.

She looked up and caught her breath.

Ryan walked toward her. “You didn’t really think you were going to get rid of me that easily, did you?” he asked.

“Actually, I was afraid I had.” Hope beat like a crazed beast in her chest.

He shook his head, no trace of a smile on his face. “I’m not giving up on us.”

But he wasn’t giving anything away, either. She couldn’t feel a thing. “I can’t be with someone—”

“Who hides his feelings,” he finished for her. “I know. I get it. I thought if I controlled my emotions, showed a little restraint…” He paused, and she wondered if he was thinking of the parking garage too. “You would find it easier to be around me.”

“That might be true with everyone but you,” she admitted. “I need to know how you feel about me.”

“Then touch me, Crystal. Come inside. Won’t that tell you everything you need to know? I will lay my heart bare for you.” He opened his arms, waiting for her.

Every step felt perilous as she walked around the counter. He was still blocking her. Words were easy. What if his heart told her another story? She stopped in front of him, close enough to feel the heat of his skin. She owed him this, before she touched him, before she knew. “I love you,” she said, reaching up to caress his cheek.

Pure. Raw. Returned.

His arms settled around her waist as he looked into her eyes and smiled. “I’m so sorry I tried to manipulate you. I swear I won’t ever hide my feelings from you again, but I figure that’s one good thing about you being psychic. You’ll always know how much I love you.”

He released her abruptly and began unbuttoning his blue oxford shirt.

Crystal stared at him. “I love you too, but I’m not getting naked in the middle of the store with you.”

He laughed and shrugged out of his shirt, then dipped his shoulder to display the fresh black orchid flowering across his broad back.

She gasped. There was her flower delivery. It wasn’t just her symbol anymore—it was theirs.

Forever.

His grin flashed. “I’m really glad you love me. Lord knows no one else will want me now that I’ve got such a girlie tattoo.”

“That’s not your only problem.” She gave him a mock sharp look.

“Now what?” His grimace made her laugh.

“Where’s my coffee?” she asked.

“Coming right up, every morning, for as long as you’ll have me.” His dark eyes asked a question she was happy to answer.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Crystal said, finally certain. “And neither am I.”

She pulled him close, being careful to avoid the tender skin of his new tattoo. Her world spun into balance as she embraced him, her past, her present, her future. There were no walls between them now, just love—and the promise of forever.

About the Author

It makes me chuckle to think about all the romantic short stories I wrote in my rather too literary creative writing classes in college. If only one of my professors had steered me toward popular fiction! On the other hand, if I had discovered my calling back then, I wouldn’t have gone to culinary school, I wouldn’t have met my husband, we wouldn’t have had three children and I wouldn’t have turned to erotic romance to get my mojo back during all this hair-raising kid raising.

To learn more about me, please visit
www.mirandabaker.com
. Send an email to
[email protected]
if you want to chat about romance, writing, or recipes!

Look for these titles by Miranda Baker

Coming Soon:

Power Trip

Now Available:

Come Again

Bottoms Up

SoloPlay

Hook Up

It takes two to toy with love.

SoloPlay

© 2011 Miranda Baker

Come Again, Book 2

When librarian Alisa Mane’s boyfriend accuses her of being frigid, she sets out to prove him wrong the only way she knows how—with research.
 

A visit to the local sex shop uncovers the sizzling sensuality locked beneath her cool façade, and she eagerly accepts the opportunity to test sex toys for SoloPlay Enterprises. Under the code name “Sologirl”, she begins exploring her body on her own terms. After all, no one was ever rejected by a vibrator.

Mark Winters needs his new DoublePlay line of toys to hit big, and there’s only one tester for the job—Sologirl. She fires his imagination with playfully erotic reviews and never fails to pick a winner. There’s only one problem—Sologirl refuses to test the DoublePlay toys for couples. With his company’s success on the line, he decides to make his offer again, up close and in person.

One look at the icy hot Mark and Alisa realizes he’s her best chance to discover if any man can satisfy her. A red-hot month of experimentation more than answers that question, but now Alisa has another problem—DoublePlay is almost ready for production and her feelings for Mark have nothing to do with business. Is she brave enough to continue playing…with her heart?

Warning: This book contains a sexy librarian, an icy hot businessman, scandalous emails, scorching male/female and female/female play time, and vibrating, well…everything.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
SoloPlay:

Alisa toyed with her mouse, watching the cursor dart across her screen, unable to concentrate on the actual data. Ever since Mark Winters’ DoublePlay e-mail had arrived, she couldn’t stop thinking about sex with a partner. But which kind? On the one hand, her fantasies were always about men. On the other hand, no man had ever managed to give her an orgasm, so maybe she should stick with women.

Crystal had been able to make her come. Of course, she was also psychic, totally tuned in to what Alisa was feeling at every moment. With her, she had never
had
to say a word. Crystal had insisted on drawing the words out of her, but there had been no real risk. That was really the crux of the problem, wasn’t it? Sex with a partner required communication, and Alisa didn’t like to volunteer information. Still, unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life communing with silicone, plastic, metal and rubber, she should probably try dating again. She giggled as the image of entertaining her visiting parents at a fancy restaurant while she held hands with a vibrating dildo popped into her head. She had been dodging her mother’s calls, but inevitably, they would have to set a date.

“Hey, Beth?” Alisa swiveled to face her desk mate’s chair. “Do you know any nice guys?”

Beth muttered something incomprehensible. She appeared to be on the search for an elusive title, and unless someone dropped a bomb on her keyboard, she wouldn’t give up the hunt any time soon.

Alisa kicked her chair. “I need a date.”

No response.

She sighed.

The first set of automatic doors swung open in the foyer and Alisa glanced up at the security gate to see who was coming in. Sunlight bounced off the second set of glass doors into her eyes, momentarily blinding her. When the spots cleared, she saw a man. And not one of the old guys who liked to read the free newspapers in the armchairs by the windows, either. This was a tall, blond iceberg of a man wearing a dark suit with a white shirt. His tie was pulled away from his neck, as if he had loosened the knot as soon as he’d pushed away from his desk. His hard features looked carved from cold stone. Alisa shuddered, her breath rushing out of her body.

His pale blue eyes zeroed in on the reference desk, and Beth finally glanced up from her screen. “Check him out,” she said under her breath. “Hot date, twelve o’clock.”

“I thought you weren’t paying attention,” Alisa accused.

“Well, I am now.”

Alisa felt frozen to her wooden chair as the man’s eyes dropped to her nameplate. He began to walk toward them with measured strides.

“May I help you?” Beth asked, flipping her shiny red hair over her shoulders and giving him a smile that showcased every one of her perfect, white teeth.

“I’m looking for Ms. Mane.” His slight smile barely thawed his features.

Alisa eyed him cautiously. “How can I help you?”

“I hope you can help me find Sologirl.”

Her eyes widened, then shot over to Beth.

“I’ve never heard of Sologirl,” Beth chirped. “Is it fiction or nonfiction?”

“I’ve got this one.” Alisa jumped up from her chair and raced around the desk, ignoring Beth’s surprised look. She took the stranger’s arm and pulled him firmly toward the stacks. “I think I’ve seen it in the graphic novels.”

When they reached the cover of the tall shelves, Alisa dropped his arm. “Who are you?”

“Mark Winters,” he said, holding out his hand. “SoloPlay Enterprises.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

His laugh was loud in the quiet room, but not as loud as her thudding heart.

Alisa shushed him. “Nobody knows about SoloPlay here, and I want to keep it that way.” Her whisper was sharp. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have said no,” he replied, taking her hand.

Mark watched the creep of red on her pale skin. His blood was rising in his veins too. Crystal’s cryptic comments and Sologirl’s sexy e-mails notwithstanding, he hadn’t expected Sologirl to be so hot. Alisa Mane looked like a delicate china doll, all pink and white and blue-eyed, her long, dark lashes blinking furiously against her rosy cheeks as she tugged her warm hand out of his grasp.

“Is it a question of money?” he asked.

“No! Don’t talk about that here! This is a library—” He watched her lips move as she searched for the right words and imagined them parted, showing even, white teeth as she pleasured herself with a SoloPlay toy.

“That’s such a stereotype.” Mark ignored her fierce glare. “I’ve definitely seen a few movies where the staid librarian whips off her glasses, takes down her hair—”

“Shut up!”

“What’s the matter, Sologirl, can’t take the heat?” he challenged.

Mark knew what kind of a woman was hiding out under the hands-off librarian outfit. The low heels, modest neckline and the skirt cut precisely at the knee did not fool him. Alisa whirled and beckoned him deeper into the stacks. As she turned, he saw a quick flash of bare flesh above her knee and maybe the hint of a garter. Nope, not perfectly prim and proper at all. He thought of the money he would have to shell out to multiple DoublePlay testers until his body finally cooperated and he could follow her without embarrassing himself.

When they reached the back wall of the library, Sologirl stopped and whirled to face him. “You aren’t supposed to know who I am! What about SoloPlay’s privacy policy? Identity protection? How dare you come here! If anyone overhears us—” she hissed.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “No one will guess what we’re talking about.”

“I’m afraid one of my very perceptive colleagues will figure it out! Librarians are information specialists, and the library world is not exactly a hotbed of liberal sexual politics, either. One keyword search on the Internet and I can kiss my job goodbye. If I hear you say the words,” she lowered her voice, “Sologirl or SoloPlay again, this conversation is over.”

“Fine. Can I say DoublePlay?”

“No.”

“That makes my pitch a little difficult.”

“You chose to come here, buddy.” She crossed her arms.

“It was the only address I had.”

Sologirl’s gaze pinned him to the stacks. “How did you get it?”

He hesitated. “Crystal said to tell you she sent me.”

He watched emotions play across her features. Shock. Then anger. The idea that if Crystal knew what sort of lube Sologirl preferred then they might have been lovers raced through his mind. Just as swiftly, he rejected it and repressed the stab of accompanying jealousy. Mark would stake his life, his health and the success of the DoublePlay line on the fact that Sologirl liked men.

“You liked BodyVibe,” he began.

Alisa’s blue eyes flashed, darkened. He continued before he could determine if her reaction was due to remembered pleasure or his temerity at bringing it up. He kept his voice just below a library whisper, not quite loud enough for her to easily hear. She edged closer, and he caught a whiff of flowery shampoo and the scent of sunshine and clean grass rising from her skin. He inhaled another deep breath of her sweet scent before he continued.