Undercover Obsession (30 page)

“I love chocolate.” Narrowing his eyes at
her, he asked suspiciously, “Why?”

“I have a whole chocolate cream pie I’m
saving just for you. Now,” she stated briskly before he could
argue, “I’ll go ahead and take your orders so you don’t have to
wait for Darlene. As you can see, we’re still swamped with the
holiday tourists.”

The tables were filling up as soon as they
were vacated and cleaned and from the number of both pedestrians
and cars traversing Main Street, the extra business holidays always
generated looked like it was going to stretch through the
weekend.

Brody and Ian spent the next hour conversing
quietly as they ate while half listening to Piper and Haley first
filling each other in on the last twenty-four hours since they saw
each other and then on clothing designs. When they started
discussing the lingerie items Piper was currently working on, both
men listened attentively, much to their amusement. Feeling devious,
Piper elaborated on some very risqué outfits she contracted for an
online store that sold an assortment of sexy clothing as well as
sexual enhancements and toys.

“What’s the point of wearing crotchless
panties,” Brody asked as he imagined a pair of red lace framing
Piper’s nude sex. Shifting uncomfortably, he tried to adjust his
semi-erect cock discretely, but by the grins spreading across both
women’s faces, he knew he failed. “Fuck it,” he growled as he
blatantly reached down and shifted his dick to the side so it
wasn’t pressing against his zipper, adding to his misery.

Smirking, Piper looked down at his crotch
pointedly. “That’s the point,” she said, smiling widely and
pointing at the obvious bulge in his pants.

Haley couldn’t help but glance down at Ian’s
cock and wasn’t surprised to see a hard bulge pressing tautly
against his jeans. Moving her eyes up, she found his on her,
narrowing to dark brown slits.

“Yes,” he admitted succinctly and that was
all he was going to say on the matter. He had been having enough
trouble keeping himself in check just sitting next to Haley, his
mind insisting on conjuring up scene after scene of him fucking
that slim body, the best part of his fantasies watching her eyes
widen and glaze over with the pleasure he was giving her. And if
that was the best part, he was all the more thankful that he was
booking out of here tomorrow.

“Come on, we’re drawing attention.” Brody
pushed back, grabbed Piper’s hand and led the way out of the still
busy restaurant, Ian following him with his boxed up pie in one
hand and Haley’s hand held tightly in the other. “I’ll call the
sheriff to meet us at Rowdy’s and we’ll fill him in on our
departure and he can tell us how convinced he is that Haley’s ex
didn’t have anything to do with Piper’s disappearance.”

Rowdy’s was just as crowded as the diner, but
apparently Crack had been expecting them because he was waving them
over to an open booth in the back corner when they came in. “Clem
texted me and let me know you were headed this way,” Crack said as
he plopped a beer down in front of each of them then planted his
fists on his hips and glared at both Brody and Ian. “First, you let
that sleaze ball of an ex hurt Haley again and now I hear you’re
taking Piper to Atlantic City when you know there’s going to be
someone there gunning for her father. I thought you were good at
your jobs.”

“Now, Crack,” Piper began soothingly, placing
her small hand on his forearm as Haley said at the same time, “Ian
saved me.”

Ian growled next to her, his frustration with
her evident in the hard look he gave her before taking a hefty
drink of his beer.

“Don’t you ‘now Crack’ me, missy, and if he
had been more diligent, he wouldn’t have had to save you,” he told
Haley. Turning back to Piper, Crack added, “You have no business
getting mixed up in this. It’s their damn job, not yours.”

“I assure you she’ll be perfectly safe.”
Brody found it difficult to assure the older man of anything when
he himself couldn’t be positive that would be the case. He, Ian and
Carlos weren’t the only law enforcement that will be there.
Undercover cops will be stationed inside and out of the casino, but
even with all bases covered there were always loopholes.

“You can’t assure me of any damn thing and
you know it.” Turning his glare back to Piper, he reiterated,
“Don’t go, Piper, let them handle it.”

“I have to know, Crack. I’m ninety-nine
percent sure Charles is dead, but that one percent will haunt me if
I don’t go. If he doesn’t show, I’ll know for sure.”

“Why would you say that?” he asked, clearly
confused.

“Because Charles loves the Empire more than
anything or anyone else. He won’t relinquish it without a fight,
not if he’s alive. That place is the reason he started doing
business with this Pasquino in the first place.”

It wasn’t lost on Crack that she called
Charles by his given name instead of dad or father, and now he knew
why. Shaking his head in resignation, he told Brody and Ian, “You
better be right,” his tone as hard as his eyes before turning
away.

Crack had no sooner returned to his station
behind the bar when Sheriff Norton came in, followed Crack’s point
and joined them in their booth, making the four of them crowd
closer together. “What’s this I hear of you letting Piper in on
this sting you’ve got set up in New Jersey?”

“Does news always travel this fast in this
damn town?” Ian asked irritably, not used to having his business
spread like wildfire before he had even ironed out the details
himself or having to explain himself to so many people. He should
have known after Clem had come out from the kitchen to grill them
that it wouldn’t stop there.

Gary shrugged lightly, unperturbed by their
scowls and obvious frustration with small town grapevines. “Pretty
much. Now, give.”

Piper ignored them, through trying to explain
herself. By Monday, she planned to be back here resuming her life
and working to put the past behind her once and for all. Turning to
Haley, she asked her quietly the one thing she had been dying to
know all night. “So, are you going to give Ian a nice farewell, or
not?” When she had called Haley about meeting for dinner, she had
told her about what happened between her and both men, relieved
when Haley said she was looking forward to hearing all the intimate
details later and showed no signs of jealousy.

“If he’s willing, yes, I’m going to go for
it. Wish me luck?” Haley had no idea how she was going to get Ian
into her bed, she was definitely not some sexy, conniving diva
experienced at seducing men, and Ian was not a man who could be
seduced easily.

“All men are willing,” Piper returned dryly.
“But with these two, you have to get through their moral brick wall
before they’ll cave. If I didn’t respect that about them so much,
it’d really, really piss me off.”

“Instead of just really pissing you off?”
Haley grinned.

“Yeah.”

By the time Gary left them with a warning to
Brody and Ian and a softer caution to be careful to Piper, it had
grown dark and they were ready to head home. Haley reluctantly slid
out of the booth, building up her nerve as they walked through the
crowded tables to the door to broach Ian about coming back to her
apartment. She had never asked a man home before, never had a one
night stand and her fear of rejection after waiting so long to take
this step again was as strong as her desire to get naked with this
man, to see if he could drive her to the heights of pleasure Piper
had tantalized her with.

As they stepped out onto the walkway, she
quickly turned to Ian before she completely lost her nerve,
blurting, “Will you walk me home?” at the same time as he said,
“I’ll walk you home.”

Brody laughed softly, took Piper’s hand and
headed back down to his car, saying over his shoulder, “Call me or
have someone bring you back later.”

Chapter Fourteen

Main Street was quieter now, the shoppers and
diners having left for either one of the bed and breakfast inns if
they had been lucky enough to get a room, or to one of the numerous
campsites and cabins surrounding the lake. “You can see every star
in the sky,” Haley murmured as she looked up, liking the feel of
Ian’s hand holding hers as they neared her shop. The distance from
the south end of Main Street where her shop was to the north end
where Rowdy’s was located had always seemed longer than it did
tonight. She was going to have to put on her big girl panties soon
if she wanted this night to end with an orgasm, she thought
ruefully.

Ian looked up and had to admit,
unfortunately, that the brightly dotted inky sky did look appealing
and was a sight rarely seen in Richmond. “Okay, I’ll give you the
sky, but honestly, Haley, doesn’t it drive you fucking nuts having
everyone know your business, not to mention hovering over you
constantly.”

The disgust in his tone made Haley smile.
“No, I think it’s nice. If Sheriff Norton hadn’t been so protective
of both Piper and me, our circumstances could have turned out much
different.” She let him take her key to the front door of the shop
and waited until he stepped in first and flipped on the lights
before she took a deep breath, and simply took the bull by the
horns, blurting, “Ian, would you have sex with me tonight?”

Ian turned from taking a quick look around to
stare at her incredulously. He knew she wanted him, just as he knew
he wanted her, but he had thought he was safe from acting on his
baser needs because he thought she never would. And then a thought
occurred to him that just plain pissed him off. “Damn it, Haley, if
that’s a way for you to thank me, again, for last night, that’s an
insult to both of us.”

“No!” Appalled, she never thought he would
think that. “I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re better at this than I am. I
don’t have any experience, and maybe that turns you off…”

“Oh, shut up before you dig a bigger hole for
yourself,” he snapped as he felt himself caving fast. Moving slowly
towards her, he tried to get her to see him as he really was, not
as someone who just happened to be in the right place at the right
time. He refused to let the fact that he was in her place, at that
time because he had been worried about her enter into the equation.
“I was with Piper earlier today, as was Brody.” He didn’t know what
surprised him more, the fact she didn’t look disgusted or the way
her small nipples hardened, their shape noticeable through her
sheer top under which she wore some lacy thing that drove him nuts.
“When I leave here, I’m probably going to fuck her again.” He
didn’t add that it wouldn’t be because he wanted Piper more than he
had wanted any woman. Haley held that honor all by herself.

Haley didn’t back away from him. She knew
without a doubt he was not a threat to her physically, just as she
knew he was trying to turn her off of wanting him by making more of
his sexual encounters with Piper than was warranted. “Mmm, I know.
Lucky her. It’s just sex, Ian,” she said since that’s what most men
want to hear in just such a situation.

Ian found himself irked at her statement even
though he hadn’t felt anything but amusement when Piper had said
the exact same thing to him. “Just sex?” he asked silkily as he
caged her against the counter with his arms braced on either side
of her. There was no fear on her face, no hesitation clouding her
blue eyes. If there had been, he could have turned her away gently,
instead, he knew he was going to try to give her what she was
asking for and hope she didn’t regret it come morning. “How long
has it been since you’ve had sex?” he asked, wondering how slow he
was going to have to take her.

Haley wasn’t going to tell him. She knew if
she did he’d use that as an excuse to back away. According to
Piper, he was a demanding man when it came to sex, and that was
exactly what she wanted, what she needed now. She had sweet,
romantic and overly considerate. Ian was the exact opposite of Tim
in every way and that was only one of the reasons she wanted him so
badly.

“Fuck me, Ian, unless you want me asking you
about your sex life.”

Damned if she didn’t volley that one right
back to him, he thought with both humor and admiration as lust
slammed into him, his reaction at hearing her so crudely ask for
what they both wanted, shocking him. “Just remember,” he ground out
as he lowered his mouth to hers, “you asked for this.”

Haley jolted as his lips came down on hers
with ruthless intent, but within seconds she was molding her body
against his, her lips clinging to his as she opened willingly for
the dueling exploration of their tongues. Wrapping her arms around
his broad shoulders, she moaned into his mouth as her breasts came
into contact with his chest, the soft mounds flattening against his
thick muscles, her nipples poking him insistently, hardening into
aching pinpoints as she shifted against him.

Pulling back abruptly, Ian stared down into
her flushed face, her lips damp from his, her nipples straining
against the thin cloth. “Go upstairs, strip and wait for me in bed.
And make damn sure this, I’m, what you want tonight before I get
there. I’ll lock up.”

She could have told him she was already sure,
but why waste words when she could show him. It took her only
moments to get to her bedroom, strip out of her skirt and blouse,
tossing them along with her panties on a chair before pulling the
covers back, jumping in bed and pulling just the sheet back up. She
wasn’t quit brave enough to just lie there completely exposed when
he walked in.

Ian tried to go slow checking the doors and
making sure everything was locked up tight, but his cock was
insisting he didn’t linger, his mind worried she might change her
mind, his conscience berating him for being a fool, leaving him no
choice but to take the stairs two at a time as he unbuttoned his
shirt on the way up. He was pulling it off as he walked into her
bedroom and saw her lying there so innocently, the crisp white
sheet tucked under her arms making him smile. Keeping his eyes on
her, he slowly unsnapped his jeans and lowered the zipper, his
engorged cock springing free as soon as he cleared it. Her eyes
widening was comical, but when she licked her lips nervously, he
took pity on her.