Restore My Heart (36 page)

“How you tempt me.” He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers, and fought for control. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why are you fighting it? We both want this.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Explain to me how you’re going to hurt me.”

Wrapping his arms tighter around her, he tugged her back against him. “You deserve more than I’m offering you, sweetheart. If I’m not arrested, I’m leaving Friday.”

“What I told you the other night still goes.”

You’re free, Joe Desalvo. Got it? I never asked you for promises. Didn’t expect any
.

“I really care for you, Sally. I don’t want to toy with you.”

“What if I want to toy with
you?”
She pushed away. “Don’t I have a say?”

Joe swallowed. The dark-eyed beauty was a temptress.

“You’d settle for a one night fling?”

“Just tell me one thing. Do you or don’t you want me?”

In typical Sally fashion, direct and to the point, she’d cut through his noble intentions. He’d give her the truth. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman, and that’s the truth.”

Her lips curved into a saucy smile. “Then what are we waiting for?”

“I don’t think—”

“Don’t think. Just give me this night. Give me the pleasure of making love with a guy who really wants me, who thinks I’m desirable.”

Joe gentled his mouth against hers in a soft kiss. “You are desirable. Don’t ever think you aren’t.” Pulling back, he frowned. “You’ve not done this before?”

“I’m no virgin, if that’s what you mean.” She averted her eyes, but not before he saw the cloud of sadness in them. “Before the accident, Corky Martin and I thought we were in love.”

“This being Corky ‘The Jerk’ Martin?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know his full name then.” She smiled, shrugging, once more meeting Joe’s gaze. “It was quite forgettable. Just a quick tumble in the back seat of a Volkswagen Jetta.”

Joe may not have known much about cars, but he knew the size of a Volkswagen. “A Jetta? You’d have to be contortionists!”

“Well, the operative word was quick.”

Joe made up his mind he’d move heaven and earth before he’d be quick with Sally. “You deserve slow, pleasurable, mind-shattering passion.”

“Deal,” she whispered, then pointed upstairs. “We’ll have to be quiet.”

Blood pounding in his ears, Joe swooped her into his arms and carried her the short distance to her bedroom. Settling her on the bed, he then backtracked to lock the door. When he turned to face her, his breath caught at the sight. Sally lay gazing at him with luminous, trusting eyes, her kiss-bruised lips bending in a tremulous smile. His for the taking.

Alarms screamed in his conscience, but he no longer paid them heed. Sally had been right. They deserved one night. Tonight they’d make a memory. But in his gut, Joe feared it wouldn’t be enough. It’d never be enough. Then how was he going to walk away?

Sally floated in Joe’s arms, barely registering the mattress as she sank into the bed. He gazed down at her with such adoration, she nearly cried. Just for tonight, she’d be the woman for Joe. She’d measure up.

Somehow, they both were out of their clothes, stretched out side by side on the bedspread. He ran a finger along her jaw, tracing first her face, neck, then shoulder. “So lovely,” he whispered.

“Um, thank you.”

His mouth followed the trail of his hand, kissing and licking her flesh until she nearly screamed in frustration. She needed him to take her, possess her. But Joe had other plans. He seemed intent on making the night last, lingering over every inch of her body. Not that lingering was bad. No, lingering was good. Lingering was very good.

Sally slid her fingers through the dark curls covering Joe’s chest. He spent serious time on the racquetball court, judging from his solid muscles. Her hand met no excess of flesh around his abdomen. She wanted to touch lower, to stroke him as she had before. But Joe’s tongue found her nipple and her thoughts scattered.

Just when she’d reached the point of sensation overload, Joe lifted his head from her breasts. Even in the dim bedroom, lit only by the street lamp outside, she saw the heat in his eyes. She met his mouth, kissing him deeply, holding back nothing. Tonight she’d give him everything but the words. He’d know by the depth of her passion how much she loved him.

He’d walk away. They both knew it. But he’d have a difficult time forgetting tonight. She’d see to it.

“I need you inside me.”

“Soon,” he murmured against her lips, not breaking the kiss, while his fingers caressed, probed, and drove her wild with need.

His kisses grew bolder, stronger, while his hands worked their magic, until her body tightened from the building tension. She splintered into a thousand pieces, crying out her release into Joe’s mouth. Her hyperventilating finally settled into soft panting.

“Now, Joe.” Sally reached to the floor, fumbling around for her fanny pack.

“Okay, baby. First, protection.”

“Got you covered.” She pulled the condom from her fanny pack. “Pun intended.”

“Put it on me?”

She ripped apart the foil packet. “With pleasure.” After rolling the latex over his erection, she lay back, spreading open her legs to him.

He didn’t disappoint. Moving between her legs, he used his fingers to guide his penis into her slick opening. In one strong plunge, he buried himself. Pain mixed with delicious heat as she moved to accommodate his thickness. Forgotten was the awkward teenage tryst in the back seat of a Volkswagen. This was her first time. Tears spilled from her eyes.

Joe’s body stilled. “God, Sally, did I hurt you?”

“Not really.”

He caressed her face, stroked her jaw. Tasting her lips, he gave her the most tender of kisses. “I want this to be good for you, babe.”

“It’s just a female thing. I get emotional.” And she loved him so much.

“You’re tight. I should’ve given you time to adjust—”

“Shh.” She placed her fingertips over his lips. “I’m not hurt. It’s sort of like a piston with a new set of rings.”

“Am I the piston in this metaphor?”

“Yeah, or maybe the push rod.”

“Push rod. I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“Meet me on the upstroke?”

“All right.” He kissed her again.

Together they found their rhythm, building the pressure inside her until she could no longer wait. She bucked against him, in tune to his every stroke, harder, faster. Thankful that her bed didn’t squeak, she still worried that if her dad were awake, he’d be able to hear. Then she didn’t worry about anything as she claimed her climax. Ripples of pleasure inside her triggered Joe’s release. Biting into his shoulder, she muffled her cries of completion as he sucked in a loud breath.

He collapsed against her. “Oh, Sally, baby.”

They lay in blissful silence in an intimate embrace. Joe’s heart pounded against hers, his rapid breathing matched her own. Her wildest fantasies of sex with Joe fell short of the real thing. He’d definitely redlined her body’s tachometer.

She kissed his neck. “Was that incredible, or what?”

“The most incredible, sweetheart. I swear, the most incredible.”

Their breathing slowed. They savored each other with tender stroking and gentle kissing. Touching the red marks in his shoulder, she murmured, “Oh, Joe, I’m sorry.”

“For what? A little love bite?”

“I didn’t realize—”

“It doesn’t hurt. Actually, I’m flattered.”

“You should be. You drive me totally wild.” Still intimately joined, he grew hard again inside her. She smiled against his neck, heady with her powerful effect on him. “Could we do it again, please?”

He chuckled softly in her ear. “I’m certainly up for that.”

Sally leaned over the hood of an Oldsmobile 442, holding the starter in position while Justin bolted it down underneath the engine. For the first time since going to work for her, he’d asked for her help. She hoped it was the shape of things to come. This was her dream, working on automobiles with her dad.

“That’s got it,” he called out from the floor.

“Okay, I’ll connect the juice.” Gripping the box-end wrench, she tightened the nut that secured the battery cable to the solenoid.

Admittedly, auto mechanics was the only work she knew, except for bookkeeping she’d learned at Sullivan Business College. She’d only pursued her Associate Degree upon deciding to buy out Uncle Sal, knowing she’d need a business background. Working, saving, and studying, she’d committed herself to Mustang Sally’s. She’d even sell her precious Mustang for additional capital if it came to that. But working the business with her dad would make all her sacrifices worthwhile.

“That should do it.” As Sally pushed away from the fender, she winced.

Ouch
. Today’s aches and pains had more to do with her wild night of sex than her injured leg. Heat suffused her body just thinking about Joe’s talented hands and delectable mouth. And hard, masculine body. Oh, yes. Cherishing the memory, she refused to dwell on his inevitable departure from her life.

She watched the clock, waiting for the work day to end, when she’d meet Joe at the Universal Joint. By then, he’d have turned over the Darrin to Special Agent Ferguson. That should put an end to the attempts on their lives. If only she could put an end to the drain on her business.

Before Dan Alsop had opened his shop, Mustang Sally’s had customers waiting in line. In the auto restoration business, demand greatly exceeded supply. Unfortunately, her new competitor had launched a campaign to lure away her customer base, undercutting her prices and eliminating a lot of work with his great finds. Sally needed him to be guilty of fraud and murder. If he was, could the FBI prove it and prosecute? If he wasn’t, who’d killed Roy and Vic? And Leo?

The ringing of the telephone jarred her from her thoughts. She hobbled to her office to answer. Ellen Kennedy’s cultured voice greeted her.

“Sally? I’d like to make an appointment for routine maintenance on my Packard.”

“When is convenient for you?” A pang of guilt clutched Sally, remembering she and Joe had yet to admit to the counterfeit engine. “Will you be driving it over?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask. Could you possibly arrange to have it picked up?”

“Absolutely.” Snatching a pen from her desk, Sally checked her grease-stained month-at-a-glance desk calendar. “I could send Justin over Friday morning. Does that work for you?”

“Justin?”

“His name’s Justin Clay. I call him Dad.”

Ellen laughed. “Well, I look forward to meeting him.”

“Just remember, Ellen, my dad is a widower.” Sally grinned at Ellen’s friendly banter. She’d felt an instant affinity toward the woman, a feeling Ellen seemed to reciprocate. “A rather
handsome
widower.”

“That’s right. You told me the other night. While on the subject of handsome men, have you and Joe Desalvo worked out your differences yet?”

Sally’s skin burned just thinking about the night in her bed. They’d most definitely worked things out— and in. “I’d say our friendship is mended.”

“Good. Tell Justin I’ll have the garage door open Friday morning.”

Sally jotted the appointment on her calendar, along with Ellen’s telephone number, and ended the call. Just as she pushed herself to her feet, the telephone rang again. Flopping back into her chair, she answered.

“Miss Clay? Special Agent Ferguson. I ran that plate for you.”

“Anyone we know?”

“Are you familiar with the Federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act?”

“Yeah, yeah. So you can’t tell me, right?”

“Under the circumstances, I’ll share. It’s registered to Daniel Boone Alsop.”

“Daniel ‘Boone’ Alsop? Talk about a creative alias.” Sally chewed her bottom lip. “So Barbara Bloom is having an affair with Dan Alsop. Since Leo and Vic are both dead, looks like Barbara is the inside person for Alsop’s scam.”

“I told the homicide detective about Alsop’s late night visit with the recently-widowed Mrs. Bloom. Looks like they have a new suspect.”

“If Barbara and Vic are lovers, that’s a good motive for Vic’s murder.” Sally swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. This wasn’t an episode of
Murder, She Wrote
. This was Vic Bloom. The guy had been practically a godfather to Joe. “So will this take the heat off Joe as a suspect?”