Everything Bared (Six-Alarm Sexy) (39 page)

Dani recoiled at the venom in the woman’s tone. “Of course I know William’s name. He isn’t home right now.”

“Then why are
you
here?”

“I live here.”

“Is that right? The condo board never received an application.”

“Application? For what?”

“Any
guests
,” she said, all but spitting out the word, “residing longer than four weeks need to be approved by the condo board via formal application.”

“I’m sure it was just an oversight.” Or was it? Her arrangement with Will ended today. Did he expect her to leave? She’d assumed after everything they’d said to each other that he’d want her to stay… shit.

“We’ll see.” Mrs. Norris arched a brow and smiled oh-so-sweetly. Every nerve in Dani’s body went on alert. “By the way, have you seen the news today?”

“No. I just got in.” Dani forced herself not to slam the door in the woman’s face.

“You might do so.” The woman turned to leave.

Dani cleared her throat. “Don’t you want to leave that for William?” She pointed to the plate.

“I’ll come back later when he’s home and deliver my treat to him personally.” She sneered and walked to her door.

What the hell? Did the woman think Dani would pretend to have baked them herself? When the woman disappeared into her own condo, Dani shut the door. “Nosy old bat,” she muttered as she turned on the television.

Plastered across the screen was Will’s photo, identifying him as the prime suspect in the CFF arson case. Legs shaking, she fell onto the couch. Coco barked, a sharp, worried yip, and jumped up beside her.

“Oh God. No!” Those bastards hadn’t been able to give her more than a two-month suspension, so they’d gone after Will. How could they think he’d done this? And why hadn’t anyone told her? Did Jamie know? Captain Starling? The announcement must have just been made. Otherwise, Jamie would have been up in arms. She didn’t care if the chiefs dragged her through the mud, but to do this to Will? To his family? His company? That was going too far.

Maybe if she moved out, that would take the heat off Will. The decision made, she ran to her bedroom and pulled her suitcases out of the closet. She opened them on the bed she’d rarely slept in and began emptying the drawers. When she’d filled one suitcase, she started on the second one. She had to be out of the condo before Will arrived home. Leaving was difficult enough without having him watch her. He’d try to stop her, but this was for his own good.

From the living room, she dimly heard Coco bark. Dani hurried into the bathroom and stuffed her cosmetics and toiletries into a bag. Then she whipped her delicates off the shower rod where she’d hung them to dry. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she recalled Will’s teasing her about the hard-ons her laundry gave him. Her resolve slipped a notch.

No. This was for the best. Why should he have to put up with all her shit? He didn’t even have the excuse that he loved her. Oh, he liked her well enough, but each time she’d told him she loved him, he’d just kissed her. She ran out of the bathroom and smack into a hard chest covered in Will’s favorite summer suit, an Armani classic. “You’re home early,” she gasped.

He frowned at the items in her hands, then turned and glanced inside her room. His face darkened when he spotted the suitcases on her bed. “Going somewhere?”

She scooted past him and dropped her things into the second case. He followed, but she ignored him. If she even looked at him, she’d cave. His blue eyes would draw her in. He’d make her believe they could survive anything, but how could they survive this? Reaching into the closet, she pulled out a stack of dresses, pants, and shirts. She packed everything up, hangers and all.

Go. Get out now. While you still can
.

She zipped up the case. “I’ll send someone for the rest of my things.” Grabbing the handles, she slid her luggage off the bed.

Will gripped her shoulders. “Dani, talk to me.”

“I—I can’t.” Her heart was breaking. She wasn’t going to survive this. Thank God she had two months to recover before she had to go back to work.

He shook her lightly. “At least tell me where you’re going.”

“Home.” She could give him that much.

“Sweetheart,” he said, caressing her jaw. “
This
is your home.”

She wet her lips and avoided his gaze. “Our agreement is over.”

“So? We moved past it weeks ago.”

Be strong. You’re doing this for him
.

“Did we?” She jutted out her chin and met his gaze.

“Yeah.” He pulled her down to the bed. “What’s going on?”

“I think it’s best if I leave.”

Will’s expression changed then, going from concern for her to frustration. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he covered his face and rubbed the stubble on his cheeks. “You heard.”

“Courtesy of your lovely neighbor.”

He groaned. “Christ. I went to the station to tell you, but Jamie said you’d gone home.” Turning, he arched a brow. “Why
are
you home?”

“I’ve been suspended. Two months.”

“Oh jeez, babe. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s better than being fired.”

He nodded. “I just wish I could have protected you better.”

Had the man lost his mind? “Will, why aren’t you punching walls, kicking down doors? Why aren’t you pissed?”

“Honestly, right now, all I can think about is how miserable I’ll be if you walk out that door.”

“Don’t you get it?” She shoved his shoulder and stood with her hands on her hips. “What a fucking train wreck. The chiefs are using you to punish me since their hands were tied.”

“Calm down, honey. There’s a lot about this you don’t know.” He tugged her back down to the bed. For a moment, he simply looked at her, his gaze caressing her face. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Torval had a heavy gambling problem. For years he’d been skimming from the company. The previous CFO either never saw it or ignored it. As best the cops can piece it together, Torval had gotten in over his head with one of the gangs in the Asian International District. Bringing the union in to CFF was just so he’d have another pot to plunder. My audit team found he’d been skimming from the union dues as well.”

“Did he set the fire?”

“Actually, the arson team thinks the gang did that as a warning. Of course, they might have done it for him. It certainly took the spotlight off the union negotiations and put it right on me.”

“So, it was just a way to put more pressure on you?”

“What Torval didn’t count on was me locking down all the accounts. I guess he figured I’d get fired or arrested before I could do that.” He raked his fingers through his hair and exhaled a long breath. “So many people could have died in that fire.”

She rubbed the stiff muscles of his back, trying to soothe him. “But no one did. Though that doesn’t explain why you’re now the prime suspect in the arson. It’s pretty obvious it was Torval or that gang.”

“That was my doing.” He ducked his head, but not before she saw the grim determination in his clenched jaw.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“I agreed to help the investigators if the fire service didn’t fire you.”

Will had been the cause of the chiefs’ change of heart? “Help them
how
?”

“By taking the heat off the gang. They’ll think they’re off the hook and make a mistake. The cops have been after these guys for years, and this is their first real chance to take them down.”

“No.” Every blood cell drained into her lower extremities. Her entire body had dropped ten degrees as though she’d fallen into a frozen lake without her wetsuit. “It’s too dangerous. If these guys are even half as bad as they sound, what’s to keep them from coming after you?” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh God! They could kill you too.”

“I’ll be fine.
We’ll
be fine. The cops promised it wouldn’t be for more than a couple days, a week max.”

“I can’t believe you did this to save my job. I should have stayed away from you. I knew better. I knew I’d ruin your life.” Fear for him had her shaking.

He wrapped his arms around her. “Shh. Nothing’s going to happen to me. And you did
not
ruin my life. If anything, you’ve saved it.”

She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You don’t feel feverish…”

Smiling, he took her hand and kissed it. “Seriously. The direction I was headed might have been good for me professionally, but it would have killed my soul.”

Dani pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. When she’d gotten a handle on it, she smiled at Will through her blurred vision. “From what I’ve seen, Ms. Bigsby is a good woman. She’d have been able to give you so much more than I can.”

Arching his brow, he said, “Can you beat fifty years of vanilla sex and a blow job on my birthday?”

He grinned, and an answering smile spread across her own face, tugging away her frown, releasing the tension in her shoulders. “You are so full of it. How do you know she’d have been like that?”

“I don’t. But I sure as shit know she wouldn’t give me what you do. That photo in the paper of her looking so shocked? That was taken right after I tested her with a stream of dirty talk.”

Dani laughed. “It didn’t go down too well, I guess.” She took a deep breath. Her nerves were strung so tight, she didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry like a baby.

“Not at all. But the expression on her face was priceless. The tongue lashing not so much.”

Like two idiots, they stared into each other’s eyes, smiling. Her heart about to burst, Dani touched his cheek. His afternoon beard rasped against her fingers. “I love you, Will. More than I’d ever thought possible.”

“Enough to marry me?”

“What?” she sputtered. Had she heard him right?

He slid off the bed onto one knee and brought her hands to his lips. After pressing a warm kiss to her knuckles, he smiled. His eyes blazed like blue fire. “Danielle Harris, would you do me the unparalleled honor of becoming my wife? You’ll have to deal with my crazy family, but I’ll do my best to make it up to you each and every day.”

She swiped at the tears spilling from her eyes. “You twit. I love your family.”

His smile flickered and faded. He frowned. “I hear a ‘but’ coming.”

Oh God. Was she really going to turn him down? This was what she wanted deep in her heart. “You’re the answer to all my dreams, but I don’t think I’m the answer to yours.”

Will sighed and dropped her hands. He climbed back onto the bed and cupped her face. “Dani, you’re every dream I never knew I had. I want to be with you all the time. I can’t wait until the end of the day to come home and see your smile. I love falling asleep with you and waking up with you in my arms. I love making love to you, and I love when you kick my ass with your ninja moves. Hell, I even love getting tongue baths from your hairy beast.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “But do you love
me
?”

He gaped, his eyes round with surprise. “Isn’t that what I was just saying?”

Dani’s chest expanded as a chorus of hallelujahs rang in her head. She’d loosened him up in some ways, but they still had a lot of work to do in the emotions department. She smiled through her tears. “Not quite, but we’ve got—what did you say?—fifty years to work on it?”

Will gave a loud whoop and crushed her against him. “I’m revising that clause in our new agreement. I want sixty years. No, seventy.” He pressed his cheek against hers. “I want to grow old with you, Dani.”

“I want that too.” The knot in her belly started to unwind and she clasped her hands behind his neck. “I want to be your wife.”

“Even if you have to leave the rescue team?”

She nodded. “I hope it won’t come to that, but if it does, well, you’re worth it, William Caldwell.”

Staring into her eyes, he smiled. “I love you, Dani.”

Her stomach flipped and her heart raced. They were really doing this. She felt like she was at the top of a roller coaster, waiting for it to start down the long drop. Life with Will was going to be one hell of a ride, and she couldn’t wait to get it started.

She flipped him onto his back, pinning him under her. “I—” She broke off when he reversed their positions. Her Will was a quick study. He’d keep her on her toes, that was for sure. She arched her neck off the bed and pressed her lips to his in a warm, wet open-mouthed kiss. “I love you too, Will.”

They were both panting when they broke apart. But there was something they hadn’t discussed. She pushed against his chest and Will rolled to the side. With a hand, she brushed the hair off her face and sat up. “We never talked about kids. About having a family.”

“Sure we did. We both want kids.”

“But how many? And how will we handle our crazy schedules? If I recall correctly, that was one of your main issues with me in the first place.”

Pushing up on his elbows, Will caught a handful of her hair and tugged her down. He placed careful little butterfly kisses on her forehead, the tip of her nose, and her chin before kissing her lips. “Forget about that. I was young and stupid then.”

She laughed and gently bit his lower lip. “It was barely a month ago.”

He pretended to wince, but couldn’t keep his mouth from curving into a smile. “A very wise woman once told me to make the deal and negotiate the details later.”

Dani sat back on her heels and huffed. “That’s crap advice, and much too reckless for a staid set-in-his-ways accountant like yourself. Men like you should always read the fine print before sealing any deals.”

“I’m learning to walk on the wild side.”

“Okay, but here’s one line of fine print I’m insisting on. We can get a nanny, but she has to be old and gray.”

“How did you know I have a fetish for gray-haired women?” he asked, feigning surprise. He pushed up all the way so he was sitting, their faces only inches apart. “I’d never be anything but faithful to you, Dani. You’re all the woman I want. All the woman I need. The only woman I love. I’ll agree to your terms, not because they’re necessary, but because I want you to be one-hundred percent happy.”

Dani’s heart swelled to bursting. Who’d have thought a serious career-minded accountant would turn her upside down and inside out? Who’d have thought he’d turn into such a dirty-talking, sex-strutting, perfect match for her? She gripped his tie. “All this contract talk is making me hot. Let’s go negotiate some more details in bed.”