Double Dating with the Dead (17 page)

His body jerked. Ah, damn, this was so fucking great. He'd never…damn…this was so fantastic. Wave after wave of the most incredible release exploded over him.

He drew in a deep breath as if he hadn't taken a breath in a very long time.

Slowly, he leaned forward, his head resting on her stomach. She tangled her fingers in his hair.

She gave new meaning to the saying “sleeping with the enemy.”

Selena said he'd ruined her for any other man. Hell, he'd never had anyone make him feel like she'd just made him feel. It was like the first time, only better. God, he felt so incredibly complete.

“I don't think we should've made love,” she whispered.

“You're right because I don't think I'll ever get enough of you.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

But he knew it would end. One of them was not going to have a career when the two weeks were up. He had a feeling she was going to hate him.

S
elena lay curled against Trent's side. They'd barely made it up the stairs after their wild bout of sex, washed off in the bathroom because that was all they could manage and crawled into the first bed—which just happened to be Trent's. Not that Selena cared whose bed she'd ended up in.

She stretched, careful not to disturb him. Lord, she felt like a contented cat. And why shouldn't she? Her dreams had finally become a reality, and it had been so much better than her fantasies.

“Are you having fun?” Trent grumbled.

She raised her head and met his sleepy-eyed gaze. “What?”

“You've been circling my nipple with your fingernail for the last few minutes.”

Oh, damn, she had been. She curled her fingers and moved her hand downward, but accidentally brushed across his erection as she did. He groaned.

“Oops.” She put a few inches between them.

“Oops?” he asked.

She laughed. She couldn't help it. Trent sounded so pained.

“Just oops?” He growled from low in his throat and turned onto his side, drawing close, his erection nudging her sex.

She sucked in a deep breath and wiggled closer.

“You're going to be the death of me.”

“Shall I resuscitate you?” she breathed close to his ear.

“Damn, I don't have any protection.”

She leaned back. “You're joking.”

He shook his head. “I'm not Tye. I really didn't think I would have any need to pack condoms. I was just lucky I had that one.”

Maybe…“I think I have one in my purse.”

“You carry condoms?”

“Duh, I'm not about to catch some disease no matter how bad I want sex.” It just occurred to her what she'd said. “Not that I think you're diseased or anything. A girl can't be too careful nowadays, though.”

“Good…I think.”

Before he could dig too deeply into her morning babble, she scrambled from the bed, going to the door stark naked, but turned to face him at the last minute. “I'll be right back.”

Desire flared when his heated gaze lazily roamed over her. She stood there, letting him look his fill. Oh, she was so bad. She knew exactly what she was doing to him.

“Hurry,” he croaked.

He didn't have to tell her to hurry, not the way the covers were tenting. Besides, she wanted it just as much. He'd started an itch inside her that desperately needed scratching.

She practically ran to her room.

“Please let the condom be in my purse.” And please let it hold together and not be crunchy from age or anything.

She went inside her room and hurried to her purse. After opening it, she dumped the contents on top of the bed. Oh, hell, where was it? She scrambled through the makeup, the hair clips, her car keys…success!

“I'm going to have sex again,” she singsonged. “I'm going to have sex.”

Before she left her room, she ran a brush through her hair, then spritzed on a gardenia-scented perfume. She only wished she had time for a quick bath. She popped a piece of gum in her mouth and chewed for a few seconds, then spit it into the trash can. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Look out, 'cause here I come.” She smiled. “Literally.” Damn, she hadn't been this hot, this ready for sex, in a very long time. She'd probably come as soon as he entered her. Oh, Lord, that set off a deep ache inside her.

Okay, slow down. Deep breath.

She opened her door, tossed her hair over her shoulder and with hips swinging seductively ambled toward Trent's room.

“I'm going to have sex,” she said under her breath, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Selena?” her mother yelled from downstairs.

“Or not.” She whirled around and sprinted back to her room. Once inside she grabbed her robe and quickly crammed her arms into the sleeves and belted it. Her mother really knew how to kill a mood.

“Selena?”

She opened her door. As she hurried past Trent's room his door opened a crack.

Pained desperation was written all over his face. “Is that your mother?” he frantically whispered.

“Duh.”

He quirked an eyebrow and frowned.

“Sorry.” There was no use blaming him for her not getting any sex this morning.

Damn, what was her mother doing here? She hurried past his room and stopped at the top of the stairs.

“Mom, it's…uh…early?”

“Oh, you're still in bed?”

“Not anymore.” And apparently not having sex, either. Oh, good Lord, what if her mother had read Barbara's article? So not good. Disastrous, in fact.

“Your father wanted me to check on you since we had that storm last night.”

Worse than she'd thought. Her father had read the article. She cringed as she shoved her hair out of her face and glanced around. “Dad? Uh…he didn't come with you, did he?” She could fool her mom but never her dad. He would know exactly what was going on.

“No, he had an important case to take care of this morning.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe all was not lost. She pasted a bright smile on her face. “Well, we…” She cleared her throat. “I…yes…I weathered the storm just fine.”

Go away, Mom
.

“Good.” Her mother smiled. She raised the bag she had in her hand. “I brought chocolate-covered doughnuts. I thought we'd have a nice little breakfast together.”

I'd rather have sex
.

She sucked in her pout. “Sure, Mom. That would be nice. Just let me clean up a bit and I'll meet you in the kitchen.”

“Don't be long, dear.”

She turned, trudging back to her room.

“Trent, dear, are you up?” Winnie's voice floated up the stairs.

He opened his door, a deep frown marring his features. “What the hell is this…a friggin' hotel?”

Selena crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Ya think?”

“That's not what I meant and you know it.”

She shrugged and went to her room. She could hear him talking to Winnie from the top of the stairs as she went inside and began gathering her clothes.

“I'm not having sex this morning,” she singsonged dejectedly under her breath. “I'm going to kill my mother.”

No, she wouldn't, but the thought did skitter across her mind as she grabbed clothes and hurried to the bathroom. She took the quickest bath of her life. She certainly couldn't go downstairs smelling as though she'd had sex half the night.

Thank goodness they'd straightened the kitchen before going to bed.

There was only one good thing about all this. Mom had brought chocolate-glazed doughnuts. She was starved.

Nothing new.

Trent was standing outside the bathroom door as she came out. Her heart skipped a beat, and for just a second, she couldn't move.

“We could've saved water and bathed together,” he told her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Her thoughts jumbled around inside her head. “I…uh…” Her nipples tightened as an ache began to build inside her. Oh, Lord, she could almost feel his mouth sucking on one breast, then the other.

“Later.” He eased around her and shut the door.

She drew in a deep breath. She'd kill him! Right after she ravaged his body. That was it. She'd screw him until he croaked.

Great, now she had all these sexually charged thoughts flying around inside her head, and she was about to go downstairs and talk with her mother.

So not good.

“Ass,” she said to the closed door.

She heard him chuckle.

Shaking her head, she trotted down the stairs. Later. Trent had said later. She would hold him to that. Oh, yeah, she'd definitely hold him to that.

Boy, could she pick her relationships or what? If she wasn't talking to the dead, she was having sex with the one man who could ruin her career. No, she wouldn't let that happen.

But on the other hand, she'd have to ruin his.

Poor Trent.

She went into the kitchen, dropping a kiss on top of her mother's head as she aimed toward the coffeepot. “Morning, Mom. Morning, Winnie.”

“Hello, dear. The coffee is fresh.”

“So nice to see you again, Selena.”

All conversation had halted when she entered. Hmm, they'd probably read the article and wondered what was up.

She poured a cup of coffee and took it to the table where she pulled out a chair and joined them. The coffee smelled great. She blew across the liquid and took a drink. This was wonderful. Not as strong as Trent's but nearly as good. It didn't really matter how it tasted as long as it had lots of caffeine.

They weren't talking. Her mother always talked. Something was in the air. She looked between them. Her mother quickly cast her gaze down to her folded hands.

“Okay, what's up?”

“Oh, nothing,” Angela said and picked a chocolate doughnut from the box, took a bite, then licked the chocolate off the side of her mouth.

“You read the article, right?”

“What article would that be, dear?”

She slowly let out her breath. Off the hook for now. But still, something was going on.

“I know that look, and believe me, it doesn't mean ‘nothing.' You have something up your sleeve, so pull it out.” She took a doughnut from the box and bit into it. Delicious. They had the best bakery in Garvey County.

“I'm going to work for Winnie.”

Selena choked. “You're what?” She hurried on before her mother could say anything else. “You can't go to work for Winnie. Have you both lost your minds? Trent will have a heart attack.”

Winnie straightened. “I'm still his mother, and I won't allow him to have a heart attack. Besides, I like Angela. We suit. My assistant gave her notice—she's going back to college—and I'll need some help.”

“Antiques.” Angela's face glowed. “You know how I love antiques.”

“Fine,” she said after taking a drink of coffee to wash down the doughnut that hung in her throat. What the hell were they doing? “Trent is really going to love this.”

Footsteps came toward the kitchen.

Speak of the devil.

“We don't plan to tell him just yet,” Winnie frantically whispered as her bravado of only a moment ago disappeared. “We'll ease him into it.”

“Cowards,” Selena mumbled, but stopped herself from saying anything more when she noted Winnie looked a little green around the gills.

“Good morning, ladies,” Trent said as he strolled into the kitchen.

Winnie shot a warning look at Selena. “Good morning.”

Angela hesitated, then smiled. “Good morning, Trent.”

Her mother was smiling at Trent. Amazing. Winnie must've made one hell of an impression on her mother. Angela was actually being civil.

Selena shook her head as she looked from one mother to the other. Angela would call this fate. Maybe it was. Who could really say for sure?

Trent poured a cup of coffee and took a drink. “Tastes wonderful.”

Angela's smile widened. “Thank you. I made it.”

He ambled over to the box of doughnuts, but paused with his hand above it. “Do you mind?”

“Oh, no, help yourself.” Angela eased the box closer.

Oh, give me a break
.

Her mother was trying to butter him up. Angela's love for antiques was as strong as Selena's, but Angela had no real head for business. This would be a wonderful opportunity to have the best of both worlds.

“I didn't think you liked doughnuts for breakfast,” Winnie commented with raised eyebrows.

“I found that I enjoy something sweet first thing in the morning.”

Selena could feel the heat rising to her face. He'd looked at her from the corner of his eye, and she instinctively knew he wasn't talking about the doughnut.

His meaning was loud and clear.

She wanted to crawl under the table. Fan herself with her hand. Jump his bones. Okay, maybe not jump his bones with her mother sitting across from her. She'd have to jump them later.

Thankfully, neither Winnie nor her mother found anything suspicious in his words.

He bit into the doughnut and chewed. “These are great.” He finished, then sucked the chocolate off each finger before he washed it all down with a drink of coffee. “Now, do either one of you ladies want to tell me exactly what brings you here this morning?”

His mother's cheeks turned a rosy shade of red. “We didn't come in the same car. It was purely by…accident that we arrived at almost the same time.”

Yeah, their excuse was pretty thin. From the looks they'd been casting at each other, it wasn't hard to see that something was going on. She just wondered how long before they'd spill the beans.

“You've been suspicious since that woman tried to steal our money. That was so long ago. Why can't you let it go?” Winnie asked.

He leaned a hip against the counter and took another drink of his coffee, but Selena watched him and saw how his jaw twitched. Not a good sign. Her gaze moved back to Winnie, who had suddenly become interested in her coffee.

“I made a mistake once. I vowed it wouldn't happen again, and it hasn't.” He didn't meet their gazes, but focused on the cup of coffee he held.

“But at what price?” his mother asked softly.

“How's business at the store?” He changed the subject.

Winnie opened her mouth, then apparently thought better. “Business is quite good.”

Winnie squared her shoulders, and Selena had a bad feeling that she wasn't going to ease Trent into anything. Darn, why had she scooted into the corner? No escape route.

“Jillian is quitting. She's going back to college. I've hired someone to take her place, though.”

Trent relaxed, apparently feeling he was in safer waters. Selena wanted to warn him, but instead looked into her empty coffee cup, wishing she'd had tea instead.

As if she really needed to read leaves to know what was about to happen. She sighed. She couldn't stop Winnie from saying anything, so she might as well just brace herself for the impending storm. Trent's mother could be just as stubborn as her son.