Instant Temptation (7 page)

He pulled off her sunglasses to see her face. “Maybe later.” As he continued to tug her in, she set a hand to his abs for balance and her fingers brushed the hard ridges of his six-pack. Make that an eightpack. She could have pulled back, but her fingers suddenly weren’t listening to her brain any more than her mouth had. Not good.

In fact, this was bad. Very, very bad. He wasn’t going anywhere. She got why, she really did. She’d inadvertently triggered his protective nature, and thanks to what he’d suffered through with Sam, there was no easy way to get rid of him.

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. She had to, because she knew herself. She wasn’t strong enough to fight off the asinine, juvenile attraction she had for him, and she wasn’t in the mood to make a fool of herself. “I have to make a phone call.”

“Okay,” he said. “Go ahead.”

“It’s private.”

When he didn’t budge, she walked off, not exactly sure of which she hoped for more, that he’d go home…

Or follow her.

TJ watched Harley vanish up the trail, then pulled out his cell phone as well. He had a new text from Nick.

Warning—you’re Annie’s new Worry Obsession. Fix it so she doesn’t worry herself into early labor.

TJ called his client first. He had the video to show him, but he rescheduled their late afternoon meeting so that he’d be free to stay with Harley.

He called Stone next. “Today’s afternoon meeting’s cancelled. I’m with Harley.”

Stone let that sink in. “When she kills you, tell her to call me. I’ll help her hide your body. I know this great spot just off—”

With a sigh, TJ disconnected, then called Annie. “I’m fine.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good. Because if you’re planning on going off the deep end, I’d need to schedule it in, that’s all.”

“No need.”

“You’re still restless as hell.”

“I’m always restless as hell. You’re only noticing now because for the first time in forever, you’re truly happy. Everyone’s happy. I stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Oh, honey. We can fix this. We’ll—”

“Annie,” he broke in gently. “I’m okay. Really.”

He heard her blow out a breath. “Sure. I know that.”

“Then stop worrying.”

“Who me? Worry? Ha.”

He smiled, and let her hear it in his voice. “You have other things to concentrate on. Like Not-Abigail, who’ll be here before you know it. So stop giving Nick gray hairs and relax. If he knows you’ve been wasting your time worrying about me, he’ll try to kick my ass, and then I’ll have to kick his ass, and it’ll be a whole ass-kicking thing, and you’ll get pissed.”

“Okay, fine. You’re fine, we’re all fine. I’ll just go back to the kitchen, where I’ll be barefoot and pregnant and a useless piece of fluff.”

Annie had never, ever, not once, been a piece of fluff, and as a result, he and his brothers had their lives to show for it. He laughed. “You promise?”

She disconnected, and he grinned. She was no longer worried, she was pissy. He texted Nick.

Mission accomplished.

As he slipped his phone away, he looked up with a frown, realizing Harley had been gone for at least five minutes. He scanned the trail as far as he could see, which wasn’t far with the overgrown landscape blocking the way. He listened but heard nothing more than the usual Sierra sounds.

A pinecone falling a hundred feet from a tree, then hitting the ground.

Squirrels chattering.

The rush of a creek not far off.

But no footsteps indicating Harley’s movements, no rustling of her clothing.

Nothing. More than nothing, an utter lack of a sense of her existence at all.

She was gone.

Fuck. He whipped out his cell and called hers, but it switched right over to voice mail. Either she’d turned it off or hit IGNORE. Both options sucked.

It took him a surprising and uncomfortable quarter of a mile before he came around a corner and caught up with her.

She’d been hauling ass, hoping to lose him. In spite of the quickly cooling afternoon, a few damp tendrils of hair were stuck to her face, and she was breathing hard. Her eyes were flashing with heat and not the good kind.

He understood that perfectly. He felt the heat of a rare temper himself. “How was your phone call?”

She had the good grace to blush. “Great. Fine.”

“You could have just told me you didn’t want me to come with you, Harley.”

“Helloooo, I did!”

“Is my company that bad?”

She hesitated, and her gaze skittered away. He might have conceded the battle right then and there, and faced the fact that she’d really rather be alone—except for one thing.

Actually, two.

The pulse at the base of her neck was tattooing a frantic beat.

And her nipples were hard.

Since he doubted very much she was cold after that run she’d just taken, he got his first flash of satisfaction for the day.

Harley knew that TJ was a tracker at heart. What she hadn’t known was just how good he was. It’d taken him less than five minutes to find her, and when he did, she’d nearly swallowed her tongue. She was trying to be cool, when in reality, she was sweating, huffing for breath, and very close to nervous laughter. “It actually took you longer to catch up with me than I thought it would,” she said. “You must be losing your touch.”

“You lied to me.”

Oh boy. His eyes were glittering dangerously, which seemed in direct opposition to the slight quirk of his mouth, as if she was amusing him almost against his will. “I omitted,” she corrected. “Big difference. Though to be honest, I was thinking about lying to you. I was thinking about telling you that I hurt my ankle and that I needed you to go back down and get help.”

“You’d do that?”

“Yes, but Cam said that wouldn’t work. I called him to complain about you, but he wasn’t too sympathetic. He said there was a pool going, to see who would kill who first. I put a ten in on me. Killing you.”

She had no idea why she was baiting him. Except it was giving her a rush she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I wouldn’t have left you,” he said. “I’d have carried you out.”

“Yeah, that was con number one.”

“What were the others?”

“Having you hold me again.”

“Again? What—” He gritted his teeth as his cell phone vibrated. “Search and Rescue.” He looked at her as he dropped his pack. “I have to take this.”

“So take it.”

“If you take off on me, I’l find you and I’ll—”

She arched a brow, having no idea why the words sent a dark thrill through her instead of sparking her temper. Probably the aforementioned lack of orgasms. “And?”

“And…Jesus. Just stay,” he commanded. “Or I’ll…something.”

It was a desperate, empty threat, and worse, they both knew it.

TJ had to move back down the steep, narrow path about fifty yards to get clear enough reception for his cell conversation. The Search and Rescue team was shorthanded, so he agreed to be on call for the next two days. He then made his way back to where he’d left Harley, holding his breath.

She’d dropped her pack and was sitting on a rock, eating an apple. She laughed at the expression on his face.

Laughed.

He supposed it shouldn’t turn him on to be standing there while she mocked him, but it was Harley. She’d been turning him on, upside down, and every other possible way for so damn long, he was at a loss as to whether he wanted to strangle her or kiss her.

She looked up then and met his gaze, seeming to read it perfectly, because her own went bright with intelligence and wit, and something else.

Awareness.

In that beat he knew exactly what he wanted from her, and it would only start with a kiss. Walking right up to her, he pulled her to her feet, tugging hard enough that she hit his chest with a little

“oomph.” He stared down into her face, so close to his. The grimness of her mouth conveyed annoyance rather than the easy amusement she wanted him to believe she felt.

She was pissed.

Well, get in line, because he was pissed first. She had no reason for not wanting help this weekend, and it scared him. All the things that could happen to her scared him. “You let me think you needed privacy, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”

“Yeah, you should really work on that.”

He just stared at her.

She opened her mouth to say something, probably to rip him a new one, but then she seemed to realize that they were practically in each other’s arms, and suddenly her arms wound around his neck.

Worked for him. He gripped her hips hard.

She stared at his mouth. “God, TJ. You make me so…”

“Yeah.” His arms tightened on her. “Ditto.” And then, even as he said it, she shifted her body to his and he felt his frustration and anger melt into something far more dangerous. “Harley.”

Her eyes were twin pools of ravenous hunger. She licked her lips, and he couldn’t help it, he groaned and bent his head, until their lips were gently, almost sweetly touching.

“This is insane,” she whispered in one beat, and in the next they were kissing, hard and wet, and just a little bit desperate.

She moaned her pleasure into his mouth and then sank her fingers into his hair and let out a soft, sexy, demanding little mewl. He shifted so he could press her back against a tree, freeing up his hands to thread into her hair, to draw her in deeper.

Jesus. He was out of control, unaware of their surroundings, completely gone, lost in her, until two loud birds squawked at each other right over their heads, fighting over something. Harley jumped and pulled back, slipping down the tree trunk a few inches as if her knees had gone to Jell-O before she locked them into place.

He took his hands from her and braced them on the tree, on either side of her shoulders, as he tried to draw air into his lungs and tighten the tenuous grip on his sanity.

It wasn’t easy.

“So I’m guessing all is forgiven,” she said, her voice a little ragged.

He pressed a finger and thumb into his eyelids and took a deep breath.

“You look like you’re torn between kissing me again and spanking me.”

He dropped his hand and stared at her. “Good idea. How about both?”

Her eyes widened, then he hauled her up and kissed her again.

For a beat she was utterly still, then met him halfway, melting into him, over him, fisting her hands in his shirt as things went instantly wild. She came up for air first, but even then her lips clung to his before she slowly pulled away.

Looking as completely perplexed as he felt, she stared at him. “What the hell was that?”

A category-five hurricane. “A hell of an adrenaline rush.”

“And?

“And”—he finally went with total honesty—“I have no idea. You drive me fucking crazy.”

She let out a sound that managed to convey frustration, amusement, and temper all in one. “Same goes.”

“You should probably slap me the next time I do that.”

“Yeah.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth again. “TJ…”

Ah, hell. He was going to do “that” again, slap or not, and they both knew it.

In fact, they lunged at each other.

But instead of wild, this time the kiss was deep and soulful, and devastatingly necessary as air. He felt her knees give, and gliding his arms around her, supported them both as her fingers wove into his hair at the back of his head. It felt so damn good he groaned into her mouth, sucking on her lower lip, biting it, kissing it again. He could feel the heat of her body, the soft cushion of her soft curves pressed up against him, and his brain clicked completely off, instinct and need taking over.

When they broke apart, she pressed her face into his neck and he felt her draw his scent in, as if maybe she couldn’t get enough of him, and his chest ached, physically ached.

God. He had no idea what was happening, but suddenly he wanted to know he wasn’t alone in this. Needed to know he wasn’t alone in this. Fisting his fingers in her hair, he gently tugged until she tilted her face up.

Her eyes were closed. “Harley, look at me.”

It took her a minute, as if she was trying to get it together before she did, but when she opened those seductive eyes, the truth was there for him to see.

He wasn’t alone in this.

That wasn’t necessarily a comfort.

The silence was as heavy as the humid air around them, and was broken only by their accelerated breathing. Then a branch cracked overhead, falling through the trees to hit the ground near them.

Harley jerked.

TJ didn’t move a muscle, not knowing what to say. Rare for him.

Harley finally gathered herself first, turning away to get moving again, leaving him to follow.

Or not.

He knew what she was hoping for. She wanted him far, far away. Hell, on that they were in perfect accord. But what he wanted to do and what he needed to do were two very different things. He needed to know she was safe.

So he followed.

CHAPTER 6

Harley walked hard and fast, but still couldn’t outpace her demons. Or the fact that her body felt so…alive. Every nerve ending hummed and pulsed, and little electric zings of sheer lust randomly fired from erotic pulse point to erotic pulse point.

She had no one to blame but herself. She’d known the minute that TJ’s lips touched hers she’d be in big trouble.

Lord, the man could kiss.

He knew just how to work that warm mouth of his, too, how to hold a woman, how to pull her in and make her purr. Hell, she was still purring.

He was following her, of course. Keeping pace but letting her lead, leaving her to her thoughts.

Thoughts she could do without, so she slowed until he was at her side.

Even more devastating than his mouth were his eyes. They were a deep, velvety green, and mirrors to his soul. She turned and looked into them. He had a few fine lines fanning out from the corners. Not from age, but from his easy smile, from squinting into the bright high-altitude sun, from planning and thinking about his clients’ fun and safety, from worry and concern about those he loved.

From following her up a mountain out of that worry and concern.

All those little things he did were just pieces of the puzzle that made up the boy she’d once loved, the boy who’d grown into a man. A good man. A solid, strong man.