Body Rush (22 page)

Jeanette smiled. “You’re right. I’m going to do it. Next time I see him I’ll introduce myself. If he’s not interested, well, at least I’ll have tried.”

“Damn straight.” Roni said before returning her attention to trying to figure out the command prompt thingy that Jake had shown her. “I’m finished here, just trying to figure out this camera.”

“Camera?” Jeanette asked, as she stood and came around the desk to stare at the webcam attached to her monitor. “Why do you have a webcam?”

“Yeah, what’s with the webcam?” Lydia said as she moved to stand behind her chair.

“Remember all the problems I’ve been having with my computer lately?”

“You were having the computer guy out again last we talked. Did he fix it?”

“Yes and no. It seems someone’s been using my computer to download Internet porn.”

“Oh my God! Are you serious?”

“Yep. that’s why the damn thing kept freezing up on me. I had a bunch of spyware on my computer. He cleaned it up and installed the camera so we could catch the person in the act.”

“Really? How?”

Roni explained about the camera being motion sensitive, then finally remembered the right commands. She typed them in and pulled up the file containing any images the webcam captured.

“There.” Roni pointed to the screen. “See the thumbnail?”

“Yeah,” Jeanette said, leaning closer.

“Hopefully it’ll show us who’s been sitting in my chair while I’m not here. Shit, please don’t be Melissa.”

Lydia coughed. “You think Melissa is downloading porn on your computer?”

“No, I don’t.” Roni simply couldn’t believe the girl was that devious. “Still, she’s the only one with access other than me and the cleaning service.”

“It has to be the cleaning service,” Jeannette inserted. “Melissa is way too…”

“Sweet and naïve?” Roni helpfully supplied.

“Exactly,” Jeanette and Lydia said in unison.

That had been her take on it, as well. “There’s only one way to find out for sure.”

“Click it,” Lydia mumbled.

Roni nodded. Moving the mouse until the cursor hovered over the video clip, Roni took a deep breath and hit the button. The video popped up immediately. Next, she hit play. Lydia and Jeanette both gasped when a man appeared on the screen. Man, hell, he was just a teenager! And she knew him, which made it even worse.

All three of them were riveted as the little jerk sat in Roni’s chair and started to mess with the things on her desk. At first it seemed he was riffling through her papers, which pissed her off even more, then he leaned back and smiled. His hands went to the fly of jeans.

“Oh my God!” Lydia shouted.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Jeanette muttered and stepped back, her hand going to her stomach.

“I think I’m going to kick someone’s ass,” Roni growled as she clicked the little X and closed the video. “I know that little weasel.”

Lydia’s gaze shot wide. “You do?”

Roni stood and paced the room, her anger at the boiling point. “He’s the son of the guy who cleans these offices. I’ve seen him a few times, coming and going. Damn, he must have gotten his hands on his dad’s keys and made copies or something.”

“I wonder what else he’s doing.” Jeanette scrunched her brows and sat in one of the chairs across from her desk. “There are several offices in this building. He could be robbing them all blind.”

Roni stopped pacing and stared back at Jeanette. “Whatever he’s been doing, it stops today. I’ve got him on video.”

“You need to call the police.” Lydia pointed to the monitor and said, “Who knows how long he’s been at this.”

Roni nodded and grabbed the phone off her desk. “First I need to call Jake and let him know his plan worked.”

“Jake?”

“The computer guy who installed the webcam.” Roni dialed his number. Damn, she didn’t even have to look at the little sticky note she’d tucked into her purse. His number had been etched into her brain because she’d stared at it for so long the night before.

Lydia crossed her arms over her chest and grinned. “He’s Jake now? Since when?”

Oops. Roni hadn’t meant to tell them about Jake just yet. She wasn’t even sure what there was to tell. When Jake’s voicemail kicked on, Roni hung up the phone. He hadn’t answered. Should she read something into that?

Lydia passed a hand in front of her face and said, “Earth to Roni.”

“After Jake fixed my computer and set me up with the webcam, I took him to dinner as a thank you.” Okay, so she’d left out the part about letting him blindfold her, tie her hands and spank her ass.

Jeanette and Lydia looked at each other, then back at her. Jeanette tapped the top of the monitor with her finger and said, “A thank you, my butt. We know you better than that, Roni. Spill.”

Roni bit her lip as heat stole into her cheeks.

“Oh my God, she’s blushing!” Jeanette squealed. “I haven’t seen her do that since we were little!”

Lydia sat on the edge of the desk and winked. “Wow. This must be big.”

Roni sighed. They were like rabid animals. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but damn, did they have to know her so well? “If you two must have all the dirty details.”

“We must,” Lydia said and Jeanette laughed.

Roni rolled her eyes. “Fine. I sort of…slept with him.”

Both women started asking questions at the same time and Roni went to one of the two chairs across from her desk and dropped into it. “I don’t know what I was thinking. He’s just so damn sexy. One minute he’s making my computer purr like a kitten, the next he’s making me purr.”

“Good with his hands, was he?” Jeanette said, wagging her eyebrows.

“His hands, mouth, cock. My God, the man knows how to please a woman.” Roni’s body revved to life at the thought of how well he’d strummed her. He’d taken so much time to play, as if content to spend an eternity licking and petting. Roni had had enough of men who seemed intent on getting to the finish line. Jake had taken the long route and she was ready to do it all again. An addict, that’s what she was. And he held the key to her fix in the palm of his large, strong hand.

“Dang, look at her, Jeanette. She has that glassy-eyed look. The one she gets when you bring her one of your homemade brownies.”

Jeanette laughed. Roni had heard enough. “I’m not glassy-eyed. It was great sex, but that’s all it was.”
Liar, liar pants on fire!
Any moment now she expected to be struck by lightning.

Lydia smoothed her hand over her tan skirt but kept her intelligent gaze on her, which made Roni want to squirm like a little kid in the principal’s office. “Sounds to me like he was sort of your fantasy guy. The blue-collar worker you craved.”

Roni saw an opening to drag her friends past the topic of Jake and she snagged it with both hands. “Exactly. I wanted a guy who wouldn’t treat me to a night at the opera. A man who would keep it real. Jake fit the bill perfectly. We went out for hamburgers then did it like rabbits. Which means I’ve fulfilled my part of the bet.”

“A bet, huh? That’s all it was? Hot sex with a regular Joe?”

Roni froze. Oh God, she knew that deep tone. Shutting her eyes, Roni sent up a quick prayer. When she stood and turned, her stomach bottomed out. Jake filled the doorway, his dark, furious gaze pinning her in place. His black case clutched in one hand, cell phone in the other. Roni shivered and took an instinctive step back when he moved toward her. How much had he heard? Damn.

“Jake.” Her voice shook as she watched him coming toward her. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

He wagged his phone in the air. “You tried to call. Dumbass that I am, I was worried. I thought maybe your perv had decided to do something more than jack off to porn.” His angry gaze shot to Jeanette and Lydia, then back to her. “Imagine my surprise to find you here talking about slumming it with me.”

“It wasn’t like that. I didn’t mean—”

“That you fucked the help?” He winked and said, “Don’t worry, princess, I get it just fine.”

“Jake, you misunderstood.” The remote tone in his voice had her scrambling to explain. “It wasn’t like that, I swear.”

“And all for a bet?” he asked, his voice rough. He pushed his cell phone back in the holder attached to his belt. “Fuck it. I should’ve guessed.”

“Guessed what?”

“That there had to be a catch.” He bent and spoke into her ear. “A real shame. I was really looking forward to kneeling for you, princess.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, Roni’s pussy flooded with liquid heat at the image his words evoked. “Damn it, Jake. Will you just listen for a second?”

He stroked her cheek with his fingers. “I think you’ve said enough.” He turned and stalked out, but not before she saw the hurt etched into the hard planes of his face.

Roni’s feet wouldn’t move. She ached to run after him, to explain. She needed to set things straight. But her damn feet wouldn’t move. Her shoulders began to shake as emotion swamped her. “What have I done?”

Lydia placed her hand at the small of her back. “Sit down, honey.”

Jeanette patted her arm. They were both talking softly, trying to soothe her. Roni heard only the anger in Jake’s voice. “Oh, God,” she moaned as she collapsed into the nearest chair. Lydia handed her a tissue and leaned against the desk, while Jeanette sat in the chair next to her.

“Want to talk about it?” Lydia’s voice was gentle.

Roni had the insane urge to laugh. She was supposed to be the one giving advice. “Some psychologist I am. I can’t even have a normal relationship without completely screwing it up.” She slumped. “I’m such a damn fraud.”

“Stop it,” Lydia ordered. “You aren’t a fraud, merely human. It’s okay to be human, Roni. You messed up. We all do.”

“I hurt him, Lydia.” The raw ache she’d witnessed would forever haunt her. “I’m not sure I can fix this one.”

“Yes, you can. You may need to lose the pride though. Can you do that?”

Roni stiffened at Lydia’s words. “I’m not that bad. You act as if I’ve never apologized or humbled myself. I’m not so hardheaded.”

Lydia and Jeanette looked at each other, then back at her. Jeanette spoke first. “With Lydia and me, yeah. We couldn’t ask for a better friend. But when it comes to men you have a difficult time compromising. You tend to keep them at a distance.”

Roni opened her mouth to deny Jeanette’s words but stopped when she noticed Lydia biting her lower lip, her brows scrunched in concern. Had she kept men at a distance? Roni tried to think of the last time she’d had a relationship. Something beyond a few nights spent between the sheets. Nothing came to mind. How pathetic was that?

“May I offer a suggestion?”

Roni tossed the soggy tissue in the trash can next to her desk and pushed a hand through her hair. “I’m all ears here, Lydia. Hell, I’m up for about anything at this point.”

“Go to him,” Lydia urged. “Tell him how you feel. Better yet, show him.”

Roni mulled over her friend’s words. Did she dare go to Jake? Would he tell her to kiss off? Probably. What other choice did she really have? Wallowing in self-pity wasn’t her way. Besides, he’d promised she’d get a chance to be in control and she intended to hold him to it.

Roni stood. “You’re right. I’m going to go to him and he’s going to listen to me or I’ll tie him down and gag him until he does.”

Jeanette laughed. “Now that’s the Roni we know and love.”

Roni went to the phone and dialed the local police department. “First, I have a horny teenager to deal with.”

Jake sat in his car at the back of the dark parking lot, watching as a police car arrived along with an old beat-up sedan. A tall, thin man and what appeared to be a scrawny high school kid got out of the car and went into Roni’s office, followed by the officer. Jake frowned. She must have caught her perv. Thank God for that at least.

It was a good hour before the police finally came out of the building, the kid in handcuffs, followed by what appeared to be the boy’s angry father. Once they were gone, Jake watched as Roni and her friends emerged from the building. He noticed the way the two friends seemed to be surrounding Roni, as if for moral support. When Roni turned, the security light illuminated her face. She’d been crying. His stomach knotted.

He should hate her. Drive off and never look back. Save himself from more pain. But the tears did him in. He had to grip the steering wheel to keep from going to her. He could take her in his arms and hold her tight. They could make love until the sun came up. Yeah, right. That’d be like painting the word pushover on his forehead. She’d put him in his place tonight and what did he do? He sat and watched like some lovesick fool.

Damn it, he needed to make certain she was okay, didn’t he? The idea that the perv using her computer might escalate and try something much worse had been on his mind all day. The asshole had been willing to risk a hell of a lot to watch porn videos; what else would he be capable of?

When Jake had seen her number on his cell and realized she’d tried to get hold of him, he’d started thinking the worst. Nothing could’ve prepared him for the conversation he’d overheard. Roni explaining away their time together, as if it’d meant nothing to her. As if he’d been another in a long line of fucks. He clutched the steering wheel tighter. He wanted to shake her. A bet? She’d wanted to win some damn bet. That’s all it’d been to her?

Deep down, Jake knew Roni wasn’t so callous. Afraid of intimacy, yes, but coldhearted? Not fucking hardly. Sex was one thing, but when the heart started to get involved the rules changed and the game became a whole lot more intense. Why the fear?
You’re deluding yourself, asshole.
Their evening together had been fantastic, but it was over. She didn’t give a damn about him.

Jake pushed the key in the ignition and turned. The Mustang came alive with a low rumble. Why had he let himself get close to a woman again? Love led to hurt. Hadn’t he already learned that lesson with Sarah?

Some guys never fucking learned.

10

T
hree days and nothing but voicemail. Roni clutched her stomach as pain tore through her. She stared at the cell phone in her hand, willing it to ring. She’d tried over and over to call Jake. The walls of her apartment seemed to close in around her. She needed air. With no real destination in mind, Roni grabbed her purse and keys off the kitchen table and left the stifling surroundings behind.