Touch Me (12 page)

He sat back in his seat. “Probably just a technical glitch. The security people went out there, didn’t see anything. I’ll feel better if I check it out myself, though.”

“I can tell the yards are important to you.” She sent him a quick glance. “What made you go into that business in the first place?”

“Probably because I wrecked so many cars myself.”

“Yikes. No wonder your family worries about you.”

“That was a joke.” He peered ahead as she turned into the commercial district. It was quiet and deserted, no activity to be seen. “I was attracted to anything with wheels as long as I can remember. I think I realized early on they would be my means of escape from the compound.” Didn’t that make him sound like a loser. “And my profits pay for all my reckless fun.”

She pulled in front of the yard and stopped the car. “I’ll stay here—”

“No, I don’t want to leave you out here alone. I’ll unlock the gate and you can drive to the rear. Then you can wait inside while I look around.”

In the back office, she put her purse down on the couch. “Do you mind if I make a cup of tea in the microwave?”

“I can’t vouch for the age of the bags, but go ahead.”

Payne left her to take a tour of the grounds. Nothing appeared amiss, but he walked twice around the perimeter of the cyclone fencing, flashlight in hand. He needed to get some cameras installed. When he’d convinced himself there were no breaks or obvious attempts at entry, he returned to the building at the front of the property.

Rose was where he’d left her, the reading lamp on the desk throwing the only light into the shadowed room. Mug in hand, she was curled in one corner of the couch, staring off into the distance.

He remained in the doorway, noting her pensive expression. What was she thinking about?
Who
was she thinking about?

Biting back the question, he stepped into the room. Her head whipped toward him. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

“Is it time to go?”

Since her mug was still steaming, he held up a hand. “Finish your tea.” He settled onto the other end of the couch and frowned at the desk and its messy piles of paperwork. Boxes of old parts were leaning against the stained wall nearby. “This place still looks like crap,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’ve seen your other auto yard. What did it look like at first?”

“Worse than this dump,” he admitted.

“There you go. With time and elbow grease it’ll be up to your standards and won’t that be satisfying?”

He grunted, though she was right. Building a successful business was a gratifying process, especially to someone who previously had only found pleasure in the temporary rush of adrenaline he got out of speed and in the temporary release he found through sex. Without the yards, his only points of pride might have been as the kid who’d clocked one-twenty in his dad’s “borrowed” car at ten and as the teen who’d been regularly banging starlets before he had an un-fake driver’s license in his back pocket.

“What about you?” he asked. It wasn’t the question he wanted answered, but it would do.

“Me?” she asked, glancing over.

“What makes you look forward to the sun coming up another day?”

“I told you.” Her gaze shifted to the depths of her tea. “Trying to figure that out.”

“It wasn’t in Seattle.”

She hesitated.

Meaning Payne should let it go. But it was either prying her past out of her or delving into the details of her date. Like hell would he let on that he cared about her and her dinner partner. “Hey, haven’t
I
been baring my soul?”

“Hardly.”

“Come on. You’ve seen my scar, my dirty laundry, and the contents of my medicine cabinet.”

She tried to look offended. “I haven’t snooped in your medicine cabinet.”

“Like hell.” He grinned at her. “I bet you couldn’t wait to find out what size condoms I wear.”

“The same that would fit over your humungous ego,” she muttered.

He laughed. “Tell me why you came back to L.A. Is it that numbers aren’t your thing?”

Her mouth pursed, then she slid him a look. “It’s because I think one plus one equals two, not two and a side piece.”

Uh-oh.
“Name?”

“His is Blake. We lived together. Her name is Sandra. She lived in the condo next door to ours.”

“And…what? Now she’s six feet under and you’re running from the law?”

“No, now she’s in the bed I used to share with Blake.”

“Ouch.”

“I used to share a company with Blake too…we worked together at my dad’s firm. When the affair came to light, my father encouraged me to overlook it. ‘All men cheat,’ he said and proved that point by telling me he’d had affairs more than once while married to my mother.”

Yeah, so she hadn’t known about her father’s fun at the Velvet Lemons parties.

“Oh, and he’d cheated on his current wife a time or two as well. So I should get back to my desk and my files and quit whinging on about what I couldn’t change.”

“‘Whinging on’?”

“He talks that way,” she said, waving a hand. “All those years I followed the rules, checked and rechecked my figures, dressed in the conservative fashion that he favored in order to get my father’s approval—and Blake’s—when neither one of them…”

“Deserved a minute of your regard.”

“Right.” She swiped at her nose with the back of her hand.

Shit, was she crying? “Rose…”

“Just ignore me.”

As if he ever could. Sliding down the cushions, he took the tea from her hand and set it on the ground. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close, not allowing her to wiggle free. “Tell Uncle Payne everything.”

She let out a watery laugh and set her mug aside. “That’s it. That’s all of it. I gave my heart to a couple of frauds. Two shirts stuffed with anything but fidelity.”

He stroked her hair. “Yep.”

“A pair of philanders with no fine points.”

“I like that one,” he said.

“Losers who are loyalty-impaired.”

“You’re on a roll, cupcake.”

She laughed again, but it didn’t sound any more happy. “I just felt so stupid, you know?”

“You’ll get your mojo back.”

“I’m not sure. It shook me up.”

“All men aren’t cheaters. Some will make a commitment and keep their promise.” Not him, but he knew it happened. Ren would never do anything to make Cilla doubt him. Neither would Bing hurt Alexa or Reed jeopardize the good thing he had with Cleo.”

“I’m worried I won’t ever trust myself to tell which are the good ones and which are the lousy ones.”

It killed him to mention the man’s name, but it had to be said. “Dustin…he seems the dependable sort.”

“Dustin…”

He couldn’t interpret a thing from those two syllables. Had she enjoyed her dinner with him? Did she think he was the good kind of guy she could count on? Or was she serious about finding fling-fodder? Dustin would probably be on-board for that, at least as a start.

Payne frowned at a sudden, new thought. “How did Cami meet him? What does he do?”

Rose’s mouth lifted in her signature crooked smile, though this time it looked like a girly kind of smirk. “He’s her accountant.”

So she and the guy had that in common. Weird how he felt so…let down by that fact. “Did you like him?” he asked, then cursed himself. There was only one question he wanted to hear himself utter less.

Her shoulders moved up and down in a tiny shrug. “He’s Cami’s friend. Very likeable. I’m not ready to jump into anything, though.”

“Not even jump into bed?” Shit! Hell! Fuck! What had made him say that?

Rose straightened, putting distance between them. “I may have looked into your medicine cabinet, Payne, but that doesn’t give you permission to get in my—” She broke off, eyes widening. “Wait a minute, that’s coming out wrong.”

“Rose.” He had to grin. “Is it all right if I say I think you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. You called me cupcake a few minutes ago.”

He nodded. “Sweet. Fluffy. A treat. What’s not to like?”

“I’d rather be considered capable. Intelligent. Detail-oriented.”

“I thought you weren’t an accountant anymore,” he teased.

Her eyes narrowed. “How about sexy, then? Unforgettable. Irresistible.”

God, she so was. No one could attest to that better than his fist and his cock, the former which had been working over the latter once, twice, sometimes three times a day, with just the thought of her walking through his house. Well, walking through his house without a stitch of clothes on.

Maybe she saw some of that on his face. She blinked and even in the dim light he could see pink color creeping up her cheeks. “Payne…?”

Then it was out of his mouth, the words he’d been smothering since she’d returned to his place that night. “Did he kiss you, Rose?”

The air felt heavy in the small office, and the walls seemed to be shifting as well, closing in so that Rose could barely draw breath. She drew up her legs, curling them onto the cushions between herself and Payne.

Did he kiss you, Rose?

Such a simple question, but Dustin didn’t have a place in this room right now. Right now it was only Payne and Rose and the sexual awareness running between them, warm and sticky as taffy.

It couldn’t be her imagination.

That would be too cruel.

But she’d dreamed up a sexual connection between them before. At fifteen, when she’d walked from Amalie Irwin’s house in a pair of Lily’s too-big high heels, determined to show Payne her devotion. Her fingers had quivered as she’d called him, telling him she was on her way. He’d tried questioning her, but she’d ended the call and continued on, navigating the winding road and the narrow path beside it that was as rocky as her breathing.

The gates of the Velvet Lemons compound had been open and she’d heard music and laughter as she approached them. Cars were parked haphazardly just inside.

She’d hesitated, then gathered her courage. Payne was her knight, her soul mate, the love of her life!

Fifteen feet in, he’d come running up, breathless, blond hair disheveled, a look of concern on his face. “Rose? What is it? What’s the problem?”

And silly Rose had shown them both the problem was her, because she’d launched himself against him, pressing her chest to this, wrapping her arms around his neck, attacking his mouth with hers.

His clean smell, his body heat, the warmth of his lips would be imprinted on her memory forever. Lifting onto tiptoes to get closer, she’d wobbled in the too-big shoes, and Payne’s arms had clamped around her hips to provide support.

Of course, in her befuddled state she’d taken it as encouragement. When he said “Rose” against her lips, she’d slid her tongue into his mouth.

He’d frozen then, shocked, she could see clearly now, but at the time she’d thought he was electrified by her French kiss…not her audacity.

“Rose,” he’d said again, and she’d slid her fingers into his hair, crushing her lips against his. Their teeth had clacked and she’d not been the least bit embarrassed by the gracelessness of the kiss she’d planted on the poor guy.

“
Rose
,” he’d said a third time, his arms tightening once before he put her firmly away from him.

They’d stared at each other, both chests heaving. In the moonlight she saw that his mouth was wet. For the second time in her life, so were her panties.

That response had never been covered in sex ed classes.

“What the hell?” he’d finally demanded, lifting his arms then letting them fall to his sides. His expression appeared a combination of angry and dumbfounded. “What was that about?”

At that moment a person ran up to them on a raucous shriek of laughter. Rose hadn’t told Lily about the naked woman, big breasts bouncing, long blonde hair flowing behind her and absolutely no hair at all between her legs who had latched onto Payne. “Payne, baby,” she’d said. “It’s time for nude hide-and-seek and we need more players. Bean’s looking for the girls and Patsy’s going to give special favors to every guy she discovers.”

The blonde glanced over at Rose then, her gaze considering. “You can come too, honey,” she’d said. “Ditch the clothes and join us.”

At that point Payne had gone ballistic. He’d shaken off the woman and stomped over to Rose, grabbing her elbow to drag her past the gates. “You are going home right now.”

When she’d stumbled and stuttered about staying at Amalie’s, he’d jerked her upright then propelled her forward. “Get there then,” he’d fumed.

Humiliated by the rejection yet still reeling from the aborted kiss followed by the startling encounter with the unclothed woman, Rose had started to run as best she could in the too-big shoes. Payne’s angry presence behind her, stalking her step-for-step, had made her wish to die.

Fifteen was a fine age for her world to end, she’d thought then.

After all, Romeo’s Juliet hadn’t made it past thirteen.

Considering the besotted and naïve young girl she’d been then, Rose shook her head.

“He didn’t kiss you?” Payne said now, reaching out a hand to circle her ankle.

And the immediate catch of her breath and the near-violent twitch of her skin made clear the old memory from the past wasn’t any kind of caution in the present.

She stared at his fingers, her pulse pounding at the heated sense of being bound to him. Then she lifted her head, wondering if he’d see the consuming desire on her face. “Why does it matter,” she answered, her voice low, “when you won’t?”

His hand traveled up her shin, a sensuous shackle.

“There are all kinds of kisses, Rose. All kinds of places I could put my mouth.”

She squirmed. “Payne, should you—”

“I just want to taste you, Rose. Maybe then I can get a good night’s sleep.”

Oh, God! Acknowledging that she wasn’t the only one suffering from unrequited want made her flush everywhere. His hand caressed her bare leg and she felt the goose bumps crawl over her body…just like she wanted him to do.

He scooted closer, pulling her legs across his lap. Then he slipped a hand inside the neckline of her dress. His forefinger curled around her bra strap, and he used that to tug her nearer. “Rose,” he whispered, then he rubbed his cheek along hers, the combination of his rough evening stubble and the softer hair of his goatee causing her breasts to swell and the tips of them to tingle, then harden.