Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) (4 page)

Heath had to be dreaming because no way he heard her right. He wanted to give her what she sought, just not the way she requested.

In one reckless breath he almost volunteered himself as tribute to the cause. Didn’t help that the challenge in her eyes warred with his good intentions. Before he could respond, she threw open her door and walked into the sex-toy shop, strutting her stuff like a prostitute on Hollywood Boulevard. Rag reporters would malign this innocent shopping spree in the most sordid possible way.

Please God let me have been wrong about the tail.

Against his better judgment, Heath exited the vehicle and followed Sam inside.

He froze the moment he stepped into the
exotic store. A prude by no one’s standards, his ideas and experience would mortify his momma and others. The concept of purchasing Sam a toy she’d use for her sexual gratification turned him on and discombobulated him at the same time.

Jase would
not approve of how tonight is ending
. Neither was the intervention going quite as he’d planned.

Sam waved her hand in a
‘come here’ motion.

God help
me
.

He was really doing this. Aiding and abetting the woman of his fantasies in the purchase of a sex-toy because he
’d stopped her from getting laid. Might’ve been easier to let her get lucky!

He shot
a fast glance at the clerk as he walked past her into the store. An older lady with graying hair. She smiled at him, but he didn’t detect any recognition on her features. Thank goodness for that small favor. Maybe nothing disastrous would befall them, and his suspicions of a tail would be unfounded.

Sam held up two packages. One box displayed a ginormous dick. The other a purple one with ridges and bumps all over it.
“Which one you think I’ll like better?”

Heath almost swallowed his tongue
, his sudden erection prodding his zipper.

“
You’re asking me?” At her nod he sent up prayers for aid, in what manner he had no idea. Her expectant expression prodded him to say, “I’m… um… told”—he cleared his throat and glanced about—“size is… um… important.”

“
You’re not uncomfortable, are you?”

“
You’re shitting me, right, Sam?” He dragged his nails across his scruffy jaw. “You’re making a purchase for your… um… pleasure, and you’re asking for
my
opinion?”

“
Yeah.” She sounded a touch breathless. Replacing the toys back on the hooks, she walked backward away from him. “You’re every woman’s fantasy. I thought you could give some advice.” As her gaze slid down his body, she licked her lips. “Guess you’re like all packaging, promising illicit talents but a disappointment once unwrapped.”

Sam turned left at the end of the aisle
, and Heath chuckled at her well-worded criticism. She provoked him with subtle doubts of his ability to please and his lack of knowledge. He’d seen more pussy than the Hoover Dam hosted tourists.

Zero thought behind his actions,
he went after her. He located her in the section with dildos that vibrated. Appearing engrossed, she read the back of a box. “I don’t recommend the cheap ones.”

“
Huh? This isn’t cheap. A hundred bucks, that’s ridiculous when my fingers can do the same trick.”

Visions of her getting herself off
came close to exceeding the limit of his zipper’s ability to restrain his erection. He would watch her and enjoy every moment of the forbidden act.

She
pointed at the container, shaking her head. “This one
rotates
. You think that’s important?”

Cupping
her chin, he forced her to meet his gaze. He took the toy from her grasp and set it back on the shelf.

“
In my experience, Sam”—he couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with her…
his
fantasy and best friend’s baby sister—“women prefer the more expensive variety of toys.”

She shivered beneath his touch, her eyes widening.
Her pupils dilated, and he got the impression she hadn’t expected him to play along. By her expression, he suspected she wouldn’t stop him from further engaging the topic either. Heath backed her against the rack of pornos behind her and leaned against her just enough to provide her with a taste of his weight.

“
The pricy, well-made ones are more lifelike. Better, brat, so much better for you. Increases your bliss.
My
advice
… turn it on, insert it, and lick you here.” To demonstrate the exact spot, he moved his thigh against her core and her breath hitched. “And wait for the show because it won’t take you long to go off. Allow me to pick one out of the glass case for you?” At her small nod, he grinned. Sam would get off on the toy
he
selected for her. What’d he done to deserve such a reward?

Fire
! They played with fire, and he should back away now before things got out of control. He didn’t even make a half-ass stab at retreating.

“
But I gotta ask….” He leaned forward, buried his face in her hair. She always smelled so good, and not for the first time he was curious how she’d smell and taste in other more intimate areas. Lips against her ear, he nipped her lobe before asking, “Do I get an invite to play with the toy I buy you?”

“
Heath.” So definitely not the response he was looking for, but he recognized the sound of arousal when he heard it.

He met her
eyes and ran his lips along her jaw. As he neared her mouth, her breathing stuttered… in anticipation, he was sure of it. A soft brush against her bottom lip with his, and her pulse vibrated like electricity beneath his fingertips. Using his thumb beneath her chin, he notched her head back and moved in to kiss her.

The click of photographs went off just as he would
’ve connected with her.

Sam wrenched her head around and held up her
arm to ward off the flashing bulbs. Heath cursed and thrust her behind him.

“
That’s Samantha Collins!” Someone said, inciting a buzzing from the reporters.

“
How long have you been banging Jase’s sister?” A journalist with slicked-back, dark hair asked.

“
Watch how you talk about her!” Heath took a step forward. After tonight’s demonstration of violence, she feared things would go south, fast.

Sam caught his
arm. “Ignore them, and let’s get out of here.”

Heath led her through
half a dozen photographers that kept snapping photos. Her stomach churned at the idea of how they’d paint their truncated, but very public liaison in the tabloids. What would Jase and the other band mates think?

“
Sorry for your trouble,” he tossed a wad of cash at the clerk, and they busted through the door.

Keeping her head down, she ran for the passenger door as fast she could in the stilettos. Before she could touch the handle, Heath pushed it open from the driver side.

Sam hopped in, and he backed out before she secured her seatbelt in place. Awkward silence descended in the vehicle.

That just happened
.

Heath had almost kissed her. On the backside of what she
’d romanticized, worry for the fallout slammed her. Their public display would be hot news tomorrow.
If
it wasn’t all over the Internet in the next hour, which was a more likely scenario, since she was pretty sure one of them had been videoing their escapades.

She glanced at his hands as he turned the steering wheel. He hadn
’t touched her near enough to please her, but what little he had had stimulated her beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Another glide of his leg against her core and she’d have gone off like a firework during a holiday celebration.

He smacked the wheel with his
palm. “I acted stupid. What a mistake.” Sam winced. She’d take getting busted by the press all over again rather than be referred to as a mistake. In the dark he thankfully didn’t notice the way his words stung. “I knew we were being tailed.”

“
This is my fault.”

“
How you figure?” He ran a yellow light.

“
You tried to warn me. I forced you to go inside.”

“
Forced?” He looked in the rearview mirror. “That’s dramatic since no one forced me to get out of the car and join you. No one forced me to almost kiss you.”

She opened her mouth to remind him she
’d goaded him with picking out dildos, but his cell began to ring a moment before the dash’s Bluetooth lit up with Jase’s I.D.

“
He can’t possibly already know.” The press worked on speed dial if he did.

“
I bet he does.” Heath depressed the button on the wheel and answered the call on speaker. “Hey, Jase.”

“
You’re making out with my sister
in a sex store
!” Jase exhibited his not-so-subtle side.

“
It’s not what it looked like,” she tried to console him.

“
It was exactly what it looked like.”

She shot a glare at Heath and mouthed,
‘not helping’.

“
I blame that lewd dress.” Disgust filtered through the speaker, and she imagined Jase pulled at his hair as was his habit when agitated.

She leaned her head against the seat and stared out the window.
“Jase, I was flirting with Heath. You know, when a girl wants to see if she can attract all the men in the vicinity?” Tears burned her sinuses. In a normal situation she sucked at lying, but they couldn’t see her face, and she suspected they’d leap at any excuse she gave them. Sam didn’t mind being the scapegoat when warranted. “My actions weren’t fair to Heath. I knew better, but couldn’t stop myself.”

A long moment of silence, only the whine of the wheels against the pavement broke up the quiet.

“Like you couldn’t stop yourself from stealing the car?” Jase sounded so cold, nothing like the brother who cared for and protected her.

Praying God didn
’t strike her dead for her dishonesty, she said, “Pretty much.”

“
I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’ve almost reached my limit with your bullshit, Samantha. We’re going to have a long talk when you get home and set some ground rules.” Jase disconnected the call with a curse.

She made an inconspicuous attempt to wipe tears from her eyes.
She’d wanted to push him to this point because he undermined every plan she had for herself. She felt she couldn’t leave without his permission. Jase even scoffed at attending college, because what would she major in when she didn’t know what she ‘wanted to be when she grew up’? But now that she had enraged him the way she wanted, the satisfaction she’d thought she’d experience fell flat. Instead she felt hollow and more lost than before.

“
That’s bullshit, Sam.” Heath sounded almost as angry as Jase.

“
Sorry.” Tears hit her cheeks, and she swiped at them with the pads of her fingers. Her makeup would be ruined by the time they got home. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt you, just you know, a silly immature attempt at getting attention. A… prank of sorts, I guess.”