“I guessed what we might need, but there should be enough supplies for a few days.”

  “Totally.” From what I can tell, he thought of everything. “Can you grill?”

  “Do I have a Y chromosome?” he shoots back with a grin.

  “Obviously. Let’s do that for dinner.”

  “Deal. In the meantime, I’m going to hole up in the kids’ bedroom and do some research. I’ve got a few thoughts about who might be after you, but I want to do my homework first.”

  He’s being responsible, and I feel stupidly disappointed for wishing… But no. “I’ll, um, sit at the kitchen table with a paper and pen, maybe try to write something for a future album.”

  “You write your own songs?”

  “Sometimes.” But I’ve been a little dry on material lately. Life has been dull. So much of the same. Record, appear, travel, pose—in an endless loop over and over. “Anyway, that’s where I’ll be if you have questions.”

  He nods, checks the doors and windows again, then disappears to the back of the house. I find a pencil and a piece of paper, then sit…but the words don’t come. Instead, I turn on some cable channel that’s playing game shows and start chopping melons for a fruit salad and fixings for our burgers. I slap together patties and season them. Preparing dinner feels domestic. What if I cooked for Rand every day?

  That fantasy plays dangerously in my head until the sun slants through the room and dusk begins to draw near. He steps into the kitchen, big body taut, face tense. “You okay?”

  “Fine,” I say as I ready the meat on a platter and start baked beans on the stove.

  “Looks good.”

  I almost make some quip about the man thinking with his stomach, but when I look at where he’s fastened his stare, I see the too-tight sweater has slid away from my nipples. He hasn’t once blinked.

  Rand suddenly clears his throat. “I’ll go start the grill.”

  Then he’s gone.

  Dinner is a quiet affair. He pulls out a bottle of merlot from the mystery bag that so intrigued me at the grocery store and pours me a glass as we sit to eat.

  “You’re not having one?”

  “I don’t drink on the job. You go ahead. After the day you’ve had, you’re due some liquid relaxation.”

  Normally, I wouldn’t. But I have a suspicion I’m going to need booze to make it through an evening this close to Rand… Every hour that ticks by, I’m more aware of him. The tension turns thicker. My body feels achier.

  What would he do if I kissed him right now?

  He spoons up baked beans from the pan as I toss some lettuce and ketchup on my burger. “Talk to me about your previous agent.”

  “Dorinda?” This isn’t where I thought the conversation would head next. “We started in the business together, really. I was young and green. So was she. I got ‘discovered’ at a school talent show, did you know that?”

  “I didn’t.”

  I nod. “I sang some Kelly Clarkson song with Kristi and another one of our friends. I had all the high notes and the powerhouse ending. In the audience, the uncle of my piano-playing classmate was watching. He was from LA and knew some people… A couple of weeks later, I was recording demos and getting interest from record labels. Everything happened so fast after that. But when my parents’ divorce went down, Mom was absent a lot. Dorinda stepped in as a surrogate mother figure. When I eventually left her, the guilt almost killed me, but she just didn’t have the contacts I needed to rehab my image from child star to serious adult musician.”

  “That’s where David came in?”

  “Yes. Dorinda made a lot of my early deals. She got me into the right doors…but she also sold me really short. David negotiated better terms for me and raised my profile significantly in all the right ways.”

  “So you’re happy now?”

  “I’m happy with David. But professionally?” I shrug, then sip at my wine. “I don’t know. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about taking a break.”

  Well, about walking away. But I haven’t told anyone yet.

  “Why don’t you?”

  “I’ve worked for over a dozen years to get here. It seems foolish to let up now.”

  “But you want to?”

  I swallow another sip of wine. “What’s the point of all this money if I never have time to enjoy it?”

  He nods. “Good point.”

  “Tell me about you.”

  “Not much to say. I’m thirty-two and single. I left the Dallas Police Department recently to become Bartonville’s chief. For a while now, I’ve wanted to join a smaller force where I could make a real difference. I start next month.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to moving out to the country and getting some peace without neighbors stacked on top of me. I move into my new place next week.”

  “I’m envious. I’d love some peace. I feel like this career chose me before I was even old enough to grasp what it entailed.”

  He nods as if he understands. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Dorinda? What’s her financial situation?”

  “I made us both rich, and now she reps other up-and-coming child stars.”

  “She married? Have kids?”

  “No. She always said she was married to her job and her clients were like her children. Why? Do you suspect her?”

  He shrugs. “I suspect everyone until I can prove otherwise.”

  When we’re done eating, we wash the dishes together. Since the kitchen is old-fashioned, there’s no dishwasher. As I clean the plates, he dries them. Rubbing arms as we tidy up feels even more domestic. And every time we bump or touch, I swear my body revs higher.

  After he slides the last of the forks into the drawer and I put away the clean pots, he turns my way. “Want to head down to the lake and watch the fireworks? They should start shortly, and it’s almost dark so no one should see us.”

  Might as well enjoy the holiday. It beats sitting around here, trying not to stare at him and wondering what the night might bring. “Sure.”

  I make a last-minute trip to the bathroom and brush on a bit of the red lipstick for panache. My vivid mouth on my otherwise bare face demands attention, and I’m suddenly glad my stylist insisted I take the tube with me.

  When I emerge again, Rand has poured me some wine into a plastic cup. He takes my hand and leads me out the back of the house, across the yard, then through a gate to a pair of enormous oak trees with a bench swing suspended between them by a thick rope.

  The sun slips closer to the horizon as the vivid purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows paint the sky. Rand settles me on the bench and hands me my cup, scanning every inch of our surroundings before he sits beside me. I can’t see it, but I’m betting his gun is tucked into his holster.

  “Thanks for everything. I feel really safe with you.”

  “You don’t have to keep thanking me.”

  “I just want you to know. Besides Dorinda, who are your other suspects?”

  “I still haven’t written off David.”

  “I think you’re wrong.”

  He shrugs. “You’re entitled to that since you know him better. Hell, you’re probably right. But you’re not defending Dorinda?”

  “I would because in the last few years she’s mostly treated me like I’m beneath her notice since she has other fish to fry…but the day I ended things with her was really ugly. She called me a fucking bitch and said I owed her and that she’d given me everything, which I repaid by stabbing her in the back. She low-key threatened me. Of course, she called the next day and left me a message with a stiff apology, but the whole episode left a bitter taste in my mouth.”

  Rand nods. “Last call on former lovers. Want to tell me about them so I can decide whether they belong on the list?”

  I take another sip of my wine. Maybe I’ve had enough liquid courage to be bold. Maybe I’m just too aroused to care how I sound anymore, but I finally say what’s going through my head. “Do you really want to know about my exes to make a suspect list or because you want to know the kind of guy I’m into?”

  He sends me a hot, direct stare. “What if I said both?”

  “The few exes I have are all friends, but I don’t really have a type.” I lick my suddenly dry lips, loving the way his gaze follows the gesture. “Or I didn’t until you.”

  Rand doesn’t respond, just stares into my eyes, then down at my painted red lips. His breaths turn rougher. My skin pings with electricity. I blink back at him, willing him to say or do something.

  I’ve never felt as vulnerable as I do right now.

  “What are you thinking?” I whisper.

  “Things that would probably scare the hell out of you.”

  My heart skips a beat. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m compiling a list of everything I’m dying to do to you. It’s long, detailed, and filthy.”

  My pussy clenches. A whimper escapes my throat. “Please.”

  He moves like lightning, plucking me from the bench and settling me astride his lap. The full cup of my wine sloshes over the rim and onto my white tank. The soaked shirt sticks to my skin, and I don’t care. Neither does he.

  The cup falls from my grasp and I wrap my arms around his neck. He grabs my nape and hauls me closer, branding my lips with his in a fiery kiss that sizzles every inch of my body.

  Rand isn’t content. His fingers on my neck tighten as he slants his mouth and nudges mine open before plunging inside, deep and possessive. He masters me in that instant, and I fear I’ll never crave another man’s kiss the way I do his.

  It’s electrifying and terrifying—but there’s no going back.

  Rand wraps his arms around my waist, clutching me tighter. When he’s eliminated every sliver of space between us, he barges deeper into my mouth, stealing more of my soul.

  I can’t breathe and I can’t think—and I don’t care. I’ve never felt as alive as I do right this moment.

  But I need more.

  Another whimper escapes my throat as I writhe on his lap. There’s no way I can miss how solid and strong he is—and how thick and steely he feels between my legs as I work myself against his cock. My pussy aches. My clit burns. My unsatisfied body is on fire.

  I tear my lips away. “What are you doing to me?”

  “Everything you’ll let me,” he pants as his gaze falls to my tank. “Starting with sucking on those pretty fucking nipples.”

  That’s all the warning I get before he lifts me to my knees, aligns my crests with his waiting mouth, then fastens on to one—cotton and all—drawing it deep, before sliding to the other, as if he can’t taste enough of me.

  He sucks on my tank-clad tips long, strong, and deep. I feel him all the way between my legs. It’s like nothing I’ve ever imagined. We’re still fully clothed, and he’s barely had his hands on me for two minutes. My body is already weeping for the satisfaction I’m convinced only he can give me.

  “Rand.” I cling to his shoulders, tossing my head back and arching to offer him my breasts.

  “That’s a good girl, honey. Give them to me.” He switches to the other, feasting until I’m damn near out of my mind. Then he eases back with a teasing lick. “Get rid of the shirt and show me what’s mine.”

  Maybe I should worry about his possessive demand. But I’m greedy. I’m needy. His words only work me up more.

  I drop one strap of the tank, then the other, and let the garment slither down to my waist. My bare breasts bob in his face, inches from his lips. He stares at them, then looks up at me.

  A wide, suggestive smile beams across his face as he cups my flesh and leans in. “Fuck yes.”

  His hot exhalation spreads across my skin, making me shudder. But that’s nothing compared to the furnace of his mouth enveloping my nipple and dragging it into its hot depths.

  Fresh desire scalds my veins. The lust I’ve been trying not to give in to since the moment I laid eyes on him overtakes my good sense. I don’t care that there are revelers at the shore who might hear us. I don’t care that people are boating on the lake who might guess what we’re up to. I can’t think beyond Rand and his arms banded tightly around me while we’re sheltered in the cocoon of our closeness by the giant branches and swaying leaves of the stately oaks. We’re wrapped together in our own world, in this moment seemingly made just for the two of us.

  His touch is demanding, but I feel him holding back.

  Desperate for him to simply take everything he wants as he takes me, I dig my fingers into his shoulders, breaths harsh and rapid. “More. Now. Please.”

  He licks his way up the side of my breast, nips at my shoulder, then settles his lips against my ear. “I’m trying to take this slow and gentle, but you sound so pretty begging—”

  “I don’t need gentle. I just need you.”

  “Be sure, honey. If you say yes, I’ll fuck you ruthlessly and hard. And I won’t stop.”

  His words alone make my knees weak. “Hurry!”

  He hesitates a split second, then sets me on my feet. Before I know what’s happening, he rips his T-shirt over his head. His tank follows, and I get my first glimpse of his bare torso.

  The darkening shadows of dusk outline his thick neck, wide shoulders, and bulging pectorals. Distended veins rise from his beefy arms and big hands. His eight-pack is deeply delineated, emphasizing the notches above his hips protruding over the waistband of his jeans. He drips strength. He oozes vitality.

  My eyes bulge. I’m literally speechless. But that’s okay. Why waste time talking?

  I lunge at him, wanting my hands and mouth on him.

  He grabs my shoulders to stop me. “Stand.”

  Now? I’ve never wanted to touch anything or anyone more in my life. “In a minute. Please. Just let me…”

  His grip on my shoulders turns firmer. “Later. Right now, you get to make one choice: Do you want me to fuck you or spank you first?”

  I search his face. He’s not kidding.

  Excitement whirls in my belly. “Um…”

  “Can’t decide, can you?” A sly smile curls up his mouth. “I figured you for a dirty girl.”

  Then he yanks my tight, stretchy shorts down to my ankles, hauls me face down across his lap, and pins me in place with a huge palm sprawled across my back.

  “Rand?”

  “Spanking it is. You’ll have to be quiet or the neighbors will hear.”

  I struggle to bite my lip and keep my pleading in, but need muddles me too much for silence. Before I know it, his free hand whooshes down with a hard slap on my backside. It hurts like hell, but I swallow my yelp to protect our privacy. The neighbors running to my “rescue” would only end in disaster and scandal.

  Then Rand rubs his palm over the flaring heat, pressing it back into my flesh. What felt like pain now feels altogether different. Suddenly, I’m more alive, more aroused—and more wet.

  “Oh, my god,” I gasp out.

  “Ever been spanked?”

  “No.”

  Without warning or mercy, he slides his hands between my legs, cupping my pussy in his big palm, rubbing me as if he owns me. “You like it.”

  I can’t stop myself from grinding against him. “Yes.”

  “Good girl.”

  The satisfaction in his words seeps into my blood, making my desire burn hotter. He turns up the flames even more by landing a quick succession of alternating blows on each cheek.

  I’m panting and struggling to process these new sensations when he leans in. “I’m going to give you two more.”

  “Why?” Not that I’m upset.

  “Well, I could tell you that one swat is for the pleasure you gave yourself earlier today that was mine to give you and the other is because you lied about it.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Oh, honey, I heard you. Next time your pussy aches, come to me. I’ll take care of it.”

  Will there be a next time? If I want him to put out this fire he started, now isn’t the time to ask. “All right.”

  “Good. So I’ll be honest and tell you I’m adding two more because your pretty, pert ass has taunted me all afternoon and I can’t wait to spank it more.”

  He smacks each cheek once, then seals the heat in with another pressing stroke of his palm, groaning in obvious satisfaction. “Even in this light, you look sweet and rosy.”

  Knowing he’s pleased arouses me even more, but I don’t have time to bask in the moment before he rips the spandex shorts from around my ankles and tosses them aside. In one smooth motion, he sets me on my feet again, rips open his fly, and reaches into his pocket. After a quick rip of the square foil between his teeth, he sheathes himself, lifts me up to straddle his lap again, aligning his crest with my burning, clenching opening.

  “Look at me.”

  I can’t look anywhere else. “Yes.”

  “Mine.” He grabs my hips and pulls me down as he surges up, joining us together.

  His cock juts deep into my body, and I swear I feel him all the way to my soul. “Yes!”

  Rand

  The moment I bury myself inside Sophie, liquid pleasure jets down my spine. She doesn’t just feel good, she feels right. Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe this is just a fling for her. Maybe she’ll walk away from me as soon as she’s safe.

  But the way she’s looking at me now with her misty blue eyes full of wonder and need, I don’t think so. I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure leaving is the last thing she wants.

  “Say you’re mine,” I prompt.

  “I’m yours.”

  I lift her up my shaft and hold her steady. She whimpers, clutching me as she attempts to wriggle her way down, but I won’t relent. Not yet. “Again.”

  “I’m yours, Rand. All yours.”

  The delicious whine in her voice makes me crave her even more. With a lift of my hips, I shove her down, working myself even deeper.

  Her head falls back, and the last remnants of the sunset make her body gleam golden. Jesus, she’s like every fantasy I’ve ever had, her gasp dripping pleasure, her lush breasts bobbing, her pussy gripping me so tight. But it’s her eyes that slay me. I see all of her, even the feelings she tries to hide.