She's the One: COunting on Love, Book 1 (19 page)

“Have you ever done any role-playing?”

His gaze bounced from her breasts to her face. “Seriously?”

He’d had one girlfriend who’d liked it and they’d done it a couple of times. Mostly she just liked him to talk her through the fantasy—things like
your husband will be home soon and I don’t have the plumbing fixed yet
or
if you want an A in my class you better give an A+ blow job
. But once or twice she’d dressed up too. He’d enjoyed it. A lot.

“I’ve done a little,” he finally said, once he unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth and ignored the image of Amanda in that pirate slave outfit he’d conjured.

“So you’d do that with me?” she asked, her eyes bright.

“I’ll do
anything
with you,” he told her. And he was afraid that really was true.

“We should go to that cool costume place,” she said, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

“Now?” He sat up too, but with the intention of pulling her back underneath him.

She grabbed for her yoga pants and grinned at him. “Yeah. It’s still Sunday night. Or we could go to a bar and you could pretend to pick me up. Or I could pick you up—and we could have sex in the storeroom.”

“Who
are
you?” he asked, climbing from the bed. “Never mind. I don’t care. Let’s go.”

Just then he heard the loud rumble of her stomach.

“Maybe we should eat first,” she said with a cute eye roll. She took a new bra and shirt out of her dresser and pulled them on. “Ooh, maybe we could pretend that you’re a food critic and I have to have sex with you so you’ll give me a good review.”

She was really into this. He grinned, suddenly gung ho. “Let’s get something quick and head for the costumes. I have a pirate fantasy gaining steam here.”

She twirled to face him as he pulled the sheet from the bed to use while he retrieved his pants from the first floor.

“Really?” She looked like a kid who’d been promised a trip to the circus. “A pirate? Like Johnny Depp?”

Not exactly. But he did appreciate what Depp had done for women’s interest in pirates. He’d always wanted to be a pirate. “Really. An eye patch and everything.”

“Ooh, let’s go.” She was still holding her socks as she started for the steps.

He followed and dressed quickly, already picturing the skimpy dress that his pirate slave would need to have. And maybe one of those iron rings for around her ankle to help keep her in place.

“Let’s get something there,” Amanda said from his front seat a few minutes later as they drove down the main street toward downtown.

“The convenience store? Really?” He would not have pegged Amanda for the gas-station-burrito-and-slushie type of girl.

“If they’ve got dill pickle chips, I’m good.”

“You need your calories, girl. You have an upcoming workout. With those chips, I’d recommend Gatorade, some cookies and some Twizzlers to start.”

She laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t say no to a king-size Snickers.”

He pulled in to the lot. The sooner he fed her, the sooner he could get her into the outfit…and then out of it.

She headed for the chips while he went for the drinks. But he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering over to her repeatedly. She was watching him too. She lifted a Snickers bar to her mouth, pulled the wrapper back with her teeth, then licked the end before sliding it into her mouth, closing her lips around it and closing her eyes as she sucked the chocolate off the end.

Just like that he had a brilliant idea.

He crossed to the registers and handed the clerk a twenty. “Hold these for me? And put the chips and candy bar on my tab too.”

The clerk knew exactly which chips and candy bar he was talking about. All four of the other men in the store did. They were all watching Amanda make love to the Snickers.

She was also swaying her hips to some unheard music, oblivious to the attention she was drawing as she checked the labels on multiple chip bags and sucked on the candy.

Amanda didn’t see him slip down the aisle with the pain relievers, nail files and diapers and come up behind her. “You’re in danger. I’ve been sent to protect you,” he said quietly.

She straightened quickly and glanced around. The other patrons—except for the older woman checking out the beer selection and the two teenage girls choosing from the DVD display—were watching them. But Ryan made sure it looked like he was simply whispering in her ear. They couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“What do I need to do?” she whispered back, playing along.

He smiled and put a hand on her waist, moving her down the aisle. “We need to get out of here without clueing them in that we know who they are.”

“Someone in here is a threat?” she asked.

“Yes. One of these men has been sent to find you and…” He faltered, spinning the tale as he went and running into writer’s block already.

“Is this about me discovering that one of my students is actually a spy?” she supplied. “He begged me to keep his secret.”

“Exactly,” Ryan replied easily, fighting a smile. “There are some nefarious groups that feel they need to know what you know. They’re not above kidnapping you to find out what you can tell them about your student. I’m here to keep you safe.”

He felt a little shiver go through her and felt an equal surge of adrenaline. It was silly—two mature adults playing a game of pretend. And the story wasn’t without holes. But who cared? Amanda was clearly into it. Anything she was into, he was into.

He put her behind him, blocking her from the other people in the store. One of the guys gave him a funny look and Ryan resisted the urge to laugh. He walked backward, moving them both toward the door. “Okay, you’re going to turn and walk out the door. Then I’ll give you the next instructions.”

She spun quickly and pushed the glass door open.

He was right on her heels.

“Take a left,” he said gruffly in her ear.

The sparks of desire raced through her bloodstream as they stepped into the small alley that ran along the side of the building. They’d barely moved into the shadows before Ryan turned her to face the brick wall and moved in behind her, his big hands on her hips.

“I have to frisk you, you know,” he said.

She tingled and nodded. “I understand.” She braced her hands on the wall and spread her feet. This was awesome. Ryan was awesome.

His hands settled on her shoulders and skimmed over her arms, then down her sides. He took it slower over the outer curves of her breasts and actually went over that area three times. She smiled, since he couldn’t see her. Then his hands continued down the outside of her legs to her ankles before coming back up on the inner seam of her yoga pants.

Amanda caught her breath and held it as one hand cupped her through the black cotton.

“I’ve been warned to check you out completely,” he said against her neck, his big body heating the few millimeters of space that separated them.

“What does that mean?” she managed.

“I have to be sure that you’re really a civilian in danger and not a rogue spy.”

She didn’t know why, but she liked the sound of that. “How can I prove it?”

“A trained spy will be able to mask all their emotions and reactions. A typical civilian won’t.”

“I promise you I’m just a regular girl,” she said breathlessly. “I have nothing to hide.”

“I need to know for sure.”

His hands slipped under the front hem of her shirt, continuing up until he cupped both breasts. His thumbs brushed over her nipples and she sighed. Then he dipped inside one of her bra cups and took the tip between thumb and finger. She gasped.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said. He pressed closer, his hard cock evident against her butt. “What about when I kiss you here?”

He kissed the side of her neck, still tugging on her aching nipple. Amanda arched closer to his hand and turned her head, seeking his mouth. He kissed her hot and hard and she heard the whimper come from the back of her throat.

“Ah, yes, like that,” he said.

“Do you believe that I’m who I say I am?” she asked.

“I’m not quite done with your test.”

She’d been hoping he’d say that.

He kept one hand on her breast and brought the other to her stomach, pressing his palm against the quivering flesh. Then, thankfully, he slid it lower, his fingers diving behind the waistband of her pants and into her panties. He didn’t even pause before slipping the pad of his middle finger over her clit, then sliding lower and into her wet heat.

She moaned his name.

“Oh, yeah, now that’s an honest reaction,” he praised her huskily.

“I couldn’t hide what you do to me even if I wanted to,” she told him softly.

He thrust his finger in and out. “The ultimate test is if you’ll let me make you come like this. A seasoned spy would never let herself be that vulnerable.”

“Yes,” she whispered, pressing closer to his hand.

He rolled her nipple and put his mouth against her neck again. “Yes what?” he asked.

“Make me come. Let me come.”

The man was good. That was the bottom line. They were playing around but her reactions to him were as real and serious as any she’d ever had. But she preferred the playing. Pretending to be someone else—or at least that
he
was someone else—gave her some distance, a buffer. Which was maybe the only thing that was going to save her from begging him to stay. Forever.

Stupid.

It was sex.

It was
awesome
sex. And it was fun. More fun that she’d had in a really long time. But it was stupid to want more. She knew all the reasons it was stupid. She did. And there were several. And they made a lot of sense.

And she’d review them—over and over—after he left.

But she couldn’t think of even one of them at the moment.

She felt her entire body winding tighter and tighter as his fingers continued to move and stroke and pull and thrust. Her fingers curled into the bricks, the rough wall the only thing grounding her. Ryan made her forget everything else. Everyone else.

That was a problem…at least she thought it was…or maybe not. What did she care? As long as he kept on…

“Ma’am? Everything okay?”

Amanda’s body jerked, but Ryan moved in closer and turned slightly, blocking her from the other man. He did pull his hands from her clothes though.

“We’re good. No problems,” he said.

“The people in the store said…
Ryan
?”

Ryan pivoted. “
Shane
? Shit.”

Shane
? No. It couldn’t be.

“What the hell are you doing?”

But of course it was. Another interrupted orgasm and it was because of Shane Kelley. A cop. Another of her brother’s closest friends. And the man sleeping with her sister Isabelle.

Amanda leaned her head onto the bricks in front of her, resisting the urge to bang it instead. Her body was still humming from the almost-orgasm and part of her—an alarmingly big part of her—wanted to turn to Ryan and bury her head against his chest. She wanted to
feel
him, breath in the smell of him, run her hands all over him. No matter who was standing ten feet away.

And
that
was not good. Not good at all.

“Just…fuck,” Ryan said. “Give us a second.”

“Dude, if you’re having sex in this alley, I’m gonna ticket you. Seriously. I let you go last time but—”

“We’re not… give us a fuckin’ minute,” Ryan ground out. He leaned in to Amanda’s ear. “You okay?”

“Definitely not.” And not necessarily for the reason he thought. She wanted him. Badly. Not because she had been interrupted on the brink of satisfaction
again
, but because she wanted
him
. Like she’d taken a taste of crème brûlée and knew that she’d never stop craving it.

She was definitely not okay as she stood in that alley and struggled to control herself.

She should be upset. She should be embarrassed. She should be mortified, actually. And she probably would be later. But with Ryan so close, his heat and his smell surrounding her, his big hand that could do such magical things to her braced on the wall, his husky voice still aroused, but also concerned… Yeah, she couldn’t come up with any emotion but
need
.

“I’ll get rid of him—” Ryan started.

“No, you won’t,” Shane said from behind him. “You guys need to get out of here. As soon as the lady assures me she’s fine.”

Ryan spun on his friend. “Seriously? What do you think is wrong with her?”

Shane sighed. “I don’t think anything’s wrong with her. I’m not accusing you of anything. But I’m doing my job here. The store owner said you came in to the shop together, that you left suddenly without any of your food, that you hadn’t come back in and that your car was still here. I have to check things out.”

“I’m fine,” Amanda called to him. “Totally fine.”

“I’m going to have to ask you both to step out here.” Shane didn’t sound happy about it.