Body Work (6 page)

Six

The Wax Job

Tyce arrived for work the next morning tired and spent. He
’d had a hard night in more ways than one.

He never should have messed with Lisa in the pool house. He
’d thought to have her after all this time would put a lot of demons to rest, but the idea backfired.

Instead of clearing her out of his system, sex with Lisa had created more of a mess. Now that he knew her body, he wanted to know more than the texture of her skin, the feel of her heart pounding against his, the scent of her sex.

He’d had some great times with other bored women, had even turned some of them into allies. This was a word of mouth business and he had great word of mouth.

The fact that some of his reputation hinged on his recreational activity didn
’t make him proud, but he wasn’t above taking the work.

But with Lisa, it was different, more, and that scared him.

His cell phone rang and he answered, half relieved, half disappointed to have the interruption. “Branton.”

“
Hey, I, uh, had something come up.”

“
And I’ve got a good idea what it was,” he snapped, remembering about the girl Jason had met. “Just make sure she’s not jail bait and you’re protected.”

“
I know, I know.”

“
Jason, make sure.”

“
I will.”

“
You be back at work tomorrow or you go home. God help you if your mother finds your sorry ass on her doorstep.”

“
Unh, maybe I should come in today.”

Tyce laughed. His sister could kick Jason
’s butt from here to Sunday without stubbing her toe.

He looked at the light gleaming
out from the kitchen windows. “No, you take the day off. You’ll be itchy as hell all day watching the clock anyway. I know a good detailer who lives close by. You just mind yourself and the girl.”

Jason was a Branton male through and through: his head got scrambled when his dick woke up.

Tyce set his toolbox down beside the pickup and headed toward the kitchen door. Lisa had always been an early riser and he’d known all along that she watched him. A telltale twitch at the frilly white curtain in the window told him this morning was no different.

He rapped once on the door
, and then opened it.

He found her perched on a stool sipping coffee from a huge mug that covered half her face when she held it up. She was alone. A glossy magazine lay flat on the counter top in front of her. Wrapped in a silk robe, her hair tousled like a cloud, she hadn
’t been up long.

Her color was high. She looked pretty sitting there, back straight, bare toes hooked over the bottom rung on the stool. She had high arches in her feet and he knew now that the skin on her soles was a
s smooth as the rest of her. “You need me?” she asked.

“
I wouldn’t say that.” He stepped to the rack of mugs by the brand-new coffee maker and helped himself. He appreciated good coffee and Lisa’s was exceptional.

She grinned into her mug and took a dainty sip. Surprised by her smile, he watched the fine slope of her nape as she tilted her head down. He wanted to lift her hair off her neck then run his tongue down her spine.
Hm.
Not a bad idea. When he got to the base, he could bend her over and take her that way. He wondered if she’d like that, too.

“
You plan to come out to the garage today?” he asked.

She raised her long lashes and studied him intently, blue ey
es warm and filled with humor. “And if I am?”

“
I’ll put you to work.”

“
Excuse me?”

He could have laughed out loud at her expression. Apparently being put to that kind of work wasn
’t what she wanted.

“
Detailing. No more loitering unless you mean business,” he said. “I’m not running a daycare.”

She sputtered into her mug but managed to swallow anyway.

“These cars need to be washed, waxed and buffed,” he continued, ignoring her theatrics. “My nephew’s deserted me today. You can still use a buffer, can’t you?”

The challenge he put in his voice was over the top, but he knew she
’d take the bait. Eventually.

The red flush on he
r neck gave her interest away. “Have someone from that place in town come out to do it,” she said in a bluff he could read a mile off.

“
I don’t allow just anyone to wax and buff the cars I work on. I have a reputation.”

She flipped a page on the magazine, then set her mug down and looked at him. The movement caused the shoulder of the robe to slide to her elbow. He saw a thin strap and nothing but smooth round shoulder, but it was enough to send his libido into overdrive.

“I know your reputation,” she said slowly, every word husky and inviting. “Harris and . . . others . . . told me, but I already knew.”

The husband again. The way she kept talking about him made him think maybe she had cared for more than Delaney
’s money.

“
How’d you meet him?” He kept his tone soft.

“
You’ve already judged me on my marriage, Tyce, so why would you ask?”

“
Believe it or not, I’ve been known to make errors in judgment. Correct me on this.” One of the errors was thinking that once would be enough with Lisa. He wasn’t sure he’d ever have enough.

She shrugged one smooth shoulder and the robe slipped down another inch. Hiding behind her mug again, she said,
“I don’t think so. I realized the other night that I don’t have to defend myself anymore, not to Harris’s friends nor his sons and certainly not to you.”

“
Humor me, Lisa. All I want to know is how a girl from La La ended up here.” He raised his right arm to encompass the massive kitchen. “I’ve heard Franklin Delaney’s side of the story. Now, I want yours.”

Her gaze sharpened.
“How well do you know Harris’s sons?”

“
We’re acquainted. I’ve done work for both of them.”

She cooled, looked stiff. “
That explains a lot.” She fiddled with a corner of the magazine. Bent it over then smoothed it flat again. “I can’t imagine why you’d want my version of my life when you’ve already decided to believe theirs.”

He took another sip of coffee to give her time to realize he wasn
’t going to leave things as they were. “You’re assuming I do believe them. Maybe for a short time I did. But not now.”

Her lower li
p firmed and her chin came up. “Why? Because of what happened yesterday?”

He didn
’t want to discuss yesterday. The whole episode was just this side of heaven and he’d hardly had time to process it yet. “Just tell me, Lisa. How did you get here?”

The wan smile she gave him softened into memories.

“I left the trailer park that day,” she said, referring to the time she’d left him at the bus stop. “I found another job, a room to rent and got through some business classes. After a while, I landed a job as a file clerk at Delaney Enterprises.”

She propped her chin in her hand.
“This is silly. You don’t really want to know–”

“
All of it.”

She cleared her throat. “
One day shortly after I started my job, I was on the executive office floor. I shouldn’t have been up there, but I’d forgotten an important file and didn’t want to get into trouble. I thought I could sneak into the right office and leave it on a desk. Harris caught me and I confessed, sure I was going to lose my job.”

“
Obviously, you didn’t.”

“
Harris was kind and I stumbled over myself trying to say how sorry I was to hear about his wife’s death. But I was young, couldn’t find the words. To relieve my embarrassment, he changed the subject and talked about his car collection. When he showed me the picture he had in his hand I recognized the car as an Austin Healy. He was amazed.”

“
Back in the day, it was just American muscle you loved.”

He caught a g
limmer of a smile in her eyes. “Back in the day, I didn’t know anything else. There’s too much roll in a muscle car. I prefer my vehicles to corner well.”

He liked t
ight handling too. He grinned. “And then?”

“
He invited me out to his warehouse to see his collection. Three months later we married.”

“
Causing a ruckus in the family.”

“
Harris protected me from most of it, but the last six weeks have been tough.” She looked up. “Harris and I respected each other and, in my way, I loved him. He was kind and I was faithful and Franklin never got over it.”

“
What do you mean?”

She briskly flipped a couple more pages of the magazine.
“Franklin wanted to sleep with me, especially when he drank. I avoided him as much as I could. He’s furious that Harris left me the cars.”

Tyce knew how furious. “
But he got control of Delaney Enterprises. He and that dim bulb brother of his.”

“
Of course. I never wanted Harris to be unfair to his family and I never wanted to create a rift. But Harris insisted I have the cars.”

“
And the proceeds will pay for this move to Europe?”

She glanced away f
rom him, flipped another page. “The sale is the last thing I need to do before I leave.”

“
Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything?”

She looked directly at him, gaze steady and so sharply honest he knew this was goi
ng to snap like a rubber band. “Because I don’t know where your loyalties lay. All I do know is what you said yesterday.”

“
Said?”

“
About being with bored, spoiled women. It’s obvious you don’t like me, but I need you to get these cars ready.” Her chin lifted farther. “Get this straight, Tyce. I don’t want to need you, but I’m smart enough not to shoot myself in the foot. I need big dollars for that collection and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get them.”

“
Including inviting me into the pool house?” As soon as the words were out, he knew he was wrong. She had been too responsive, too earthy and honest in her need.

Her eyes blazed in hot anger. She slapped her palm on the counter. Then she stood so suddenly the stool
tilted back and toppled over. “I’m sick to death of you and everyone else making assumptions about my . . . my . . . character. Franklin thinks I married his father for money, you think I made–had sex with you to keep you working on the cars. Everyone thinks Harris somehow raised me out of a gutter.”

She rolled over his objection and kept talkin
g. “I did not need Harris’s nor anyone else’s help!” She strode over to him and poked his chest with a well-filed fingernail.

“
I was way, way out of that trailer park by the time I met Harris. I had a savings account, a good credit rating. I shopped in nice department stores. No one and I mean no one got me out of that trailer park, but me,”

“
Did Harris know you were going to auction them off?”

“
Yes, he wanted me to, so I agreed.” She sighed as if she was tired of explaining herself. “Like my wedding vows, I take my promises seriously.”

Nodding, he accepted what he should have known all along. Lisa Brady had taken care of herself, just as she
’d always had to.

Seven

The Buff & Shine

Hours later, Lisa applied a thick coat of wax polish to a five
-inch square of gunmetal-grey fender. The wax took a couple minutes to dry into a white paste, so she sidled over to the other car where Tyce lay on his creeper under the chassis. There were parts and tools strewn on the floor all around him.

When she nudged his thigh, he rolled out from under the car just enough to see her.
“Yes?” He sounded impatient.

“
I’m almost finished. It’s been awhile since I buffed a car. I hope you’re happy with the results.”

“
I’ll go over it and look for any spots you missed. If I find any, you’ll do it again tomorrow.”

“
Okay.” She grinned. Her arms were killing her, her back, thighs, and calves were sore from crouching and bending, but she wouldn’t have traded her afternoon for anything. She arched backward to give her muscles a good stretch.

“
I can see up your shorts from here,” he said. “Open your legs.”

She did and felt a cool rush of air against her private heat.

“Very pretty,” he said.

“
Thank you.” A slide of rough fingers from her ankle to her knee made her melt. His fingers danced a tattoo behind her knee, making her want to ease down so he could do more.

“
My hands are dirty,” he said. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“
Not really.”

He rolled out from under the car with a strange expression on his face. His brows knit as he frowned.
“There’s a grease mark up your leg.”

She shrugged.
“It’ll wash off.”

His gaze cooled.
“You’re not finished with the Jag. I want to keep to schedule.”

“
Okay.” She backed off, disconcerted with his response. True to form, Tyce advanced and retreated. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to wait another two days before he advanced again. “That reminds me, when will your nephew be back?”

“
Tomorrow. Bored already?”

“
No, but my timetable has changed. We’ll have to speed things up. The collection has to be ready sooner than I thought.”

“
Why?”

“
It just does. I’ll continue to help, even with Jason here. I’ll go finish up.” She stepped off and picked up the buffer again, her forearms protesting. When she’d started, the handheld machine hadn’t seemed very heavy, now it weighed a ton.

Suddenly, Tyce
’s heated body braced her from behind; his arms supported hers as he grasped the buffer to help. His hands closed over her smaller ones and she felt his breath in her ear. Tingly sensations trailed down her back, already hot from the press of him against her. She felt his cock rise against her ass and knew his newest advance had begun. She shifted forward so her belly pressed against the fender. She tilted her ass up and out, letting him know he could take her against the car any time he wanted to. She thought of his hard dick sliding between her lips and deep into her. He’d have to angle her upward to get the best ride, his plunges deep and hard would send her flat against the trunk. She’d come with her mons pressed against the smooth fender, his plunges taking her over the edge with a sharp scream.

“
This won’t take long,” he said against her ear as he touched the spinning buffer head to the paste wax. Smoothing the head across the spot, the whitened wax came up to a beautiful crystal shine.

Disappointment and reality struck with twin force. She sagged with the truth of how pitifully needy she was.

When they finished with the buffer, Tyce inspected the car from head lamps to tail lights, checking around all the chrome, inside the doors and even inside the grill.

“
Not bad, Delaney,” he said with a wink when he was done. “Looks like you haven’t forgotten much.”

She grinned, feeling positively goofy with delight at how little it took to please him.
“I had a great teacher,” she said with a chuckle.

He swept her into his arms and blessed the tip of her nose with a kiss. It was close to what she needed but not nearly enough. He set her aside as quickly as he
’d grabbed her.

“
I just need to replace a set of brake pads and I’ll be right with you,” he said with enough heat to ignite her.

She set about putting her supplies away while he rolled back under the car. Her mind kept drifting off into fantasies about Tyce and everything they
’d done in the pool house.

“
I’m going for a shower,” she said, needing to cool off.

He rolled out from under the car.
“I’ll be inside in an hour.”

“
Inside?” Her voice hollowed out into a breathy sigh.

He cocked an eyebrow at her, gave her a steadying look.
“The house. Give me an hour and I’ll be in the kitchen.” He rolled back under the car.

But it was too
late; she was already weak in the knees at the thought of him being inside.
Oh good grief woman, get a grip.

She wobbled her way across the cobblestones, telling herself the kiss on the nose meant nothing. The way he
’d helped and held her meant nothing. The heat of his gaze meant nothing.

Fifty nine minutes later, after a scented bath and moisturizing her entire body, she dismissed the cook for the day. She watched Tyce cross the courtyard toward the kitchen door. Even from here he gleamed from the top of his still damp hair to the toes of his boots.

He’d scrubbed himself into a shine, as fussy about his appearance as he was about the cars under his care.

Heat bloomed in the pit of her stomach and she swore she would not go another day, not another hour without being kissed, thoroughly and completely.

She scampered to her favorite stool and took up her position, trying to look cool and unaffected.

This time he didn
’t bother knocking, sure as he was that she’d be waiting for him. The arrogance of the gesture both piqued and thrilled her.

Just like this morning, Tyce found Lisa perched on her stool. But unlike earlier something wild in her eyes slowed him and made him cautious.

“
Thanks for your help. Are you tired?”

“
Not very.” She released the toes of one foot from the bottom rung and swung her leg like a pendulum. Like the first time he’d seen her he marveled at the smooth length of skin. Except now he knew exactly how soft, how smooth the skin behind her knee was. How she liked to have that skin licked.

“
You mentioned you may have to speed up the schedule. Care to elaborate?”

“
Franklin’s unhappy I’m selling the cars. He doesn’t particularly want them, but he hates that I’ve got control of the collection. He’s threatening to stop me from selling them.”

“
You figure the sooner they sell the better.”

“
My lawyer says there’s nothing he can do legally. They’re mine.”

“
Could he say his father was incompetent when he left them to you?” He tapped his temple.

She shook her head and grinned in such a carefree way that he felt something inside crack and warm to her even more.
“If he tried something like that, the control of Delaney Enterprises would be affected. After all, if Harris was incompetent leaving the cars to me, he must have been just as incompetent when he left the company to his sons, right?”

“
Makes sense.”

“
I’m not as stupid as Franklin assumes. I’ve got my bases covered, but I’d just like this to be over. The sooner the better.”

“
So you can leave.”

Her gaze hit the floor.
“So I can leave.”

Angry that all she could think of was escaping again he was on her in two strides.

Cupping both her shoulders, he lifted her off the stool and ground his mouth against hers. He wanted, needed, to claim her, bind her, and brand her. He heard a deep moan that he assumed was hers, but couldn’t be sure. She met his mouth with equal strength, equal power, and it shook him to the core.

She went limp before reaching up and slipping her arms around his neck. He hoisted her onto the counter and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He settled himself exactly where he wanted to be and pushed against her.

Her lips were soft and welcoming and oh so sweet. Her mouth was hot and soft and wet for him. His tongue met hers, ran the tip of it along her bottom teeth, tasted her, drank from her, and then claimed her.

He gathered her close, felt her nipples graze his chest and reached up to cup them. She shivered but
didn’t let go. He kissed the side of her mouth, licked her bottom lip and tugged it into his mouth.

She froze for a still moment out of time, and he was just about to pull back out of the kiss when she turned fierce.

Lisa gave as good as she got and tore into his mouth with a fury that took him aback. She was ravenous, demanded all of him, and he knew damn well she’d get all and more than she wanted.

His mind blew at the sweetness, the spice, the raw need he tasted.

Again. And again, as the kiss raged on.

It was as if yesterday hadn
’t happened. The raw sex in the pool house receded, and his decade-old memories resurfaced.

Lisa was clover sweet. As sweet as she
’d been at eighteen. Her kisses were exactly right; her mouth possessed him, drained him, and excited him beyond arousal. He strained and pushed against her and she strained and pushed back.

She swept her arm across the counter, clearing it, pulling him down. He stretched her out, kissing and nipping her neck and shoulders.

Her breasts were less perky when she was flat on her back and he was happy to see she hadn’t bothered with a bra. Gathering both soft mounds in his palms, he squeezed gently, pushing them together. “These are real, aren’t they?”

“
All me all the time.” The look she gave him made him laugh. “You thought they were fake? I’m disappointed you don’t remember them better.”

“
They’ve haunted me. The scent of them,” he trailed his nose across the straining tips, “the delicious raspberry cream taste of them.” He suckled and licked at her.

“
I remember you, too.” She stretched up to meet his lips with a hunger he couldn’t ignore. She kissed him again and again as if she couldn’t get enough of his mouth.

“
What do you remember?”

“
The taste of your mouth, the feel of your hands. You made my panties wet. I tasted your kisses for months after I left.”

Mind blown, he fed her the kisses she craved. He tweaked each nipple as their lips met time and time again. Each tweak brought a flutter of noise in her throat. The flutter grew to a moan when he finally mouthed the pink buds.

“You taste the same,” he said. “I can’t believe you taste the same.” He could hardly recognize the sound of his own voice, grating with need.

“
Upstairs.” She was even more tousled, flush with want. Her eyes were bright and swam with come-fuck-me. “Please Tyce.”

His erection pressed between her thighs, a zipper away from being inside her. He
’d been ready to tease, to entice and seduce her, not give in to his own randy need. He’d wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, but now he just wanted to taste.

He slid his hand under her short, tight skirt. Sighed at what he found.
“No panties. Good girl.”

He found her cleft, moist and ready and gathered her moan into his mouth. They were exposed here, bound to be caught and while it wouldn
’t be the first time he’d been found with his hands full of woman, he didn’t want it to happen with Lisa.

He
’d felt protective of her when she was fourteen and it blew his mind that he still felt that way.

He rubbed his thumb against her clit, felt it go rubbery and
engorged; to be certain she wouldn’t change her mind, and then withdrew. He heard a small, strained sound of frustration so he leaned over her, clasped the back of her head so that her neck was exposed. “Open your eyes.”

When she did, they were foggy with desire. He took his damp fingers into his mouth, tasted the salty flavor of her.
“Delicious,” he muttered and watched while her eyes widened again.

“
Your room,” he said. “Now.”

He helped her stand and slowly resettled her T-shirt and skirt to cover her. She clasped his erection, rubbing his straining cock, one finger tapping insistently on the head.

One more kiss, he thought, before he let her go, but one kiss turned into ten as they pressed and bucked and strained toward each other. Whatever game they’d played, was played out.