She's No Angel (14 page)

Brett’s mouth trailed down the open invitation, latching on to the fluttering pulse. He sucked. Her internal muscles clamped tighter around him.

He pushed them both. In and out. Over and over. Slowly driving the pace until they were both delirious. Beneath him Lexi bucked. She tried to force him to go faster, but his palm flat against the table beneath her knee kept her prisoner.

She whimpered. And quivered. Every muscle in her body went rigid. And then she was screaming his name.

Her body pulsed around him, wave after wave of her relentless release begging him to join her. And he couldn’t hold back. Not anymore.

The knot at the base of his spine expanded. And exploded.

The entire world went dark. Bursts of light, red, blue, green and gold, shot through the inky blackness.

The next thing Brett knew, he was lying beside Lexi on the cool surface of the table.

Her body was curled into his, tucked against his side, her head burrowed into his shoulder. The moist heat of her breath tickled across his chest. Her fingers were threaded through his chest hair, resting right over his heart.

Every few seconds her body would shudder.

He might have thought her cold, except her skin still burned wherever he touched.

Finally, when full use of his brain had returned, he mumbled, “That was hot.”

Pushing against his chest, Lexi looked down at him, a tiny frown arrowing between her brows. “No, it wasn’t. I turned the chocolate down. It should have only been warm.”

Brett buried his face into the cloud of her hair and tugged her down so their noses touched. He stared into the deep pool of her chocolate eyes. Every time he saw them now he’d think of this day. And just what she could do with that decadent delight.

“I meant you.”

“Oh,” she said, rolling down until their lips touched softly. “That’s the most chocolate I’ve eaten since I was a kid.”

“That’s...” Sad was what he wanted to say, but settled for “...wrong.”

She shrugged. Dropping back down onto his chest. He liked her there, but now he couldn’t look into her eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with indulging, Lexi.”

“Sure, as long as you know when to stop.”

His fingers played softly in her hair. Several of the strands were covered in streaks of chocolate, but he didn’t say anything. If he did she’d get up and he didn’t want that.

“You don’t think you’d know when to stop?”

Her head rolled against him in a silent confession. “I have no willpower. Not when it comes to chocolate.” Slowly, her eyes lifted to his. “And apparently you.”

14

T
HEY
SNUCK
UP
the walkway to the inn like two drunken teenagers returning after curfew, unable to smother their laughter. Lexi had never been one to break the rules, so it was something she hadn’t actually done. Her parents had been through hell when Gage was a teenager, and Lexi’s sole mission in life had been to not add to the trouble.

Surprisingly, she had to admit the adrenaline and joy carried some appeal. Although she and Brett weren’t breaking any rules, they were definitely trying to get inside without being caught.

They were both sticky. Their clothes were in disarray and somehow Brett’s pants had a streak of chocolate slashing straight across the fly. Lexi’s blond hair had more than a few globs of dried chocolate.

Her skin was flushed and her eyes sparkled. If anyone saw them there’d be no denying what they’d been doing. And if anyone saw them like this the entire town would know about it by morning.

She’d suggested showering at her store, but Brett had refused. He’d convinced her that the shower in his room was bigger—big enough for two when hers definitely wasn’t. He needed new clothes anyway. And he’d persuaded her with kisses and touches until any thought of protesting had fled from her mind. Before she’d realized what was happening, the store was locked and they were creeping up the back porch.

A stair creaked. Brett shushed her with a mock glare.

They opened the door and stared into Mrs. McKinnon’s menacing glower. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her foot tapped unhappily against the worn boards of her hardwood floor.

“You two are worse than my kids and grandkids combined.”

Even close to seventy, Mrs. McKinnon’s eyesight was still sharp enough to rake across them both. She didn’t miss a single detail of their disheveled state.

Lexi should be mortified. But she wasn’t. She should be cringing that the grapevine was about to heat up with her latest escapade. But she couldn’t seem to care.

Maybe she should indulge in chocolate-covered sex more often. It definitely mellowed her.

“Do not ruin my nice clean sheets, Alexis Harper. If you want to make a mess of someone’s bed, why don’t you do it at your own house?”

Brett’s arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her hard against the shelter of his body.

“We have no intention of ruining anything, Mrs. McKinnon.”

She sniffed her skepticism. “See that you don’t.”

Throwing a sheepish grin over his shoulder, Brett tugged on their joined hands and walked past Mrs. McKinnon.

Lexi had never really been inside the guest rooms at the inn. Occasionally she’d been to a tea or bridal shower on the main floor, but since she lived here she’d never needed to stay. And, honestly, she hadn’t ever really thought about the inn and how it served the community.

She was always busy running her own business.

Looking around the room, Lexi frowned. It was cramped. Stuffed to the gills with furniture. All the pieces were antique and held a charming kind of history, but the space lacked the ease of movement that modern hotel rooms usually had.

The thought of a small family with two adults and a child or two trying to share the space made her cringe.

When she looked up at Brett, she realized he was watching her with that same shrewd, sharp gaze she recognized from the first night. She waited for him to say something, but when he did it wasn’t what she’d expected.

“Are you coming?”

He disappeared inside the bathroom. The sound of rushing water filled the space. She was sticky, her hair was a mess and a sexy, naked man had just beckoned her to get wet. She’d never wanted anything more in her life.

Happiness swelled inside her chest. Maybe, just maybe, this was going to work out. He wouldn’t break her heart...

The thought trailed away to nothing. Break. Her. Heart. The organ stuttered painful inside her chest. It squeezed, forcing all of the blood through her body in a flooding surge that left her lightheaded.

In order for him to break it, that meant he had to hold it.

The gentle hum of Brett’s voice floated out to her. The deep rumble wrapped around her. He’d started singing. And he was awful, every note slightly off-key.

How could she love this man and not know that he couldn’t sing? How could she have let herself fall in love with him?

Maybe the real question was how could she have stopped?

Her legs shook. Taking a few halting steps, Lexi walked to the doorway and looked inside. She could just make out the dark outline of his body against the frosted glass.

Even hazy, he was beautiful. But there was more to Brett than a rough-hewn form that could leave any woman breathless and wanting. He was sexy, intelligent, dedicated and a meticulous lover. She’d been surprised by the sweet side she’d gotten a few glimpses of, although she wasn’t sure why. Especially after hearing how much he cared for and protected his mother and brother.

What was she going to do?

Lexi swallowed a heavy lump that caught in her throat.

Nothing. What could she do? They’d only just met. It was way too soon to hit him with her shocking revelation. He wasn’t ready to hear the big
L
word, even if she had been ready to tell him. And she wasn’t.

In a few weeks he’d leave and head back to Philadelphia. She’d cross the bridge of what to do when that happened. Maybe they could start slow, a long-distance relationship. She’d never tried that.

Feeling better, a little more centered, Lexi shed her clothes and joined him in the shower. Hot steam billowed around them and it was easy to bury her nervous energy beneath the heat he stirred in her.

Later, squeaky clean, her skin pink and pruney from staying too long in the water, she curled up on his bed. Wrapped in a fluffy robe, she watched him as he messed with a laptop open on the desk. Something that Hope had said several days ago blasted through her brain.

“Show me the drawings you’re working on.” She’d shared her business and her passion for baking with him. She wanted to know what had drawn him to architecture. To understand.

Startled, Brett threw a look at her over his shoulder. He studied her for several seconds and then nodded.

He opened a program as she walked across to stand behind him. Her fingers curled around the spindled back of his chair, but didn’t stay there long. Not with the temptation of his damp hair so close. Lexi threaded her fingers into the thick strands at his nape.

His fingers tapped against the keyboard. She was so distracted by touching him that it took her several seconds to realize his shoulders were tense. Was he nervous about showing her?

Shifting, Brett set his hands on her hips and pulled her around until she was facing him. He didn’t let her go, but settled her against the edge of the desk and studied her face.

That same sharp, careful and calculated expression she’d seen the night they’d met was back. For some reason, it made her nervous.

“Sweetheart needs this resort, Lexi.”

She made a sound in the back of her throat. A week ago it would have been stronger, an unmistakable dissent, but now she wasn’t entirely certain what to think. She knew her friends were considering Brett’s arguments.

“It’ll be good for business. Good for Sugar and Spice. It’ll increase capacity during peak seasons and be a draw during off seasons.”

Through the soft fabric of her robe his thumbs rubbed tiny, distracting circles against her hips.

“Maybe.”

He frowned. Turning his attention back to the computer, his fingers scrolled across the touchpad and a set of drawings popped up onto the screen.

Lexi leaned forward, trying to make sense of what she was looking at. He tumbled her into his lap, drawing her closer. It didn’t help much; she still didn’t understand exactly what they meant.

“What’s this?”

Another window opened, a full-color drawing popping up onto the screen. And she gasped.

“Something I’ve been working on.”

It was the resort. Only it was so much better than what Bowen had originally submitted. And what Brett had originally designed.

“This is...gorgeous.” And it was. Elegantly rustic. Lexi could just imagine sunlight glinting off the water and reflecting off the soaring wall of windows. “Why didn’t you submit this the first time? These plans might have gotten approved.”

She couldn’t see him, but she could hear the frustration in his voice when he answered. “Because this isn’t the design my boss wanted.”

“But this is what Sweetheart needs.”

“I know.” His hands smoothed up and down her arms. “I’m trying, Lexi. But Bowen is a stubborn man and my job is to get the resort built.”

She twisted, wanting to look in his eyes. “Why are you fighting so hard for this? It’s obvious you realize how terrible Bowen’s plans are.”

Brett set her on her feet. He stood and paced away, scraping a hand through his hair. The still-damp strands stood on end. She might have found the sight funny if his agitation hadn’t been so obvious. Watching his cool, calm facade crack just a little made her heart lurch painfully in her chest.

“When the plans are approved I get a bonus.” He stole a quick glance at her from beneath long, inky lashes, but quickly turned away again.

“I need that money, Lexi. I’ve been trying to open my own firm for years, saving every penny I can. But it’s taken me longer than I hoped. I’ve had to dip into my nest egg a couple times, for tuition, moving my mom to a better neighborhood. Good choices, but still...this bonus gives me the large influx of cash I need to break from Bowen.”

He tried to hide the disgust when he said Bowen’s name, but Lexi heard it in his voice anyway.

“You don’t like him,” she said, a combination of surprise and consternation stealing her breath.

His mouth twisted. “Not really.”

“Brett, if you don’t want to work for him why do you want us to work with him?”

A hand brushed over his face, pushing up and down as his eyes screwed tight.

“Is it just about the money?”

His eyes popped open and he speared her with a sharp gaze. “You know me better than that.”

“Do I?” she countered. She thought she had, but now she was beginning to wonder.

Frustration stiffening every movement, Brett yanked several glossy folders from a stack and thrust them at her.

“I’m trying to find the only way through a minefield, Lexi. Sweetheart needs the resort. Bowen already owns the land. I know him, he’s a bulldog when he gets his teeth sunk into a bone and he wants this. He’ll find a way, somehow, to get what he wants. He always does.

“He sent me those. Dossiers on every member of the town council. On your family.”

“On me,” she breathed out, staring down at her own face smiling back at her through the clear plastic cover.

“Yes, on you. That’s the way Bowen works, but it isn’t the way I work. I’m not interested in playing dirty or extorting cooperation.”

Lexi swallowed, hard. She opened the slick cover. Each page she turned made her cringe even more. Details of her life. Her elementary school grades. A medical report from the clinic she’d used while she was in culinary school.

Anger slammed through her. Wasn’t that kind of information supposed to be confidential? Apparently not. Not for Brett Newcomb and Bowen Enterprises.

There were pictures. Some of them snapshots she recognized from her friend’s social media sites. One in particular caught her attention. Her face was framed by the fuzzy hood of the jacket she’d worn while she was in Switzerland, the Alps rising behind her as she stared into the inviting lens of the camera.

Switzerland. She
hadn’t
told him about that trip. He’d known about it from the information he’d been fed. Along with the way she preferred her coffee and God only knew what else.

The amount of information was staggering and unsettling.

“How did he get this?” She shook the dossier. Pages on her life fluttered accusingly between them.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

Her skin flushed with the force of her anger. She glared at Brett, unsure who she was more pissed at—him or herself. She’d let her guard down, trusted him.

“But you read it.”

“Yes. No. Yes, but not the way you think. Not because I wanted to use the information to seduce you.”

Lexi scoffed at his explanation. Her hands trembled. “Please, that’s exactly what you did.”

God, the details about her struggle with her weight and her self-image issues were practically a road map for what to say and do to win her trust. And she’d fallen for it.

Again.

When would she learn?

He’d lied to her. That first night she’d asked him if he’d known who she was when he bought the cake. Obviously, the real answer had been yes. He’d known full well she was the mayor’s daughter and flirted with her to get what he wanted.

And it wasn’t just about the resort...he had personal reasons. Lexi’s stomach rolled. The heavy ball of chocolate twisted deep inside her. It suddenly hit her. He’d slept with her for money.

Plenty of people had made her feel useless and unimportant in her life, but Brett took the prize for making her feel cheap.

How could he do this? Last night had meant nothing to him. She’d been laying herself bare, stripping away all of her barriers and he’d been deceiving her the entire time.

Tears, hot and weak, stung the backs of her eyes. She refused to shed them in front of him.

Refused to let him see just how much he’d hurt her. She did have some pride left.

In one quick motion, Lexi snatched up her purse and bolted for the door. She’d heard enough.

* * *

D
AMMIT
! B
EFORE
HE
’
D
realized what she meant to do, Lexi was out the door. From across the room, he couldn’t catch her in time. And not even pointing out that she was in nothing but a bathrobe had stopped her.

Skidding across the hardwood of the entryway, Brett clamored out onto the front porch just in time to see her SUV peel out of the parking lot. Swearing again, he wasted precious time running back upstairs for the keys to his rental car and a shirt. He was less than five minutes behind her, but her little cottage was completely dark when he arrived and her car wasn’t in the driveway.