In Too Deep (14 page)

“
Well, they’ve been best friends
since your mum first came out to New Zealand.”

“
Men don’t do that sort of
friendship. You walk away, cut your ties, and you’re off their
Christmas card list.”

He would’ve scratched her name out
of his address book back on the day he dumped her, then.

West carried their mugs over and
sat in the opposite chair. “No sugar, right?” He handed her the
plain blue mug, and took the turkey one for himself.

Impressed he remembered how she
preferred her tea, she blinked. “No.”

“
Still sweet enough,
huh?”

“
I was never sweet.”

“
No, you weren’t.” He tempered the
comment with a crooked grin which emphasized the fine lines around
his eyes. He looked tired—dog tired—so she’d better get to the
point. “I made Bill an appointment with the doctor
tomorrow.”

West’s mug stopped halfway to his
mouth. “He
let you
make a doctor’s appointment?”

“
I can be very persuasive. Plus, I
threatened to sic the church ladies onto him if he refused to
cooperate.”

“
Now why didn’t I ever think of
that?” West sipped his tea.

“
I threatened him with you first,
but it had no effect. He’ll be pissed I’m even telling you about
this.” Piper wrapped her fingers around the mug’s warmth and
squeezed to keep her voice steady. “Your father’s not a well
man.”

West’s nose crinkled. “It’s just
the flu. Man flu as Shaye calls it. Take dose of
harden the hell
up
and don’t whine about it in the morning.”

“
Maybe it’s the flu, but maybe
it’s something else. He’s not eating properly and it looks like
he’s lost weight. Not to mention he’s worse than a woman ducking
into the bathroom every half an hour or so.”

He studied her like a specimen in
a petri dish. “You’re really worried?”

Yes, she was—and he needn’t look
so insultingly surprised. Bill was a grouch and a slave driver, but
she had a soft spot for the man who used to sneak her home-baked
afghan cookies after a rough day at school.

“
I just wanted you know what’s
going on, so you can keep a check on him. It’d tick me off if your
dad keeled over and I had to take on more prep stuff than I’m
already doing. I hate cooking more than I hate dishes, so I know
it’d give you great pleasure to make that part of your
reimbursement
.”

“
Shaye’s capable of running the
kitchen solo for the next few days while Dad’s not well.” He tipped
his chair back on two legs and sent her a smile hot enough to cause
sunburn. “And I have other ideas of how you can repay me.” His gaze
zipped down to the v-neck of her robe which, judging by the cool
air caressing her skin, gaped open.

Tugging the garment edges shut
would only draw more attention to the hammering pulse at the base
of her throat, so she kept her fingers clamped around the mug. “Oh?
Since I’m already Bill’s all-purpose drudge, how could you demean
me more?”

“
As I said, I’ve other ideas, but
I’ll save them for another time. Right now, explain why you pushed
me off the dock.”

Her stomach churned the tea she’d
sipped into choppy waves. West. Free-diving for the Nationals. God.
“Because you’re a cocky asshole—and with dick for brains to boot.”
Piper stood and walked to the sink, pouring the steaming remains of
her tea down the drain.

“
And you’ve formed this opinion
because
I choose to free-dive.”

She kept her back to him.
“Actually I’ve known you’re an asshole for a number of
years.”

The chair creaked as West rocked
it back and forth. She wished it’d tip and drop him on his
self-satisfied butt. She fussed at the sink, running hot water to
flush the tea and rinse out her mug.

“
I know what I’m doing. I’m not
some amateur who’s bought a mask and fins and decided to see how
far he can dive. I’ve trained for years.”

Piper twisted the water off so
tightly it was a wonder the tap handle didn’t crack off in her
hand. “So did Dad.”

“
I’m not Michael.”

She turned back. “The risks of
free-diving, especially free immersion, are high. Dangerously high
if you’re pushing yourself.”

“
I know my limit. And the biggest
risks in free-diving are caused by inexperience and the lack of a
good buddy to make sure you don’t suffer a shallow water
blackout.”

“
Hello?—talking to a police diver.
I know the risks. So you don’t feel any urge to push the
boundaries, to win the Nationals?”

“
I have my own reasons for
competing, and I know I
can
win.”

His own reasons? To prove his
balls were bigger than any of the other men at Lake Taupo? She
snorted, crossing her arms with a slight shake of her head. “As I
said, you’re a cocky asshole. Which’ll probably get you
killed.”

“
Aw, baby. I didn’t know you
cared.”

“
I don’t, other than in a
professional capacity. I’m sick of pulling dead idiots from the
water. Guys who think they’re so invincible they don’t need a
lifejacket in an ill-equipped boat—the worst are those who bring
innocent kiddies on board and don’t bother fitting them with
lifejackets either. Or fishermen who are so gung-ho trying to catch
the big one they forget how unforgiving the ocean is.” She clicked
her teeth shut. Crap. She’d revealed much more than she
intended.

“
Sick of it, huh? So why do you
continue to do it?”

“
It’s my job. I have
to.”

West lowered the chair onto four
legs. “
Have
to?”

Blood pounded through her head,
buzzed in her eardrums. “I told you the other day, I’m not
discussing my career with you.”

He crossed his ankles, his steady
gaze pinning her in place against the counter. “Fair enough. Let’s
return to the subject of you worrying about my welfare. Was your
overreaction at the wharf a desperate ploy for attention, like how
you used to scare the bejesus out of Johnny Martin, hoping he’d
chase you around the playground and try to kiss you?”

She stiffened, dumbstruck at the
small crease of a smirk ghosting his lips. He thought she wanted
his attention? Wanted
him
? Well, shamefully she’d started
to, but damned if she’d let him know. “I was ten years old and I
did not hope he’d kiss me! And FYI, I don’t need to push you off
the dock to get your attention. You’ve been all but panting after
me since I arrived back.”

West rocked back on his chair
again, tilted his face to the ceiling and laughed. “Really? Who was
eyeballing who in the pool the other morning?”

“
I think your fancy swimming
trunks showed the truth of
that
situation. You were the one
sporting a hard-on then, and you were the one sporting a hard-on
only minutes ago.”

“
I’m a guy, these things happen.
It’s nothing personal.” He folded his arms, the thin cotton of his
shirt pulling against the contoured outline of his chest, the
muscles in his forearms standing out in stark relief. Not that she
noticed or anything.

“
You weren’t my type then, and you
sure aren’t now,” he said.

Nothing personal? Not his type?
Well, no shit, Sherlock. But not being his “type” didn’t stop his
penis finding her attractive.

So, screw it—she’d call his
bluff.

Piper strode to the table, fisted
a handful of West’s shirt, and tugged him forward so the feet of
his balanced chair banged down on the floor. Bracing her free hand
on the table behind her, she leaned in, keeping her eyes open to
savor the flash of shock in his. She hesitated a breath away,
drawing in the male smell of him. The remains of his cologne, a
whisper of salt spray. Her fingers gripped his shirt, and the
warmth of his chest pressed against her knuckles tingled like she’d
grazed the side of a furnace. Always so hot, his fast metabolism
used to drive her nuts.

Hot in more ways than
one.

Piper dipped closer and pressed
against warm and inflexible lips. Lips unwilling to part even a
fraction to accommodate or welcome her.

Tough guy, huh? She nipped the
slight swell of his bottom lip, and sucked gently— a trick which
hadn’t been in her armory of feminine wiles at an innocent
eighteen. No response. Her face flamed again.

Suddenly it was waaay too hot in
the kitchen.

Congrats, Pipe. You’ve just made a
complete fool of yourself once again, pawing at the man who, let’s
be fair, warned you he wasn’t interested.

With any luck New Zealand’s
propensity for earthquakes would kick in at this precise moment,
cracking open a chasm beneath her feet which she could quietly
slither into. She jerked her head back, but a large hand on her
nape prevented her complete escape. West’s other hand landed on her
hip and squeezed, freezing her in an awkwardly bent
position.

“
Let me go.” She tried to duck
away, but his fingers snatched the soft toweling of her robe and
held her still, like a kitten plucked up by the scruff of its
neck.

“
You grabbed me first, so you let
go.”

She unclenched her fingers from
his shirt. “Now take your hands off me.”

“
But baby, you started this.” The
hand on her hip tugged her closer, her inner thighs brushing
against the smooth fabric pulled taut over his long
legs.

She tugged at the fingers on her
hip, wriggling at the same time, desperate to escape. “And now I’m
ending it.”

“
I’ll decide where it ends,” he
said.

Her reflexes were wicked fast. As
a police officer they needed to be. Moving fast could mean the
difference between an arrest and a broken nose. Or a stint in
hospital. So when West released her neck and yanked her robe open,
plunged his hands inside and pulled on her hips until she tumbled
onto his lap, she had plenty of time to react. Plenty of options to
teach him to keep his hands to himself. She could’ve shoved him
backwards. Kneed him in the nuts. Punched the Cheshire cat grin off
his face. But instead her stony resistance melted, and she flowed
onto him like lava.

His hands tugged the robe off her
shoulders in quick, sure movements. She rested her weight on his
rigid chest muscles, and shivered when his lips skimmed her collar
bone. Hot, but not feathery light kisses blazed over her skin, and
his teeth at the sensitive spot at the base of her throat nipped
hard enough to blast any illusions of tenderness she might’ve had
aside. This was lust, not desire. He wanted her, being pressed
against his arousal left little doubt on that count. But the frost
in his eyes as their gazes locked told her he didn’t want to want
her.

Even so, she couldn’t stop from
swaying forward until their lips were only inches apart. Her
heartbeat soared, and her traitorous mouth parted in anticipation,
yet she wouldn’t close the remaining distance. “I’m not kissing you
again.”

“
You’re not?”

“
No. You’re not
my
type,
either.”

He angled his head and his breath,
warm and tinged with the faint scent of the bergamot oil in his
Earl Grey tea, caressed her cheek. “Our radical deviation from type
established, it still doesn’t change this—” He bridged the gap, and
his mouth settled on hers.

Resist! Resist him!
The
order welled up in Piper’s brain in a fiery mantra. He resisted her
kiss, she’d show him he didn’t affect her in the slightest either.
She resisted, and by resistance she meant keeping her lips
together—until his tongue flickered along the seam of her
mouth.

On her soft gasp he wielded his
advantage and urged her to open further, distracting her with his
fingers sliding into her hair, positioning her exactly where he
wanted. He played with her. Teased with kisses which retreated as
soon as she capitulated and gave his questing tongue access. He
caused her breath to hitch, her fingers to bunch into fists over
his thudding heart. Bastard. But two could play this savage little
game.

Piper linked her ankles around the
chair back to keep their lower bodies aligned, one fluffy slipper
falling off while she writhed on the hard ridge of his erection.
Desperate craving swelled the tender flesh between her thighs as
sensual heat scorched up from her core. She wanted him. Right now,
right here, pride be damned.

Dropping her forearms from West’s
chest, Piper’s breasts took their place. She took a second to
luxuriate in his body shifting against her sensitized nipples. She
shoved her fingers into West’s hair either side of his ears and
grabbed hold, dragging his lips back on hers. Bright lights
exploded behind her eyelids as she shut them against the
kaleidoscope of emotions fighting for dominance. Need. Lust.
Anger.

This time the kiss West returned
lacked teasing and playfulness. Harsh, demanding, his tongue dueled
with hers. His hands left her hair, slid down her body and dived
under the robe to grab her butt, shifting her impossibly closer as
he angled his hips up. She wrenched away on a muffled groan, sucked
his earlobe between her lips and bit down.