Distinguished Service & Every Move You Make (Uniformly Hot!) (7 page)

11

“
I
CAN
’
T
APOLOGIZE
ENOUGH
,” Geneva said for the third time as Mace followed her out to her car an hour later.

The diner had pretty much emptied out in the interim, with the buzz of the day finally dying down like a caffeine high. One of the customers had recognized him as the one in the footage and quietly approached him, but he’d deflected the inquiry.

It had been Dustin he’d been more focused on.

“She’s going to marry me,” the other man had said.

Mace had stared at him as if Dustin had just told him he had a vest of plastic explosives strapped to his chest under his plaid shirt.

As far as guys went, Dustin didn’t look too bad. A little soft around the middle, maybe. The type that would run from a fight instead of face it.

Well, except in this case, apparently. It appeared the guy had decided to stand up for Geneva.

“I’m sorry?” he’d said in response to his statement.

“You do know she’s pregnant with my child.”

Mace had nodded, experiencing a pang he couldn’t quite identify but didn’t like. “I do. I also know the circumstances surrounding the situation. And that she has no intention of marrying you.”

The guy had looked so genuinely heartbroken, Mace had felt instantly bad.

“Look, no hard feelings, but she doesn’t feel that way about you. And from what I understand, you don’t feel that way about her, either. You two were friends, right?”

“Right.”

“And that one night was an accident.”

He didn’t respond.

“I appreciate and respect that you want to do the right thing, Dustin. And I’m sure Geneva does, too. But I’d recommend you try to get the friendship back before you destroy even that. For the sake of the baby, at least.”

Geneva had come up then, looking a little upset and worried that Dustin was sitting at his table. Then she asked what he was doing there.

Mace had raised his brow at the other man as if to provide a punctuation point. Then he extended his arm.

“Good seeing you again, Dustin,” he’d said.

Dustin’s jaw tightened, but he shook his hand and got up. But rather than taking his regular seat at the counter, he’d left.

“No need for apologies,” he said to Geneva. “That’s what all this was about, wasn’t it? Getting a specific reaction?”

“What did he say?”

“Probably what you’re thinking.”

The night was chilly and he didn’t think the light sweater she wore was protection enough, so after she unlocked the car, he opened the door for her.

“The chicken fried steak was great,” he said. And it had been. Doubly so when he saw she’d had the same thing.

“Was.”

He squinted at her. “Sorry?”

“You said that’s what this was about. You know, Dustin’s reaction.” She hesitated getting inside the car. “Past tense.”

He smiled. “Tell me why I’m not surprised you’re one of those type of girls?”

“What type?”

“The type that easily reads people.”

“So you’re saying…”

He grinned at her. “That it’s too cold to be standing out here. Get in the car, Geneva.”

She made a face.

He chuckled and opened the door wider.

She climbed in and started the engine, but kept one foot outside so he couldn’t close her inside. He couldn’t help looking at the way her skirt hiked up, revealing a nicely shaped knee.

“Are you going back to your motel?” she asked.

He grinned. “I was thinking about it.”

“Want some company?”

He didn’t know quite how to respond.

If you had asked him what might come out of her delectable mouth next, her question wouldn’t even have rated a spot on the list. In fact, he’d pretty much accepted he’d be spending the night alone.

She cleared her throat. “I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Okay.”

“If you’d rather not…”

“No, no. Please, do come over.”

She looked suddenly shy, sexily so. “I have to swing by my place, shower some of these food smells off me and change first.”

“And I’ll have to clean up the room.”

She laughed. “See you in an hour?”

“An hour.”

“Okay.”

“All right.”

She finally pulled her leg back inside and he closed the door for her then knocked on the window.

“Room 3,” he said.

She looked so damn hot when she smiled he nearly kissed her. “See you there…”

He stepped aside as she put the car in Reverse and backed up before shifting into Drive and leaving the lot.

She wanted to talk to him about something.

He wondered what.

While they ate, he’d easily relayed what had happened that day in a way that didn’t make him grind his teeth. Talking to her was so effortless. He couldn’t imagine what she wanted to say. In private.

He blinked. Well, he’d find out soon enough, wouldn’t he?

He walked over to where he’d parked a couple spaces up. He found himself hoping it was something that would find her lying in his bed.

He cursed under his breath.

First he needed to clear off the bed.

* * *

O
KAY
,
MAYBE
she was being too forward.

Geneva hesitated outside Room 3, her hand raised to knock. She curled and opened her fingers then dropped her hand back to her side, her courage abandoning her.

What was she thinking? Oh yeah, about last night…

She swallowed hard. Last night had been phenomenal. But had it been little more than aberration? A spur-of-the-moment thing not meant to be repeated?

Halfway through her shower, the anticipatory high she’d been running on had begun to dissipate, knocked back by Trudy’s words earlier, then Dustin’s descent on Mace’s table.

Was it possible Mace wanted to do more than fake their dating?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

Oh, criminy, ask him already…

She lifted her hand and forced herself to knock.

The door opened so quickly, she nearly fell inside.

“Whoa,” Mace said, steadying her.

She laughed. “That was fast.”

“Yeah. I thought I heard something.”

“My breathing?”

“That must be it.”

She was running late, taking more than the hour she’d promised. Sixty minutes had been more than enough time to get ready and drive over. But then she’d started to wonder if she was doing the right thing.

Taking in the welcoming expression on Mace’s handsome face, she felt instantly better.

“Come in,” he said.

She did.

“I tried cleaning up, but…”

The place was pin neat. She’d bet he earned extra points in the service for his efforts.

“Okay, so it’s clean.”

And so was he, if his damp hair and fresh soap smell was any indication. Which explained why he’d changed. He wore a soft pair of jeans and a honey-brown T-shirt.

She walked in and he closed the door after her. The radio played on low—a local country station—but otherwise it was quiet.

She turned to say something to him at the same time he stepped forward to say something to her and she bumped right into him.

But rather than apologize, Geneva did something she’d hoped they’d get around to, but certainly hadn’t planned on doing now.

She kissed him.

And he kissed her back.

Wow!

If she thought last night had been something, well, now she was sure her skin was going to burn from the instant heat generated by the mere touch of his mouth against hers.

She made small hungry sounds she’d never in her life imagined she’d ever make, running her hands restlessly up his back then down over his hind end, then up again, tunneling under his T-shirt and the hotness beneath.

She’d changed into something as casual as what he was wearing. They plucked and tugged and pulled and kissed until they were half undressed and then fell onto the nearby king-size bed.

Geneva wrapped her legs around his hips, one of her jeans legs still half on, her T-shirt half off, one bra cup pushed up. He shook his leg to free himself from his own jeans, one hand cupping her exposed breast, the other reaching between her thighs.

Yes, yes, yes…

Had she said the words? She couldn’t be sure. She was unaware of anything other than the thick pulsing of blood through her body and her white-hot need for the man even now sheathing himself with a condom.

She worked her hand between them, gently grasping his rock-hard erection and positioning it against her waiting flesh.

Her breath caught and held and she arched her back, swimming in sensations that flowed over and through her like vivid colors.

Then he entered her…

She moaned so loud, the sound almost roused her from her dizzying state.

Almost.

He felt so good. So very good…

He withdrew, then slid in again, this time to the hilt.

Her back came off the mattress.

Had she ever wanted anything so much?

A hunger that surpassed anything she’d ever experienced rushed through her. She grasped his hips and tilted her own, taking him deeper still.

He thrust once, twice…

Then uttered a curse and went rigid.

12

“
I’
VE
GOT
TO
…
STOP
for a minute…” Mace whispered into her ear. “Sorry…”

Geneva swallowed so hard she heard it. “It’s okay.”

She made a small sound as he rolled off her to lay flat on the mattress next to her.

She didn’t know what she should do, so she did nothing.

She lay staring at the ceiling, wondering if what had just happened…well, had.

Had he really come that quickly?

Of course, last night she had nearly achieved orgasm by his merely blowing on her.

Well, a bit more than that, but still.

She fought to catch her breath and wondered if she should put her clothes back on, or take them the rest of the way off. She settled for a compromise as Mace pulled the covers over them both: she took off the jeans but left her bra and T-shirt on.

“Wow,” he said so softly she nearly didn’t hear him. “That’s a first.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help herself.

At least he wasn’t trying to pass off that he had intended to do that or that it hadn’t actually happened.

They lay for long, quiet minutes. Geneva attempted to rein in her runaway emotions, but was having a hard time. She’d been a teenager when she’d last been left hanging this way.

Mace slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She gladly went, laying her cheek against the warm granite of his chest.

“Just give me a minute.”

“It’s all right,” she said.

And, she discovered, it was.

While she’d have preferred more, she really was okay with leaving things where they were. After all, there was always tomorrow.

At least she hoped there was.

Now that her breathing was returning to semi-normal, and her temperature cooling a bit, she found it was delicious just to lay this close to him.

He smelled so good.

“So,” he said quietly, even as his hand smoothed up and down her back from her bare bottom to her neck. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

She dragged her nose against his collarbone. “Huh?”

“Earlier, outside the diner—”

She struggled to clear the cobwebs crowding her brain. “Oh! Yes. Sorry.”

She collected her thoughts and slowly rubbed her leg against his. But then he surprised her by touching her knee and then smoothing his hand to the back, pulling her leg over his and placing her sex in direct contact with his thigh…a thigh he maneuvered so it pressed against her.

She lost her breath briefly then bore down against his hard muscles.

“This,” she rasped.

He moved his thigh. “This?”

“Uh-huh…” She bit on her bottom lip. “After last night, I was going to suggest that maybe we could add sex to our arrangement…”

He moved his leg back and forth against her clit.

“Sex?” he whispered.

“Mmm, yes.” She arched into him, amazed by how wet he made her by doing something so simple. “We don’t have to alter the agreement. We can still act like a dating couple. But we’ll just be friends…”

“Friends who have sex?”

“Mmm-hmm…”

His hand took the place of his leg. She gasped at his touch as he ran his fingertip along her hungry opening then moved on, teasing her.

She reached to see if he might be ready to go again. He’d removed the condom and she happily saw he was mostly erect again.

And she was all too willing to get him the rest of the way there.

She wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed gently, then stroked him as confidently as he touched her.

Oh, yes…

She wanted to taste him so badly her mouth watered. His weight felt so good against her palm. She slid down the sheets until her mouth was at his waist level then slid her lips down over the tip of his erection, licking as she went. He tasted of desire. She took more of him in and his hips bucked involuntarily.

“Sweet hell,” he muttered under his breath, tangling his hands in her hair.

Geneva licked him, stroked him until his breathing quickened and he appeared on the verge of coming again.

She hoped he would. She wanted to taste him fully…

Instead, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her up until she was kissing him. She all too readily straddled him even as she focused on the talents of his tongue in her mouth, moving her wetness along the length of his erection then back again, holding off when he tried to enter. Finally, he’d had enough. He quickly donned a condom, then grasped her hips and thrust hungrily upward.

She gasped, her mouth opening against his, incapable of movement, incapable of words, incapable of doing anything but riding the delicious tsunami of sensation that rushed over her, through her, in her.

Yes…

Mace pressed his hand against her shoulder, gently moving her until she sat upright.

She rocked her hips, then again, leaning her right hand back against his thigh. He touched her breasts, lightly pinching her nipples, adding to the hot chaos swirling within.

She felt like she could do this forever, wanted to do it forever, feel his thick hardness filling her to capacity, ride him until they were both raw…

She wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed like that, merely moving on top of him, but when she heard him groan and he grasped her hips, she braced herself…and welcomed him thrusting wildly up into her.

Oh, yes!

* * *

“M
MM
…”

A while later Mace lay with Geneva curved against his side, enjoying the quiet, contented sounds she made.

“So,” he whispered against her hair. “Is that an adequate answer to your question?”

Her giggle made him smile. “Mmm-hmm…”

Adequate didn’t come near describing how he felt about the past hour. After a perfectly horrific start, he’d regained his momentum—with some hot help from Geneva—and the two of them had set the sheets on fire.

Her responsiveness? Mind-blowing.

Actually, he was coming to see everything about her was mind-blowing. For all intents and purposes, she was the perfect woman. Kind, sexy as hell, levelheaded, funny, wild in bed, smart, sexy as hell… Wait, he’d already said that.

Yes, well, it bore repeating.

How in the hell he ever thought he’d be able to keep his hands off her was a mystery.

Then he remembered…

He couldn’t help gazing down at where she curved against him. More specifically, at her belly.

Flat and toned, it was impossible to believe a baby was growing within her. But there was.

He waited for some sort of feeling other than post-coital bliss to hit him…

Nothing. At least nothing associated with the guilt he expected.

He honestly couldn’t say that outside his admiration for her for going ahead on her own, with no expectations, no grudges or regrets, that he felt anything but a growing physical need and fondness for her.

Which brought him to his next need for her appearance.

“I want you to meet my parents.”

Her soft sounds stopped. So, it appeared, had her breathing.

Hell, at his poor choice in words, he found himself holding his breath.

“Wait…that didn’t come out right,” he said. “What I meant is that I’m having lunch with my parents tomorrow and I’d like you to come with me.”

“Play the role of girlfriend? For your parents?”

She’d moved slightly away and propped her head up in her hand, her elbow planted on the bed. He missed her warmth and closeness instantly.

“Yeah,” he said simply. “Oh, and you’ll be meeting my grandfather, too.”

She squinted at him. “Are you sure you want me to lie to them?” She shifted, appearing uncomfortable. “I mean, it’s one thing to do this with friends, but…”

“Quite another with family?”

She had a point.

When he’d first considered asking her to go with him, he thought it was the perfect way to get his mother to stop hounding him about grandchildren. But now…

And, of course, there was always the situation surrounding his brother…

“I want you to come,” he said. “We don’t have to lie. We can just tell them the truth—that we’re friends.” He wished she’d bring her heat back. “They don’t interact with any common acquaintances, so there’s no risk of the truth getting back to anybody.”

“The truth…”

He grinned. “We’d, of course, leave out the sex part.”

“Of course.”

He moved his fingers over her propped-up arm and encouraged her to come closer.

He sighed in gratitude when she did.

They lay like that in companionable silence for a while, her rubbing her leg against his, his hand caressing her bare back.

“I have to warn you, they’ll probably talk about my brother the entire time,” he said quietly. “And my grandfather will probably flirt outrageously with you.” He chuckled. “No, no probably about it—he will.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

Mace winced, but didn’t say anything immediately.

He was curious why he’d offered up the comment so easily. He hadn’t mentioned Marcus until well into his relationship with Janine. And even then, she had found out via his parents…which is probably why he’d thrown up the warning now.

“I don’t,” he said quietly. “At least not anymore.”

She tilted her head to look up at him, but didn’t say anything.

“Actually, that sounds cold. And my feelings for my brother are anything but.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know. It’s complicated…”

“How did he die?” she asked quietly.

“9/11. He was one of the firefighters who’d gone into the Twin Towers…and never made it back out.”

He could feel her shocked stare in the darkness.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to say anything. Everything’s been said already.” Over and over and over again…

He grimaced and ran his hand over his face.

How had his love for his older brother gone from something he cherished to a burden to be hauled around, forever a weight on his shoulders?

He realized it was somewhere around the time his parents had stopped living and had gone into a sort of prolonged mourning trance it took him a month to recover from whenever he visited.

He hadn’t been aware he’d spoken the words aloud until Geneva said, “It must be very difficult for you.”

He extracted his arm from around her and pushed to a sitting position on the side of the bed. “Yeah.”

He didn’t know why he’d said the things he did to her, shared emotions he’d never told anyone.

She gently touched his back.

“I’m going to go grab a shower. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.”

He heard her gather the blankets around her. “Okay.”

He switched on the bedside light, got up, grabbed his jeans and headed for the bathroom, not so much needing a shower as he did a moment to himself.

Marcus…

He turned in the doorway, taking in the somber expression on her beautiful face.

“I’d love to come with you,” she said quietly. “You know, for lunch tomorrow.”

He said nothing.

“If the offer still stands?”

“Thanks.”

She smiled at him. “Sure.”

“Don’t go anywhere until I get out?” he said.

She nodded.

He quietly closed the door then silently banged his fist against the cheap wood.

What had he been thinking?

Obviously, he hadn’t been.

He switched on the shower, hoping the hot water and few minutes to himself would give him back the balance he needed.

Yet, somehow he knew it wouldn’t.