Love Handles (38 page)

“I wish I could say I’d work here without any pressure, that just being around you would be enough,” he said, “but I’d be lying. I’d never be satisfied. I wasn’t before, when it was just your body I wanted. Now—forget it.”

She rested her cheek in his palm. “What parts do you want now?”

He gave her a lopsided grin.

“Don’t believe him,” Ellen said. “It’s just another way of getting on top.”

Bev frowned at her aunt then back at him. A smile crept across her face. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

His body raged with heat. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Would you feel used if I asked you to come back to Fite?”

“Depends how you pay me.”

She slid her hand up his chest. “You won’t sue for sexual harassment?”

“Not if you marry me,” he said, and Gail gasped. But Bev didn’t recoil so he went on. “We can date first if you’d like.”

She flung herself at him so suddenly he fell back against the table. Soft, warm limbs wrapped around him, firm and strong, smelling like her, tasting like her, everything he wanted.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Ellen said. “Can’t that wait?”

No
. Liam buried his face in Bev’s neck, inhaling her scent, feeling her skin, making her tremble in his arms. “I love you,” he growled.

Her mouth tickled his ear. “I love you too,” she said, and he felt the last of the brick inside him crumble.

Kate kicked a rolling rack with her foot and knocked it into the table. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but the rest of us are still here.”

Liam grabbed the rolling rack, wrenching it away from Kate’s foot, and shoved it across the room. “Nobody’s keeping you.”

“We aren’t leaving until you promise Kate a job,” Gail said.

Kate glared. “I don’t want a job.”

“Apple, meet tree,” Ellen said.

Gail turned on her. “You shut up. No job for Kate, no house for Johnny.”

Ellen shrugged. “So much for family.” She walked to the door.

“No!” Bev cried. “You’ve come so close. You can’t just leave like that after all these years!”

He couldn’t believe what he was about to do, and Ed’s crazed ghost would haunt him in the corridors at night for as long as he lived, but he’d make Kate the CFO if it would get him alone with Bev, warm and naked,
right now
.

“Two words,” he said loudly, and everyone looked at him. “Fite Dog.”

Kate’s face lit up, but Bev gripped his arm in concern. “You’d do that for her?”

He smiled down at her. “I’d do it for you,” he said, savoring the way she glowed at him.

Kate aimed a finger at him. “You think it would suck, but you’re wrong. It’ll be the biggest money-maker Fite has ever seen.”

“Whatever you say.” He kissed the corner of Bev’s eyebrow, just below a freckle.

Far away he heard Kate say, “You are going to eat your words, buddy. Just you wait.”

“Oh, honey.” Gail scurried over and put an arm around Kate’s waist, bouncing their hips together. “It’s a wonderful idea. If it’s what you want I’ll sacrifice my father’s drafty old mausoleum to a man who can’t even get married without his mommy telling him to do it.”

Ellen got to her feet and held out her hand. “I’ll need the keys.”

Gail looked at Kate under her arm then dragged her over to Bev’s side, pulled her away from Liam and hugged her on the other side. “This is how it should be. Me and my girls.”

Bev hugged her briefly. “Ellen, if you find a way to get along with my mother—and Rachel, actually—not just for a week, but long term, lasting, sincere getting-along, then you can come back to Fite,” she said. “You’d have to put up with me and Liam calling the shots, but Grandfather seemed to like having you around, and this is his company, and if he’d wanted to fire you he would have done it years ago.”

Liam froze. No, not Ellen. After all this. Ellen
and
Fite Dog?

Ellen was staring at Bev, not moving. “And the house?”

“Yours,” Bev said. “You just have to keep the peace. Each year you two are making progress in your relationship, as determined by me, I’ll—I’ll distribute a share of the profits at Fite.” She glanced at Liam. “Can I do that?”

“How about we pay them all to go away?”

Bev laughed, catching herself just as Ellen was saying, “What if I don’t want to come back to Fite?”

The room fell quiet.

“Don’t you?” Bev asked.

“Not particularly. Not anymore.” She got up and walked over to Gail. “And I don’t need to be paid to talk to my own damn sister.”

The two women stared at each other.

“Oh, Ellen, I am so sorry,” Gail said, and burst into tears.

Face expressionless, Ellen opened her arms, and the two women embraced.

“This is why I like dogs,” Kate said. “No drama.”

“Really, Kate.” Gail pulled away from Ellen and wiped her eyes. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a keychain. “Here, Ellen. To the house.”

Ellen waved it away. “I can wait. Johnny won’t be out here for months.”

“But you should be able to go in whenever you want,” Gail said. “We are family.”

“Can we go, please? You two had dinner, but I’m starving,” Kate said.

“I’ll need a ride, too,” Ellen said. “Good night, Liam. Bev.”

“Bye.” Liam was staring at the tender inner crease of Bev’s elbows, realizing he’d never kissed them before. She looked up and saw him staring, saw the heat in his face, and turned pink.

“Now, please.” Ellen walked out the door.

Kate followed. “Before they start up again.”

Gail lingered for a moment in the doorway, frowning and wiping her wet cheeks. “Liam,” she said, and he looked up. “Don’t let her sleep here again tonight.”

He met her gaze and nodded while Bev sighed in frustration. “I am right here. Don’t start talking to me through him. I know he’s big and manly and everything—”

“See you later, Liam.” Gail blew him a kiss and left.

Liam ran his hand down his chest to smooth his shirt. “I bet you need a home-cooked meal. I’m making you a home-cooked meal. You never did eat my marinara.”

“That’s a big step.” She pressed her chest up against him, pinning his hand over his heart. “How about sex first?”

His vision went dark. In one swift move he slipped his free hand around the back of her neck and kissed her.

S
he broke the kiss to nibble on his ear. “Did you know that couch upstairs is a sofa bed?” She arched into him. “Took me a week to figure that out.”

His fingers found the hem of her shirt, slipped underneath, and roamed over her back. “Did you know my condo is five minutes away?”

“What about—” she gasped as he unhooked her bra. “—April?”

He palmed her breasts, his eyes going out of focus. “What’s with you always wanting to invite my sister?” Then he shoved her shirt and bra up to her chin and sucked the tip of her left nipple hard into his mouth.

Bev cried out. Tunneled her fingers through his hair. “We are not doing this in the conference room.” She stroked the blond hair in her fingers, gazing up at the popcorn ceiling panels. “Oh!”

His teeth found the other nipple. “She’s stranded at my mother’s.” His laughter tickled her tender flesh. “I’m taking you home with me.” His hands dipped under the waistband of her slacks, slipping down over each round cheek, pulling her against him. “Eventually.”

She pushed him away to look into his face. “This isn’t fair.”

Kissing and stroking, he moved his hand around her hips to the front. She felt him grin against her neck. “You can go first.”

“I mean to you.” She started to laugh, but her breath caught in her mouth as his finger slipped inside her. Whatever she was trying to say got scrambled in her bloodless brain. For a moment she gave herself up to it, but her worries wouldn’t melt along with her muscles. “You’ll always be wondering—”

“If you’ll ever stop talking?” He added a finger and she gasped.

With self-discipline she didn’t know she possessed, she wriggled away. “If I love you as much as you love me.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes—”

“I know you don’t. But that’s okay.”

She took another step back. “See? And you think
I’m
competitive.”

He laughed. “All right, I give up. You love me the most.” He went after her, eyes dark and fixed on her mouth.

“Now you’re just saying that.”

“No shit. Come here.”

Her heel caught on the protruding wheel of an office chair as she ducked out of reach and bolted for the door. Her purse was in her office, and she made a run for it.

“Bev!” He appeared in the doorway of her office just as she lifted Ball off a chair and into her arms. With the fur at her chin she twirled around to face him.

His frustrated scowl broke into a mocking smile. “Give me the cat and nobody gets hurt.”

She could feel her pulse in her throat. If he would just let her think. She needed a minute before she got swept up in everything he was promising, before she took everything she wanted, before it was too late to set the stage for a future that would stick.

She looked down at Ball, a silky lump of fluff in her arms. “That’s it,” she said softly. “I’ll give it to you.”

“Kidding. The cat’s yours.” He strode into the office. “Though I assumed you were a package deal.”

With Ball still in her arms, she jogged past him and out the door. “My stuff is all upstairs.”

He let out a frustrated sigh and followed her down the hall and up the stairwell, but by the time they reached her soon-to-be-vacated sleeping quarters he was looking cheerfully predatory. “Good idea. First we make the earth move, then you move into my place.”

Heart skipping around in her chest, she smiled at him. “You mentioned that before and I didn’t believe you.” She took in the sight of him, from golden head to broad shoulder to long, strong legs, then back up to the loving, patient look in his eyes. “You gave me a choice—personal or professional, not both—”

“Forget it.” He was there, taking Ball out of her arms. “I was an idiot.”

“I chose wrong.” She held up her hands to keep him from sweeping her away again. “So you left. You chose me over Fite. I’ll never, ever doubt you again.”

His hand hooked around her waist and pulled her hard against his body. “Excellent.” He buried his face in her neck.

“But you—”

His lips nibbled the pulse under her jaw.

She inhaled deeply, lost her thoughts briefly in the rich scent of him. “—you’ll always wonder.”

“Nah.” His tongue traced the path of her racing pulse up to her ear while his hands slipped up her body, touching everywhere, under her clothes, hot fingers on her skin.

“And so,” she gasped and sank into him, “I’ll—do—the same.”

“Sure you will.” He led her over to the sofa, pushed her back onto it, and climbed on top of her, heavy and everywhere. His hands dragged the hem of her shirt up to her bra and he dipped his head. Firm lips found her nipple through the nylon, and sparks of painful lust shot through her body while she stared at the blurry half-moon out the window over his shoulder and decided he was more than a fair trade. He could have Fite, she could have him.

She smiled and closed her eyes. He didn’t believe her, but she’d show him.

He lifted himself up on one arm and frowned down at her. “This thing pulls out into a bed?”

She nodded, imagining how happy Engineering would be to have him back. Bev never did get a handle on all that garment construction stuff. And the sales guys would throw him a party.

“Well, come on.” He lifted her up to her feet. He tore off the cushions, found the handle to the mattress frame and tugged it out, never taking his eyes off of her.

“Hi,” she said shyly. He’d unhooked her bra, and she could feel her breasts heavy under her shirt. His eyelids fell, and she saw the humor drain out of him, the facade of mockery gone, leaving in its place hard, raw desire. For her.

She glanced past him at the bed, very glad she’d splurged on the expensive cotton sheets, the down comforter, extra pillows; he wouldn’t know she’d been curling up every night under a scrap of fleece that had failed its pill and color transfer testing.

He held out a hand. His eyes, nearly black, searched her face, then dropped down over her body.

She lifted her shirt over her head, taking the unfastened bra with it, and dropped it on the floor. With eyes locked with his she slid her pants over her hips, slowly, shifting to one side to show him the curve of her ass.

He tore off his own shirt and shoes and pants and boxers and socks before she had worked her ankles free. He was very ready. She stared down at him, her heart beating too fast, and she fell on top of him on the thin, squeaking mattress. His mouth whispered love in her ear and his hands roaming over her body like a gale. She lifted her knees to straddle him, interrupted by his fingers slipping under her panties and between her legs, everywhere. She traced his collarbone, the hard curve of his shoulder, and swiveled her hips hungrily to meet his, his erection sliding along the cleft of her bottom.

He groaned and pushed out from under her, pinned her to the bed. “Not yet, sweetheart.” Locks of his hair tickled her belly as he leaned down to remove her panties. She arched her back to help, and he got distracted, staring at her breasts, then fell on top of her to suck and lick and tease until the desire in her belly wound tighter and tighter and she pounded on his back to ease the torment.

“Now!” she gasped.

But he laughed silently, mouth wet on another part of her, sucking her fingers, licking her, bending her back and over and around with maddening, impossible need. She met his passion with hard need of her own, and blind hunger, and love, and he slid inside of her just at the moment she needed him most. She cried out and spun out of herself, just right, with him.

T
hey made love a second time in the elevator, with poor Ball tucked into her carrier in the corner. Liam was glad only he knew about the security camera, though Bev gave him a suspicious look when he hung his shirt over the box in the ceiling before hitting the emergency stop button.

He didn’t care about the million-dollar parking ticket, or the cat vomiting on the seat, just that he got Bev to his torn-up condo as soon as possible—not just for a third go, but to ease his mind and close the deal. Once her suitcase and cat were at his place, and that damn bachelor pad’s of Ed’s was safely converted to cubicles, he could relax and believe he was really going to get what he wanted.