Too Charming (7 page)

She found herself staring straight at his chest, her eyes on a level with the V of his shirt.  ‘Like that’s going to happen,’ she mumbled, all too aware that her usually steady pulse was racing. And it wasn’t in fear of the bike.

‘I’ll go slowly,’ he replied, misunderstanding her concern, which was just as well. He was arrogant enough already. ‘Rule number two, you have to mimic what I do. If I bend to the left, you bend to the left. If I bend to the right …’

‘I go right. I’ve got it,’ she interrupted.

His light eyes shone with suppressed laughter. The bugger was really enjoying this. ‘Okay. Rule three is keep your arms around me at all times.’ His lips twitched. ‘I know you’ll enjoy that rule. I certainly will.’

She let out a sigh of frustration. ‘Look, can we just get this over and done with?’

Laughing he reached for his own helmet. ‘Okay, gorgeous. I can see how keen you are to get your arms around me. Final rule. If you want me to stop for any reason, squeeze my shoulder.’

Megan felt like squeezing his shoulder right now. In fact she might not stop at the shoulder. She could find her hands moving up to his neck and squeezing that tightly, too. He infuriated her almost as much as he
mesmerised her.  As she watched, he climbed effortlessly on to the bike, then turned to her expectantly. All she could really see of his face were his eyes, but it was enough to tell her he was smirking. Mimicking his action, she flung her leg over and shifted so that she was close to him, but not touching. His shoulders loomed in front of her, stretching the black leather of his jacket. Biting her lip, she cautiously placed her arms lightly around his waist.

Scott revved the engine and Megan gulped. Jesus.
The pulsing power beneath her legs. The warm, hard feel of Scott’s body. Before she had a chance to worry about how sexy and intimate it all felt, he was accelerating off down the road.

Scott was in his element. Riding his bike, the wind on his face, Megan sitting behind him, her arms finally starting to relax around his waist. He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly why she hadn’t wanted a go on the bike. It was the very reason he’d wanted to take her. By fair means or foul he’d decided he wanted to feel those toned arms of hers wrapped around him. All evening he’d been watching her, aware of her every move. She wasn’t immune to him. He could see it in the way her eyes had drifted towards him every now again, immediately dropping his gaze when he’d met them. She clearly didn’t want to be interested in him, but she was.

Pulling back into the Taylor’s driveway, he brought the bike to a skidding stop, smiling to himself as Megan immediately snatched her arms away from his waist, and then leapt off the bike like a scalded cat. With calculated slowness he removed his helmet and casually dismounted.

‘Well, what did you think?’

She ran a hand through her short, cropped hair, fluffing out the flattened strands. ‘It was fine.’

‘Fine?’ He wasn’t deceived by the lukewarm response. The bright blue of her eyes, the flush on her cheeks, all told him what she’d just experienced rated a little more than fine.

‘Yes, fine,’ she replied firmly, tucking the helmet away under the seat.

He took a deliberate step towards her, pleased to see a flash of wariness cross her face. It was better than indifference. ‘Which bit of it was fine?’ he asked softly. ‘The part when you sat close to me? Or when you wrapped your arms around my waist? Synchronising your movements to mine?’

She swallowed. ‘I, umm …’

He forgot her parents were probably watching from the window. Forgot about everything but the deep blue of her eyes, the fullness of her lips. He bent and kissed her.

The power of surprise was clearly on his side. He didn’t think she would have opened her mouth quite so readily for him otherwise. With no intention of relinquishing the head start he’d been given, he swooped, delighting in the taste of her.
The feel of her. On a powerful surge of desire he put a hand to either side of her face and dove in deeper, wanting to lose himself in the aching sweetness he found there. He hadn’t expected that. Her shyness. Gentleness. As he leaned in, moving her between the bike and his now full arousal, he felt her melt against him, her body relaxing into his. God she felt so unbelievably good. He knew he should pull away, not least because he couldn’t afford to walk back into her parents’ house with a raging hard on, but he was damned if he was going to give up this pleasure too quickly. Taking a hand from her face, he moved it to her hips, smoothing it over her deliciously taut bottom before tugging her towards him even further, desperate to feel her tight against him.

It was Megan who finally called a stop to it. Megan who moved her hands between them and pressed them on his chest, pushing him away.

They stood facing each other, their breathing shallow and ragged.

‘Come out for a drink with me,’ he demanded hoarsely, desire still flickering brightly in his eyes.

She shook her head. ‘No.’

‘Are you still in denial?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Her reply was cool and steady but when he reached for her wrist, and ran his thumb over her pulse, it was hammering away, ten to the dozen.

‘Then prove it by coming out with me.’

Megan closed her eyes and he guessed she was mentally arguing with herself, pitting her instinctive physical attraction to him against her judgement of his character. In the end she gave up and laughed. ‘Okay, very cute. As I’m too tired for your verbal gymnastics right now, I’ll meet you for one drink.’ He was powerless to stop the smug grin that slid across his face. Her eyes narrowed. ‘That’s all you’re getting, Armstrong. One drink.’

‘That’s all I need,’ he countered smoothly, taking her hand and walking her back towards the front door. She rolled her eyes, but it merely made him grin wider. Finally, she was softening towards him.

Chapter Seven

Monday night was dancing night. It had been for as many years as Megan could remember. Somewhere in her mid-teens she’d abandoned the tap shoes and ballet tutu, but she hadn’t stopped dancing. Now, teetering on the edge of thirty, she was into jazz. It made her
smile, exercised her body and gave her a chance to catch up with a good crowd of friends, most notably Ann.

‘I’ve got aches in places I didn’t know I could ache,’ Ann grumbled as they found a spare table at the sports club bar and sat down for a well-earned drink. ‘At one point, when we were doing all those straddle jumps, I thought my legs were actually going to fall off.’

‘Hey, stop complaining. It keeps you fit.’ Megan took a deep drink of her sparkling water and sat back against the chair, her body humming with the after effects of a thorough workout. An hour in the dance studio beat an hour in the gym any day. It was just a shame the classes were only once a week.

‘Speaking of fit.’ Ann raised an eyebrow and looked across at her. ‘How did your date with the delicious Scott Armstrong go?’

Megan shook her head and gave her friend a warning stare. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, it wasn’t a date. It was a thank you. My parents and Sally were there, for heaven’s sake.’

‘And will you be seeing him again?’

About to take a drink, Megan put down her glass and sighed. ‘Well, I did sort of find myself agreeing to meet him for a drink after work tomorrow.’

‘Ah!’ Ann’s exclamation was one of self-righteous triumph.

‘There is no “ah” about it. We’ve agreed terms. Friends only.’

‘You mean you’ve stated the terms. I hardly see Scott agreeing to them. He looks like a man who goes after what he wants, and from the way I’ve seen him eye you up, what he wants from you isn’t your friendship. Great as it may be.’

‘He only wants me because I haven’t immediately rolled over on my back and asked him to stroke my belly as soon as he’s shown an interest.’

Ann burst out laughing. ‘I have to admit, if his eyes had wandered in my direction, I might have found myself doing exactly that. And purring, too.’

Megan’s eyes rounded in horror. ‘God, please don’t tell me you’re another one of Scott’s fan club? What does the guy do to create such a following?’

‘What, you mean aside from being drop-dead gorgeous, with the body of an athlete and a smile that melts a woman’s insides?’ Ann shrugged her shoulders. ‘I haven’t a clue.’

Looking down at her glass, Megan wiped at the small beads of condensation clinging to the outside. ‘That’s all about what he looks like, Ann,’ she replied quietly. ‘Nothing about the man himself.’

Ann frowned. ‘Why are you so against him, Megan?’

And why haven’t I changed the subject?
Megan berated herself. Now she was stuck with the impossible task of explaining her feelings about Scott to Ann, when she couldn’t even explain them to herself. ‘I guess he’s everything I’ve told myself I should dislike in a man,’ she replied with a sigh. ‘He’s a charmer, a smooth talker, very aware of his own good looks.’ It sounded so simple. Except … Except when he smiled at her, really smiled, not the cocky veneer of a smile but the boyish grin that made his eyes crinkle … when he smiled at her like that, she went weak at the knees.

‘I’ll admit he has an almost breathtaking confidence about him,’ Ann conceded. ‘But frankly, that’s all part of his appeal. Who wants quiet and shy when you can be swept off your feet by bold and dazzling?’

‘Being swept off your feet isn’t what it’s cracked up to be,’ Megan muttered, annoyed to find the bitterness creep into her voice. Three years later and she
still
couldn’t think about that part of her life without feeling humiliation and pain.

Ann regarded her thoughtfully. ‘You’ve never really talked about Sally’s father. I presume that’s who you’re talking about when you mention being swept off your feet?’

Trying to lighten the mood, Megan cocked her head to one side. ‘I should know better than to make an ambiguous statement to a fellow detective.’

‘And now you’re trying to change the subject.’

Megan glanced up to find Ann pinning her with the type of death stare she usually reserved for juvenile delinquents. Only a select few knew that she wasn’t nearly as stern as she sometimes appeared. ‘It showed, huh?’ She tried a smile, but Ann wasn’t in the mood to be fobbed off. ‘To be honest, there isn’t much to tell.’

‘Then why does it still hurt to talk about it?’

Megan couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Maybe because I’m such a total fool when it comes to matters of the heart?’

‘Aren’t we all?’

Deciding that Ann wasn’t going to let the matter drop, Megan settled back against her chair. ‘I met Luke when I was at school. He was my first boyfriend, my first love, my first everything.’ Her friend nodded, encouraging her to continue. ‘After school he went away to university and I stayed here and joined the police force, but at the end of each term he’d come back and we’d pick up where we left off. He was—’Megan closed her eyes and instantly recalled his face ‘—beautiful, I suppose is the word for it. Dazzling, as you’d call it. Blonde hair, eyes the colour of the sky on a sunny day. Girls flirted with him wherever we went, but for some strange reason he seemed to prefer me. I was too scared to question it, worried that if I did, I’d find a secret ulterior motive for him being with me. Instead, I just thanked my lucky stars that it was me that went home with him.’

‘He should have been thanking
his
lucky stars,’ Ann countered.

Megan smiled. ‘That’s one of the things I love about you, your blind loyalty.’ Before Ann could interrupt, Megan held up her hand. ‘It isn’t false modesty. You didn’t meet Luke. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but he really was breathtaking. Not just his looks,
but his charisma, the way he could talk to you and make you feel so incredibly special. Like you were the only person he was interested in.’ A humourless laugh shot out of her. ‘Of course the truth was something else. When I surprised him by turning up to his university campus one evening, I quickly found out I wasn’t the only one he was interested in.’

‘Ouch.’

Even now, Megan could feel the utter desolation she’d experienced that evening. Not just because she’d knocked on his door to find him half dressed with a stunning, scantily clad woman hovering behind him – though that had sliced through her heart like a knife – but because all those dreams she’d been nurturing had suddenly blown up in her face.

‘Yet you stood by him?’

Megan fought to control the emotions that even now were never far from the surface when she thought about that fateful night. ‘Yes. I’d turned up to the campus scared but thrilled by the knowledge that I was pregnant. Of course it wasn’t planned, but I knew I wanted the baby, the product of our love. God, I’d only known she existed inside me for three days, but already I loved her.’ She bit her lip, her hands unconsciously playing with the drinks mat on the table. ‘I decided I owed it to her to give him another chance.’

Ann reached across the table and briefly clasped her hand. ‘I hate knowing this doesn’t have a happy ending.’

Megan gave her a wobbly smile as she recalled the naive twenty-two year old she’d been, filled with foolish notions of marrying the man she loved. ‘Luke promised me the other woman was a mistake, one he wouldn’t make again. He went on to finish his studies and we lived together for a few years, but the relationship had lost its sparkle. I loved him, but deep inside I couldn’t trust him again.’ Diving into her handbag, she pulled out a pack of tissues and wiped at the stupid tears that were creeping down her cheeks. Hadn’t she cried enough over that man, for goodness’ sake?

‘How did it end?’

‘Turns out I was right not to trust him. I didn’t need to be a detective to realise he was having another affair.’

Ann winced in sympathy. ‘So you threw him out?’

‘I didn’t have to. He positively ran out the door. He was young and ambitious. Being tied down by a family wasn’t how he saw his life panning out.’ She took a sip of her drink to ease the catch in her throat. ‘He was also wildly good looking, so being tied to one woman didn’t feature, either.’

‘From the sounds of things, he was also irresponsible, selfish and immature. Don’t make excuses for him, Megan.’

Had she been? Megan guessed she probably had. Even when she’d hated Luke, a part of her had still been in love with him, prepared to rationalise his behaviour rather than see him for what he’d been: weak and self-centred. ‘You’re right. There are no excuses. If I ever give away my heart again, it’ll be to someone who’s strong and steady. Not flashy and charming.’ She would tell herself that over and over again, until she forgot what it felt like to have Scott’s lips slide over hers. Forgot all about the way she’d melted against him.

Sat in his home office, bent over his computer, Scott felt nothing like the flashy charmer Megan believed him to be. What he felt like was a tired, overworked shell of a man who was starting to become disillusioned with his life. Sure, he still loved his job, but the hours of reading and preparation that went behind each case were taking their toll. He was a victim of his own success. The harder he worked, the better he was, the more in demand he became.

Giving his watch a cursory glance he sighed and stretched out his shoulders. Ten o’clock. He had maybe two more hours left in him, at most. First though, he needed more caffeine. As he padded downstairs to make himself another coffee, Scott reflected that the trouble with his life was that work
was
his life. Outside it, he had nothing. Sure he had a handful of friends he could socialise with, should he ever get the time, but that wasn’t much to show for thirty-odd years. Splashing hot water into his mug, he wondered if his broodiness was just a product of not having a woman in his life at the moment. He was probably just horny. What had it been? Six months? Maybe more? Whatever, it was too long. He was a man who needed women, who enjoyed their company, both in and out of bed. It was fair to say that over the years, he’d enjoyed a lot of women. It wasn’t that he was against a steady, long-term relationship, but more that he’d always gone for the simple, easy option. The woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid of letting a man know it. That type of woman made for short-term fun, but not for anything long lasting.

Recently, however, he’d found himself becoming more selective. Turning down offers he’d have jumped at a year ago. He’d have liked to put it down to a more discerning, mature taste now that he was creeping through his early thirties. But was that really it? Or was it that since he’d started to take an interest in Megan Taylor, all other women had failed to measure up? Though why the hell he was still knocking on that particular door he simply couldn’t work out. With her cool, ‘friends-only’ attitude, she was so far removed from the usual women he dated, it was laughable.

With a deep sigh he thrust the steaming coffee mug on to his desk and settled back into his battered leather chair. He didn’t have time to toy with thoughts of the sexy DS this evening, though if he played his cards right after their drink tomorrow, he might be toying with more than simply thoughts. A grin spread across his face as he turned his attention back to his screen. Within seconds it had been replaced with a frown.