Dangerous Curves Ahead: A Perfect Fit Novel (11 page)

“I can make her life a living hell for you. Give me something to go on.”

He was too protective. It must be some sort of macho male thing. She kind of liked it. “She drives a green Beetle convertible with a vanity plate. Put a boot on her car for me.”

“Done.” He pressed another kiss to her wrist, gentler this time, longer. His thumbs massaged away the red marks on her skin, and for a moment Ellis was very content with the world. Mike worked his rubdown up to her palm, kneading her tired stiff hand muscles into submission. It was heavenly. Her eyes once again drifted shut as he worked his magic.

“Tell me what happened between you and your ex,” he said softly.

Ellis’s eyes came open at that comment and she looked up at him. The way he was looking at her …

“Nothing.” She couldn’t tell him what Jack had done to her. She had a hard time facing it herself. “I realized that two years was too long to be with him. He disagreed.”

His eyes locked with hers. “I don’t believe you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk about this with you.” She shook her head. “Why do you care?”

Mike lifted his hand and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. I don’t know why I do half the things I do when I’m around you.”

He lightly stroked her cheek with his thumb and for a moment Ellis was speechless and senseless. She wanted to kiss him again, to hold on to him, to run her hands along his hard warm body. Mike was one of those guys a woman could lose her heart to if she wasn’t careful.
Careful
was Ellis’s middle name.

“Okay, enough feeling me up.” She inched away from him and reached for the paper bag that was resting on her desk. “What did you bring me for lunch? I hope you remembered the ketchup.”

*   *   *

“It’s simple, Ellis. You can do it,” Mike said.

He hadn’t left her store yet, the time getting away from him. He had never spent so long in a woman’s clothing store in his life but he kind of liked it there. Her store was cute. Almost homey in a way. It reminded him of his mother’s flower shop. Some aspects of running a small business never changed. Ellis, like his mother, had orders to fill and customers to cater to. He remembered his mother staying well past closing to fulfill a big order for a wedding or going out of her way to make a special arrangement for a longtime customer. She always went above and beyond, and he saw some of that in Ellis. The love for her store, the drive she had to make it successful, the need to make her customers leave happy. The only difference was that his mother had him and his sisters to help run the store. Ellis was doing it all on her own.

“Explain this to me one more time, Mikey.” Ellis turned to look at him, her scent distracting him from the task at hand.

When he woke up this morning he hadn’t planned on coming here. He planned to do his normal two-mile jog, go back home, shower, eat, and go on with his day. But things didn’t work out that way. A memory of Ellis’s deliciously soft body popped in his head and instead of taking his normal route through the park his feet led him into the center of the city and down the street that led to her store.

“Open the spreadsheet.” He reached over her to point to the icon on the screen. “Go to the functions menu and hit calculate. Now you can see what is selling and what isn’t.”

She did what he said and then spun her chair around to look at him. “Is it really that simple?”

“Yup.”

Her face broke into a large grin and she clapped her hands like an adorable toddler. “Thank you! You just saved me hours of work.”

Mike rested his hands on the arms of her chair and leaned in close. She smelled good, like lotion, a different scent than before. He fought the urge to bury his nose in the soft skin of her neck. “What’s the reward for all my expertise?”

She sighed and leaned back in the chair, resting her arms on the top of her head. He got a chance to give her body a good long look. Today she wore a tight skirt and white blouse that opened in a vee over her breasts. Her legs were crossed, smooth, long, and bare. But what kept his eyes wandering was her feet, which were encased in gray suede heels with a little bow on top. Her toes were bared, showing off her bubblegum-pink-painted nails. He barely took note of a woman’s feet but Ellis’s, like everything else on her, were sexy.

“Reward?” she asked after a moment. “How about the satisfaction of knowing you did a good deed? Your reward will be in heaven.”

“Bullshit.” His gaze fell upon her lips. “I’d rather have a kiss.”

“Drop dead,” Ellis said, but her eyes traveled to his lips and Mike knew she was thinking about their last kiss.

It needed to be repeated or Mike would go insane. “Go out with me, Ellis.”

“You went out with my sister.” She pushed on his shoulders and rose from her chair. But Mike didn’t back up. Ellis was nearly as tall as he was in her heels, and for the first time Mike stood eye-to-eye with a woman. “Isn’t one of Phillipa Gregory’s offspring enough?”

Apparently not. He couldn’t believe that he had it bad for his favorite professor’s daughter. He really couldn’t believe he had also dated Dr. Greg’s older daughter. Small world … or fate, but Mike wasn’t the type of guy who believed in that kind of crap. He had met Dina by chance. She was cute, a little self-centered, a little out there, but fun to hang out with. He knew that it wasn’t going to go anywhere the day they met. But with Ellis things were different. Something about her kept pulling him in when all he wanted to do was run away. It didn’t make any sense because everything he did seemed to bring him closer to her.

“I didn’t sleep with your sister, if that’s what this is about.”

Ellis nodded. “You told me already.”

He could tell that she didn’t believe him and it bugged him even further. “Ask her. We only went out a few times.”

“It doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t; I have no desire to be another notch on your bedpost.” She pushed her face closer to his, and once again he noticed those little gold flecks in her eyes. “Tell me, Mike, do you and Colin have a master list? Redhead. Check. Swedish girl. Check. Is fat chick the only thing left on your list? Is that why you want me?”

“Don’t.” Mike grabbed her waist, pulling her close to him. Only she could manage to piss him off. “I already told you not to put yourself down in front of me. I don’t like it, damn it. You are more than how much you weigh. Don’t you get it?”

Her eyes grew wide. “I’m not putting myself down! I’m not your average girl. I opened this store because I’ve finally embraced it. I’m a big girl. Don’t tell me you can’t see that.”

For some reason her little impassioned speech did something to his insides. She noticed and tried to take a step back, but he wouldn’t let her. They were so close. All he had to do was lean in a mere inch or two and take what he wanted. It wasn’t going to happen that way. She was going to have to come to him willingly. It might take a little more time than he was used to, but he would wait. The urge to feel her naked and underneath him struck him at the most inconvenient times. Maybe if they got together the constant thoughts of her would fade from his brain. Maybe they wouldn’t. It was a chance he was going to have to take.

“Are you still in love with your ex?” he asked. Every time he bought it up she brushed him off. It was none of his business, and he wasn’t sure why it was important to him. But if she was still in love with that guy Mike would walk away. He didn’t compete with other men no matter how great the woman was.

“No,” she said with such conviction that he believed her. “This has nothing to do with him.”

“Then what, Ellis?” He couldn’t figure out why she kept turning him down. “So what? I slept with a few women. Did you expect me to be a virgin?”

“No but—”

“But what? I don’t want to marry you. I just want to take you out to dinner.”

Her eyes searched his face for a long moment. He wondered what she was thinking. “My refusal is just killing you?” She gave him that naughty smile of hers that caused him to go hard and infuriated him at the same time. “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” She stood on tiptoes and placed a kiss on the bridge of his nose. “Thank you for putting all of the paperwork onto my computer.”

She backed away from him and this time he let her go. “Things will be easier on you if you’re organized,” he said gruffly.

“Really?” She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “How do you know so much stuff about running a business? You’re a cop.”

“My family owns a flower shop in Buffalo. I helped out sometimes.”

“Oh.” She blinked at him. “I’m having a hard time picturing you among hundreds of flowers.”

“Try envisioning me naked. It might make it easier.”

Her mouth dropped open and Mike got the huge satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten her. It was too easy sometimes. “See you next time, Ellis.”

And on that note, he left. He had already spent too much time with the girl he was going nowhere with.

*   *   *

“Where the fuck have you been?”

Mike walked up to the front door of his rented town house to find Colin sitting on his steps.

“Shit.” He had forgotten all about Colin. They were supposed to watch the game together but instead Mike had been busy with Ellis. And not busy in a good way. This was a sign. She was no good for him. All she ever managed to do was make him horny or angry. “Sorry. The time got away from me.”

Mike glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly five
PM
. He had been at Ellis’s store for hours. How could he have not noticed that?

“For fuck’s sake,” Colin swore. “I’ve been sitting out here for the better part of an hour freezing my bollocks off.”

Mike shot his friend a look. “It’s seventy-five degrees, asshole.”

Colin shrugged. “Figuratively speaking, then.” Colin unfolded his long body and waited for Mike to ascend the stairs. “Don’t tell me you’ve been out jogging all this time? I know you bloody Americans love your exercise, but six hours is pushing it.”

“I wasn’t jogging the whole time,” Mike said as he fished his key out of his pocket and let himself and his irritated Irish friend into his house.

“Then where were you?”

“Are you my mother?” Mike flopped down on his black leather sofa and flicked on the television. The baseball game, already in its second inning, was on. “Don’t tell me you were worried about me?”

“You were with the girl from the pub, weren’t you?”

“What makes you think that?” Mike asked, not looking at Colin. How the hell could he have guessed that?

“Because if it were any other girl you’d be blabbing like a schoolgirl after prom.”

Mike laughed hard at his friend’s odd saying. “Where the hell do you come up with those?”

Colin, who didn’t see the humor in it, frowned at him. “Were you with her? With Ellen?”

“Ellis,” Mike automatically corrected. “And yeah, I was.”

“You like her.” Colin finally came over and plopped himself next to Mike on the couch.

Mike did and he had no idea why. “She drives me fucking crazy.” And she made him want to get closer.

“Any girl who can kiss the way she was kissing you is well worth a little insanity, don’t you think?”

“No.” Mike shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s Dr. Greg’s daughter.”

“What? The hippie man basher?”

“Yup.” Mike sighed.

“So that means you’ve been with both of Dr. Gregory’s daughters?”

“No.” He hadn’t been with either of them, at least not in the way Colin meant. “Listen, I’m done talking about Ellis. Let’s just watch the rest of the game.”

“All right, but first get off your ass and get me a beer and some crisps if you got them.” When Mike shot him a look Colin added, “You made me wait an hour for, fuck’s sake.”

“They are called potato chips here.” Mike got up and made his way to the kitchen. On his way he noticed the voice mail light blinking on his phone.

He pushed
PLAY
and walked in to the kitchen.

“Mike, it’s your father.” Mike froze, literally froze; even his heart stopped beating. He never thought he would hear his father’s gravelly voice again. “It’s been a while. I think we should talk…”

Colin stood before him in the kitchen. He knew the whole story. Knew that Mike had no love for the man who walked out on him. “Holy fucking hell,” he said after a while. “What are you going to do, Edwards?”

“Nothing.” There was no going back now. Mike walked over the phone and erased the message.

Chapter Seven

Mother Lover …

I’m one of those unfortunate women who has a mother who is way skinnier than her. As a teenager this used to bug me. But as an adult I’ve had a chance to rethink my position.

There are some definite pro and cons.

Con: She always asks me and not my skinny sister to exercise with her.

Pro: She calls my sister, and not me, three times a week just to make sure she’s getting enough to eat.

Con: I can’t fit into any of her clothes.

Pro: I can’t fit into any of her clothes! My mom has terrible taste.

Dina was late for dinner.
What’s new
, Ellis thought while she sat waiting in her parents’ living room. They had been waiting for her for nearly an hour, so long that their father nervously paced in front of the telephone.

“Indian Star gets crowded at six o’clock,” Walter said as he held the menu to Dina’s favorite restaurant in his hand. “If Dina doesn’t get here in four minutes it will take twice as long for our meal to get here.”

“Just order now, Daddy.” Ellis threw a look at her mother, who was sitting at her desk working. Only Phillipa could stop her father’s anxiety-ridden pacing.

“I want to wait,” he said firmly. “Dina has not come to dinner four times in the past three months. I do not want to spend eleven dollars and eighty-five on her rogan josh if she is not going to be here to eat it.”

“Walter, my heart.” Phillipa rose from her chair and offered her hand to him. “Let’s go in the kitchen and put Indian Star’s number on speed dial so when Dina shows up we don’t have to waste our precious time dialing.”