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Josie was elbow deep in cleaning. Her bedroom might still be torn apart, but it gleamed. The bed stood cockeyed in the middle of the room, but it had fresh linens with hospital corners. She’d polished the dresser and stacked its drawers against the wall. She’d vacuumed and dusted and Windexed until there was nothing else on which she could vent her frustrations.
Now, she was reduced to straightening her cleaning supplies. She wiped down a spray bottle and turned a canister so that the label showed outward. It had to be the fumes that were making her eyes sting... and her throat clog...
Unable to take it anymore, she tore off the yellow rubber gloves.
“Dang it, Spencer.”
Her apartment wasn’t big enough for her to work out all her emotions. She went to the kitchen for a drink of water and dashed the moisture from her eyes.
She didn’t think he’d meant to hurt her. Her brain couldn’t wrap itself around the idea that he’d ever do that, but his actions had blindsided her.
Everyone joked about how socially inept computer engineers could be. It was a generalization, but one thing everyone in the profession had to be was logical. Their code had to be perfect, with all the right syntax and formatting, in order to work. How could he have thought it was a good idea to print out a photo of the two of them having sex when they were trying to get the naked pictures her ex-boyfriend had taken of her removed from the Internet? There was no excuse.
And it made her feel so slutty.
She went to the kitchen table, where the picture was lying facedown. The stupid thing was like a magnet that kept pulling her attention no matter where she was in the apartment... or what she was thinking...
Gathering her nerve, she flipped it upright.
As it had from the first, shock rippled through her. The picture was so sensual, so intimate, so uncensored—and it had been taken by an Afire security camera. Anyone with the right authority could see it for posterity. Or for three years. What was the difference?
But that had been her fault, hadn’t it?
Her gaze stuck on the photograph. She ran Start ’er Up. Spencer was in charge of its security, but they both knew what measures were in place. They’d both forgotten about the cameras—she didn’t doubt that—but she’d been the one to make the first move.
She bit her lip. She didn’t regret it.
She ran the wadded paper towel in her hand over the glass and frame. With care, she wiped the smudges away.
If she hadn’t made the first move, would he ever have?
The pressure in her chest built up all over again. What he’d done had hurt her, but he was a good guy. He had a good heart. He’d had a slip in judgment, albeit a bad one.
Could they recover from this? Had he gone too far?
Had she?
A knock sounded unexpectedly on her apartment door, and she nearly tipped over her glass of water. She caught it and wiped up the puddle on the table. Worriedly, she checked to make sure she hadn’t gotten any on the picture frame.
Pulling back her shoulders, she blotted her eyes and walked over to check the peephole. Kylie had left a while ago saying she had work to do. Was she back with ice cream?
Josie’s breath caught when she recognized the person in the fish-eye view. It wasn’t Kylie.
She pulled back. Spencer was here, right outside her door.
She yanked her ponytail holder out of her hair and ran her fingers through it. She was in pajama pants and a T-shirt. Nothing sexy about that, but he wasn’t here to throw her over the back of the sofa again. They were fighting.
She straightened. They were still fighting.
There was still a chance.
Another knock sounded, right next to her ear, and she opened the door. Her pulse took off as they stood face to face.
“Hi-lo,” he said softly.
Oh, damn. That wasn’t playing fair.
He shifted his weight uncomfortably and thrust out his hand. He held a bouquet of flowers. “I’m sorry.”
“Spencer.” The scent of them was light, while the air between them was so heavy.
“I screwed up. I know that. Please accept them.”
It seemed important to him, so she went to find a vase. She filled it with water, but her hands shook as she arranged the flowers. When she turned, she found he’d entered and was staring at the picture that had turned her world upside down.
“You haven’t burned it yet.”
She flinched. She didn’t know what she was going to do with it, but she couldn’t burn it. It was too personal. It would be like destroying what they’d discovered with one another. Like it had never been.
He held out a box.
“Chocolates, too?” she asked.
“Kylie said I had to pay, big time.”
Was that where her friend had gotten off to? “Is she the one who brought you over here?”
He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets. “I saw my SUV on the street. If you’ll just give me my keys back, I’ll leave.”
“No, don’t. I didn’t mean it that way.”
His puppy-dog eyes lifted. His sad gaze was like a cinch around her heart.
“I’m really sorry, Josie,” he said. “It was a dumb move to print that out. I should have realized it would hurt you if you ever saw it. The timing couldn’t have been worse—not that that’s a reason.”
She put the chocolates on the table. “So, what is?”
She’d made the logical assumption on why the steamy shot had been on his bedside table, but something he’d said before she’d stormed out of his apartment niggled at her.
Or maybe she was giving him too much credit, and he truly was just a guy.
“Why did you print it out and frame it?” Did she really want to know? “When you said that this was special to you, what did you mean?”
His gaze went to the picture. There was heat in his look and no regret. Anger fired up inside her all over again.
“When you looked at me like that,” he said softly, “I thought that maybe you might have feelings for me.”
The unexpected comment knocked the wind from her. Her feelings were what made this so difficult, but if he just wanted a trophy to prove to his friends that he’d bagged her...
“That was the first time you treated me as more than just your security guy.” He shrugged, his hands still lodged in his pockets. “When you looked at me like that, it felt like you were really seeing me. I began to think that maybe... maybe you could love me back.”
He’d always been more than just her security guy, even though she’d tried not to show it. She—
Wait. What?
It took a moment before the twist of that statement sank in.
She caught the back of a kitchen chair, her knees suddenly wobbly. In order for her to love him back, that meant... “That’s when you fell in love with me?”
He stared somewhere near the toes of his sneakers. “No.”
Her elation fell like a lead balloon.
“It was somewhere between the first ‘hi-lo’ and when you printed out all those copies of your presentation.” He shook his head. “Paper.”
The lead balloon turned watery. Oh, God.
“Why didn’t you say something?” she whispered.
“Because I knew I wasn’t your type.” He pulled a hand out of his pocket to rub at his shoulder. “But I never would have hacked Say Cheese if I didn’t love you, Josie. I’m just not that much of a maverick.”
He loved her.
“Spencer,” she said, her voice ragged. “You’re exactly my type.”
His chin came up fast. Surprise lit his face, but his eyes were endlessly deep.
She rushed to put her arms around him. When she pressed her cheek against his chest, she heard his heart thumping nearly as hard as her own. “I love you too.”
A shudder went through him, and his arms locked around her.
“That’s why it hurt so much. I thought the picture cheapened what we have together... like I was a notch on your bedpost.”
He let out a choked sound. “That picture is beautiful to me. Like art. I never thought I’d have a chance with you.”
“You didn’t have to change for me,” she said. “I saw you before the buff body and the styled hair, but I had this stupid rule about not dating people I worked with. It hadn’t turned out well for me before.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
“I know.” He’d hacked a major website and had taken her ex-boyfriend down with only his fingers on a keyboard. It made sense that he’d try to handle the video on his own. “But you have to tell me when there’s a problem. I know it’s your instinct to play Guard Dog, but we work better together as a team.”
“No more secrets. I promise.”
She let out a shaky breath. She’d had a part in this, too. “I’m sorry for not trusting you—and for stealing your car.”
He lifted her chin. “It’s kind of sexy to know you have a redhead’s temper.”
“Right, and I take it out on cleaning.”
He chuckled softly. “Well, if you still want me around, you can take it out on me.”
Her fingers bit into his back. “I want you around, Spencer. I love you.”
“Yeah?”
She leveled a look on him. “I let you tear my bedroom apart and leave it that way.”
His eyes rounded when he realized it just might be true.
Dropping his head, he kissed her. Josie pressed closer to him. His hand sank into her hair, while his other arm wrapped around her waist. She lifted herself up onto her tiptoes, and his mouth moved more hungrily. Desperately.
Like he’d thought he’d never kiss her again.
She pushed at his jacket. She wasn’t letting him go anywhere. She had his keys; his clothes were next. Letting go of her with only one hand at a time, he helped her get the jacket off him.
His hands were under her T-shirt and searching for the tab of her bra as he began walking her backward toward her bedroom. When she tripped, he caught her more firmly. Instead of letting go, he hitched her up. Josie’s stomach clenched. All that time in the gym showed. He was big and strong now, filling out that T-shirt in a way that made her mouth water. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him in a way that would leave no questions about how she felt about him.
He stopped in the doorway and surveyed the room. “This has got to be driving you nuts. We’ll get it straightened up right afterward. Promise.”
“Not if I keep you busy enough,” she said.
His dark eyes glinted.
Outside, the drizzle continued and the wind whistled. Inside her apartment, Josie felt safe and protected as he laid her down against the pillows and followed her right onto the bed.
“I’m sorry I got so angry,” she said as he tugged her T-shirt over her head. “I turned on you too easily. It was unfair, after all you’ve done for me.”
“I’m not keeping score.” He pushed down her loose pants, taking her panties with them. “But know what I’ve heard can fix that? Make-up sex.”
He looked excited to try that.
She smiled as she worked up his T-shirt. He reared back up onto his knees to pull it over his head.
Josie gasped when she saw him. “Your chest!”
He looked down shyly and brushed his hand over his smooth pecs, as if he wasn’t quite sure of himself. “Kylie said I had to make it up to you, and she thought you’d like—”
Josie couldn’t help it. Giggles erupted. “She made you wax?”
Spencer braced his hands against his thighs. He was straddling her, looking like a Roman gladiator. Ripped, hewn, and oiled up.
Oil. She was going to have to buy some oil.
“I’m going to kill her,” he muttered. “She made me go to this day spa, and this Viking warrior woman came at me with a bunch of goo and a tongue depressor. It hurt like a son of a... bees. Like a million bees.”
“No, don’t. She was only trying to help.” And to get even for his seeming betrayal. Kylie had her own interesting code of justice that way.
Josie gave in to the tingling in her fingertips and touched him. She purred in delight. He was smooth and warm. His muscled male form had all kinds of ridges and valleys. “I like it.”
The bulge behind the zipper of his jeans expanded. “You do?”
“You weren’t hairy before, but this...” His nipples stiffened when she flicked them with her thumbs. She ran her tongue over her lips. “It gives me ideas.”
Dark fire lit his eyes. When he leaned forward over her, she caught his shoulders and pushed him back. “Get undressed,” she said.
She wiggled out from underneath him. “I’ll be right back.”
His gaze was hungry as he watched her scurry naked from the room.
He was just dropping his drawers when she returned. His gaze focused on the box of chocolates she had in her hand. When he stepped out of his jeans, his cock was huge and at attention.
Josie realized the curtains were still open, and she hurried to the windows to close them. It might have taken her a while, but she’d learned her lesson. Privacy was important. This time was for them and only them.
She knelt on the opposite side of the bed and removed the lid from the candy, along with the protective paper covering. “Lie down.”
Spencer stretched out his long form and rested his head on his hands against the pillow. He was lean and aroused.
“You are ‘the muscle,’” she said as she scooted closer. For all she’d said about him not needing to change, his fitness routine had all kinds of benefits.
She chose a chocolate candy from the box and rubbed it gently up and down his breastbone. The chocolate was the good kind without too much wax. It melted under his body heat, leaving behind a trail of delicious sweetness.
She leaned toward him, and his chest rose as he sucked in air. Taking her time, she lapped up the chocolate. She loved the feel of him under her tongue as much as she liked the taste.
A low groan rumbled next to her ear.
She ran the chocolate crosswise this time from nipple to nipple until there was nothing but the nougat left.
His eyelids were heavy as he watched her slowly devour it, licking her fingers clean before tending to him.
“Ah, Josie,” he said tightly as her tongue darted over him. His hand whipped out from behind his head and tangled in her hair. It tightened, pulling at a few strands, and she felt wetness between her legs.
“Thaflzsogud,” he said.
She smiled. “I know, and it’s going to get better.”
She chose more pieces of candy from the selection. It was turning out to be a gift for both of them. She broke some in half to make them go further and melt faster.
Then, straddling him on all fours, she licked him clean. His chest rose and fell as his lungs worked like bellows. His hands caught at her thighs, and his fingers dug deep. The feeling was so erotic, Josie’s hips squirmed high in the air.
She worked her way down his body, running her tongue along the crevices between his ab muscles. His words were so jumbled now that not even she could interpret them, but she got the gist of it.
She carefully licked a spot that was still red from his trip to the day spa. The man-scaping had left him bare and tender. She loved the smooth feel of his skin against her tongue. She couldn’t wait to feel it against her breasts.
Down and down she went. “Want to know the truth?” she whispered.
“Yuh.”
She looked up from where she was perched, low over his belly. “Once I got over my hissy fit, I realized that picture of us is hot.”
He nodded fast, his head propped up on the pillow.
“We’re not burning it,” she said.
He shook his head.
She nibbled at the piece of chocolate way, way down low. “Oh, what do you know? Nuts.”
He choked out a laugh, only to quickly drown it out with a groan.
Her tongue was finished with the sweets.
Scooting down the bed on all fours, Josie licked at him. His cock was red and stiff, jutting upright at her. Practically begging.
Bending at the elbows, she dropped her head. She kissed the tip of him and felt his hips twitch. His fingers dug into the sheets until they turned white. Opening her mouth wide, she took him inside and began to suck.
“Ohmthmercy... Thaflzz... GahJoseee.”
Unable to take all of him, she wrapped a hand around his base as her head bobbed. She sucked him hard, trailing her tongue against the underside of him with every stroke.
He writhed beneath her, but let her work him until his hips were trembling. She swirled her tongue around the thick head of his cock, and his control slipped. He rocked his hips up to meet her, thrusting deeply into her mouth.
She thought she tasted him against her tongue when suddenly he moved.
Rolling her onto her back, he switched positions. He shoved her thighs open with his knee, and before she could orient herself, he was inside her, pounding deep.
“Oooohhhh,” Josie gasped.
Taking the lead had turned her on more than she knew. He slid into her wetness easily, but she still shivered at how deep he could go. And he was working deep. And hard.
The bed rocked from side to side as they lay crossways over it. Her hair dangled over the edge, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his warm, smooth chest glide over her breasts. Her nipples tightened with pleasure, and her pussy squeezed.
His thrusts became heavier, his muscled form pushing her into the mattress. Her thighs clenched against his swinging hips, and, with a cry, she came. Spencer reared back, the muscles in his neck straining, as he hit the peak with her.
And it was good. Better than it had ever been, not because it was make-up sex, but because they’d finally faced up to their feelings. None of this was one-sided. They were involved in a love affair.
He finally slumped down beside her, taking quick, deep breaths. “Wow.”
It was a one-syllable word, but it was something.
“Always apologize with chocolate,” he said several minutes later.
Josie rolled onto her side and spread her hand over his chest. She definitely liked the man-scaping. “Maybe you’d better talk to me first the next time Kylie makes a suggestion.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not getting anything pierced.”
“Okay.” She trailed her fingers lazily along his ribcage. “About that video...”
He went still. “Strawberry, I can’t get rid of it. Not even for you.”
“I was going to ask you if we could watch it together sometime.”
He looked at her sharply, his eyebrows lifting to nearly his hairline. “I wasn’t going to go there, but yeah. Absolutely.”
“It was just a fight, Spencer.”
He let out a long breath. “You’re going to have to be patient with me. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before. All these man/woman things confuse me.”
“They confuse everyone.” She met his gaze. He looked cautious. “I haven’t been in a serious relationship before either.”
His lips twitched and then pulled up in a smile. “Think you can deal with dating a socially awkward computer geek?”
“I thought you were King of the Geeks.”
“I am.” His chest puffed up with pride. “Can you keep me in order?”
She smiled. “I think I can hack it.”
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~THE END~
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Interested in other Kimberly Dean books? Turn the page to read an excerpt from HAUNTED HEARTS, a romantic suspense story about a woman who inherits a haunted house.