Deanna Lee Page 2

  “You make it sound tawdry.”

  “I was just hoping.”

  “I thought he was a criminal.”

  “A pretty fine criminal, I’d say.” She grinned. “The good thing is that James is so rattled that he’s agreed to upgrade the security in the building and get us a new security firm contract.”

  “I wasn’t sprawled.”

  “Sure sounded like you were.” Mercy laughed when I glared at her.

  I glanced out toward the men. “He is pretty.”

  “I’ve come to think all the Montgomery men are.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Well, that sounded childish. I hated being whiny; it totally conflicted with my internal image of myself.

  “I didn’t know. If he’d told us he was coming to do it tonight, we might have altered how we do things. An honest assessment of the business was important to determine our security needs.”

  An honest assessment. “In retrospect, he’s not a very good burglar. He made enough noise to wake the dead.”

  She laughed. “That can hardly be a detraction.”

  “When you and Shame talked about him, neither of you mentioned how arrogant he is.”

  Mercy grinned. “I sort of like arrogant men. He spent four years in the army and six in the FBI before he went into the private security sector, so maybe there is an aura about him. As if he knows how capable he is.” She stood. “Now, I’m going to go home and crawl into my bed. I’ll see you on Monday.”

  At least I had the weekend to recover. I glanced out toward the bull pen just in time to see James wave good-bye. “Hey, I’ll walk out with you.”

  Mercy laughed. “Actually, I think your burglar isn’t quite finished with you.”

  I watched, exasperated, as she greeted her future brother-in-law with affection and swished away. They’d left me alone with him. It was obvious that I needed to choose friends and employers more carefully in the future.

  Careful not to look in his direction, I picked up my purse and headed toward my office door. He was standing just outside of it and let me get just about a foot past him before he took my arm and brought me around to face him.

  “Mr. Montgomery, I assure you that I’ve been manhandled about all I can handle this evening.” I looked pointedly at his hand and then met his gaze. “I think it might be best if you gave me some space.”

  He released my arm. “I owe you an apology. I’m not normally so rough with women.”

  “I was trying to hit you in the head.” I ran my fingers through my hair and then met his gaze. “Is my hair really too short?”

  “Shamus seems to think so.” He touched my chin gently and tilted my head. “But it suits your face.”

  I took a step back; his touch was pleasant and far too distracting for my peace of mind. “I should be going.”

  “Let me walk you to your car.”

  “I can take care of myself.” I lifted my chin and met his gaze with all the determination I could muster. Just because he’d tossed me around like I weighed five pounds and made it abundantly clear that I was no match for him didn’t mean that I was going to admit to any kind of weakness.

  “I know.”

  I glared at him briefly. “Are you being condescending?”

  “No, I’m not. I outweigh you and I put up more of a fight than you anticipated. I’m actually quite sure you could have taken down someone else. I spent too much time with a badge to have slow reflexes.” He moved toward me and paused when I straightened. “I’ve really put you on edge, haven’t I?”

  “It’s not every day that a man takes me down, pins me to the floor, and straddles me without even breathing hard.” I crossed my arms over my breasts. “I’m not some pansy girl, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “I’ve taken kickboxing lessons for five years.”

  “Yes, and trust me I’ll feel the repercussions of those classes for a few days.” His hand drifted to his left side.

  “I parked in the parking garage down the street.” I went to the coatrack located near the top of the stairs and grabbed my coat. My fingers curled into the wool briefly, and then I pulled it on.

  I wasn’t weak and I shouldn’t have been relieved that he was going to walk me to my car. All of that aside, I was relieved. As far as I knew, he wasn’t the only criminal watching the place and monitoring my habits. How long had I been so lax about my own personal security? Why hadn’t I noticed Mathias watching the gallery?

  I hadn’t been a cop for more than six years, yet I’d been more attentive to my surroundings before I was a cop than I could account for now. My job had softened me up in a lot of ways, I knew that. Not being exposed every day to the criminal element had a way of blunting the violence of the world to the average person, and it had done it to me.

  For a long time I missed being a cop, but over the years, that feeling had drifted away and left me with a strange sense of relief. Relief that I could go to work every day and not really worry all that much about dying. And that relief had made me stupid and unobservant.

  2

  I opened my car door and tossed my purse inside. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” He glanced around the garage and then shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “I guess I don’t need to tell you that this isn’t the safest place to park.”

  “No, I’m aware of it. I’ve complained a few times.” I shrugged. “The city won’t care until someone important gets jacked up in here.”

  “Politics aren’t pretty.”

  “I know. I try to stay away from them as much as possible.” I crossed my arms over my breasts and looked down at my shoes. “I suppose that Mr. Brooks will be hiring your firm?”

  “I’ll be allowed to submit a bid,” he admitted ruefully. “I didn’t expect anything different, honestly. I know enough about James Brooks to know that even when he’s pushed into a situation he’ll make a careful and considered decision.”

  I laughed. “Well, he’s also a very frugal man when it comes to the Holman Foundation.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He reached out and touched my face with the tips of his fingers. I wanted to back away from his hand but found myself leaning into him. Craving a man’s touch was foreign to me, and for a few seconds I considered letting it continue. I shivered at the thought and moved away from his hand. “Summer was too short.”

  “Yes.” Mathias nodded. “There is something about you.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, something that has had me all twisted up inside. I’ve been this way since I saw you for the first time.” He shrugged and looked away from me. “It would help if you weren’t so damn beautiful.”

  “I should wish myself ugly solely for your comfort?” I asked, amused by his tone.

  “It wouldn’t be for just me. I can’t be the only man you do this to.” He lifted his hand as if to touch me again and then dropped it. “I honestly didn’t know you were still in the building.”

  “I know.” I flushed a little; the memory of us struggling on the floor burst forward, and desire slid into my body like an old friend. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been turned on by the mere presence of a man.

  Mathias Montgomery was a stranger, yet in a lot of ways he wasn’t. Because of his brother, Shamus, I knew a lot about him and what he wanted for his life. I knew how much time he’d spent in the military and how much he’d changed when he’d finally come home. But hearing about the man and having him stand right in front of me was an entirely different situation.

  The idea of him had been attractive. A strong, ambitious man with long-range plans for his life and a deep love for his family. But the idea paled in comparison to the living, breathing man. I wanted this man despite myself and every rule I strived to live by. I didn’t need a complication like Mathias Montgomery. Didn’t need it one bit, but I knew it wouldn’t stop me from indulging in things I had no business getting involved in.

  H
e moved then, closer, and I braced myself. “You’ve already been on top of me once this evening, Mr. Montgomery.”

  “And?”

  “I’m just saying…” I gasped against his mouth and melted against him.

  His tongue pushed against my lips and into my mouth in a rush of sensation that had me grasping his shoulders and pulling him tight to me. He tasted amazing, and each stroke of his tongue against mine sent a river of lust rushing through me. I moaned against his mouth as his hands slid down my back to cup my ass. Even through several layers of clothes, the bite of his fingers excited me.

  I hooked one leg around his and snuggled into his body as close as possible. He responded immediately, pressing me against the car and lifting me upward slightly so he could press his cock against me. I shuddered at the contact of that hard flesh, even through all of our clothes, and when he lifted me farther, I wrapped both of my legs around his waist.

  I jerked my mouth from his and let my head fall back as his lips drifted down my neck. For a few seconds, I let myself get lost in those soft, amazing kisses. Then I forced myself to release him.

  He gave me room to put my feet on the ground and sighed. “If I’m going to manhandle a woman, that’s the kind I prefer.”

  I laughed and sucked in a deep breath. “I agree. But you realize that it was a mistake.”

  Mathias laughed softly and backed away from me. “Then I plan on making some really horrible decisions about you.”

  “Oh yeah?” I watched him take another few steps back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, Ms. Tilwell, that the next time I’m on top of you I’ll be doing a hell of a lot more than trying to please you.”

  Silence has never been my friend, but I retreated behind it as he laughed and then strolled away. I was in way over my head. He’d flipped on my hot switch without even really touching me and then he just walked away. Not that I’d really expected him to whip it out and fuck me up against the car.

  But, really, a man ought to know when he’s created a situation that requires further attention, and I suppose he did. I really could hardly wait for the next time he found himself on top of me.

  Sliding behind the wheel of my car, I started lecturing myself. Getting involved with a man like him was against my only rule. Never fuck a man I’ll be required to see outside of the bedroom. Violating this rule caused all kinds of problems, and I was old enough to know better.

  Yet I also knew that I was going to fuck him the first chance I got. Hard, mean, and truly as deviant as I could muster fucking was exactly what Mathias Montgomery had to look forward to.

  I woke with a start, my shoulder stinging like the wound was fresh instead of the neatly healed scar it was. I sat up carefully as the pain drifted away. The dreams were always the same, always painful.

  Shoving the covers back, I pulled my damp T-shirt over my head. I hadn’t dreamed about the night I’d been shot in nearly five years. I dropped my hand from my shoulder, aware that I’d been rubbing it, and left my bedroom. My apartment was small but neat and minimal.

  Clutter has been my mortal enemy since grade school. Neat and orderly represented control, and that’s something that every woman needs. My childhood had been full to the brim with clutter, mostly my mother’s. She’d kept everything, and it took months of careful planning to remove most of the crap from the house after she was gone. At first, my father had been militant about keeping things just as she had left them. I guess he’d stopped caring when he’d finally realized that she wasn’t coming back.

  It was then that I’d learned that my brothers had hated the junk as much as I did. I can hardly describe how relieving it had been to throw out years and years’ worth of magazines. As an adult, I knew that we dealt with our mother’s abandonment by cleansing the house of her. It was just too bad cleaning out our minds hadn’t been so easy. All three of us had abandonment issues, and none of us have ever come close to getting married. I had serious doubts that either of my brothers would ever marry.

  I pulled a soda from the refrigerator, popped the tab, and drank half of it standing in my kitchen. Caffeine was a mistake, especially at three in the morning, but it tasted good. Of course, pouring a couple fingers of rum in it would’ve been nice too.

  Clad only in my panties, I walked to the hallway and stopped in front of the floor-length mirror there. With a grimace, I turned on the light and stared at myself. My eyes immediately went to the puckered flesh of my scars. One on my shoulder, another on my hip, and then the last one on my thigh. Being shot in the line of duty had ended my career in law enforcement. It had also changed me in ways I’d never thought possible.

  I glanced over my breasts and then the rest of my body. I worked out but ate like a pig. I’d never really been able to gain weight or grow tits. I was probably in line for more attitude when breasts were being given out in heaven. I turned out the hall light. Staring at myself in the mirror was the kind of activity that would lead to a mental disorder of some kind.

  By the time I reached the bedroom, I’d concluded that my mood and my bad dream were all his fault. If he hadn’t gotten me all worked up I wouldn’t have dreamed about the shooting. Mathias Montgomery had to be removed from my mind, but it wasn’t my mind that he’d really infiltrated…it was my body. I’d been attracted to him before he said his name. When I’d thought he was a criminal. Me, the daughter of a cop, attracted to a criminal. My father would roll over in his grave.

  But he was no criminal. I tipped up my soda and downed the rest. Thinking about him was not good for me…at the rate I was going I’d go back to bed and have obsessive sexual dreams about him.

  Mathias “sex on a stick” Montgomery was going to be a permanent fixture in my life, and it was very important that I put him in the right place in my mind. Professionally, I couldn’t afford to lose focus. My position at Holman Gallery was new, too new to mess with. I had a finite amount of time to cement myself as the assistant director of the gallery. When Mercy Rothell had taken over the directorship of the gallery in August and slid me into her place, the opportunity took my breath away. I’d known it was coming for months, and when it happened it still knocked me off kilter a little.

  Disgruntled, I went to my bedroom and pulled on workout clothes. If I wasn’t going to sleep, I might as well get some time in on the treadmill. My apartment building had one of the best in-house gyms in Boston. In fact, I’d chosen the building because of the gym.

  My hip was sore from my tumble with Mathias, but since it was more my fault than his, I couldn’t hold it against him. I pulled off my sweat-damped T-shirt and dropped it on the floor beside my shorts. Four miles on the treadmill and I was still wound tight with emotion.

  When I’d first moved to Boston, I’d hoped that the change of scenery would help clear my mind and push my past firmly behind me. It hadn’t. In fact, if anything, being so far from my two brothers had only intensified the desperate feeling that I’d carried around with me since I’d been shot. I could still feel the hot pavement underneath me when I thought about that day.

  I don’t remember how long I lay there on that road. I do remember my brother, Stan, combing road tar from my hair in the hospital. The patient and thoughtful look on his face lingered with me even six years later. I’d been a cop in Savannah, Georgia, for less than two years when a traffic stop turned into my worst nightmare.

  Wes, the middle child of our family, had told me repeatedly that I shouldn’t have been out on the street to begin with. That had only made me want it more. How many times in our lives had I strived so hard to prove him wrong? I’d proved that day that I could take care of myself; the price, however, had been a horrible one to pay.

  My partner lay dead on the road because we’d both underestimated a seemingly mild-mannered history teacher. The altercation we’d had earlier in the day with the man hadn’t led us to believe he would be dangerous. To this day, I still had no clear reason why the man had come out of his car firing at us,
and I never would. Because the same day I’d been shot in the line of duty, I took a life.

  I briefly planted my hands flat against the wall under the showerhead before I reached down and turned the water on. Too hot, but it helped. I sighed softly when my muscles started to relax under the stinging spray. Having my day start before the sun even came up wasn’t the ideal Saturday; in fact, it wasn’t ideal for any day.

  I left the shower and started to grab a towel to dry off, and my doorbell rang. Disgusted, I went into my bedroom, grabbed a T-shirt that would cover my ass, and pulled it over my head as I headed toward the door. The bell sounded again as I entered the small foyer of my apartment. The only thing worse than an ass-crack-of-dawn visitor was an impatient ass-crack-of-dawn visitor.